ROD AND GUN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 27, 1 February 1908, Page 9

ROD AND GUN.

(By "Gamebag.") ' (Contributions to this column, -address^ "Gamebag," will be welcomed. They, should be concise, and must be sigued, with-, the writer's full name and afl« dress, nob for publication, but as a guarantee of authenticity.! • Still the rain keeps off and the riven; are low and still tho bush fires continue; to make outdoor recreation" in the coun< try unpleasant. Hardly anything h.at; been done in the rivers around Welling* ton, and without rain the present coridi< tions will remain • A -KUggestion which anglers who prcx ceed to Rotorua to lure the wary'"tr6u( will much appreciate has been made t< the Government by Mr. J, .Burtt, view president of tho Acclimatisation Society, says tho Auckland Herald. He wrote ti Sir J. G. Ward and to Mr. T. E.-Donn< (Superintendent of Tourist Resorts),' ' i* November, mentioning that expressions-ol regret and disappointment were 'frequenk ly heard regarding the conditions it which trout, brought to Auckland by tM express trains, arrived at their destina< tion, and ho suggested that the luggag< van, during the warm 'weather, should!' ba provided with an ice-chest, Mhe..co«^ of Inch could easily be recouped 'in freight, and -which could'also'be-used fo'a tho conveyance of salt water- fish -to Ron fc ? ru ?j n. To this Mt; Doime 'repli^a.rtbat should the matter be referred to him h« would be, pleased to" give it his r.econw mendation. At .tha- Acclimatisation* Bo< ciety's meeting yesterday/ MS "Buft^JafeSt tioned that having had no' reply from th* Premier -up to December "mv," Ke*""Kas again written; on this matter, but bo fa-2 had not received any reply. ' Some re« marks were made by-members about- do< partmental delays, x and, Mr. Butt "said that if something \vere->nofc-dotte> duickl* it 'would' bo tbo late for this '6eason/' - . At a meeting of the Council of th«; Canterbury Acclimatisation Society a let. ter -was received < froiri Mr. Edgat Stead.' making- a plea for clemency towards' Ah* black bhag, on which th& society, has set apice- The shaft Mr. Stead wrote,, although he did- eat troutj was deserv-' ing of much i inor& consideration "hoot anglers 'than he received. The priest on shags . heads had caused their jndis^ criminate- .slaughter,- and • mvny- bird* were killed that had never Seen a trSut in their lives. ~ Some years ago - he had snot nineteen shagfe on.' the"L6*e~i' belwyn, and on looking in their -stomaoh* he tound that seventeen , contained "ccli one a fresh, water crayfish, and-one-a small trout -about 6even inches long." Be« mg >a> bottom-feeding- fish the -eel was'ari especial- menace ; during tho spawning season, N and the damage done tjy 6efi was not confined to depredations amonrf the r trout themselves, , as they, ate -larff* quantities of food that would- orherwisa serve as food for tne trout. , The sharf had a great preference for eels, beoaus* pound for pound the' eel Twas ~mor« nourishing, and a shag could swallow * pound " and a half eel while- it' could onQ manage a ono pound trout. ""It Seeifagg to him that there were, many' «6re ?e\i at tho mouth of -the- Selwyn now tW there were ten years ago,;, while ther< were unquestionably fewer shags, Th€ danger in many of, the streams was nol of their depletion of trout, but J of overstocking/ and a natural 1 enemy in Any. cage' was 'necessary*, to -bring abpttfc 'tn* survival of the fittest. . He- suggested that the price on shags'' heads should b* removed, they "were A disappearing -bo rapidly tnat'before I6ngth*ey' would haY« entirely disappeared. A, 'member said that he agreed with a good deal of what I had .bean said. The shag wjis not an I unmitigated nuisance, and ' the streams were so well stocked that he thought, th« shags might have a sprinkling of the fish. At all events the Upper Selwyn was, Vilely overstocked, and a judicious thinning out \tks advisable, especially in streams like the Opihi and tho Tem<ika. He moved 1 that tlie price' should" be taken off shags' heads. Another speaker moVed as an amendment' that no reward should bo paid for shags except shos on Lake Rakaia, west of the gorge Tjr'idge. The;junGnduient wa s lost -and the motion ■earned. •' ■ „ ■ - ' ■ « „ , Mr. "Ayson, jiin., is in America, arranging., for the delivery in this 1 Dominion 'of half a million Atlantic salmon. Mr. Millar, Minister > of -^Ma,Tinefi states that this is an experiment, which is being conducted by his 1 department. Tho Pacific salmon has .been Acclimatised here, and the' department ; Trill ", ascertain, it "the .Atlantic salmon will also -bevsuccessful.' i ■ -,?.{• Some fine catches of trout we're" recorded at Temuka the' "other day:."' MtTJ: Pollock landed a beautiful specimen- of tlie brown txo-ctfc frriTn tk» ' Orprbi* -w?e|Klling 174-lb. At the Rattgitefe two-'qmn-< ' nat trout, weighing 6^lb and '41b respecw tively, wero caught.., A -corresponden* states that this is the 1 first time .'these fioii have been caught Jn this 'river. '■ < ' An eel of record sizo ; w.aa- oaughJi-'Jby; jNgairo, a Wairarapa -Maori, inthfiMautK gatahere stream the othei\ day., ' Th,« monster measured nine feefc- in -length, and turned the scale at 681 b. ,It"w3 secured by means of. the spear. An ex-< citing tinja was experienced in eridstw vourmg to secure ' another eel/^ttjaiiighl to bs # of even larger size. /.T[ri lrs-stßar^ gles it bent the spedr head, and, tinfbrftH nately for Cartertoh's . piscatorial \repiita4 tion, got clear away: .1, .• ' Ons of the grievances of fhe .Rotorua native is that all the native -fi^h are fall< ing. victims to the trout.' Tneir fav^uri lto koura (the f reshwater ' /crayfish} Jjj sharing the f ato of the other' native .fiVhi and the Maoris, (stated 1 Sir. Roborf'Stoui in conversation with an Auekfen^-'Hffa'hj representative)' are loud and "bitter, in their 'complaints --againsfc '-thV"-f>y*&geV^bl tho voracious, trout. . The-rgsrievanGS^i* not palliated -in" the" eyes ~of the Inative^ by their - prohibition from catching- irrott( without a- license- *- Qs&: "native, wha caught two or three trout at'ttte" begins ning of the season;, w^s fined' for ~the-aet, although the fish were taken .■frojira cragli the land on botK sides"' of '^wHich Vai owned ■by him. . '•■Where does -thf Treaty 01 Waitangi come in?" -the wo* derin^ native asks." ' '"• ; >v - The -annual meeting of the New £oa< land Gun Club Association was heldUasl Saturday evening, ~Mr:''T.~. Bamber : pr<* siding. Delegates wore present" frbrif twenty affiliated' clubs. . The'chatnp'ioiw ship competition for ISOB was 'aliotteflrii 1 the Hutt- Valley Club.' The fbllwvinir 1 officers wero elected :— President.- 'J(tr.-- X*i I Rutherford (D.aletnorpe, Canterbury)--vice-presidents," North , Island ' Mr! T< Bambor (Wanganui), 'South Island Mr. F w Redwood (Blenhoim); committfeßr-Mggsrß, {Hutfc Valfcy),.-E. H.-Eofeles-(BienneiMS R. Martin (Dunedin), 'and M. "F, Eyaa (Canterbury); secretary and £f r - £ WW T * Ca ssw (Christeluircb);.refeTO€i, Mr. C. 11. Cha.vanne3*<Wanganui). — -^ : The Temyka". Leader. -stateisVihat oon< siderablo attention has" been- drawn "later* to the nutter 0 { fouL^stanp in?t&;omH£ rhsresoems to be'-nb dotabt thfyh this.!* going ont o a ' very l la'rge r "extent. --'-in n shop in Temuka there can be found) an appliance tor catching, trout that-js^ «e r -< tainly unsportsmanlike. It was 'takes out of the river Jjy Mr. W. M'Callum* but to whom it belongs has not ttaniS pi red. It consists of hoots standiha out of about an inch of quarter-inch "eki piping,- a piece of lead, a piece lof line, •and so. on. - • Those are, so contrived" thjit they sink to the • boftbm\ of thewatorand are dragged along -xuntil- a fish/ii hooked. What happens next can easil* be imagined.

A proposal, to consider the whole question of -University Education ia New Zealand was.'made at the university on Thursday, by- Mr. Von'^aast, in the shape of- a motion that a recest committee, consisting of:Mr."Baume, Professor F. D. Brown, the Rev. A. Cd,m< oron, Professor Cook, the Rev. W. A. Evans, Professor Shand, the chancellor (ex officio), and the mover, be appointed to consider and report> on -Dr.-'SfcuT Jordan's suggestions, and the other suggestions contained in. tho Chancellory's report, Mr. Cameron's motion, the coordination of university degrees, so. as to bring the university education of New Zealand into line with/iMdern. developments in the leading unrversitiea of Europe and 'America. • Professor, J. R. Brown seconded the motion; which was carried after a phort discussion^