Moil and Gun,

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 66, 15 September 1906, Page 14

Moil and Gun,

[By Field Spout.] [Contributions to this column, addressed "Field Sport," will be welcomed. They should be concise, and must be signed ■with the writer's full name and address, not for publication, bub as a guarantee of authenticity. l It is a pleasant duty to resume the task of catering for readers of " Rod and Gun " — a happy augury of the good times drawing near for the great and, as we very properly think ourselves, important body of anglere. A little- more than a fortnight hence, and thos3 whose palms have itched for months past to grip the familiar butt and to send the tempting lure lightly before the quick eye of the breakfast-hunting 'trout, will be nocking to their favourite haunts, and tho whirr of the roel will bring tha joy of conquest to many breasts. The expectations of the past months will havo become the realities of tho x'resent; and who can tell what is in store for us? Who knows but that th? iccord seven or ten pounder of last season may be eclipsed in the months to come, and that ere winter sets us packing up again we may have a story for our friends of still more desperate achievements than those which won us piscatorial fame a year ago. That delightful uncertainty, that cheering possibility, that buoyant hopsfulnetii which aie part and parcel of all true anglers as they unpack their rods and open their fly books on the stream bank in the freshness of the early morning are 'o be ours once more, and our pitying sympathy goes out to all who know not tke.se delights. Anglers will have to face changed con- J ditiono in the Wellington province — more particularly in or near Wellington — during the coming season. That deadly lure, the creeper, which has cost so many thousand lusty 1 trout their lives, can no lonsrer do its work of devastation in some of our best waters. The frieky grasshopper, too, which later in the season is equally successful in depleting tho Streams, is also placed on the list of tabooed baits. Furthermore, the alluring worm, which does havoc when the rains are on, cannot bo called to the assistance of the angler in the particular streams given below. Naturally there has been an outcry. Opinions are bound to differ on the question of whether the steps taken are necessary to conserve tho fishing, or whether they" will achieve their purpose. For myself I think they will do no harm for a &cacon or two on trial, but I shall be very pleased to find space for and anglers— and I know there are several — who have anything to say on the other side. The streams affected by the otnbargo are as follows: — The Waimii-o-mata and its tributaries, the Wainui tributary of the Whakatiki, the Porirua, the South Karori, and the-Kaiwarra, all in the Hutt County ; the Waikaua*> and its tributaries, in the Hutt and Horowhenua Counties ; and the Tiritsa, the Kahutarawa* and the Tokomaru, near Palmerston North. No lures or baits other than artificial .fly and artificial minnow shall be used in the above streams. While on this subject I may mention that the following paragraph was cent in to this office during the week : — " Several weeks ago the Wellington Acclimatisation Society convened a meeting to discuss tho advisability of closing certain streams against the use of natural baits. Those anglers who rely on worm, creeper 1 , etc., for their bait did not attend the meetings and coneeiiuently the fly u&hevmnn carried tho <lay. The majority of "live-bait fishers are now very wrath at what they consider an uniust regulation, and several anticipate a larjco falling-off in the number of licenses tv bu issued this season " ¥ It i/s not generally known that even that kesn-eyed gentleman the frog can be deceived with an artificial fly. An nnßler who has for several years past fishad in the ICarori Reservoir, last &eacon caught quite a number of frogs by dangling tho fly just abovo them as they rested on the weeds. tfhe three fine trout, weighing 121b, 141b, and 191b respectively, which havo been on 'Exhibition at Tisdall'e. Sports Emporium for several weeks past, have led to many friendly discussions. Two of them werb called by a local (South Island) name — i.e., greenbacks. The general opinion is that they aie not brown trout, but salmon of some kind. _ A local angler, who fished the Hutt Piiver foi years, is positive that he haa taken quite a number of these greenbacks between Ahcetown and the pipe bridges, and ha& always classed them as sea-run trout. It would be very interesting to know to what family these greenbacks really belong, as both the eea-run brown trout and the greenback are caught at the mouths of the rivers, and the latter undoubtedly comes from the sea. Several very fine trout have been captured by fishermen in the harbour of late in their nets. A beautiful eight-pounder was hauled ashore near the Thorndon Esplanade a few evenings ago. A thousand fishing licenses were issued in the Wellington district last year. There has been a steady and rapid increase in the number issued for years Pa Fi'ftcen thousand trout fry from tho Masterton hatchery were liberated in tho Orua-Kiritaki stream near Dannevirke on Wednesday, and 10,000 were placed in the Tamaki river, also in the- Dannevirke district, on Thursday. N THE POACHER. The following extract from the letter of an enthusiastic angler should be read with interest: — • I have only been a short time an New Zealand, but being an enthusiastic fisherman, havo taken a great interest in a- sport which of its kind is second to none in the world. The number of instances I have heard of in which trout have been captured by underhand means are numerous. One man I met who certainly gave me some very good tips as to where to go ior sport in the neighbourhood in which ho resided, used to_ make my mouth water with tlotails of tho big 'bags which he had secured. I think it was this day I was leaving tuat particular locality that lit informed, mo lie had never used a rod in his life. I expressed my astonishment, and a&ked him how he, had caught his fish. Hecoolly .informed me that he always licklod the trout! Can anything be more appalling? Again, only quite recently, I heard of an instance where a man had "spotted" a number of trout in v, small pool. This pool he dragged with large hooks and captured mxteen nice fish. Dynamite is also not infrequently u&od. A* case of this nature was brought to mj notice recently. Three hundred and sixty fish was, I think, the number tuken by one explosion ! ! Again, and here I may bo treading 011 delicate . giound. <lo all minnow Jisher1 men angle legitimately? I have my doubts. I caunot believe Uiat the manj who uses two large-sized minnows, with their large complement of hooks, catches his trout fairly. It is against commonsense to think that trout, one of tho shyest of fish, will be lured by two large minnows flashing through the water. I cannot but think that a largo number of fish aro foul-hooked by this method. I am aware that there are rangers and that they do their work to tho best of their ability, but the number of kk * angers, in proportion to tte extent of

country to be supervised is very small. Local acclimatisation societies, when approached on the subject cay, "But, my dear fellow, the rangers cannot be every■where." True, mosb true, and as apparently the .revenue received yearly by these societies is not sufficient to provide for better supervision, the remedy must lie elsewheTe. I certainly think magistrates might b© more stvere on offenders. There is a certain class of poacher who takes fish and who esccuEas himself on the ground that theie are plenty for everybody. To these gentlemen I would say that if this belief is carried out to any extent there will soon bo a famine instead of a> feast. With the splendid stock, in the rivers now, and undei the favourable conditions which exist in New Zealand, fishponds and hatcheries should hardly bs necessary. No, the remedy lies with tho people themselves. The license i 6 an absurdly cheap one, and is within tho .range of practically all. Why not, then, if trout must be had, combine sport with profit and catch your fish in a sportsmanlike way? New Zealand' is world-famed for its trout. Do not then, even though this be a mercenary point of view, destroy or depreciate one of your most valuable assets. Vale ! brother trout ; may you increase and multiply.