TROUT FISHING

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10847, 12 March 1921, Page 4

TROUT FISHING

SPORT AT ROTORUA INTERESTING REVIEW BY MR C. A. WHITNEY. IMPORTANT SUGGESTIONS. Mr C. A. Whitney. tbf> well-known Auckland angler, writes as follows: — I have had four visits to ,i::i thi s season, fly-fishing, during November, December, and January, and after a careful inspection of the fish taken, I report as follows: Seventy •per oent. of the fish are in poor condition, because they have been forced to spawn late, due to taking them during May and the first three months of the close season. Of the 70 per cent., 40 per cent, were eatable. The average size of the fish caught (irrespective of fish under ten inches in length) was 211 b; 15 per 'cent, of the fish caught were jn fair condition, and 5 per cent, were in good condition. Those in good condition had spawned early in the close season, or probably in May. Of these, one was a 4:11b female rainbow, and the other a 51b male trout. A number of the fisli caught under ten inches and returned to the water were a cross between brown and rainbow trout. These appeared to be vigorous and fairly well-conditioned fish, bred in 1919. One 61b purebred brown trout was taken in good condition.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRY. I was pleawed to see a great improvement.. in the number of this year’s fry in the lake- Some of the weakest will provide a good change of food for the trout. The trout were full of koura, enanga. green beetles, and a few small light brown flies. The slabs were not diseased, their poor condition being due to late spawning. It will be well on in April or May before they are fairconditioned fish. Netting to catch all fish returning to the lake® after Soptem • bar -would do good, because fish return, ing after that date are very poor, and it takes a long time and a lot of food to fatten them. It would not be an expensive matter to begin netting on October Ist and continue till the end of November, killing all unconditioned fish over 1 lb. A fine 41b female rainbow had not yet spawned, and when opened to clean was found to he in poor condition. It was full' of dead ova. No doubt, the mate of this fish had .been taken illegally, probably by the natives, during the close season, and it had not mated again. It would not have been fit to spawn again till next September, or later. Many fish will not mate more than once each season. BREEDING PROBLEMS.

Stringent protection, of trout is necessary during May and close season. Close season should be May, June, July. August, And September throughout Ne,w Zealand. Pish must Be. educated back to breeding early. It is the early breeder that will return the harvest of big, vigorous fish so dearly loved by the angler'. Breeders of fowls can breed hens to lay in the winter, when eggs are most valuable, and the same applies to trout, and generally speaking to most animals as well gs birds. Interfere with the breeding time or season, and deterioration soon begins to show itself. If fish are left alone they will spawn and return to the lakes from the rivers in a verv -short time, but if interfered with, they will hang about in the rivers eating the ova of the other fish, thus reducing the quantity of ova that matures into fry, which reduces the food supply. Moreover, thew are being educated to try and find food supply at the mouth of the rivers instead of in the hunting of koura and other fish in the deeper waters of the lake. A very' small percentage of natural ova matures into fry, because even if it is not eaten by the large fish the fry consume a largo quantity, and that is why when spawning took place under favourable conditions fifteen or sixteen years ago, tho fry would grow to ten inches long in five or six months. There is no rapid gTowth like this umv, because the fry do not have sufficient ova to feed upon whilst in the rivoTS, but there is no reason why this should not again be the case. In the Rotorua Lake district at least 50 per cent. of ova should hatch; the balance should feed the small fry. THE CLOSE SEASON.

Rotorua lakes are often termed the Hot Lake District, which is a misnomer. As a matter of fact, if the temperature of the lakes was taken, it would bo found they are invariably as cold as the •water of the lakes and rivers south cf the Auckland province, because Rotorua and Taupo Lakes are at a fairly high altitude, the latter fed by snow mountains. My point is that the law provides for a close season from April 30th to October Ist, and that all acclimatisation societies throughout New Zealand close for that period except Rotorua and Taupo districts, which are open during May and closed during October. This season, cart of the Rotorua district opened on October Ist, and will, therefore, have to dose on April 30th. This is as it should be, because if nature is not interefered with the spawning of rainbow will begin in May, and these fish will go back to the lakes in August and September, and quickly put on perfect condition. The wonderful growth of these fish from October Ist to April would be astounding, because of the abundant food supply in the lakes. During twenty-five years’ experience of these districts, I have not seen, so much fish food in Rotorua Lake—certainly hot for at least fifteen years. I am glad to see that the Government have obtained some rainbow ova from Hawea. If it is purebred and not crossed or tainted with brown trout, it will do a lot of good, but it would be far better to make sure ahd obtain fresb and pure rainbow ova from America. This I have advocated time and again for many years, Roto-Ma or Otakaana Lakes have no brown trout in them, add I have several times impressed upon the 'authorities that ova should be collected from there at little extra cost instead of taking tho fish from streams adjacent to the hatchery. which are known to contain fi- 1 with fungus. The open season shcrajd begin on October Ist and netting should start from October Ist to end of November to eliminate slabs, the idea being to foster early breeding and destroy late breeders. ' Some rivers, such as the Ghinemuri, could be _ regulated by placing an electric barrier across the river, and only passing first-clas ß and early breeding fish over the barrier to go up to spawn. If this was done, any rivers den It. with in that way would teem with fine, healthy fry. AT TAUPO. I have lately spent ten days at Taupo fishing in the lake and rivers, and was very disappointed at tho condition of the fish. Seventy-five 1 per cent, of those caught wore slabs, due to late breeding. The balance were not in good condition, exoept -an odd one now and again. There appear to be very few fry and yearlings in the lake and rivers. This is a very matter, because they form, a largo portion of tho food supply. The cause of this is duo to harassing of the fish in May, by netting folltrwod up by the natives with pitchforks, during close season. This practice should be stopped at any cost. Now that the netting ihas been abolished during the ope It season, it will take a season or two to bring tho fish back to early spawning, and hence good condition. 1 strongly advocate that netting should begin in Taupo on October ■ Ist, and, continue till the end of November, but only for the purpose of eliminating the slabc as' they come down the rivers to the lake. These could be given to the natives, to fatten their pigs. on. All avail- ! plant and .nets would lie.. required, ; ftn-1 at night, when the men were not working the nets, they would need to be set across the mouth of the rivers

to prevent Hi© fish passing into the Lake. .Rotorua and Taupo Lakes should lx> troutori hi tlio -way. Next year Hi© season sfioukl close on April 30 tb for 1 hr> whole district, one! thus fall in lino with other parts of New Zealand. CECIL A WHITNEY. Auckland. March 9th, 1921-