(With Rod and Line

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7032, 16 December 1932, Page 4

(With Rod and Line

By (Sylpb)

WITH ROD and Line a?-( By “Sylph.” During the holiday season no competitions will bo carried on. Several of the local club members tire visiting Taupo and as they intend sending reports to the writer, theso will bo published as they come to hand. Next week "Sylph” will publish a list of good picnic fishing spots in the district for the benefit of any who can get. away into tho outlying districts. The third round of the Tuesday night competitions resulted in only lour anglers weighing in. This was undoubtedly due to tho stato of the water, as quite a few turned up with empty bags. Mr. G. Thorburn topped the list with three fish weighing 41b Soz, ono being a particularly nice-condition-ed jack. Mr. E. Matthetvs weighed in two weighing 31b, Mr. C. Page one weighing 31b, and Master It. Jones two weighing 11b lOoz. Mr. Page’s trout was somewhat out of condition and was a good lib short of its natural weight. What would appear to bo a species of salmon was caught in the Rangitikci recently by Mr. Bob Ayres. Unfortunately no scales were taken, but the lish was blunt-headed with a defmito swallow tail, full of ova, and weighed 4Jlb. Mr. Ayres saw tho fish on tho surface of the water and tried to catch it both with the fly and minnow. Tho fish refused either bait, but after turning over a log Mr. Ayres found, a garden fly, and floating it downstream, was rewarded with a gentle tug. A good strike hooked tho fish and the reel sang out a good tune. The fish went up and down-stream with good gusto, but was eventually landed after a good tussle. Mr. Ayres had only GO yards of line on his reel and time and again had to follow tho fish to get some of his line back. The fish had a brilliant pink flesh. It is very unfortunate that anglers do not forward scales and particulars of fish caught, as this information is of vital importance to the research department, and is also of interest to fishermen locally. Do Fish Sleep? Mr. E. G. Boulcngcr, director of the

London Zoo aquarium, states that investigations carried out by him showed that different fish had different bedtimo habits. In the middle of the night the tanks were suddenly flooded with light from a powerful torch, and observations were made. The positions assumed varied considerably. Some fish were observed to rest on the floor of their tanks, others slept floating just abovo the floor, midway between the floor and the surface, or quite close to the surface. The wra'sse slumbered on their sides, resting against the rockwork; trout were observed sleeping on the bottom. Asked how it was that, these fish would sometimes take the fly at night, he explained that he had noted that fish which, under normal conditions, sleep as soon as darkness falls, will remain awake if specially hungry. He suggested that trout which take the fly at night are individuals that are kept awako by hunger.