ANGLING NOTES

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21744, 28 March 1936, Page 8

ANGLING NOTES

FAILURE OF THE WAIMAKARIRI ' [By BLACK GNAT.] Once again the Rakaia has come down in a flood heavy enough to stop all angling activities in mid-week, and there seems little chance that the river will be clear enough for successful fishing by to-day. If the river is unfishable it will be a severe blow to quinnat anglers, who were looking forward to the week-end fishing with the river well stocked with salmon, which have run in during the last week or two. , The Waimakariri’s almost complete failure to provide any salmon up to the present is probably accounted/for by the succession of floods it has been subjected to. In addition it is possible that many salmon which should have been readv to run in this season do not exist, as a devastating flood four winters ago is known to have ruined many spawning beds in the Broken river region. .The Waimakariri has not shown any improvement in the last four seasons, and this promises to be.less productive than any of them. Statistics show that March is usually the best salmon month and that, the fishing falls off rapidly in April. • • • Is it possible that angling is affected to any Treat extent by variations in the temperature of the air? A few dry fly fishermen have a theory that when the air is colder than the water it is practically useless to fish a floating fly, but when the air is considerably warmer than the water the best fishing is to be had. In a peculiar season such as this there should be a few days when bags are heavy if the theory is correct. Ordinarily water temperatures are relatively high during March and early April, and it is usual for the air to be at least as warm as the water, but at present evening air temperatures are particularly low and may be the cause of the poof sport prevailing. An angler who advanced the theory argued that everyone has had the experience of going home fishless when conditions have been so extreme that a distinct “frost-smoke” was seen rising from the surface of the water. The writer has found that even a sunk fly produces no good result under those conditions, the fish apparently being so affected that they go off the feed altogether. It seems that the best way to test the theory Will be to choose the first warm nor’-westerly evening on which to Visit the nearest fly stream and if it is correct, a heavy bag should be the result

Good brown trout are to be had from Lake Sarah on, days when conditions are suitable. In number the fish are probably few. but it is worth spending, a few hours on if the angler realises that he has to pit his skill against some of the most cunning fish in the district. One of the few anglers who seldom fails to fill a fish or two in Sarah recommends very small flies, preferably a No. 16 Black Gnat fished on a 3x cast. He tells an amusing story about a certain fish which he stalked amongst the niggerheads at the eastern end of the lake and sent a fly over. When swimming straight towards him the fish sucked the fly in, the angler struck and the fly held. Instead of dashing away at once the fish spread all its fins out and lay in midwater with a really surprised look on its face and left the angler to make the next move. It seemed that the fish was thinking over the best means of breaking free, and it did this successfully after a few seconds’ hesitation by bolting round the wrong side of a niggerhead and fouling the cast.

The Maoris of former times looked forward to the autumn eel fishing to provide',’them with a plentiful stock of fish for winter months. It is at this time of the year that the mature eels migrate from fresh water to their spawning grounds in the ocean. In Lake Wairarapa, where a fairly extensive fishery is still carried on, four different kinds of eels, the males and females of the two New Zealand species, Anquilla Australist and A. Aucklander, run at certain definite times from the end of February until the begininng of May and are trapped by the local Maoris.