BIG SEA FISH

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 51, 7 September 1928, Page 10

BIG SEA FISH

WAYS AND MEANS

NOT A TOURIST MONOPOLY

NEW ZEALAND SUPPORT

Hitherto the bulk of the support of big game fishing in New Zealand has come from people overseas, but is there any insuperable reason why this should be so? Why not New Zealand fishing for New Zealanders, as well as for visitors? Possibly one factor that causes residents of the Dominion to hesitate to go North for tho marlin and the mako and other big game fish (as they would for the Taupo trout) is an idea that tho big game fishing is abnormally expensive. But according to figures published in Northern papers, a launch can be hired for £3 10s a day, to which must be added about 17s 6d for benzine, making a total launching cost of £4 7s (id daily. Divided among three anglers, that cost comes to £1 9s 2d a head. Board is £1 a day, bringing tho daily bill of each of a party of three anglers to £2 10s. Probably few people, if they have not made inquiries, would believe that big game fishing at the Bay of Islands could be carried on at so low a range of expenditure. To those to whom the obstacle is lack of tackle, and a hazy idea as to what tackle is wanted, it may come as news that rod, reel, lino, traces, and hooks, with harness and accoutrement, can be hired for another 10s a day. To a large number of New Zealanders a visit to Taupo for trout-fishing is an annual fixture, because they know what it involves. Somo anglers who have pursued both tho trout and the big sea fish find the two outings not out of comparison either in expenditure or enjoyment. A reason for trying to encourage ample participation by New Zealanders in both forms of sport is that thereby knowledge of their attractions and their problems will become wider-spread in the Dominion, and a well-informed public opinion is an im-

portant aid to developing our fishing assets. Such development is needed for the sake of New Zealander and of visitor alike, and to give it the required stimulus an active int.erest on the part of the native-born is needed. Progress will not* bo secured by any false impression that tho enjoyment and the understanding of New Zealand big game fishing is a matter for tourists and rich men only. Tlie sport is not an exotic but a native heritage. Sea fishing costs may bo greater than the figures given above if the fishing ground is distant from the accommodation and anchorage, but in the case of some of the best-known waters (including record catch waters) the fishing ground and the accommodation are quite handy. The advantage of being able to run to shelter, or to fish inshore for kingfish and other smaller game fish on days when tlie big fish do not show, needs no emphasis. It is not to be assumed that the known waters for big game sea fishing represent tho sum total of future knowledge. There is a vast deal to be discovered yet about the haunts and breeding places and habits of broadbill and marlin. But extension of such knowledge is partly dependent on a practical study of the fishiig that is now obtainable in the established centres of the sport. It is not necessary that an authoritative lead on such subjects must always be sought in quarters outside New Zealand. From this and every other point of view a wider popularisation of the sport among New Zealanders is to be aimed at, and the economic difficulties in the way arc by no means so great as is sometimes assumed. _^___^_____