FISHING AT TAUPO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19660, 11 June 1927, Page 12

FISHING AT TAUPO.

THE FLY AND TROLLING. CONFLICTING INTERESTS. DEPUTATION TO MINISTER. MATTER TO BE INVESTIGATED. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] TAUPO, Friday. There has been a good deal of controversy among anglers, launch-owners and others interested in the Taupo Lake fisheries ks to the rights of fly fishermen and trollers. The fly fishermen say they should have certain areas of the lake reserved expressly for their sport, and that in those areas trolling should not be allowed. The trollers say there are very many who indulge in their sport and that it would be wrong for the Government to show any partiality in any regulations issued. Some trout fishermen who visit the Taupo district are prone to criticise the new fees which have been imposed on them for their sport. They hold that the fees are excessive. The official reply is that anglers know now what they have to pay for their sport, but before the agreement was entered into by the Gov-, ernment to pay the Maoris owning land surrounding the lake £3OOO a year for their rights, anglers did not know what the charges would be. Welcome to Mr. Bollard. Opinions in some quarters are divided, but according to istatements made by ft large deputation which interviewed the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. R. F. Bollard, in Taupo last night, tho new regulations imposing the fees were satisfactory. Among those present at the interview were:—Messrs. James Hislop, Under-Sec-retary of Internal Affairs, Fred Moorehouse, conservator of fisheries; J. P. Sheehan, lion, secretary Taupo Anglers' Association; J. Loughlan, Arthur Grace, S. Charlton, J. McMullan, H. White, H. Davis and J. Moon. Messrs. Sheehan and Loughlan, on behalf of the deputation, cordially welcomed the Minister to the district. • It was, they suid, the Minister's first visit to the lake. They knew he wanted to see the conditions for himself, and they had confidence in his judgment. 1 Reference was made to a report published in Napier of a deputation of fly fishermen which had recently interviewed tho Minister there, when the latter was referred to as having stated that Tom, Dick and Harry" could not be allowed to fish anywhere in the lake. The speakers said they felt the Minister would not make a statement of the kind, and that his view as a member of the Government was that all parties, fly fishermen and trollers, should be equally catered for. Rights to be Safeguarded. The deputation recognised that fly fishermen, had rights to be safeguarded and so had the trollers. It would not be in tho interests of the district and of the sportsmen generally if one section was favoured against the other. The waters of Lake Taupo formed the most popular fishing ground in the Dominion, and anywhere a man could get good fishing. Some of the largest trout caught in the Dominion had come from Lake Taupo.. The district did not want any booming. A man having once fished in the lake generally returned season after Eieason. - Now that the Government had com,e to a satisfactory arrangement for the control of tho fisheries of the lake and its tributaries, it van the general inipression of those who helped to cater for the liport that all interests would be confudered. In reply, Mr. Bollard said the members of tho Cabinet recognised the importance of conserving the interests of fishermen in the Taupo district. That was why Mr. Ooatc&j as Prime Minister and Minister of Native Affairs, came to Taupo some time ago and made the arrangement with the Maoris. That agreement was made solely in the interests of _ the Maoris, the fishermen, and the Dominion generally. No finer arrangement could have been made. Underlying it was the one aim that all would bo treated fairly. Serving the Same End. "A Government," continued the Minister, "does not decide in the interests of one faction, but in the interests of all. Recently I met a number of fly fishermen of Hawke'si Bay —gentlemen who certainly wrapped up in Taupo and the sport it provides to them. "Their object in meeting me was, I understood, to help forward ,tlie good work. That, I believe, is your position also. You all have different ways of getting to the sport, and it is the Government's desire to see that all _ are equally provided for. That is our aim. "My mission is to inquire into your side. I want to see things for myself. "New Zealand's fisheries are attracting world-wide attention. Wo have the Roods to offer, and that is tho main thing. Every fisherman from overseas is an advertisement for the Dominion, because he gets the sport here that he wants, and at very little cost. Ono of you stated to-night that his. experience of the overseas fisherman was that he were charged £2O for his right to fish he would pay it ungrudgingly. That shows that we have the goods to offer." . In conclusion Mr. Bollard said he would go carefully into tho representations made to him by both sides. He wished to bring all interests together.