ANGLING NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 32, 22 October 1920, Page 4

ANGLING NOTES.

BY "CREEL."

ALL ROUND FISHING. If yoti are fond of ocean angling, and he's fond of lakes and streams, What's the use of always wrangling ? Why disturb another's dream? If his outfit's plain or nobby, do not criticise the eame; Every angler has his hobby in the good old fishing game. . . Let him try for trout or tunnies; let him go for cod or, pikes; Let him seek tarpon or sunnies, or catch anything he likes. Let him angle with a clothes line ; let him use the cotton thread ; Let him fish with grocery tw'ine if the notions in his head. If he think's his methods better, let him think so right along ; Never flail him in your letter; maybe you're the one that's wrong. ^ — Jack Maxwell, in "Outdoor Life."

Conditions in Southland sfill continue in favour of local anglers, some good bags having been caught on both minnow and fly. Messrs Hoffman and Baldwin creeled ten well-conditioned fish on Saturday night on the Makarewa river, the heaviest weighing 61bs ; 4 fish 31bs each, 5 othei's being 21bs, all on the natural bully bait. While in Gore recently I hcard of a local fisherman creeling 47 good fish from the Otamita, and I would like to point out that there is a limit on the bags to be taken out of Southland streams, viz., 30 fish. Pot hunterg please ta,ke note. Mention was made in the initial publication of this coliunn with reference to the fine fish to be caught in the Mimihau on the fly, and recently Mr L. Cotterel, of Mataura, landed a beautiful fish weighing 7Ihs 9ozs, from that river. Mr E. Duncan also oi Mataura, creeled a nice bag of 28 fish from the same river. Purple grouse, red spinxier, and red body Waipahi, were the popular flies. Fishing the Oreti at Benmore, Mr A. C. Lyon secured two very nice bags, creeling 28 and 30 well conditioned fish for two days fishing. On the Waiau, Mfessrs J. W. Aitken, H. Olsen, and A. Lyon, bagged some 21 fish all in good condition, the heaviest fish weighing 6^1bs. The Dipton Angling Club held a competition on the Oreti river amon gst members, on the 9th ult., and the following was the result : —

Mr R. Hayley was also winner of the novice prize.

On Tuesday the 12th ultimo. the annual meeting of the Southland Angling Club was held in the Y.M.C.A. rooms and was one of the best held for some years, there being a good attendance of enthusiastic members with Mr J. Nisbet in the chair. The annual report and balance-sheet were very satisfactory, and the members expressed optimistic anticipations for tue success of the forthcoming season. The following , members were elected for the ensuin/g year : — President, M(r Q. W1. Braxton ; vice-presidents, Messrs E. Keast and J. W. Smith ; executive, Messrs Jas. Collins, A. Evans, R. Sloan, W. Steele, A. H. Stock, A. McNeil, C. W. Wilson, H. C. Kelly, Alex. Evans, G. F. Strang, N. F. Pattle, and R. Thompson ; hon. secretary, Mr A. McLean. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the retiring president for his good work on behalf of the club for th.e past two years. It was deeided to liokl a roving competition on any streani in the Southland Acclimatisation Society 's district, on Labour Day. Any legal bait. Hcurs of fishing from 7 a.nt. to 9 p.m. Open to members of clubs only. Entry fee one shilling. Annual sub. for membersliip, Southland Angling Club, 2s 6d ; honorary members, 2s. Entries close with secretary or president. Saturday, 23rd October, at 9 p.m. Fifteen entries or no third place. Committee reserve right to refuse any nomination for membership. No competitor to win more than one prize. Any competitors's bag will be accepted if certified by stationmaster, J.P., [postmaster or constable, 'or special certificate procurable from the secretary, care Messrs A. and W. McCarthy, Dee street. Town competitors must weigh in at A. and W. McCarthy's from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mr-nday (Lahour Day) evrjaing.

Competitors having won a prize are excluded from Novice Class Competitors having won, a first, second or third for heaviest bag, second heaviest bag, and largest number of fish respectively shall start the season under an haiidicap as fol. lows First prize, 10 per cent ; second prize, 5 per cent; third prize, . 2^ per cent. on total weiglit of bag. Performanp.es taken over two previous seasons, and that for each, second and third prize won during any curronfc season an addftional handicap of 10 per cent., 5 per cent., 2j per cent. be added, with a limit of 50 per cent. In the ease of a winner handing his prize back to the club for further competition he will be free from any additional handicap for that competition. Financial members of kindred clubs in the Southland Acclimatisation District are eligible to competedn this competition on payment of entry fee of ls. Entries to be received by secretary oi each club and certified as being bona fide members and forwarded to secretary Southland club by 9 p.m., Saturday, 23rd. The committee are desirous of making this season the most successful in its history and with this end in view we earnestly request all to become a member, the annual subscription is only 2s 6d. By becoming a member you will help to make the club not only a strong representative body, but also assist the Acclimatisation Soicety, to whom it must not be forgotten we owe the sport afforded us. In view of the fact that salmon have been caught in the Waiau, angler-s are requested to send any fish that may seen out of the ordinary to the secretary, Acclimatisation Society, for identification. As license-holders and in your own interests anglers are reqiiested to notify the secretary, Acclimatisation Society, of any cases of poaching or the illicit taking of trout. Any information so received will be treated as strictly confidential. Note. — In order to assist the flnanees of the club fishermen are asked to donate a portion of their fish for distribution among hon. members at any time during the season. The above conditions having beerP agreed to, some interesting decisions were arrived at. It was suggested that the Triangular Competition for shield, between Mataura, Wyndham and Southland clubs be held this year on the Oreti river, on November the 10th, or 17th inst., if either of those dates were suitable to the other clubs. It was also deeided to approach Lumsden, Dipton and Winton clubs to inaugurate a series of annual matcheis to be held on the Oreti riv.er, with a shield or cup as trophy, towards which Mr R. Sloan, Invercargill, promised a donation of two guineas. Thanks were extended to Messrs A. and W. McCarthy for trophy (value £1 ls) ; "Digger" newspaper, trophy (value 10s 6d) ; "Creel," trophy (value 10s 6d) ; Mr R. Thompson, Invercargill, trophy (value 10s 6d) ; for Labour Day competition. It was further suggested that the inter-club matches held on the Oreti river, should be bare fly for one competition, and artificial minnow for the second, so that minnow fishermen members of the club would have the opportunity of holding up the prestige of their respective associations. The secretary was requested to write to the various clubs interested suggesting a conference of representatives to draw up rules and regulations for the eonduct of these proposed competitions. A new rule was agreed to, viz., "that any bona fide financial member of a kindred club may compete in any competition of this club on payment of the entry fee." Subjoined is an extract from tb.e 13th annual report: — "Thirteenth Annual Report of S.A.C., season 1919-20. Your committee have pleasure in again submitting the annual report and balanee sheet for the year ending October 10th, 1920. Membership. — The membership of the club has again been well maintained, there being 40O odd financial members ; the honorary members list was . very poor, 9 only being financial. This is due to the fact that very few fish were available for distribution owing to there being only one successful competition, viz., Labour Dav. The honorary members are easily obtained if the supply of fish is assured, but it is no use having a large honorary membership if the fish are not available for distribution. The principal supply for this purpose is dependent largely on the result of competitions. In some cases members of the committee have undertaken to supply fish to any member whom they have enrolled.

Competitions. — Two competitions were arranged for, only one was successful, viz., Labour. Day. This competition was arranged as in previous years and some good bags were weighed in. The annual triangular competition was held on the Mimi, hau under tho supervision of the Mataura club. The Southland team consisted of Messrs Pattle, Braxton, Henderson and Kelly. The competition was won by Wyndham, with Mataura second. This competition will take place this year on the Oreti under control of this club. An.

other triangular competition was held on the Oreti between the Dipton, Lumsden and Southland clubs. This was undertaken by your club also,. and the teams were deposited on the Oreti at Thomson's Crosaing, and Lady Barkly. The honourg fell to Lumsden, with Dipton and Southland a tie for second. Bare artificial fly was the bait used. Finance. — As will be seen by the balanee sheet, your club is financial, having a credit balanee of £3 12s 6d. Meetings. — The meetings of the executive have been well attended and due interest shown by all. General.— The season generally speaking was a disappointing one owing to the rivers being so abnormally low after the New Year, consequently very little fishing was done in the daytime. It is gratifying to note that the anglers of Winton have formed a club and it is your committee' s recommendation that more inter-club competitions be arranged between the Dipton, Lumsden, Winton and Southland clubs. Appreciation. — The thanks of the club are due to the following for donations to previous prize list: Messrs Nisbet, Evans, M. Hyndman, A. .and W. McCarthy. Some two months ago, Mr Jno. Stevens^ vice-president, left Invercargill for Timaru. Before leaving a representative gathering, although somewhat informal, met to show in some way the appreciation of the efforts of Mr. Stevens in the interests of the club. Mr Keast, in the absence of the president, presented Mr Stevens with a pipe and case, on behalf of the club and angling friends in general, and wished the recipient every success in his new sphere. Mr Stevens suitably replied. The club is indebted to the president of the Acclimatisation Society, Mr A. H. Stock, for the interest he has taken in its affairs, and also for the fine articles he has at various times contributed on piscatorial matters. Your committee also desire to express their appreciation of the support and interest shown by the Acclimatisation Society in the effort to suppress the netting of trout. It is hoped that the present season will be a successful one and that all anglers will do their utmost to make this year a record one. Next week we hope to publish another interesting article from Mr A. H. Stock. Owing to a typographical error Mr Stock was not credited with last w.eek's contribution.

R. Sinclair 30 26 8 N. R. McKay ... 30 16 3 W. Taylor 12 15 3 T. Taylor 12 6 13 R. Hayley 10 4 14 110 79 12