Bank Notes.

Otago Witness, Issue 1942, 7 February 1889, Page 28

Bank Notes.

Mandeville, —The Southern Standard pokes fun at those members of the local angling association who complain of the namber of trout caught by certain members, who it is asserted sell their surplus fish. The Standard asserts that there is no proof whatever of the latter assertion, and in a bantering article hints that the complaints come from members " whose whole angling experience has been obtained from the knowledge gained as boys while fishing for sticklebacks or bobbing for eels ia the canals adjacent to their dwellings." We have (continues the Standard) a suggestion for the association, the adoption of which would result in placing the two classes of anglers upon an equality. Let the authorities devise a special fly for the use of the experts. This imitation insect could be made as attractive as they please, provided there was no hook attached. The anglers would thus be able to get as many " rises " as ever, but they would not be able to land any fish. We have, as the song says, " travelled over many lands," but never before did we hear of the members of an angling association inciting the officials to forbid legitimate sportsmen from fishing because they were too cunning in the use of the rod and line. Shades of Izaak Walton ! Truly humanity is advancing; and this latest development is the funniest of all. Nokomai, —The Mataura is in fine form for fishing now and fish are plentiful. Some of the local anglers are doiug well, notably Mr Turner. On an afternoon last week he caught six trout weighing about 25ib. Canterbury. —l condense the following from "Artificial Fly's" notes in the Press .-—The Temuka and Opihi rivers are said to be literally teeming with troat, while half-pound nalmon are also said to have been seen. Mr W. Dale, of Washdyke, recently made baskets of 10 fish weighing 61jlb and 15 fish weighing 491b on two days last week. Among other takes recently noted are: C.Nicholas, two fish of 81b aud 51b respectively; Mr Philips and friend, seven fish, 301b,*one. going lOJlb"; Mr Hunt (with the fly), 15 trout, in the Ifwell, 141b; W. S. Cooke, seven fish, in the lower Selwyn, ranging from 101b to 41b; C. S. Buchanan, one of 111b; at Bart's creek, W. Tipler, 15£lb (length 30in, girth 21£ in); W. H. Woodman, 12£lb; and Dr Moorhouse, 7£lb. A few evenings ago Mr Tipler caught a fine 12|lb fish. Mussels. —The French have raided mussels to the state of a valuable food supply, though their system of culture —which has'now been pursued for more than 500 years —was introduced by an English mariner .who suffered shipwreck on their coast —St. James' Gazette. Fishing in the Thames. —Fish below a certain size are not allowed to be captured in the Thames, and there is a penalty of £5 for capturing jack under 18in in length, trout under 16in, barbel under 13in, chub under lOin, bream nnder lOin, carp under lOin, tench under Bin, perch under Bin, grayling under 7in, roach under 7in, flounders under 7in, dace under 6in, rudd under 6in, gadgeon under 4io. The SHAHK.—The shark is the swifteot fish that swims in the sea. It is, of course, difficult to give with absolute accuracy the speed of any fish, but there seems to be no doubt that the shark can glide through the water at the rate of from 17 to 20 miles an hour, and can keep up that speed too. We presume that your question referred strictly to sea fish. If not, the salmon

| should be mentioned, for it is supposed to ba capable of swimming at a pace of from 20 to 25 miles an hour. But this is for short bursts only, and it cannot maintain a high rate of speed like ! the shark. 1 The Eel.— The eel is a very singular fish, and one that has hitherto eluded the most thorough efforts of scientists to discover its spawning places. Fred Mather, the well-known fish culturist, has been making some very interesting experiments with the microscope "which prove that there are 9,000,000 eggs in an eel. How and when these eggs are hatched has always been, and still is, a mystery. All that" is known definitely is that the old eels run down to salt water in autumn, and that in-the spring swarms of young onps about the size of a darning needle and about 2in long ascend the rivers. Apaeima. — During their inquiries as to the advisability of permitting netting in the estuary a great deal of information was obtained by Messrs Denniston and Baiu regarding the value of the flounder-fishing in the estuary, and the exten^ of loss that would be entailed by the prohibition against netting remaining in force The more experienced fishermen also gave the commissioners their views on the salmon experiment about to be tried. One observation (says the Western Star) made by Mr Roderique, who showed himself quite conversant with all the habits pertaining to salmon, is worthy of being taken note of by the Acclimatisation Society, and that is, that on the West Coast there are some splendid salmon streams entirelyfree from the natural enemies of the fish. Waihola.— Rod-fishing has been all the rage here for the last few days. Of course our river at this season of the year is not so dirty as at other times, owing to the scarcity of water for digging up-country. The result has been that trout of great size have been seen. Messrs Martin and King, two local enthusiasts, have been busy morning, noon, and eveuing, and have been very successful, Mr Martin caught five one day last week, one of them weighing 141b. I have no doubt great baskets will be got this season, as the fish are very plentiful and of great size.— Own Correspondent. American Bhook Thout in the Oreti. — Ranger M'Kay, at Dipton, when putting trout back into the stream from the roadside pools after the flood in the Oreti, found a fine specimen of American brook trout, a few of which were liberated some time back, but none of which were seen since. A Voice From the Old Land.— Mr John Anderson, of Denham Green, who passed his 77th year in November, writes mo a chatty letter. He says :—": — " I have not been up to the mark all the year and did not kill one salmon myself, although my fishermen caught a few, but not one for six caught last year on my ground. lam glad to see your people killing such good baskets. This has been the worst salmon angling for 40 years—indeed, many have not caught a salmon at all. There was no water for six weeks; then very heavy floods put angling out of the question. I just hear of an application for ova for Wellington. I tope they will follow out the plan I advised them to adopt, and if they do they won't lose so many on the journey. This time they are going to try my river, the Forth, at Stirling, but I fear they are too late."