IN QUEST OF THE QUINNAT

Evening Star, Issue 21079, 16 April 1932, Page 2

IN QUEST OF THE QUINNAT

[Written for the ‘Evening Star.’! The month of April arouses in tho hearts of all earnest anglers the ambition to land at least one big quinnafc salmon. Those who have already experienced his fighting qualities diligently seek an excuse to slip away , from work for a few days, while those for whom the experience will be a novel one are almost as ‘keen. " The quinnat 'salmon is for most people,' even anglers, an unknowii quantity. There is a great deal of speculation as to its habits, but very little that is definite seems to b» known about them. The full-grown salmon, acclimatised from Canadian waters, comes in from the sea to spawn during tho autumn months, spending a few days at the mouths of the great snow-fed rivers in order to become accustomed to the fresh water. Sometimes huge" shoals can he seen from the cliffs lying off the mouths of the rivers like so many black logs resting in the shallow water. Here they congregate until ready to run up the river. It is a spectacular sight when the big fish swim upstream against tho strong current, as though they were in still water. At this stage their backs are" a dark green, and they are a bright silver underneath. The best time to watch them is in the early morning or evening, although odd ones may be seen during the rest of the day. These fish, unlike the trout, do not splash on rising to the surface, but porpoise, showing their big glistening backs above the water for a second and then disappearing from view again.Often I have stood on the bank some twenty miles up the Waitaki River, rod in hand, waiting for a shoal to appear. Presently, far down the river, a small black object flashes in the sun - for a moment, and I know that very soon a largo number of the quarry; I have come so far to seek will be entering the pool I am fishing, and if I am lucky will rest there after them long and hard fight against the current. I am not disappointed, for soon at the foot of the still, deep water salmon are porpoising two and three at a time. Slowly they move up towards me, and where the fast water enters the pool sink from sight to _rest a while at the bottom of tho river.: Now tho angler has bis chance; porpoising fish are difficulty to catch, but once they cease travelling and settle down to rest the chances of annoying and hooking them are much greater. By stages of perhaps twenty miles, the large shoals travel up big rivers such as the Molyneux and Waitaki, and then into the lakes which feed them. They travel slowly across these waters, porpoising as they go. By the time the salmon have reached the lakes they have lost their _ original brightness and have assumed a deep copper colour, nor are their backs any longer round and fleshy. The fish are now of little use for eating, although they may still provide excellent sport. The idea of the salmon seems to he to swum as far. as possible before spawning. The distance Ibey travel therefore depends upon when they are ready to spawn. Some cease travelling shortly after leaving the sea; others, and it would appear the great majority, after crossing the lakes run up the smaller rivers which feed them, A ’. great number''' m v .these streams. A few travel bn until they run into creeks, which are so small that the fish cannot turn round. While spawning, salmon lie quietly in still water, depositing their ova in holes prepared by the protruding lower jaw of the males. , , The remarkable thing about the quinnat salmon is that after their work of propagation is completed they die. During the month of June thousands of dead and dying quinnat are washed up on the shores and banks of tho rivers and lakes into which they have In spring the fry are hatched and slowly make their way down to tho sea. In appearance. they are not unlike small trout, except for a slightly more pronounced touch of silver. When they enter the sea they disap- , pear for about four years, to reappear again as full-grown salmon weighing twenty and thirty pounds. . - That briefly is the qumnat’s life story. Let us now watch an expectant angler and- witness, if we are fortunate enough, in ’the capturing of one of these big fish. ; The fisherman has been . casting vigorously while the salmon have been moving towards the head of the pool. So far he has been unsuccessful, but as the fish disappear from sight his chances increase with his excitement. He fishes with an Bft cane rod, a casting reel holding 100yds of platted flax line, and a silver and copper spoon which in shape and size is very similar to tho bowl of an ordinary desert spoon. To this _is attached three large hooks, each facing a different direction. When drawn through the water the spoon spins rapidly, flashing.' a bright copper as it revolves. The salmon makes a vicious snap at the bait as it passes him, not, as would be - expected,'' because he thinks it is something to beat, but because the bright moving object annoys him. Once a salmon enters the fresh water his gullet becomes twisted and he cannot feed. Tr- idea, therefore, that he ran be caught on a tempting bait is quite erroneous. The angler is now fishing very carefully, winding his lino in more slowly to allow the spoon to spin nearer the bottom where the fish are resting. He makes half a dozen casts without success; then, shortly after his seventh,strikes something solid. His rod bends and his heart leaps—in vain; he is fast to a sunken tree. A hard tug and the rotten wood gives way. He casts again, and again strikes something solid; but lie is more cautious this time and does not strike heavily. He holds the rod upright with moderate tension for a second or two, and then suddenly feels the line torn from his hands, the reel sings, and his rod is jerked towards the water. He is fast to a big, fighting quinnat. How his nerves tingle 1 Will tho line hold or the hooks tear out under tho strain? The fish makes for the current, heading down stream, and he perforce has to follow, trying as ha does to turn his quarry towards tha bank. And so the struggle continues, , while we stand breathless, fearing to see the lino slacken after one of those swift runs and vigorous shakes. But the fish’s luck is out, the tackle holds, and slowly ho is drawn towards the bank. Once out of the current the end is swift. The angler 1 wades into water up to his knees, and as soon as he can. bring the fish within a yard of where he stands makes a deft stroke with his gaff, and then scrambles back to the bank as quickly as possibly, holding his rod in the left hand and in his right liis gaff, at the end of which is a glistening salmon of thirty-two pounds! When the angler has killed his fish and extracted the hooka ho sits down under a nearby willow to rest awhile and gloat over his catch. On the following day he returns to town to win the admiration of all his friends by describing to them, with the help of appropriate gestures, how ho lought and killed a forty-pound quinnat salmon.