THE ANGLING SEASON.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 221, 4 October 1906, Page 3

THE ANGLING SEASON.

INCREASE OF THE TROUT IN * MARLBOROUGH STREAMS.

A representative of the Express this morning had an interesting chat with Mr W. Askew, who may be looked upon as one of the keenest sports that handle the reel and rod. Indeed, ho goes amongst anglers by the courtesy title of "The Troutologist." From intelligence he had gathered during the week, Mr Askew was in a position to state that the fish were this season more plentiful than ever. There was now little danger that "poaching" —unfortunately not a thing unknown in the district—would destroy the fish to the degree of denudation. The 'reporter was propounding . a question about localities noted for good fish, when a passer-by put the Troutologist upon his guard. The reporter promptly explained that he did not wish to be directed to any of the treasured "pot-holes." Even if \o were given the "straightest tips," he would not know how to profit by them. Mr Askew said he did not mind telling all he knew—and instantly substantiated this. There is a particular spot in the AVairau River, where the stream, coursing over tho gravel-bed, strikes into tbe Tua Marina hills, about'a mile to the west of Barnett's, known to Mr Askew as tho Bluff, and to others as Dodson's Hole. Here on Sunday Mr Askew had noted quite a number of large trout blurring the surface of the water, surrounded by whitebait. A great deal of fishing was done by Tua Marina and Spring Creek people,, who mostly sought the shallow shingle-bedded spots well up towards the Renwick direction. Here the trout, though smaller, are nicer to tlKJßtastei

The town anglers, said Mr Askew, for the greater part frequented the upper reaches of the Opawa. Some nice fish had already been landed this season, which opened on Monday last. He himself had got several fine specimens averaging about f)lbs, and Messrs H. Jellyman and Carmody, A. Jellyman, Wiffen, Morrison, Stecre, Philpotts, Thompson, and others had reported takes. AN INTERESTING THEORY. Mr Askew, asked to what he attributed the decrease of whitebait in recent years, and whether it was not a fact that the trout were gobbling them up, replied, like the American, by asking in turn "where do the whitebait come from?" His theory had for long been that the whitebait developed into what he called the brown smelt, called by the Blenheim small-boy the "tiddler," and by the Maoris inanga. He had noted the strong resemblance between the one and the other, and watched the change of colour. It was the inanga, returning in February to

the. river mouths to find n spawning piac;\ which was gobbled by the eel mid I'jiat-nuiltiplying trout. This, oi course, would make ts great difference in a short time. They had had an inittmr.n of: it at the hatcheries, where over 30 pregnant fob had been stolen last autumn, the Society losing hundreds of thousands of fry thereby. Parenthetically, Mr Askew stated that tho result of the hatching this season had been a total of about 35,000 young trout. HYPOTHESIS RESOLVED INTO FACT. Mr George McDonald, the wellknown Wairau Pa native, whom the reporter met on leaving Mr Askew, proclaimed the idea, about the whitebait being the undeveloped inanga to bo a solid-fact. He had lived for over fifty years on the banks of the Lower Wairau River, and his forefathers before him. The Maoris knew for cei--tain that the rangiriri, as the upstream fish is called, returned to the .sea in the form of inanga in January, February and March. Asked afresh the question "What has caused the decrease of whitebait in the local rivers?" Mr McDonald said the principal reason was the operations of I the trawlers outside the Bar. The spawning beds were disturbed, so causing the fry to make off towards White's Bay, or destroying them altogether before hatching. Another reason, said Mr McDonald, was that drains were being cut everywhere as the result of the pakeha's occupation of the land, s and tho. snug places for the rangiriri to turn into were being yearly decreased. The draining of swamps had altogether eradicated the matapura, the small fat eel which the Maoris of 40 years ago loved to frizzle on a stick and eat. Now there was nothing to be had but the big eel. Mr McDonald stated that the saltwater fish, the kawai, .is to be found as far up the Wairau River as the Ferry Bridge. The herring, of course, goes still fartherinland. , : . ~