ANGLING NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4829, 19 September 1894, Page 2

ANGLING NOTES.

[nY. izaak.] -. . ' >:

Tho trout fishing 6easqu ,open ou Saturday- last, the 15th; wi, weather not at all favourable t anglers. A large number of cnthu siasts woro out, the majority of tin bags averaging from six to ten ant up to fifteen fish. Tho smalluess o; of the fish is much commented on, Out of eight fish caught-by. om anglor he was obliged to throw more than half back as being under the stipulated nine inches. My first bag went tq tenfish, hut, in cou'tnoii with'niy.'bro'ther-anglora tuey'were exceedingly small. Howover, I suppose wo must tako what comes and be content with "small fry!"

Pour,fishermen ;who .were out froin 10 to '5 one day this week whipping the Ruamahunga nover caught a single fish. Ono of them managed to hook a very large trout, but it broke away, notwithstanding that he hooked him with a minnow.. The fish taken this season so far out of the Waipoua have not averaged ovor half a pound each, and very few above one pound in weight have been lauded. j

With the commencement of the fishing season, I am sorry to have to record that poaching Jias also commenced. Last Saturday morning, I am informed, by an eye witness, between the Railway Bridge and the Government Cottages one'resident was netting trout in a wholesale manner. Truly a most improper act, If this angler (?) had perceived a small boy with his ! 'slioes and stockingsoff catchiuga fish withhis hands, I venture'to assert that: he would have been the first one to give notico to the authorities and had the boy punished, and yet he had the audacity under cover of his license, to net in a wholesale manner himself, Truly one of his calibre deserves a lesson which he would not readily forget.

The condition of the trout are very satisfactory, the small ones being of a very nice flavour. Perchance 'tis becauso'." Close picking makes them sweot!"

It is astonishing that bo many fish get "foul-hooked." A somewhat amusing incident took place last Monday evening. Two mates went out and one was fishing away patiently in a very deep hole, the other being about a hundred yards away. At last a fish was booked. It kept under water and pulled hard and tlie angler thought that be had had the luck to hook a five pounder.. He called ■ his 'mate from away down the river, to nottho fish. When bo oamo he managed to land it, bub it turned out to be only a [ " sprat" of; about a pound weight; Tho fact was that the fish is rising to the fly missed it,'but tlie hook caught the tip of Ins tail, and .this accounted for its being so strong.

Many of the larger fish taken this year have been found to be full of spawn. ' . .'

My friend "Piscator," writing to the Pahiatua Herald says: "As far as I could hear tho best baskets secured since the opening of the season wero by tho following: Messrs Puckle and Norton lllbs weight of fish ; Messrs Wilson, Tosswill, Tone and Seymour, 141bs weight of fish; Mr "Williams' party 141bs,

All the wielders of the rod are enthusiastic in their praises of the Mangahao river as a trout fishing stream, several going so far as to assert that it is tho best in Now Zealand. There are splendid reaches of clear,withrogular series of rapids, find pools that drive an angler frantic with anticipatory delight, Tbebanks, too, are favorablo in oveiy way. Unfortunately, the river has not been so well stocked as some of tho less suitable rivers so that it is'not yet a profitable river to fish in. One angler remarked that last year an 181b eel had beeu caught there, and added that a stream that would grow an eel that sizo would' grow trout, .. .;

Mr Puokle has received a letter from Mr Arson, of the 3fasterton fish-ponds, drawing attention to the fact that while the Acclimatisation Society deliveis the fry free of charge to Pahiatua there is always a charge from this end f6r ; the hire of vehicles to convey the fish to the spot where they are to be liberated.. He points out that it is only reasonable to expect that after the fiy are .delivered free here, settlers would attend to their distribution ■without j heaping further expenses on tho Society. In this connection Mr Pucklo is desirous of; having tho names'of settlers who wish to have tout put into the streams in their vicinity, and who would further that end by supplying conveyances to carry the fry to. places of distiibuton."