Rod and Gun. [By Gamebag.]

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 80, 1 October 1904, Page 14

Rod and Gun. [By Gamebag.]

[Contributions to this column, addressed "Gamebag," will be welcomed. They should be concise, and must be signed with the writer's full name and address, not for publication, but as a suarantee of authenticity.! The Rotorua correspondent of the New Zealand Herald has written an interesting article on Rotorua's prospects for the fishing season, which opens there on Ist November. Already, he says, rods and lines are being overhauled ; already enquiries are being made for launches, and already the accommodation-house keepers are being requested to reserve rooms, some for the season and others' for shorter terms. Indications are not wanting to prove that the fame of the Rotorua streams as .anglers' resorts has 'been spread far and wide, with the result that we shall have this season an influx of visitors— particularly anglers ---that we have not heretofore experienced. .Never before have trout been seen in greater numbers than they were at this spawning season. In the Ngongotaha stream, for fully ten miles of its course, fish were to be seen in countless numbers, all busily attending to their domestic duties, while the same sight met the eye of the observer in the Ohau, Utahina, Waititi, Hamurana, and more particularly at the Fairy Spring. The prospects ' for good sport this season are more hopeful than ever they have been before. The opening of the season on Ist November, continues the writer, is generally acknowledged to be a wise move, as the fish up to that date are not in a condition to be made use of, while they do not show that amount of fight when hooked which is so dear to the enthusiastic airglerj and" in which he delights 1 . Disappointment, however, is equally expressed at the date fixed for closing the season, as it is well known that the fish are in the pink of condition until the, end of that month, and even later. What may suit further south is not applicable here, and past experience has proved that the season could 'well be extended to the end of April. ■ Further afield the fish appears to be quite, as plentiful as in the immediate vicinity of Rotorua. At Atiamuri they are particularly numerous, and are to be seen sporting in large numbers in the Waikato river at this place, a river which 'offers the very best sport for miles. At Galatea, too, the streams abound with fish, and reports received from all parts indicate that anglers will not have to go far afield for sport of the best. Boats and launches innumerable are being "prepared for those who prefer trolling on the lake, so that none should be disappointed, whether they indulge in fly or minnow fishing. At the Palmerston Police Court last Saturday John Tait and Francis Alex. M'Minn pleaded Guilty to two charges of trespassing on the Hokowhitu, Lagoon in pursuit of game and killing game, to wit, black swans, out of season, on 15th September. For the first offence accused were convicted and discharged, and on the second were each fined 40s and costs 4s 6d. Mr. Innes, on behalf of the accused, offered as an explanation of the offence that they were under the influence of liquor, but the Bench refused to accept it as an excuse. Prohibition orders were granted against the accused on their own application. — Daily Times. Mr. W. W. Smith, late curator of the Ashburton Domain, writing from Auckland to Mr. Shury, says : — "While lately inspecting a large number of scenic areas in the Sot Lakes country, I wa^ impressed with the importance of introducing the rainbow trout into the rivers and lakes of the South Island. The streams flowing into all the lakes are now choked to excess with large and magnificent fish of this species in full spawn. The success that has attended the introduction of "rainbows" into the Rotorua district is due to the indefatigable work of Mr. Dansey, now chief postmaster at Ashburton. Mr. Dansey, I believe, attended personally to their hatching, and has unquestionably made a great success of it. We were lately inspecting the •Paradise Valley Waititi stream, near Tarukinga. The stream, though somewhat rough-bottomed, is now a. seething mass of rainbow trout. I caught some, and found that several weighed from 51b to 81b, and were in absolutely perfect condition, while their colours were most beautiful. At the watershed of the Ngongotaha river, at the Fairy and Awahau Spring the* are crowded into the bed

of the stream in many thousands, and it is the sight of a lifetime to witness such a peculiar phase in the economy of trout. Near the head of Lake Okarika we found large numbers df fish of various sizes stranded in a small creek. The latter had evidently been in flood, which induced the trout to come up to spawn. Hundreds were dead, but all that were' alive we carried back into the lake. In a few streams running into Lake Tarawera I believe thej have lately perished in thousands from the same cause. There are too few perennial streams flowing into the lakes to enable these beautiful fish to spawn successfully."