HIGH-POWERED CRAFT AMONG THE BIG FISH

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 302, 13 March 1928, Page 18

HIGH-POWERED CRAFT AMONG THE BIG FISH

ANGLER’S THEORY EFFECT OF FAST LAUNCHES The theory that high-powered motor-boats have had something to do with the recent dearth of big game fish off Russell has been advanced by Mr. F. G. (“Mako”) Smith, of Napier, who is among the best-known of New Zealand deepsea fishermen, 11/TR. SMITH lias been fishing regularly in the North for several years, and he contrasts the sport’s popularity to-day with its comparative obscurity a few years ago. The past season, he said, with the exception of a few odd periods, has been bad. Last week nine or ten launches were out daily, but there were often days when no fish at all were caught. He thought this was partly attributable to the development of fast launches, which moved across the fish - ing grounds at high speed, and created a great deal of disturbance in the water. This would be sufficient to make the big fish wary. The suggestion that an airplane should be used to scout for the fish appealed to him, but he said such methods would greatly raise the cost of the sport, and to the average New Zealander the cost was already quite high enough.