ANGLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23334, 28 October 1937, Page 5

ANGLING

By Dry Fly

COMPETITIONS November o.—Waipahi; bare fly; open to Otago licence holders; hours 8 a.m.-5 p.m. November 13.—Tomahawk Lagoon; any bait; hours 3 p.m. till midnight. December 4.—Waikouaiti River; anv bait; hours 6 p.m. till midnight. February s.—Pomahaka River; any bait (anglers' outing); hours 5 pm. till midnight. February 6.—Pomahaka River; dry fly; hours 7 a.m.-3 p.m. February 26.—Shag River; bare fly: hours 5 p.m.-midnight. March 27.—Waipori River; any bait; hours 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; weigh in at Berwick store at 6.30 p.m. The following cups will be competed for; —Finlaysbn Memorial Cup, Levido Cup, Spears Memorial Cup, Griffiths Cup. * In conjunction with the Pomahaka River outing, an eeling competition will be held. IN SOUTH CANTERBURY The smaller streams in the Geraldine district, according to a recent report, are low and weedy, and rain is needed. The Opihi is said to be fishing well, particularly in the lower reaches. It IS being extensively fished, and some good catches have been recorded. Though low, the Orari is giving good results for evening fishing. It is reported that a week-end trip up to the Rangitata Gorge is worth while. Some nice specimens up to 61b and 71b have recently been taken on the fly. They are not plentiful, but those seen and caught there have been, on the whole, of good size. The fishing, however, is no good when there is a north-west wind. DANGER OF FlftE There have been several references in this column recently to the danger of fire in the City Corporation plantations surrounding Lake Mahinerangi. In the first place an appeal was made by the city electrical engineer (Mr M. C. Henderson) for anglers to exercise the greatest of caution while fishing there, and subsequently the announcement was made that it had been decided to prohibit smoking in the neighbourhood. Last week Mr G. Howes, a member of the council of the Otago Acclimatisation Society, visited Lake Mahinerangi in company with Mr Henderson, and he has since submitted the following report to the society:— "Around the dam the heavy growth of grass and tussock presents a fire risk Which would involve the very fine and extensive plantations of firs. The grass was dry and highly inflammable, and the large area planted out is too valuable for risks to be taken. There is a well-ploughed fire-break which serves as a measure of protection, and at the present time the level of the lake is well below the tussock area. I consider that the society should sympathise with the efforts of the City Corporation to protect the area from fire and should agree to the no-smok-ing restriction, but put in a request that anglers should be allowed to smoke when fishing, as they are then in such close proximity to the water, if not actually in it, that there is no fire risk. Mr Henderson considers that this is a reasonable request to make to the council. "In return for this privilege the society could warn all anglers of the restriction and ask them to help to maintain it and warn all visitors to use the greatest care with fire. I have been informed that a picnic party recently lit a fire in the bush opposite the power station, and it took five hours' work to quell the blaze. The Waipori Gorge and Lakes Mahinerangi and Luella provide a magnificent scenic resort as well as a splendid fishing area, and the society should spare no effort to keep the reserve free of access to the public." RESEARCH MATTERS At a recent meeting of the Research Committee of the Otago Acclimatisation Society it was decided to recommend to the council (1) That the hatchery ponds, when cleaned, should be floored with a light coating of coarse gravel, as this helps to promote healthy conditions for the fish, and (2) that the small streams at the hatchery grounds should be adjusted so that they could be used to hold spawning fish. This entailed cleaning, flooring with gravel, and putting in stops at intervals to raise the level of the water. Fish required running water, gravel bottom, and shade when ready to spawn. This work should be done at the first convenient opportunity. The committee, the report continues, decided to proceed with the work of examining the streams of the district, making records of all facts bearing on the question of the trout-carrying possibilities and incidence of spawn-, ing beds. This would be a long job, and it was decided to concentrate for this year on the completion of the Waitati and later to follow with the Waikouaiti and Shag. It was decided to take an early opportunity to visit the Waitati and follow up previous investigations, especially with reference to the rainbow trout. The committee actually carried out this programme early this month. The report covering the visit states: "A stop was made at the water-trough on Mount CargiU and the small stream above the trough was roughly examined, but no fish were found. Another stop was made further down the same stream, and here a few fish were seen. The main Waitati was also examined between the two fords, and very few fish were observed. One small trout with well-defined parr marks and spots on the tail as well as on the dorsal was eventually classed as a cross between rainbow and brown As this area is likely to contain fish escaped from the hatchery we did not spend much time upon it. An examination of Rosr Creek was commenced at a point where it is joined by another creek. In Ross Creek we found only one, brown trout, but secured 52 rainbow from 2£ inches to 10 inches long. They were beautiful trout—red flushed fish in perfect condition. We noted that the lower portion of the stream held the best fish, the upper area where the sawmill used to be carrying v the smallest. These fish taken were transported to the hatchery, where the party was shown a fine lot of fry, the progeny of these Waitati rainbow, and it was extremely interesting to compare the rainbow previously secured with the fish just taken. Some of the former were double the size of the latter, and it appears as though the fish in the stream do not survive- beyond three years. The difference can hardly be attributed to food supply, as the stream is full of water-fly larva;, particularly perlids and may-flies. The general impression gathered as a result of inspecting a number of small streams during the day was that there is ample food supply, and the streams could do with a larger stock of trout."