ANGLING NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 40, 17 December 1920, Page 5

ANGLING NOTES.

(By "Creel").

k "MY OLD BROGUES." Old pals of mine; old friends of fishing f days; '%V» both got old and frail, yes, sad to say, Fhe glorious days \ve had upon the river, ||3ring back, sweet, sad thoughts, 'from mem'ry's quiver. Hf)ld pals of mine, you must remember ik well, ' The happy days we spent with our dear Nell. Blie was so sweet and pure as God above, She's there with Him now, my love, mv love. . [t did seem hard when Iie first callcd :| her, Ihe devil nearly got me thcn, the cur; For 011 the brink of hell I began to shiver, You took me back, old pals, to the clean river. And there I felt the good of Nature's plan, It cleansed my soul and made a better nian ; Clod's lesson there I liumbly learnt anew, To trust in Him, to" guide nie safely through. 'And as we sit to-night beside the fhe; Those memories sweet seem so much nigher ; I see within its blaze, old faces, friends, Whose kindness in our sorrow made amends. For her sad loss to me, old pals, and you, Her soul had gone to heaven, and they knew. I seem to feel her pres.ence close to-night, An angel's voice singing "Lead Kindly Light." Why, really, pals, you seem to undersiand, That I am leaving for the promised land. Yes, yes, dear wife, I liear you cailing me, I come at last my love, my love, to thee. '-By "Creel."

I would a.gain like to ask all seeretaries tid anglers in general, to forward for hblie.ation, items of interest, for this olumn. M ALL BRAINS FIND SMALL ",FUN." A disgnsting experience to some anglers^ '.as been related to me, and, I tliink my eadors will agree that the above heading its the clever culprit "like a giove." Ahile fishing the Oreti in the precincts of tlyal Bush, a party of anglers left their :ar on the road, absolutely in a place where it could not do any harm to anybody, but on their return, found that some "clever" busybody, had altered the terminals on the sparking plugs, thereby causing them considerable anxiety and inxmvenience. This was not an isolated ixperience as another party in the same ocality had a similar happening jnst reyently. Luckily, one of the mcmbers of Fe latter party, was a partaker in the irevious stunt, and profited thereby, findII g the same treatment had been meted >ut to his friend's car. Such a despicable practical joke" is worthy of grave cenure. A warning and example should be liade of the guilty party, by laying a rap for the individual (a stronger name vould suit better), and making it a subect for police enquiry. It is to be ioped that this warning in these notes will uffice. i ^or iveek-ending December 4th, Messrs loffman and Baldwin, fishing the Makarika, with flie . natural bully, caught 19 jifelGconditioned trout, and for week.endog the 11th Deeember, eleven fish weigh,ng 381b (heaviest fish 71bs), all in good nick. Natural bully was again the >ait uscd. (Their footnote on their \ro- ■ 4°rt was eagerly scanned by the Editor, W'Cquas, Gavin Brighton, the lady typiste, the printer'a devil, and they all hope at next week's catch will be a record .uie). — "Creel." Messrs Speden Bros. and J. McArthur ... ora) , creeled 30 fish on the Otamita in P codid condition. The creeper and red

body Waipahi fiy was used. The heaviest fish weighed 4flbs. Mr J. Sparkes (Railwa-y) and friend, visited the Oreti, at Lady Barclay, last baturday. The river was in beautiful oioer, hut owing to the very high wind prevailing, fly fishing was very difficult. However, 18 nic,o fisn rewarded their efforts, and they report the water to be particularly good, fine ripples and holes (where good fish must lie) being predominant. The Stone fly, red body Waipahi, and Owaka wero the killing flies. A HEART-BRE AKIN G SIGHT. Displayed in a fish eliop in Invercargill, last Saturday, was a beautiful dispiay of estuary trout. To the angler they would b§ great sport if he only had the opportunity of catching them in some of our Southland rivers. However, some day this class of fish will have the opportunity of rnnning up our streams, as it is only a matter of timo when the unjust netting will be totally alx>lished. FINE GUT AND A BREAKING STRAIN. The following article is taken from the "Field," of October 9th, 1920: — To use a distinctively American expr.ession " 'Chelidon' has the rightdope" when lie suggests (in the "Field" of August 21) that the thickness of the gut cast or leader as it is called in America, has a lot to to do with success, or otherwise, when fly-fisfnrig for hi.ghly educated trout. i have proved the faot over and over again, to my own satisfaction, that the cast is nearly the whole thing, and the fly, provided the size is right, only has a secondary inliuence on the inducement to rise. A drawn gut point lias a theoretical or laboratory breaking strain of about two and a lialf pounds. When using such a point "on the streain" numerous influences which it is not necessary to specify, reduce this theoretical strength considerably oelow the value ohtained when testing. Even so it is surprising how much strain we can put on against a hooked fish, and not break the point, if we only keep in mind certain advice that nearly every angling writer has given, viz., "Keep the point of the rod up." I will add another word to this, which is, "And do not take hold of the rod at any other place except the handle." Without going into the exact mathematics of the case it is sufficient to say that if we wish to break gut point that has a final strength of two and a-half pounds, and if we hold the rod properly, it will be necessary to exact a force of twenty-two and a-half pounds with the fingers that grasp the upper part oi the handle, and at the same time the lower part of the inside hand must be pressing against the bottom of the handle with a force equal to nearly 211bs. If, however, we pivot the bulk of the rod against our body and hold the rod at a point possibly lOin. above the top of the handle, so as to get more "purchase" against the struggling fish, we shall get it, yes, and also, we sha-11 not get that fish, hecause in this latter position it only takes a force of about live and a-quarter pounds, applied by the hand that is holding the rod in this position, to produce a strain of two and a-half pounds in the cast, which will ensure the freedom of the hooked trout. A number of -fish are lost in striking, .especially on a short line, hecause the maximum strain comes on Suddenly and frequently before the rod has reached the vertical position ; but once a fish is hooked it is surprising how roughly we can handle him at times and still keep the fragile connection between us intact.