FISHING IN MESOPOTAMIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16372, 28 October 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

FISHING IN MESOPOTAMIA.

A 42L8 MAHSEER.

OX A TEX TOUT ROD. Tin; Englishman is at heart before ever*, thing else a sportsman. One has had numberless instances 01 the truth of this remark brought to one's notice during nearly eighteen month's hard campaign. ing, first of all in France, and latterly here. In this country we an- always en. camped either on or ivar the hanks of tlie River Tigris, beeaus* it is the only source of our water flippy, writes a correspondent in the Field. A river means fish, and fish can be rsii.jjit, and it does not necessarily require expensive tackle to catch them. Once the heavy floods 'in the liver, which me at their height timing the month of Apiil, began to subside, all sorts of queer tackle began to be seen on the banks of the Tigris. Ther« were hand lines which junked suspiciously as if they had once been part of a ship's hawser, leads which v.u c made from bullets taken out of urtiidgcs, and hooks which might ainiu-t have been flukes of anchors. One iucky sportsman was completely equipped, lie had a rod which was a great bamboo pole about 18ft long and'which must lin\e weighed a cwt. at least, a large but ingenious home-made reel, about 150 yds of thick cord for a line, which had been dressed by being soaked in nulled candle grease, a*hook big enough to land a whale, and a gall made out of a piece of bent iron. Rut they caught fish, which was tin) main point, and most of them cahseer. Light Tackle. One day I had a light ICtt spin can* trout rod lent me, with an ordinary small I reel, on which were about 75 yards of dressed fly line, and a trace upon which a medium-sized salmon hook hud been mounted. 1 hooked and landed a 71b malice-, and very shortly alter got into .iiij{'h«r which 1 knew at once was a he?-.a fish, He rushed down-stream at a gicn ,rate, and fortunately 1 was able to follow him; even so he took out exeiy inch of my line, but the extra pressure when the end of the line was reached was just sufficient to turn him and prevent a smash, and gradually I was able in get ui terms with my fish. .The first hour was last and furious, wi\h constant rushes and short periods of rest; the .second hour he kept much deeper, sulking .1 i;ood deal, with occasional short, sharp rushes and a good deal of angry tugging; the third hour was a repetition of the previous one, At the end of the third hour my back felt as if it was nearly broken, and 1 was sick of fish and tackle and everything to do with it, so 1 made up my mind to take desperate measures. 1 put on such a heavy strain that I momentarily expected something to give, and never dreamt before that such light tackle could stand so much. And the more strain I put on the hinder the fish fought tor liberty. It was a furious and exciting hour; four times he took cut almost nil my line, but at last began to show signs of giving in. He did not even show a, fin until within five minutes of being landed, and then he came in absolutely done. It was ten when he was gaffed in the moonlight, exactly four hours after he was hooked, and his weight was 421b. He was what is commonly called by people here a salmon, but except for his beautiful silver colouring there was but little resemblance to a salmon. In reality he was, I believe, a silver carp. But it was great sport, and very Tew people. I imagine, have landed a 421b fish on a 10ft trout md.