ANGLING NOTES.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16402, 23 December 1918, Page 10

ANGLING NOTES.

THE VALLEY CREEK

(specially written" for "the ratss. ')

(Br "Ihok Blue.")

"With a motor to carry tiiem from ,jlaco to place, and an exact knowledge of the roads and by-roads, a party of two or three rods, nowadays can cover tho best of a small fly stream in a vinglo outing. 7t io a rather wasteful way to fish, skimming ibc best and skipping the rest; but there are times —after-flu-times, possibly—when '*a

littlo bit of! tho top"' seems just tho thing; or, after a blank day of slogging down miles of a ininnow-i Iver, I imagine such a change might bo ordered by the doctor. However this may be, we have apparently struck a patch of real summer, and the likeliest hours ior (ishing are at dusk, or from dawn until half-past two o'clock, so it is better to get soon upon tho water. This had been decided overnight, so when at its ''earliest convenience'' —gentlemen, bush, no harm is hero—a motor announced itself impatiently at- our gate, 1 knew that here, was Anak, solid and well-liking, and he would take mo -with him to the Valiey Crock. Tho country was gradually awakening as wo went, the birds chorused, a bittern flapped slowly from his favourite pool, a diminutive boy was hastily gathering tho kindling sjjeks which doubtless lie should have collected on tho night before. At tho appointed Bpot, the third of our party awaited ns in chiding mood; all because his watch had chosen to register a later time than ours. He said our watch had stopped; and greatly to his credit, wo discovered on this occasion ho was quite correct. Beginning far away in an open corn laml, the Valley Creek then ripples cheerfully through narrow gorges and deep-cut limestone clefts, again into level meadows whero it lingers almost without current in tho great rocky pools, and finally goes creeping between rows of willows towards the Opihi. Roughly. tho course of tho stream is in wide curves like one letter S' upon another, and bj* crossing several of its shallow fords in different valleys we could command some miles of water and finish comfortably on tho homeward road.

Everything had been planned carefully, and no rloubt all would have .yono -well, but for that same "if only" which somehow is generally connected with angling affairs. This time, "if only" the water had not become so .surprisingly low and weedy in one rainJess week wo should probably have had full baskets, for trout weighing two pounds or more were fairly plentiful, and all through tho morning they could be seen rising here or there. , As :» matter of fact wo caught a number of them, but only by the stalkiest methods, for' the fish seemed 03-ed in tho back of their heads, and even an unwary wave of "the rod would send them scurrying to the nearest cover. Otherwise, they were tame enough, and evidently quite uneducated, and if the .fisherman could approach unseeu, a well-placed greenwell or red governor would always tempt them. In such conditions, "Keep out of sight," "Don t wave the rod „ unnecessarily," and "Tread lightly on the banks/' are golden rules.

The pools had been tried, and wo had explored the wooded gorges, and then Anak bad a bright idea for our future betterment: "If we tfike the ear right on to the head of the creek, there will bo more water and more fish." Tt seemed a good idea, and another ford and . a run . through, the hill country, brought ns to the promised "water -. but, alas, there was little to be seen, of it, and the stock of trout was not as we - had hoped, ; Now when in company with other twain, of the aneling fraternity—socalled—you are trving to make the best of an almost waterless, almost Ashless apology for the stream which nob long since" was a chief attraction to the neighbourhood, it is not an additional joy to see a very wild horseman galloping an equally fiorce-looking horso in your direction, and withal brandishing "a bit of a shtick" ; a "bit", about seven feet long more or less. While he is yet far distant, ono may wonder casually tvhat he is pinky well chasing; but as lio approaches a hope occurs that'it may not be you. Then'if you sadly find you are the really truly hunted,, party—well, that is riot to say I ■was not just as pleased tho other two encountered the first of tho wrath to come. "When I joined'the little party,, thero was * not much going, except an overheated statement concerning "My land," "No right here," "they shot mo geese for me," and so forth; but I will say for the others that they willingly included tho necessary toothing process my share. Gradually thero was peace, until at last I liad been given direction-to tho borne of n. certain worthy trout, and on tho impulse of the moment had made a promise, "If I catch Kim I will bring him back to you." "Ah, now, that would be decent," said -ihe once-vory-wildi horseman as he rode away. From tlio moment of "that promise, a sure conviction cainc that I could not avoid catching this wretched fish, and consequently carrying him back over a jlong, hot mile of road to the house of ' the horseman; only Ave had forgotten th<» directions, and I hoped ono of my 1 fellows might save mo against fate. They went their ways, and walking haphazard to a bend in the stream, I camo suddenly on a stretch of deep water, beneath a high, straight bank. A good breeze rippled the surface, and at the first cast a heavy trout was touched and missed. On : ordinary occasions ono might not havo troubled further, for a scratched fish is not particularly likely to "como again," but now th'o same curious feeling of certainty caused me to change the flies three times, and as a "Greenwell" drifted over him ho rose instantly and was firmly hooked. "A good three-pounder," according to the gratified landowner, to whom ho was presented in due course; but if they involve an extra two-mile walk when the thermometer is at something over a hundred*in the sun. all these rash pro-' raises are as many b?d mistakes. .Still, nil things considered, it n;as quito a good onding, and if we may believe once moro in tho oldon proverb, all was well.