"THE FIRST"

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 68, 29 September 1928, Page 10

"THE FIRST"

EAGER ANGLERS PROSPECTS SO FAR GOOD (By "Pcveril.") It is tantalising to all-good anglers that the fishing season for trout, perch, and tench commences this year on a Monday, and the fact that it is next Monday does not remove the feeling. Only those with leisure can afford to go out, but the following week-end no doubt everybody will make up for it. From the reports from taeklo shops, there is more interest this "first" than for some years. Certainly the interest in angling has increased of late years, and it is doubtful if the fish have kept pace. Big fish may be expected, in tho natural course of things, to becomo scarcer and scarcer in New Zealand, as the streams become polluted and the feed gets scarcer, while the vanishing forests mean spates and shingle where there were formerly bush-fringed streams, deep still pools, and an abundance of insect lifo. Still, there is always the tiny shell life iv the streams for feed, and if the big fish have gone never to return, there are plenty of lively pounders in their place. Prospects are said by the rangers to be good generally, there is plenty of water in the rivers, and fisli have been seen in goodly numbers in many of them. As far as the Hutt River and its tributaries is concerned, there is no doubt that there are plenty of fish, though it is true that in the lower reaches, owing to the effects of population and the inevitable discharge into the streams of inimical drainage, occasionally tar, and other things which fish dislike, the fishing has not improved during the spawning season. Anywhere above Mellings, however, if the weather and river are right, it will be the angler's own fault if he returns empty-handed, as-there aro plenty of trout, and some nice ones. Belmont Creek is one of tho spots where the angler who does not despise brook fishing may.take a nice basket at the beginning of the season. The water is good above that all the way The Whakatikei, that gorgy, forestbordered stream, is always one.of the spots where one may reckon on finding someone ahead of him during the_ early days in October. It is pegged out, in imagination, at any rate, like a gold creek, long before the season opens. It can be relied upon to provide a few really good fish, two or three inhabiing each pool, but after it has been combed in October it takes a skilful angler to take a basket there. It is worth the trip anyway. The Akatarawa is not what it once was, but there are still fine trout in it, and tho water, as is the case with the Hutt River above tho junction with the Akatarawa for a mile or,so, isi the most perfect fishing water man could desire. - . The Mungaroa in its lower reaches is turgid and torpid, but if the angler goes above the swamp water, he may find good fish there, and in the holes on the u^ipor.reaches there should be some good fish taken out next week. Tho Pukeratahi, brown and uninviting though the water looks, yet con- . tains some excellent fishing water above, and though the trout are neither numerous nor large, it is not much fished, and the "first" angler may find himself alone, something of a concession these days. Much of the Hutt River above the Pukeratahi is too rugged and unapproachable for the average fisherman, but there are some big fish for those who do not mind mountaineering between holes, or handling heavy fish amongst the logs. Trout of almost unbelievable size have been'seen in the Hutt where it tears its way through the bush from the base of Mount Alpha. For those who like the smaller brooks, the Kaiwarra, Korokoro, and Karori offer easily got-at spots. The Karon is not as good as it was, but anyone who goes to South Makara, and follows the Karori down to the sea, may get an odd good fish or two in the rocky fi°leS' . „ TTT -1 Further afield there is the Waikanae, the paradise of the novice, because fish are plentiful, though not large, unless the angler, be a dry-fiy expert, and capable of coaxing some of the four-pounders which reject the wet fly as a rule. The Otaki, especially up about and above tho Forks, is one of tho few streams offering the pleasures of tho Whakatikei, but tho angler there needs considerable agility to penetrate to where the water is unfished, and,the trout aro large. It is early to talk of the fishing at Mangahao, but quite a number of anglers' huts have been erected there already, and in the stream below tho dam, enlarged since the overflow, there are said to be some very nice rainbow. ' . In the Wairarapa there is a choice or. ■ many rivers, perhaps tho pick being in tho tributaries of the Waiohine, while tho Ruamahunga is fairly well stocked. Mention must not be. OYnitted of the Manawatu and its tributaries. Some excellent fishing can be got in the neighbourhood of Dannevirke, Woodville, Eketahuna, and Pahiatua. Near tho latter is the lovely little Makuri, always well stocked because of the deep unfishable gorge, and with a few rainbow in its upper brooks. . . All these streams and localities will bo well patronised in the next week or two, with varying success, but it is not as a rule until November, or even later, that the weather and streams are suitable for fly fishing, though a few hot days make a wonderful difference.