The Hawera Star. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1924. THE SPORT OF ANGLING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 7 October 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1924. THE SPORT OF ANGLING.

Delivered ewry evening Dy & o’clock in Hawera Menaia. Norman by. Okaiawa, Eltham! Patee., Waverley, Mokoia, Wbakamara, Ouangai, Merosnere. Fraser Road. and Otakeuo Manutahi. Alton, Hurieyville, Mangatfiki, Kaponga. Awatuna, Opunake,

M'e wonder if, to the ardent disciple of Izaak Walton, any day on the calendar has more importance than October 1. On that day everyone who has secured his license ;. s empowered for the first time in the year to take his rod and gear, buckle'on his waders and sally forth to whip the streams and exercise his utmost art to ensnare the wily trout or perch or salmon,' or whatever other fish the u atei may hold. Probably no country offers more attractions to the angler than this Dominion, and of all parts none is more highly favoured or more generously organised than South Taranaki. ■ Deports this year are that, given suitable weather conditions, the season should be one of the best. Our Opunake correspondent records that the season has opened well in that district, and no doubt reports of good sport in other parte will come to hand before long. The Hawera Acclimatisation Society, whose activities extend over the whole •it South Taranaki, have always been noted for their efficient managementand their very thorough control of the fishing facilities of the district. Besides the large numbers of yearlings always distributed, there has been a great deal .of liberating of fry—two hundred thousand having been put in the various streams, and half as many more have still to go out. Recordsshow that the „number of licenseholders has increased considerably, proving that the sport is attracting an ever increasing number of devotees. Tt is reported that an American enthusiast, who heroically set himself to discover from official returns how many anglers there were in the United States, estimates the male population of fishing age at fourteen millions, and places the number of anglers at about three millions. Fishing age, like golfing, might be put down as any age at which rod, line or club may be held, and therefore- may, be anything from ten to eighty, or even older, if a person is fit and well. If his figures are anywhere nearly correct, it is a wonderful tribute to the popularity in the present day of a very old established sport. There is such good sport to be obtained all over New Zealand that it is to be regretted a greater effort is not made to attract more of the wealthy amongst the very large number of anglers. How many anglers there are in New Zealand it is hard, to say—society records could no doubt tell—but whatever the number may be, we cfyi wash them all. in the style of the greeting of Mowgli to his jungle friends, “good fishing” and luck in their contests with the finny tribes, and express the hope that the season may he kind to them in every way and yield them many a happy clay’s sport and much to occupy them in their foregathering with friends in the evenings. It is a sport which appeals strongly to people who love Nature and who find in the pleasant surroundings and the open air that rest and rejuvenation which heir body and mind to carry life’s burdens more easily. Tt should encourage deeper thought and enable its followers to view the world in a truer perspective. and after the hours spent quietly and happily at some favourite spot one should return refreshed and encouraged to renew one's efforts to make life a greater success.