NOTED FISHERMAN

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 423, 3 May 1937, Page 4

NOTED FISHERMAN

MR. H. WHITE WICKHAM AT STRATFORD First Visit to Taranaki Although he had visited New ipnd on 14 occasions, Mr H. Whi eWickham, of London, the noted big game fisherman, had not been in Taranaki, and this morning be arrived in Stratford, where h.e will spend a few days seeing the countryside. In an interview with the "Central Press" this, morning, he msntloned thia.t he had been in Auckland since December and he is now on his way back to England. He has be n coining to New Zealand since 1921, and it is his intention to return again. For 14 years he has followed the same routine, fishing in New Z;alp.nd for five months and then returning for the English summer. He travels alone and fishes alone, except when he chooses to invttia guests on his launch. He leaves 1 this week by the Rangitane. Whenever possible he has the same steamer with the same cabin and the same steward. On November 11 he will leave London for New Zealand, reaching Wellington on December 15. At Deep Water Cove, in the Bay of Islands, Mr White-Wick-ham has his own quarters, and his fishing exploits have been given world-wide prominence. He has achieved world’s record catches of Broadbill swordfish, Thresher shark and Mako shark, and in his opinion New Zealand possesses the finest big game fishing grounds in the world. Last season, he said, was a particularly good one. To date he has caught over 58,0001b5. of game fish, and he has never broken a rod or a line. Mr Whi'e-Wickham has 1 a flat in Whitehall, London, but during th< period that he is in England he spends some time fishing tor trout and salmon on the rivers in North Devon, where he has a country resid nee. j There he has a large collection of I antiques and curios, including a num. Iber secured on his New Zealand J travels.