TROUT FISHING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 300, 12 September 1908, Page 9

TROUT FISHING.

THE BIST STREAMS NEAR WELUNC* : TON. | • (By Dry Fly.) ' /' i-' ' ' ' . Notwithstanding the stigma, that credits' [ the angling fraternity with mircroscopic eyes ' and elastic memories, their ranks continue to . be. swelled each season. In most cases the 1 new followers of the gentle art have to a 1 very large extent been influenced by the re-, mitiiscences of some "old stager, or probably 1 have yielded to the persuasions of an angler, ( with only a season's performances. In either, case it is : as well to get an experienced fish-.' erman to select the necessary tackle, for a 1 beginner as a rule chooses an unsuitable rod and the most striking of those artistic and • gaudy lures calculated to scare to the bot--1 tomest depths of the stream oven a starving i trout. • ... One of the handiest and probably the beststreams for the novico to start on is the South Karori. 'It rises in the . Karori hills and flows through the township of Karori, . entering. Cook Strait between Island-Bay and Terawhiti. The lower .reaches yield the. best ■ sport, although some lino baskets; have been. ;pbtained iri : the upper waters. ._ It 'is -well stocked and possesses a game variety of trout which,-though on the small side, fight well. They take the fly readily, and with two , standard varieties of flies, viz., March Brown , and Governor, a beginner can expect a certain, amount of success. The stream is easiest t to-.fish, in" a south wind, which -blows up • stream; . ~ . ; 'The ,'notorious Makara Hill 'has been a'' safeguard ■ against overcrowding oh ; the Makara • Stream.'- The upper waters are, practically unfishable m consequence of overhanging willows; ' Por- . tions of the Makara are well stocked, but the fish give little sport, being of the slug-; [ gishtypo. Live baits are as a rule : used t with-good results,: but -large bags have been made with both minnow and fly.- On one. or | two occasions fine specimens of sea-run trout have.- been takeq near the mouth,- where the ' stream flows into Ohariu Bay. . The TakarauStream, which enters the Makara about three ' miles from its' mouth, has repeatedly been'' | stocked with rainbows and sea-run trout fry, ; also some yearlings, but for unknown reasons ! nave never thrived, and only an odd ' trout is taken from there. A' popular handy stream early in the season is the Kaiwarra, which for. the openings , gives fair sport. The stream .is badly" 7 poached -by numbers of small -boys; who have'established, bathing ponds there,'tind as the' ' summer approaches the trout disappear. Wellington anglers of old standing cau look back with pleasure to odd days spent on the Korokoro. A few seasons ago this was the recognised haunt of • many anglers, but since the "creeper fiends" have taken' their "record bags" ranging from 40's to 80's the once popular stream has fallen into the ranks of the "has beens.". The reservoir construction work there -is also in a measure responsible for the falling off, and now the man who secures a dozen half-pounders with fly has had a really good day. Last season's reports from there indicate that a visit early in the season may prove a profitable outins. ' The Hutt River, with its many well-stocked tributaries, offers fishing enough for all of Wellington's anglers. The uncertainty of - -tho feeding habits of the trout that abound UK the .Hutt' itself, however, docs not tend ixT popularise it... In the lower waters dur- : ,ing the, summer .months live bully has proved -a'[deadly:'lure' "during the hours of darkness, , but in the' daytime the large fish generally, refuse ' the most tempting s baits. Fly is / used, with success from Belmont upwards, but, as stated,before, the fish are uncertain , feeders, and one never knows what luck • awaits him.; The Belmont Creek, a small tributary of the Hutt, gives" very go'od ; sport early in the : season, but is seldom fished with'success after November, as the trout'usually drop down to tho Hutt as tho dry season approaches. Last season it was 1 reported that some rainbow trout of largo size had been caught in the Silverstream. The authenticity of ■ the statement was doubted .by" many. Tha Silverstream; is a,;small body'of water, which. 1 flow's'through private-property,'arid at times' has an outlet to the Hutt River, but gener- ■ : ally filters through tho shingle. The stream is full of water weed, which makes angling practically impossible, for a fish hooked finds safety by diving into the weed and fouling the line. J Inaccessible Whakatiki, or Moonshine, as it is commonly.called,.attracts a fair number ; of anglers." ''Youth'and activity are essential to safely negotiate tlio'precipitous cliffs, and gorges, which'form tho'banks of this stream. The old sawmill track from Paliautanui_is the easiest mode of access, although there ia a fairly good, track from Trcntham. The fisb are shy, but on'occasions take artificial lines readily.. Live baits, however, are mostly used. Several trout, .exceeding fivo pounds each in weight, were socured .last season, but one angler, who fished regularly throughout the season, finished up with a 2Jlbs. average from the stream. The Wainui, a tributary of the from tho under's point of view, has ita drawbacks'. ' Tush are there in great numbers,; but. overhead obstacles, in : the form of bush, • greatly interfere with the casting. Since the' limit of twenty fish, and. the artificial.'baifc restriction have been applied this stream lias , greatly improved. With artificial fly last season scvoral hundreds of trout were taken, and .few anglers, who could throw a decent line, failed to securo the limit. Although only' a small body of water, many trout, ranging from two to fivo pounds, have been. grassed. Hundreds of anglers have tried their luck, with varied success, on tho Akatarawa, a largo tributary of tho Hutt River, which flows in above the Upper Hutt. It is a perfect fly stream, but on account of its clearness requires skilful angling. Many resort to tho creeper, 'hopper, and locust in sea- ' son, but, with fiy, the average angler can reap his reward. There ,arc few reaches in the Akatarawa that caifnot bo safely negotiated ; one or two gorges bar progress to"the norvous, but' with ordinary caro theso avo '' | easily passed. Somo excellent catches havo been rnado in the "Brook," a small tributary ' of tho Akatarawa. Tho peculiarity about this stream is that tho body of water flowing into the Akatarawa gives- no indication of tho fine ponds and rapids higher up. One party who visited there on an "off day" in the Akatarawa secured over thirty, for.two rods, with fly, and. sonie of the catch ex-, ceeded two pounds each, while the total averaged about, a pound. (To be concluded.)

That the English language is spoken mora correctly by the American people as a whole a ? than by the inhabitants of the British islands as a whole and on the average. -is an undeniable fact.—"lntrnv OoeaJi," Chicago*