ANGLING NOTES.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13378, 20 March 1909, Page 6

ANGLING NOTES.

- THE WINCHESTER WAIHI. (By "Iron Blue.") Who among our angling visitors has not fished in the' Waihi at Winchester? If not from personal experience, he knows oi it by repute as a famous Canterbury fly stream, and a tew years ago ii was considered almost a matter ol duty to land a Waihi trout. \muchester itself has talleii from its high estate, it is no lon_er the most ceiebiatccl hshing cent-re in New Zealand, but the stream or the creek can su_ be relied upon for a dish ol trout, in former times when Thomas Langdoa cared for all iisliermeu irom tar and near, there was a constant stir and bustie about the place. If one was not. "out ' during tho day, it was because an expedition to the Rangitata, or Opihi, would happen that same evening, and the three norses led a busy life. These horses were known by name all over the country. Old Tom, Young Tom and lorn Between, and seldom a aay passed, without each being requisitioned to convey an angler vo his sport. I was never quite suie about ''lorn Between.," though lie w_s supposed to be there—he or another, —and Langdon was always ready with advice and assistance. The whole atmosphere of his comfortable house was thoroughly impregnated with ' fish and fishing. Rods on tho racks, tackle on tlie tables, and a never-ending discussion of flies and minnows. On a table near the door stood a weighing-machine, and in the evening each fisherman, as ho came home, gave over his bag to be weighed and recorded in the register, which was faithfully kept. Afterwards the fish were arranged on separate dishes—each catch en it_ own—and at the end of a good day that table was a sight to remember. To-day 1 we it to fish, and to_rece.il pleasant memories of tho Waihi, and on mv way I asked for angling news. Tho reply, "Thero is nothing doing. We have not seen a fish for a week," fully brought home to mc tho change that time has wrought. I was annoyed also that I could not find my old ally "Con,' and very crossly I followed the custom of walking down to the ■'first crossing," and turned to fish upstream. There were plenty of fish, and a greater plenty of willows;_ but when I "was not employed in disentangling my cast from the willows, I was generally playing a fish, and to'-ilf-a-dozen, including a couple of pounders, were soon in the bag. A No. 0 rod quill seemed- to be exactly what they lwifl been waiting for, and each took it "more suo," and beneath tho .surface for choice.' The vagaries of a bull caused mc to miss some water. 1 have a wcll-d.-fincd dislike for bulls, and this brute- was rampaging round' a pad-dock, seeking for any evil he might do. So I got over a fence and tore my coat on exactly the same bent nail which -was there four years ago. I think my comment w_3 the same, too, but ou this occasion I broke the nail off short.

Then I caino to a favourite- pool and caught two hiUf-pC'undiers, losing a larger fish in a sunken snag. This pool bas a memory of its own. Once- I fished it in company with a lady, who tucked- everything inside a pair of new w-iders, and tried, to catch a trout. After many casts sho succeeeliod in oa toll ing lue. Yea, verily, sho caught mc by tho neck, ami I had to carry tlu> fly home, because she could' not britig herself to take it out with a knife. When 1 arrived' at tho road bridge, I had fourteen fish, which, weighed perhaps ten pound's, and I contemplated the rippl-e- above, and considered if I should go on. The water looked glassy clear and autumn chilled; there was no sign of a rising trout, -tn-d I resolved to tako myself ■away. The pool below the creek bridge, which in tho winter months is the temporary home of mighty fish, was apparently destitute of life, and after flicking a useless fly across its unruffled surface, 1 departed homewards in the dusk.