FISHING NOTES.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20412, 5 December 1931, Page 16

FISHING NOTES.

KAHAWAI FISHING.

[exclcbxtb TO TOT

[By Black Gna*.]

These Notes, which are writtpn by fc , fisb ® r " man of long "experience and considerable theoretical knowledge, will appear every Wat; vuday. Letter# containing news items 01 questions, and addressed "Black care of the Editor of The Prms. will receive prompt attention etch week.

A local angler made a surprising captures when fishing in the Ashley about half a mile above the tidal waters last week-end. He was working his way up a rapid piece of water casting a No. .14 fly before him when a good fish lose. Tho fish when hooked fought with tho vim of an 8 or 101b trout and led the angler a merry dance before it was netted. It turned out to be a small kahawai of 2Jlb. Seldom indeed do kahawai venture far into fresh water although they are frequently found m the sea at river mouths. The particular fish taken is probably tho first ever captured in fresh water on a dry fly.

Canterbury anglers have been slow to realise the sporting qualities of the kahawai, for it is surprising that although these fine fish gather an thousands at tho Ealtaia moutli, few anglers bother about them. An ideal lure for kahawai is a red and silver striped plug of hardwood, about 4 inches in length, with a single hook fixed and the whole line so weighted that it is a little heavier than water. When the fish are closo inshore' Such a plug, used on a light casting rod, will account for large bags.

Of course the chief difficulty in kahawai fishing at the Bakaia mouth is that the shoals of fish, numbering many thousands, Ho,a hundred yards or so off the beach and while stragglers come close in the main body is usually out of casting range. Tho tale of the efforts of one coterie of anglers who used a small brass cannon to shoot a groper lino out past the breakers has previously been told in this column, but so far no endeavour has been mads by New Zealand Anglers to introduce the standard American of. getting a luro out to surface feeding fish. Prooably the most spectacular form^ of luring..fish by deception ia that which originated with tho Javanese centuries /ago. Wh.en storms prevented them from launching their boatij in the_ surf to provide flsly for food some, ingenious Javanese devised tho method of Teaching. tho>fish behind tho breakers. It consisted of a crude kite, flown out over the sea. To the kite was affixed an extra line and a baited bone hook. By cleverlv manipulating the kite it was fallowed to dip seawards, tho- bait striking the water and the unsuspecting fish grabbing hold. I-- * * ;

About 15 years age Captain Faresworth, one of the best known guides of the famous Tuna Club, of Catalinn Islands, bearing of the Javanese method, gavo it "the first known trial by White man. Pleased 'with the method,'he spent some little time in improving the idea. To-day his kite-flying arrangement is widely used by the Californian anglers. It consists of the following: A kite from 18 to 30 inches square, made of red China silk, with two pieces of wood diagonally fitted into th« reinforced corners of the silk. To the corners pieces of strong cord are sewn. These are drawn together to tha centre, i When these cards a?c-properly adjustkito will fly perfectly7»tß*fiilf s without the aid of a tail or any other . device. A piece of fishing line,'"a few hundred feet in length, is tied to tho "kite. Tho angler's hook affixed/ to the heavier teal line is baited with- a dead flying fish. About SO feet from the lure is tied a weaker line, which in turn is* tied to- the kite line. > Suoh a kite "is usually trolled behind a •motor-boat at such a pace that it k«©ps above tho water and .allows tho bait to skip from •wave-top to wavc-to'p. There is no reason why a kite of this nature should not bo flown over the breakers when a nor'-wester is blowing, and used as an aid to the capture of kahawai.

Large, bags of rainbow have been taken of late in Lake Lyndon on the creeper. Tlia methods employed there by some of the anglers aro far from sporting, for several of them use tackle sufficiently heavy to land salmon and «t» soon as a fish gorges the weta, it i* simply reeled in and when of. light weight, lifted out without tho aid of net or gaff. Such butchering of good fish cannot be too strongly condemned, for after all, the rainbowis aflne sporting flfsh and one which merits a fairer"deal. .