FISHING NOTES.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15137, 28 November 1914, Page 4

FISHING NOTES.

« IN SOUTH CAtfTEKBURY. A South Canterbury correspondent writes: ( . At the present moment the fishing in South Canterbury may bo described as good'all round, and with ordinary luck ft is easy to mako n satisfactory bas- ; ket in any of the best known streams. Some excellent fly-fishing is to bo obtained on the Gipiki below Pleasant Point, especially during the 'evening rise, which as a rule seems to begin besuch times, apparently, tko most killing tween seven and eight o'clock. At flies are a "Coachman" or a. large 'Red Governor." and among thoso 1 have seen within tho last two days, TCoro catches of sixty-one fish, by three rods above Butler's crossing; aud forty-nx by two anglers who wero only on the .river for a fow houre. In each case the fish landed averaged between one and two pounds. During tho daytime., the "creeper" •unfortunately is the most frequent bait, but tho fly known as v "Red upright" nearly al- ! ways will account for an ample catch, j tho Kakahu Is very low and weedy, but whenever tho great, pools in- --ho lower waters are rufiled by a wind, the fish will rise freely to a "Red Palmer" or "Coek-y-Bondhu"; in fact, tho only necessary attribute of tho fly is a sutficient buzziness in appearance. Today I camo "across an angler who had hooked a three-pounder from the Lower Kakahu bridge, and being unable to descend and net his prize-, ho had played it for twenty-seven minutes before my help arrived. That favourite fly stream, the Hae-te-Moana, for weeks has been a succession of occasional pools crowded with trout, but tho rain ha.s improved matters considerably, and though much loss has occurred from tTio lack of water and tho ravag.es of tho gulls, the stream still contains a very plentiful stook. Tho wate?;s in tho Hae-te-iloana Gorge aro being very badly poached with explosives, and I have seen dead fish lying in tho nools. Good sport is reported from the Orari lagoon, iind that part of the river near the bridge at Claudeboye. and most of the fish I have examined from thl4 vicinity havo been in first-rate order. The chief requirement of anglers i» a heavy fresh, to make n good mouth in tho lagoon and let in a run of I migratory trout. ' Fishermen at Rangiiata-on-sea are by no means out of luck, aud while the largest- trout havo not yet come upriver in any great number, four and five-pounders are plentiful. Nowadays it is a very good plan to try tho quieter places a mile or two up from the ; mouth, where frequently it is possible to secure a better take than at the u*ual stands lower down tho river. Two trovii weighing eleven nnd fourteen nounds have been landed noar tho rail- | way bridge, and above Peel Forest, tereral—the largest, a six-pounder—hare ! been caught with fly. I ■