Hod and Gun

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 138, 7 December 1907, Page 18

Hod 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 They should be concise, and must be signed with the, writer's full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of authenticitj-.l The happiest fish in New Zealand on Saturday afternoon was a little perch, whose habitat is Karori reservoir. It is not often that a fish gets any satisfaction in the battle with the angler, but this perch had a very soothing victory. The man had toiled long, and had caught nothing. At last a nibble came, he struck, and the biter seemed to be caught. In 1 his excitement the angler ctamboured along the treacherous edge of the lakelet, and the bank began lo tottor under his great weight. He realised that he was in danger, and clutched the branch of a tree. The timber was not in sympathy with the fisherman, and snapped. The man went one way, his rod another. He was immersed nearly up to his neck, and in the moantime'the fish wriggled free. Sadly the angler regained dry land, picked up his geaT, and eventually caught a car. Thoughtlessly he sat next to people who had not been a-perching, and presently one of the adjacent sitters was conscious that he was getting more for his penny than ho desired. When he traced the ooze to its source, he opened the flood gates' of his wrath, and the fisherman received another drenching. This language was even more disconcerting than the cold plunge at Karori, and the victim was very glad to make his escape, and to vow that perch-fishing was not a desirable sport. Another week of chasing the root of all evil, however, may /cause him to yearn for his old love. "Oh, ,'how I lovo the woods!" There has been a shag doing mischief to tho fish in the Karori reservoir for some days past. Will anyone with a gun please oblige? Anglers throughout the district arc wanting rain. The rivers aro very low, and with the result that good sport is lacking. The Wainui-o-mata is suffering most, but the trouble is general. As stated last week, the Hutt is the only river that can be said to havo benefited by tho drought. Two experienced fishermen last week spent four days in the Wainui-o-mata below the reservoir, and caught seventy fish in the time. The average weight was about §lb, »vith thclargcst about lj,lb. Complaint is made by some that the river is too full of fish. Sometimes, at certain places lately, hundreds of small fish could be seen. To get the best results in the river, either I the limit will have to be abolished for 'a time or else more feed put in the water. The fish cannot grow to anything like size under the present conditions. It is stated also that there are 'other rivers in the district that have too many fish. This however, is a fault on the right side, and no doubt things will gradually right themselves. The Hutt has been gaining prominence lately. It has been patronised to a considerable extent, and good bags j have becen reported. This river is i somewhat difficult to fish. Many people go there ono day, get no fish,, and ever afterwards regard the river as not worthy of attention. As a- matter of fact, the r'ver perhaps the day after is swarming with fish, some of considerj able size. The water opposite Belmont has been yielding good bags. j Eight miles up the Akatarawa River I an angler tho other day got six fish all I about 21b each. I "G. Washington" writes from Newtown: — " If there's anything I hate it is the fellow who tells lies, about the number and size of the fish he catches," he remarked casually, as he leaned up' against a fence, ' and slowly filled his pipe. His auditors remained silent; they had heard him talk before, and know that he needed no" encouragement. Carefully ne rolled the tobacco, slowly, and impressively he loaded his pipe, with graceful action he struck a match

on his waistcoat, applied it, and "drew" vigorously for a few seconds, and \yith evident satisfaction. Then he spat, and the boys knew that a' "true" story was about to be unloaded. 'Yes," he continued, in a grieved tone, "There's nothing — absolutely nothing — in lying about anything, and particularly about fishing. 'T least, I can see any points in it. I've caught some big fish, as big as any of my friends hereabouts ever caught, and I've caught many at one outing. But I've never skited about that;,l don't hold with skiting." Here the discourse stopped short while the orator sternly eyed one of the party . whom he thought he had discovered in the act of winking at another. Then ho proceeded:—"! haven't done quite so well this season as I did last, but o* course, the season's not old yet. However, I haven't shaped so badly. Yesterday (he looked modestly at his vest) I went up the Hutt River, and made perhaps what would be considered to be one of the most curious hauls ever mado with a rod." The boys nudged each other, and entered upon mental calculations as to the size that would be mentioned. (The calculations varied from three feet to twenty-five feet-). 'The narrator was finding some trouble with" his pipe, and did not seem as if his story had any more interest for him. After ' an awkward pause, one of the crowd allowed his curiosity to overcome his natural modesty, and asked:— « "Well, what did you catch?" Slowly came the answer: "You mightn't beheyo me, boys, but it's a fact— a whitebait!" No one spoke, the fence creaked, and the moon looked down with a quizzical expression in her face. Then the party jroke up. The Bay of Plenty Times has been' informed that pheasants and quail are now plentiful on the east coast from Whakatane to Waihi. In somo instances farmers report damage to young crops of maize Doth by pheasants and quail. Others complain of the depredations of quail in paddocks of younf clover. A man who travels the district a good deal says he recently counted forty-three pheasants — mostly cock birds — inside a distance of twenty-eight miles between Matata and the Paengaroa Junction. A fishing line with bait was placed in a river over-night. On visiting the line next morning a large eel was found naught. ■ On • endeavouring to detach it from the hook it was found that a small eel inside the large one also came off the hook. The supposition is that tho small eel was caught first, when the larger pne came .along looking for a meal. . The above' is from ,Toko, not America (says the Stratford Post).

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