BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1967, 5 November 1891, Page 30

BANK NOTES.

The 28th ult. being a public holiday, a great many anglers went out of town to try their luck on country streams, the excursion to the Deep Stream attracted a few. This stream having a few years back yielded capital sport to those who had the time and means to get to it. On this occasion either the trout were not in the part accessible from the railway or they were totally off the feed, for not a single fish was caught; and I know some of the men who went were expert anglers. The Waikouaiti river was also tried by several, but although numeieas large trout were seen not one could be induced to leave its native element by those wielding the rod. The returns from the competition on the Shag are very disappointing this year. There was not a really good basket among « the whole seven who weighed in. How different from the competitions of 1882, 1883, and 1884 whefi baskets of 50, 40, and 20 pounds were quite common ; and a catch of 401b before breakfast was. not at all an extraordinary achievement to a skilful angler. The following is the result of the competition :—

Messrs J. Corbet t and R. Forrest also competed, but as they sent in no returns it is concluded that they were not' successful in their endeavours to lure the wily trout from his native element. Mr Thompson being handicapped to the extent of 15 per cent, the first prize, the association's/gold medal, therefore goes to Mr J. Telford, Mr Thompson taking the second prize, a silver medal. By referring to my notes of the 28th inst. it will be seen that this is the order in which I placed the wieners. The Waitati trout had a very lively time of it on .the 28fch, no less than 16 anglers being on the stream on that day. The best take that I have heard of was 10, and the gentleman who caught them says that it required very skilful angling indeed, "to get this quantity owing to the water being fished over so often. The best killing flies were the governor, Jessie, and red spider. Owing to the presence of so many picnicking and fern gathering, on the Upper Leith angling en the holiday was quite put a stop too, only a few small fish being taken by those who went out in the early hours of the morning. A miner who seemingly takes a great interest in matters piscatorial donated a handsome gold nugget to the angler catching the heaviest fish at last week's competition. The trophy was eventualiy- captured by Mr W. Aitken, of this city, and the weight of the trout caught was 321b. I have not heard of any takes from the Silverstream this year. I know that the Acclimatisation Society have liberated some thousands of- tront in this stream for years past, so that a decent basket of fish ought to be obtainable now. Several large trout 41b to 61b ia weight have been seen in the large pools. A number of large trout have been seen lately in the Henley canal near Berwick bridge. It is to be hoped now the Waipori anglers have got this extensive area of water restricted to rod fishing that they will do all in their power to put a stop to the notorious amount of poaohing that has been oarried on in these waters— l might say almost absolutely unchecked— for years past. Mr Manning, who has just returned from the Owake, reports having very good sport. The trout this year, he remarked, are of a much larger size, taking them all round, than they were last season, lib and 21b fish being particularly numerous, 133 fish, of an average of lib, being basketed for six days' angling, the largest tront turning the scale at 2|lb. The Oreti has been fishable for the past week, and some pretty heavy baskets have been made by the Dipton Waltonians, from 20 to 30 trout, averaging l£lb to 2ib, being considered about an average day's sport. There has not been much angling on the Waikaia stream lately owing to floods and the presence of snow water in the creeks. During the last few days, however, the smaller creeks have been fishable, and some very good baskets have been made. Mr M. Moffat has evidently been very successful. On Friday last he captured 40 trout, weighing 301b, and daring the week over 100, all with fly and creeper. Messrs M'Gregor and J. Mitohell and son have also been very iwcesaful, using the same lore,

Me A. H. Shury, Mr E. B. Simpson, and a friend left Ashburton on Thursday • evening for a couple of days' fishing on the Rakaia river, and during Friday and Saturday they put np the New Zealand record. They fished four hours each day and made a basket of 44 fish, which turned the scale at 3421b Boz. Me Simpson was at the top of the list with 22 fish aggregating 1681b Boz, including three of 121b each, three 91b, one 101b, five 81b, several 61b, and the smallest was one of 31b Boz. Mr Shury, who was only fishing a part of the time, landed seven fish weighing a total of 501b, the two smallest being 51b each and the largest 121b. The third gentleman caught 15 fish weighing a total of 1241b 4oz, including a couple of 121b fish, one 111b, two 101b, several 61b and 71b, and the smallest; 41b. All the fish were in capital condition, and were caught with the whitebait phantom. Strangely enough, too, a 2£lb flounder rose to the same b&it and was safely landed, and a lad who was acting the good Samaritan and taking the three fishermen a bottle of new milk had a 61b trout thrown up at his feet by a wave. In addition to the 3421b Boz of trout the anglers caught a number of rock cod, flounders, and a quantity of whitebait, and returned to Ashburton with about scwt of fish. Two .fish caught by Mr Dyer in the Waimakarui, and one taken byjMr A. Newman, were shown in Christchurch, the three turning the scale at 221b. Messrs Broadley and Stanton secured a basket of 401b, including one fish of B£lb, and one of 31b. Mr S. B. Seymour caught 3u fine fish in the Upper Selwyn, last week, and Mr W. S. Cooke 28, the [largest weighing s|lb. Anglers report that the Upper Selwyn and Winchester streams are in grand order just now. Three rods at the Rakaia on Friday and Saturday took 44- trout, weighing 147|1b. One weighed 121b, and gave three-quarters of an hoar's fine play. Some very nice hauls of trout have been made in the Clutha. Mr A. Lattimer caught four fish, weighing 191b, the heaviest turning the scale at 71b ; Mr John Low. caught four fish, weighing 15|lb ; and Mr S. Porter caught six nice fish. I am glad, to learn from an esteemed correspondent that in the country districts the local constables are taking measures to prevent persons from fishing for trout, they not being license holders. This is a mild kind of poaching that has been pretty extensively indulged in in .the districts where the population is sparse and not in direct touch with the Acclimatisation Society. The local constables and rangeis are what the society relies on to prevent such practices being persisted in, and I am glad to learn it is receiving a well-merited check. I had no idea that the eel was preying upon the small trout in the Water of Leith, but to-d&y I bad ocular demoi stration that such was the case. Mr Wilson, an angler living near the stream, succeeded on Monday evening in capturing a specimen weighing s|lb, which on being opened was found to have a very nice Loch Leven trout in its maw. This shows most conclusively that the eel will kill tront. The Acclimatisation Society are doing good work in distributing traps designed to catch this fish in quantity, but I think that more systematic efforts should be made in this direction. It surely is not very profitable to breed trout to feed eels. Shags heads are being received by the secretary of the Acclimatisation Society in ''much larger numbers of late, the bounty of Is 6d now being paid no doubt being largely responsible for this. I think General Booth must have had some little experience as an angler in his early days. In his address last night; he remarked that the Salvation Army was like a fisherman. If he had no lack with the, worm, then he tried a maggot. If that did not work he tried a little cheese ; if all these lures failed, then he'd go in and "hook them on." I'm afraid the general has done a little " guddling " in his day. Anyhow, I strongly recommend my brother anglers to go and hear him. Be is a perfect master of the art of fishing for men. Nelson appears to afford good sport for anglers. A Nelson paper reports that the following baskets were made at Happy Valley recently :— Messrs Booth, Waterhouse, and Eiogdon each respectively grassed 35, 28, and 16, each basket roughly weighing 27|lb, 171b, and 101b. Mr J. Oldham and friend also landed 26 trout. Mr Ernest Hounsell secured 11 fine fish from the Maitai, and Mr Sherwood also made a good basket. Angling in England.— Under the heading "Which is the heaviest basket of trout ever taken by an angler in a single day's fishing?" a Home paper says:— "One containing 59 trout, which weighed 581b, and was taken by a Yorkshire angler on Loch Leven on the 23rd of July 1887. The total capture of Loch Leven trout in that year was 17,892, and their total weight 17,2441b, the heaviest fish weigh-, ing 41b. Mr Francis Francis, author of a book on angling, says that in lakes trout frequently abound in such profusion that lowt of them, and sometimes more, have often; been taken in one day. This requires a large number of fish, as salmon-trout usually average below 41b eaoh, perbapß from lib to 21b being the prevailing size ; but the late Mr Frank Buckland, surgeon and naturalist, took casts of trout which weighed 141b, 161b, and 161b 15oz, and bull-trout of above 201b and even up to 301b are not very uncommon. The best brace of trout caught in the Thames in 1890 weighed 91b and 81b 20z."

S Thompson JTelford ... J F Feake ... WAltken ... H a Williams W Oarltoa ... PAitkeu ... J Bobertson Fish. lb. oz. ... 6 — 8 1 * ... 10 — 7 9 ... 4 — 6 4 ... 4 — 5 13 ... 3 — 5 0 ... 3 — 3 0 ... 3 — 3 4 ... 6 — 6 0