ANGLING NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 38, 3 December 1920, Page 4

ANGLING NOTES.

(By "Creel").

"HARD LUCK FISHIN.' " A friend of mine, an angler keen, Regards himself as an old "has-been," I repudiated the silly suggestion, This tale he told in reply to my question. To visit a friend he received invitation, And duly arrived with much elation, His creel was stocked with finest gear, The elation he carried in bottles of — . Next morning bright his feelings ran high, He carxied something if the "fish — "(er) got dry. The elation he tied (on the advice of his friend), On a piece of flax-bysh at the end. It was very warm and to keep it cool He placed it gently in a nice deep pool ; And thought he was so very clever To take advantage of Nature's cellar. And down the river he gai?y went, The bulk of his energy he duly spent; And sang away to keep quite cool, But memory dwelt in the fLax-bush pool. The sun shone down relentlessly, But my pal was cairn as he can be; Of fish he never saw even a tail But his thoughts were with that bottle of ale. Then back to his "possie" he made his way, ■ With visions of "de-rink" sad to say, But this is the saddest part of the tale He couldn't find the golden ale. 'Tis hard to admit from a veteran old To find that bush he'd given gold, And he sadly wonders with deep regret If the bottle is there in the nice pool yet. — By "Creel." Moral : — Always mark the "spot. Conditions atmospherically continued changeable for last week-end, and the Oreti river was considerably swollen with snow water. The Makarewa, however, was in good order hoth for fly and minnow work, and some very fair bags were recorded. There is no doubt aDout the latter river heing well stocked with hefty fish as the writer observed last Saturday afternoon some real thumpers hoeing into the whitebait shoals close to the banks of the stream. They, however, would not look at the artificial minnow, as some very able exponents of that branch . of fishing testified. The angler with the fly showed better results when knock-off time approached, one bag containing eight flsh of an average weight of flbs. The popular flies were red body Waipahi and lrish March brown. On Saturday night, Mr P. Crowe, landed a 101b, 81b, and a 21b fish respectively on the minnow. They were caught on the Waikiwi stream. Fishing the lower waters of the Makarewa, a local enthusiast creeled six nice fish on the copper headed turbot minnow. The heaviest trout weighed 6ibs. On the Aparima, Mr Colin Aitchinson, has been creelirg some very fair fish on the fly, Haxdy's favourite being the popular killer. The heaviest fish turned the scale at 3-J.lbs. On the Makarewa, Messrs Bert Hinton and T. Ratcliffe, have been fishing that river consistently with the minnow, and although they have not secured large numfcers oi fish a few nice oncs have f allen to their lot. One splen.didly conditioned fish of d-^lbs was killed on the Cocoon minnow. Last Saturday evening, Mr J. Bews, caught two fish on the lly on the sarne river, one being lglbs. 1 did not learn the killing fly." TRIANGULAR FLY CONTEST BETWEEN SOUTHLAND, MATARUA, AND W YNDHAM CLUBS. • — Points Learnt by Experience. — The following information may be useful to ambitious exponents of the gentle art, especially those of us who are termed "young bloods" in the game Always carry in your "damper" tested casts only. , Take your spare tip with you up and down the river. Study the flies on the water. Don't waste too much time on heavy water when the river is above normal. Keep your flies in the water as long as possible. As one efficient veteran said;

ou don'fc catch your fish on the banka ,f the river." Eat your lunch with one hand and nsn vith the other. Use your eyes the same way. One on the iver-bed, the other on your flies. Never count your fish until lie's in the r^you can't "ford" the stream, peel off nd wade it. Snow water is not very °Don't mix any "worm" taekle with your sh for the weigh-in. * / If your waders get full, don't get "cold Enjoy yourself at the dinner after the ontest. AU anglers are brothers, and ocial interoourse is instructive as well as mtertaining. Remember "good Inck, bad luck," 'hard luok," any sort of "old luck" is all 'in the game." The following is a comparison of the umber of fish caught on the different iretches : —

Next year the competition will be held 1 the Wyndham river, and the wins reirded for the shield stand at present : Wyndham, two wins; Southland and Matira, one each. There is no doubt that 10 contest is beneficial, not only to the lglers competing, but also to the club as whole, for it creates a live interest from ie various members as to the welfare of leir respective clubs. The Southland lub hopes the visiting anglers enjoyed leir outing with its members.

No. fish. lbs. ozs. Wilson's Crossing ... 61 35 15 Lochiel 16 9 11 Thompson's Crossing ... 40 23 11