FIELD AND STREAM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 104, 25 January 1908, Page 9

FIELD AND STREAM.

' ' • • (I3Y Dry FLY.) 1 The continuous spell of;. playing havoc with the?* fishing,and ; - : >lias ; been respbnsible for the death' of .thousinds : of trout. Tliff, busb hrcs.,havei.gi:ealy.'idinnnisli'ed the numbers : tf6ut;:in;'the: country, districts. Unless rain come's''soqu'tho : general opinion is that the tishiugAaround Wellington, especially in the' smaller -, streams, ; will, bo' thrown back several' seasons. ; Good ''wjrk' has. been 'done by f erring trout from tho.:-fas£-drying*ujj "small waterways to larger streififtsl—";".'," Some.line catches of \trout,: were.,recorded at -i'enuika recently. Air. j.l'ollocklanded a beautiful specimen of 't'ho'brown'trout tfoin the Opihi,weighing'-'!?ilbV'i At,-the. llangitataj off-Saturday last, iliy' Aspi'iiall pbtaincd twoquinhat trout,'.' w.eigljingVGjlbi;' respectively. A iiliis is-tlio first, tini6th'ese v fish..have, be'eh.'iiv. .this river. .. _ : 1;,,,.'. : -, A . southland - ./exchange,; says"An -adjourned charge against six young men of netting trout within bait' a miio of the mouth of a river was set down for hearing beforo Mr." S. E; M'Cartliy, S.M., but the case was; struck out on the application of Mr. E. liussell, who appeared tor the Southland Acclimatisation Society.' Ho' stated that the defendants.. had previously been beforo the Court, and one of them convicted on the same set of, circumstances as was -relied.on. in-tho present case, "and tho Society did not consider it necessary to proceed further iii tho matter.. Tlio facts aro that,a' party went down the estuary for the purpose of netting fish, and that in .'one of their hauls several trout came to light. One of tho company insisted,' against .the 1 advice of the- others,, in taking the-trout caught away with him, and ! on arrival at tho jotty, Ranger Friend,'who had been watching the proceedings from the foreshore, appeared and fouiul-tho fish in.the boat. ■

An cxchango says:'"At.'the Magistrate's Court at Wiiitori, before Mr. S. E. M'Carthy, S.M., Robert Hart, of Gap 'Road,- flaxmiller,.was charged with having on December 5 allowed fiaxmili refuse to flbw'into the Win-, ton Creek. The information was laid by Ranger Friend, on behalf of tho Southland Acclimatisation Society, for whom Mr. E. Russell appeared to prosecute. Mr. Rattray, for tho defendant, urged that it was necessary for tbe prosecution to prove that the flaxmili refuse was noxious or injurious to trout. Mr. Russoll, in reply, argued that it was an offence under tho Act to allow,.refuse from llaxmills to" flow into a stream, (vhetlier injurious to fish or not.' '1110 Magistrate stnted that lie had no hesitation in upholding Mr. Russell's-contention, and he aildcd further,' that lie also found as a'fact,that flax refuse bccamo injurious to fish. "Defendant was convicted and lined £5, with'costs'£2 9s. ■ • An : appliance for "catching" .trout was dragged out of Mara's'pqnd;/on: tho- Lower; Opihi ono evening recently; (says an- ex-' chaj.ge), and given to Mr.'/P. Palliser, vicepresident, of the Acclimatisation : Socioty,-for; presentation to members,at tho next monthly : meeting. A brief description ',of.' this lu'ro used by modern ,fish-grabbers..(tliey'caiiriot: be called anglers), is js^.l.ollows'.-rOii'three; lengths of doublo gut .were ' tied tbreo. bigeyed triplet' hooks; thfe ends of-tho gut'were; brought together and a strong lino attached about lOin. along the' lino'was'a'heavy piece! of lead, and abovo ' this -.again . were three' other pieces of lead. The method, of using; this grappling iron is to' tliiow "it into tho .pond and rake tho bottom across and' ricross and up and down, and foul-hook,any 'fisli 'tliatl is resting on tho shingle: The'mali'.'ivho used; it evidently .'got snagged, at the finish, .and, left'it and' some yards of lino iiv tlie'-'pond,' and it was drngped out .as stated;" ' Thero-is a strong feeling in the.'Society that tho Opihi; :.should' bo reserved for trout-fly fishing,; and; it is tho finding of suc'if "baits" as tho olio lioro described that strengthens that feeling If the river ever is to bo reserved,.it wiU.be; the fault of some anglers who are determined to catch fish, fair or foul, "that, such reservation is brought about. A northern exchange records the following about Rotorua fishing:—Mr. E; P. Koe, who has been augling in our lakes and streams for somo time, writes as follows:"While fishing recently,' to my great disgust I lost my fly and about one foot of cast, but since; to my great surprise, 1 caught a fish with same length of cast and fly, .tho same kind as I lost, and not so very far from the place whero I first hooked the fish." ' A most accommodating and honest trout. All anglers are not quite so fortunate as our correspondent. I'ly-lishing for ten days on Lake Rotorua, in the launch Waratah, Goncral Sir A. Dor ward and Mr. Hoar secured 317 trout; theso fish averaged 31b. Angling witli the fly at Awahon, Mr. and Mrs. lies placed 37 fine trout in their basket as the result of a few hours' angling. Jndgo Palmer, Mr. Ryan, and party, fly-fishing and trolling in Lake Rotorua, caught 64 fish. Air. and Mrs. Chappe-Hall, with the fly, ai Waiteti, secured 17 nice fish, caught 3 trout averaging ,31b. Messrs. Carter (2!, as the result of two days' angling with tho fly, caught G2 fish. Miss Helga Petersen, of Christchurch,- Carterton, ang-, ling in Lake Rotorua, secured .17 fish on the fly, ■ tho heaviest being 7Jlb.' Very large catches aro reported by fly-fishers during the last w»k or so.