FIELD AND STREAM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 57, 30 November 1907, Page 10

FIELD AND STREAM.

1 (BY "DRY I<'ly.")_ _ ; Tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society, has placed between 12,000 and 14,000 trout fry in the Upper Hutt ponds. These will bo hold over: and eventually liberated' as''yearlings. The deer and pheasants arrived from: England by the Tongariro on Sunday. Ono" pheasant died on the voyage out, but the remainder of the recent importations landed in good condition. Tho deer-catching party, under tho guidance of Ranger Downing, are at present pursuing their arduous task in the wilds, of tho Wairarapa. ' ■Local anglers took advantage of the fine weather prevailing las.t week end,:' : ,and in consequence tho streams wore =wcll patronised. Two anglers secured the limit at South Karori, tho fish mostly heing of the' nine-inch size, which abound in this popular little stream. A bag of eight was secured on creeper, in tho lower reaches of tho Mungaroa. They woro all about a pound each in weight. Gorr.v's Creek, a tributary of tho Mungaroa, yielded a nice bag of six for about, two hours' fishing with Hy last Tuesday. Tlic : Wainui-o-mata has'' been producing ■ good baskets of fish this season,' mostly ismall.' 'In conversation with a resident of.the. valley, ho remarked that tho four biggest : caught - by him this season wore all in the,.,vicinity of 3ilb. They woro taken on a 'governor just below tho dam. j ! y N ! -.. The kahuwai aro providing good sport in, tho lower reaches of tho Hutt,-River.' Ono angler, for seven landed, estimated) his losses and breakages of tackle at las', hut is convinced that tho kahuwai'. as a fighting fish easily beats the'trout;' The "Southland Times" of November 20 says: —"Some regard it as a holiday when thoy cease work to attend a or cricket match and watch tho nlnfeKThis is, no doubt, diversion of a valuable '.nature, but not one to bo compared visit' to the country, and if an angler one -iias' amplo cmploymont to fill in time pleasantly and profitably. But all cannot expect;'to have similar tastes, and, while some 'look a week forwardo to the happy morning >when they will sot out with bicycle and rod to tempt tho finny morsels from ;their habitat,- others prefer to occupy the day .;"on -the. '-.bowling green, cricket field, or in the' garden:/-.Our Orcpuki correspondent has written'!; with a view to bringing before thojieoplo of Southland the clailns the Waiau'River has on the angler, and points out as a feature of tho outing that should not be overlooked — this being that holiday-seekers will be away from telophone or telegraph,, and thus they can spread themsclvos out for a periodof pleasure without any interference whatever. . Only a day or two ago, he says, seve-. ral good catches were reported. A Mr. Richardson secured 19, a Mr. H. Sorensen 21, and Mr: Chas. Wilson bagged 19. The river is 'in splendid- condition. Thq Waiau fishery has been supplied with - -up-to-dato camps, which aro a credit to the .owners,-: and one has boon provided with a first-class cook, who will see that meals arc always in.-readi-ness. The proprietors make it their businessto make . fishermen, as- comfortable , by -the side of. this rivor as if in an hotel.". \

A southern exchange reports that while fishing at'the'mouth of the Ashburton River recontly Mr. John Thompsoni Wakamii;'succeeded in landing fourteen fish, up to 81b. in weight. Mr. Jonassen, Ashburton, was also successful in his last visit to' tho river mouth, when lie'caught soven fish, varying from 31b. to 61b. The river on Sunday week was on the dirty side, and, according . to anglers, the north-west wind experienced on Sunday night will keep it iii that condition for a few, days. A number of Ashburton anglers paid a visit to the mouth of the Rakaia on Saturday evening, and werofairly. successful. Mr. P. H. Cox landed: eight'fish; weighing in all 611b.; Mr. A. Pilbrow sccrirc'd seven fish, -varying from 31b. ■ to-nSlb ;r-. Mr. Seymour caught two fish between 1 31h.'and 41b. whflo Mr. D. Fricdlander secured 'four,, the heaviest being about 7{lh.' -There' wore about fifteen rods on the river, " and tho whole of the fish landed were scoured right" at tho bar.

| The - following report on a' poaching' .case appeared'iii the "Otago Witness" this week: —"A matter which lias aroused more' than an ordinary amount of interest in tho'district came before the' Magistrate. at Roxburgh on November 14, when Archibald M'Pherson and Philip Broad were charged with fishing for trout without a license. £Tho samo men were charged at last month's sitting of'the'eourt with dynamiting trout;, but the information was dismissed. Evidence was then given by three boys who heard'an explosion in an old dam at Coal Creek, and on •going to investigate saw the two men taking trout out of' the water, fhreo or four'fish wero lying on the bank gasping. ;In answer to a question: one of tho men saidi.hc had stunned tho fish by dropping a stoiie irito.tho water. • Tho accused denied this,'" And .'swore that they had lipt.used any. explosive;'and that the fish were, depd when 1 they got, to tho darn. They 'accounted for the! presence of the dead fish'bj' stating that they,luvd been killed in a race from which tho water had been turned off a few days previously, -and had beon washed down into dam when the water was turned on. At this rehearing one of .the. witnesses for the dofcnco said that he was wrong when he stated last month that this race ran into the dam in which the lisli wero found. It terminated at a higher dam soparated from the lower ono by banks of tailings, and ho did not think the water could overflow from th'fr, upper to the lower dam. The Acclimatisation' Society's rnnger inspected tho. prouild oir tho morning of November 14, aiid lie stated .that since tho previous hearing a wide, cliarinol quite oft. deep had been cut or. sluiced rtway so as to.lot.tho. water.of .the upper, dam- 1 flow down to the lower one. It was not ruwiing

down while lie was tlioro, but had evidently dono so quite recently. The defence was the same as oil the .previous occasion, but witnesses were called to show that within the previous fortnight they had seen water running from, one dam to the other. They had seen it run down in the same way some years previously, but did not know whether it was running a month ago. The channel could have been washed out by the water overflowing. Counsel for the defence contended that the dismissal, of the. previous information prevented any further proceedings being taken for . the same matter. and also contended that if dynamite were used this did not constitute "fishing" for _ trout. The Magistrate reserved his decision. Mr. W. R. M'Kean. appeared for the prosecution, >nd Mr. J. R. Bartholomew for the defence." "

A/Southland angler the other.day throw in a worm-baited-lino while lie-waited for the billy to boil. He had quite a lively time, and before a protracted lunch was finished lie had pulled out two trout and seven cols. A tyro trouMisher the other day made his maiden catch in sensational style. He decided that his-want of experience would excuse his niak-' ing use of the democratic worm for bait, and he noted accordingly . It wasn't quite sportsmanlike, but lie did want to catch 'something; First minute—quite exciting, ten false alarms. . Second 60 seconds—getting rather slow; don't seem to beany fish in that stream at all. Two minutes seconds by the stop-watch j -a tug! Calls frantically to friend along the bank to take the rod; must ho>it 20-piounder going GO miles an hour. Friend.takes rod, tyro grasps, gaff and dances along bank's edge. Coming, coming! Gaff Tises : with excitement,-head comes above ;ivater:\ " Smash! gaff severs tlio . trace. Splash!' tyro over-balances i and pitches head first'into ' stream. . Friend fishes tyro out — -minus'gaff.—and consoles him with the knowledge 1 ! that anyhow ,it was only an old- col. That's how a local choirmaster made his-first 'catch; -'Ho caughtva cold.,''- • -