Fishing And Shooting

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31902, 1 February 1969, Page 4

Fishing And Shooting

Round The Bend In The Stream. By Sir Hudson Fysh. Angus and Robertson. 222 pp. Readers expecting a further volume on the continuing story of Australia’s overseas airline, will find “Mr Qantas” surprising them with these revelations of his ardent freshwater fishing activities. This is a very good book of the reminiscent type. Of course. Sir Hudson Fysh has had it easy in the jet-age; 24 hours from Sydney “Mr Qantas” was able to be among Himalayan rivers fishing for the gigantic Mahseer. As it happened, he only foulhooked a turtle, but any foulhooked creature causes palpitations in an angler's breast until the moment of truth is reached.

Sir Hudson Fysh was able to drop out of the skies to fish for trout at Taupo, on England’s Test, on Australia’s Inn —also in New Guinea, parts of North America and Japan: and for salmon in Canterbury’s Rakaia and Waimakariri and Scotland's Tay. And, best of all for him, fishing the streams and lakes of the Snowy system in his own country—good when he started years ago, better now under the engineering development aided by wiselyguided 'stocking policies. Sir Hudson Fysh’s impressions of waters and anglers are discerning. As a preferred dryfly man, and referring to Taupo and the Rakaia, he was appalled by the "murderous gear used by local fishermen where undoubtedly fishing for the pot seems of first importance.” Sir Hudson Fysh has also written with keen perception and appreciation of the sights, sounds and creatures that relaxed anglers are able to take stock of while on fishing expeditions. He has offered some original poetry, the merit of w{pch awaits

■other judgment but his verse ion the wind as a factor in 'angling is aptly expressed: Iso also are reflections set out lin letters of an Australian trout fisherman to his son and grandson. Some hairs could be split on a few points of fact, e.g. the authorship of the first book on angling and the source of the Tongariro River. An appendix lists “My fishing outfit” which is a pretty fancy collection. This is a very acceptable book for those who like to read what others have to say about the noble art. Gun In The Hills. By Greg Kelly. Hodder and Stoughton. 159 pp. The writing of Mr Kelly on the experiences he had with the fishing rod has been repeated, with success, concerning 50 or more years with hunting guns and rifles. The two dozen short studies are attractively presented. They are observations and reflections of a sensitive, nature-loving man, a man who is much more than a meat-hunter and duckshooter. As an expert in forensic ballistics (that is what he was, according to the department which employed Mr Kelly) what he has to say about hunting guns is informative and useful. He describes the working principles and how to apply them with sporting success and personal safety. Mr Kelly seems to have shot at every possible movable object in the form of animal or bird and in every renowned water, covey or scrubland in New Zealand. The book should be well received by gun-men who qualify as sportsmen, notwithstanding some aberration of spelling—suggesting this nicely illustrated book was prepared with more haste than Mr Kelly’s book on fishing.