A FISHY BUSINESS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 18, 27 October 1939, Page 10

A FISHY BUSINESS

Handy Guide for Non-Anglers

(Written for "The Listener" by

Irideus

by those internationally famous journalists who have managed to get Inside Europe, and at the same time keep outside concentration-camps, a little debunking never did anyone any harm. At the risk, therefore, of a gaffhook in the midriff or of being dumped quietly in the Waitemata (the harbour) with an adequate ballast of lead sinkers, we will go on Telling the Truth about Our New Zealand Fishes from where we left off last week. After dealing with the Brown Trout, we come naturally to The Rainbow Trout If we may so far risk the Caledonian indignation of the South as to term the brown trout "penny plain," the rainbow may most easily be distinguished from its Scottish relative by the epithet "Tuppence coloured." The rainbow, like chewing-gum, the League of Nations and Mae West, we owe to the United States — "Ex America semper aliquid novi," as we used to say in Prohibition days. In appearance, the rainbow is decidedly an exotic. The back is usually a deep olive, extending in lighter shades down the sides until interrupted by a brilliant crimson zone along the full length of the flanks, "making the green one red," as Shakespeare succintly puts it, this red band being in turn succeeded by the glistening white of the belly (or stomach, if you prefer it). There is no Pot of Gold, anywhere, but for all that the rainbow may fairly be described as a brown trout in technicolour, é Later Arrival Introduced to most New Zealand waters at a later date than the brown trout, the rainbow was at first in the position of an oppressed minority, but as a result of its voracious appetite it has succeeded in liquidating the opposition in such important areas as Taupo and Rotorua, where it is jealously conserved by the Department of Internal Affairs for its Publicity Value — it reproduces well in three colours, "In addition to being a later arrival than the brown trout, the rainbow also. breeds, or spawns, at \ has so often been remarked

a later date. Consequently, early steps were taken to delay the opening of the rainbow fishing season by a month. The fish have countered this by delaying spawning still further so that to-day they are frequently only coming into "condition": when anglers have to stop in May. This full-blown. end-of-the-season condition is colloquially known as " mae-waistline." Habits and Diet: In_ sanctuaries where they are absolutely protected, rainbows will eat absolutely anything, in open fishing waters, on the other hand, practically nothing which it is legal for you to offer them. There are occasional exceptions to this rule, but they are exceptions. Smallish rainbows and a few of medium size are to be found principally in the waters of the Thermal district, but the habitat of large rainbows is, in our experience, confined mainly to the taproom gossip of retired anglers. Methods of Capture: There are two main methods of catching rainbow trout, viz., the Taupo troll and the Rotorua round-up. A lure is of secondary importance, but most fish are usually taken on a Government day-licence. In the Taupo method, a large number of anglers trail an equal number of grapnels from the stern of a fast launch. If, when this armament passes over a school of rainbow, one of the latter is struck, the speed of the launch is increased until the fish is drowned, and it is then ceremoniously brought aboard and each of the party is photographed with it. If, to use topical terminology, this method partakes of a running action, the Rotorua system resembles a blockade. On the latter lake, the trout are waylaid when moving in at night and surrounded by a circle of boats which gradually closes in on them, the various angling parties beating the water with their rods and swearing at the top of their voices. When the fish are sufficiently congested they can be swiped out comparatively easily on the large hooks which are so popular in that area. The catch is then pooled and the anglers are photographed with it, seriatim, next morning. Some prefer to hire a jockey to be photographed with the fish, on the ground that it improves the effect. Taupo and Rotorua are becoming increasingly popular with AngloIndians and retired colonels, since the distance which has to be travelled to and from fishing makes it impossible to produce material evidence for or against successes claimed. Nomenclature: Despite the fact that it has been the subject of much lyricism ("My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow," etc.), the rainbow has, on the credit side, few by-names. On the other hand, due mainly to the incidence of the Anglo-Indians and retired colonels above-mentioned, the debit side presents a terminology which is definitely an advance on that which can be claimed by the brown trout, both in variety and piquancy. (To be Continued)