ANGLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22816, 27 February 1936, Page 4

ANGLING

By Dry Flt.

SHAG RIVER COMPETITION

As the result- of a fresh which' occurred last week-end, the Shag River is now in good order, and it is expected that there will" be a'"large.'entry'for the Otago Anglers' Association's Bare ■biy Competition, • which is to be held there on Saturday. The competition will take place between 5 p.m. and midnight. The first prize, a silver cup, with a miniature to be retained by the winner, has been presented by Mr E. H. Levido, and the second prize is a trophy presented by Mr S. Barnes. The competition is open only to members* of the Anglers' Association. GOOD ADVICE 1. On the whole, it is more important to" dry the inside of the waders that have been worn than the outside. The fauric is more readily, susceptible to. the acid of sweat than to river water. Turn the legs inside out, wash them, and let that side dry first; then turn them again, so. that the outside may dry.' The wind, a drying-cupbo'ard, a distant kitchen fire, in that order., .■•.,■ ■ 2. A reel should be taken to pieces and oiled frequently. If it jams, a fish will not wait. 3. A reel should be kept reasonably full of line —to give a fair clearance under the distance-bars. An empty reel is a low-gear one. 4. A line should be neatly reeled up and occasionally checked for . neatness down to the spool. If a line jams and the fish takes its chance you should get the gillie to kick you. Ypu deserve it. 5. -A line must always be. fastened securely to the inside of the spool. If you forget once and a fish strips.the reel naked you deserve several, kicks. If you forget a second time you are not worth kicking. 6. Keep the rod-point up when you are playing a fish, especially when you are using fine gut. 7. When you have put aside the rod for a moment stand it upright—never lav it on the ground. "8. A* fish- that has gone to weed, if held gently and not pulled, will generally kick free. »."-'. 9. Before using a net, dip it in the river. Sweep upstream to.a fish, never down.

10. Keep net or gaff always on or attached to your person. You may have to run half.a mile with a foul-hooked 1 fish.

11. Wind and vegetation weaken gut. Change it. 12. Sun and wind quickly dry gut—especially the finer gauges. Let it soak constantly on a hot day. 13. Take cover in front of a bush, not behind it. :...... 14.'A'trout objects to swift movement far more than to gradual.change of position. 15.. A wet line must be thoroughly oried —preferably with amadou —before it will hold a new coat of grease. 16. A water-logged floating fly must be re-oiled after being dried in a fold of amadou. 17. Examine a fly when you have just landed a fish. In doubt cut. the fly off and tie it on again. ,18. A crack behind you as you cast often means you have lost your fly. —The Anglers' Week-end Book. MAYFLIES AND OTHERS Anglers who know the chalk streams; of England have good cause for complaint about the scarcity of fly on our local waters (writes "Black Gnat" in the Christchurch Press). v On few, if any, of our streams is there a definite -hatch, confined to an hour or two when every fish in the rrver is rising and making the most of the hatch. Descriptions of the hatch give the impression that at its beginning and almost until the fish .are gorged tliey. are easily caught provided the right fly is used. Possibly therein lies the reason for the British' anglers better general knowledge of the flies' on the streams he fishes, and though anglers here have nothing comparable to the hatch of mayflies in the chalk streams to encourage them they would often find it profitable and interesting '.; to' study closer such flies as-we have. • . In Spite of their comparative scarcity in the winged, stages, aquatic flie6 form a large proportion of the diet of trout in certain of our streams. Professor Percival has shown that in. some cases at least the larvse -stages ■of ■ .-.mayflies... or. caddis are the sole apparent item on the diet of particular, fish. He says:— Hud-, son examined the guts of 60 trout from Wellington and Canterbury streams* Vt the contents approximately 87:2o per cent, consisted of mayflies, stone flies, ana caddis-flies in various stages of development. Caddis provided 77; per cent, ot the total, mayflies 9.5 per cent beetles 10.8 per centi, fish, Crustacea, and: snails were negligible. ... ,-- . " . .■■,■■■• -Parrott found, that the gut contents of 56 trout from the LoWer Selwyn River, Canterbury, consisted of caddis larva? varying in proportion (by number) from 31 per cent, to 100 per cent., the next important food, organisms being bullies and' water snails. . ' , "Phillips found that the stomachs .ot 42 trout contained 77 per cent, caddis insects, 9 per cent, mayflies, 10 per cent, water snails. .... '■■—','''■ u- i. "The Upper Hurunui River, which flows into Lake Sumner, is a heavy shingle river, and presents conditions which are very difficult for the existence of an invertebrate fauna of any great density or variety. The stones are rounded ana polished, and there is no r visible vegetation in the main stream. Lateral streams, such' as that immediately above toner Hill carry vegetation. It would appear that the trout found river, particularly certain large fish . ia a large, deep pool by Dinner Hill. subsM on organisms which are transported from the small feeder-streams farther up. • A from the pool already referred, o was examined, and was found to contain approximately one-third of a.pint ,ot nymphs of deleatidium and nothing, else Evidence of the consumption of transported food material was obtained by watching the fish to seize objects in midwater never going to the bottom or sides during the period of observation, .lhis. matter is of considerable importance to the student of trout biology since it demonstrates the possibility of the growth of very large' fish in conditions which do not show any immediate source of food referred to above, is one ot the genera of New Zealand mayflies. Eight species of deleatidium have been recorded and though they are very numerous they fnclude mostly; the smaller and, less conspicuous mayflies. \

Mayflies are of particular interest .'toanglers. In the nymphal stage, which is Fpent under water in a free, swimming state, they afford a large amount of food for trout. They arc unique in that they are the only insects which have two distinct winged ttages, an occurrence which, is thought to have been general in remote ages. ■-;••'•. . In some species the nymph crawls out of water on a stone or on the marginal vegetation, in others it simply rises to the surface of the water when the time for emerging is at hand, the skin of the thorax splits along the back and the subimago appears. After a short time of rather sluggish movement or heavy flight as a sub-imago, the outer skin peels completely off and the mayfly reaches the final stage of its life cycle. A few of our mayflies are striking in appearance, particularly one very large species, of a bright lemon-yellow colour, which has been, observed hatching on some Westland, streams in late December and January. LORD TWEEDSMUIR At a recent meeting of the Fly-fishers' Club, Mr John.Buchau (now LordTweedsmuir) was the guest of honour, and in replying to the toast-of his health he made a speech, which is both witty and at the same time showed his enthusiasm foV angling as 'a' sport. He said: " I aiu greatly honoured to be your_guest to-, night; I am honoured, but I am also abashed, for, although I have fished with a fly since I was nine years of age, I can lay no claim either to the expert knowledge or technical skill of many of thos« whom I see around me. But, gentlemen, I take it that the passport to your friendship is not supreme skill or supreme knowledge, but the proper attitude of mind. To that I believe I have some claim. I would rather be by the waterside than anywhere else in the world. .1 remember Lord Grev of Falloden telling me once that during a hot August which he had to spend in the House of Commons, he- found a remote corner "where he could hear a dripping tap, and there he used to ensconce himself and shut his eyes and imagine that he Was beside a Northumberland burn, f That is the proper spirit. There- was a famous Tweodside angler many years ago called Thomas Tod Stoddart.jvho wrote some excellent fishing verse. A friend of his youth met him one day and asked him what was his profession. 'Profession!' he exclaimed in astonishment. 'Man, I am an angler.' I say, ' Ditto,' to Mr Stoddart. " From the name of your club, I take it, if I. may Use an inappropriate metaphor,that 'you cast'your net wide.' You shun, the vice of specialisation. Yon are universal in' your appeal. Your basis is flyfishing—every kind of fly-fishing. May I humbly applaud your catholicity? As an •angler I ain of the school of my old friend Hush Sheringham. I like to catch fish by "any 'legitimate method. (Laughter.) I have even, dabbled in illegitimate methodo, for* at the age of 16; on Tweedside, I was arrested for poaehimr salmon by burning the water. (Loud laughter.) The result was that when I stood; for Parliament for that county just before the war I had the poaching vote to a man: (Renewed laughter.) Even in flyfishine I must confess to a lack o£ fastidiousness. My aim is to catch fish, and I am ready to fish my flies, wet or dry or' as a nymph, whichever is the mc«t hopeful method. But that, perhaps, ia just because I-lack a-real expertness in the finer methods; just' as. a deerstalker, who is not very sure of himself, will avoid fancy shots,'- '-"■', "-. ■■■': '' . ' "•;.? "What are the reasons why angling is such a profound passion with people like ourselves? Why more than any other pnort. has- it been consecrated by great literature? There are several causes. It takes us at «11 hours and at all seasons into the secret recesses of nature. /It provides us with a chance of peace without boredom/ leisure for reflection combined with a perpetual gentle excitement. It is a sport which we can pursue to the end of our days. You cannot play Rugby football much after 30, or attempt serious courses of mountaineering much after 50. or stalk the high tops when, your wind is short and " the flesh" is \ burdensome. But you can fish as-' as your ... legs, can support you and. your arm. is strong enough' to cast a fly. ; I would, add another, course.' "Angling provides us with an' intellectual exercise, the.: most./difficult, study "in. tha world, far more intricate than Einstein's mathematics or Professor Eddington's physics—the psychology Of fish: -""'■_ ■.,._■-.'-. "You remember a passage m Scott.s ' St. Roman's Well' which I have always regarded as one of the classic laudations of,our craft. It is Meg Dods who is speaking, the mistress of the Cleikum Inp. and she is describing the fraternity of anglers who i used to come there to ; fish the Tweed: ' They were; pawky auld carles that kenned which side "their bread was buttered- upon. They were ; up in the morning—had their parritch wi' majibe a thimbleful of brandy and. then awa,"up into the hills, eat their bit cauld- meat on the heather, and come-hame at e'en wi' the creel'full of coller trouts and had them to their dinner, and their quiet cogue of ale and their drop punch and were set singing their catches and glees 1 , as they ca'd them, till. 10 o'clock, and then to bed, wi' God bless ye—and what for no?;' "What.for no? indeed! That is a description of the happy life. That is the ideal cherished by every honest man, and I am sure that it is the ideal of this club." "•' •-■••