THE PRESENT FISHING

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 122, 25 May 1928, Page 7

THE PRESENT FISHING

'COMPLAINTS AT HOME (From "The Post's" Representative,) LONDON, 18th April. Opinions directly opposed to one another are expressed in "The Fishing Gazette'" concerning the fishing in the Thermal District. Mr. C. Kirklcy challenges the statements in Captain T. E. Donne's book—"Rod Fishing in New Zealand Waters." In the"course- of his letter ho says:— , '' Captain Donne writes of the trout fishing as it used to be years ago; with this I can find no fault. Trout fishing to-day is .only a shadow, so to speak, of what it was, say, in 1910. The fish are nothing like so heavy and nothing like the quality they were in those days, and, worst of all, the conditions' have so altered. To-day one can count hundreds even of rods on the Tongariro during holiday seasons. The old. days with a few enthusiasts and skilled anglers are gone." Mr. F.-Barrington Deacon says: "Any of your readers who contemplate the long and expensive journey to New Zealand'for trout or salmon fishing would be well advised to think once, twice, and thrice—and 'then some! Around Rotorua fishing is especially poor, and has been so for several seasons. But the New Zealand. Tourist Department is particularly *fond of urging thither the stranger within their gates for reasons which one very soon finds out when one gets there." The New Zealand Publicity Officer replies to these, aud quotes a letter from a gentleman in New Zealand who had read Mr. Kirkley's statements in the December issue of "The Fishing Gazette." He writes:— ■ "It may interest you to know that, the trout fishing of Taupo this year is, in my humble opinion, as good as ever. As an instance, may I state my own experience, and I have fished ever since the streams first opened in the Auckland province. In twelve days, from 6th to lSth December last, I secured on the ily 50 fish in the Waikato River, in the vicinity of Lake Taupo, my best bag being seven fish, weighing 35-Jlb. All the fish, with one exception, wore in excellent condition." The Publicity Officer also quotes Mr. Zano Grey. NO ROOM TO SWING- A ROD. ''A Taupo Angler,'' writing . from Taupo, is very pessimistic. "The angler arriving at Taupo," he says, "and paying the high license fee of &G —exacted from overseas visitors only—finds that he must purchase or hire a motor-car or hire a launch at £4 a day in order. to reach the fishing grounds. There used to be fishing in the neighlrourhood of Taupo itself, but constant trolling has cleared out all the bays, and good fishing is now only to be had at the mouths of streams, of which very few enter the lake. These few places are nearly always crowded from 4 a.m. until midnight, and the anglers often stand about two yards apart. The visitor will be very lucky if lie gets room to swing his rod. "At one time it was possible by getting a place in a camp on the Tongariro River to secure a stretch of water to one's self for half a day at a time; but now the banks of the river have been acquired by the Government and the fishiug thrown open to all, so that an angler can never count on having-a pool to himself, but must fish with anglers on either side of him, and frequently h'a-s difficulty in getting room to fish at all. "In the last three years the iish ml Lake Taupo have deteriorated very much in size and condition, but an occasional fish is.still caught up to 10 lb in weight. The majority of the fish caught in the .early part of tho present season have not been, Worth -the trouble of landing." ..