BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2274, 30 September 1897, Page 38

BANK NOTES.

The angling season being now closs at hand, I am pleased to renew my' acquaintance with anglers once more, and to wish them many thumping baskets during the next six months. The clo^e ceiaon haa been marked by unasutlly dry weather, which haa no doubt materially interfered with the spawning of tb.9 fish in the smaller rivers, for there can have bsen bub little water in them to enable the trout) to get up to the spawning beds. The first appearance of anything like heavy rain was, unfortunately for anglers, just too late to permit of spawning fish ascending the rivers, and consequently what spawning there haa been must have to a large extent taken place near the months of the vArious streams — I mean small streams. As concerns the lamer ones the want of water

would not ba experienced, at any rate to the game extent, and ib is unlikely that the phenomenally dry weather will have affected them to any appreciable extent. An attempt has been made to arrive at an improved condition of things as regards our local stream, the Water of Leitfc, but Itke many other well-nieaofc tfforts, h'ss been a fiilure, for, aa far as I can learu, noShing has coma of tha deputations, &!., ih*t have bt>en formed, .and the stream remnius in stain quo. »nd appears to be likely to remain so. That som°thiog ought to be done with the stream is without question, and several anglera aver that if they angle this season tlicy will certainly not take out licenses he.-c In tho case of people who take out a license almost entirely for this river — and they are many — ib certainly does seem hard that they should not receive more consideration than they do. The Kikanui, I understand, has bucotue closed as the uioulh, and therefore the trout from the salb water could, not by any possibility get up it to spawn, and I draw the inference that this j stream will stiff -r in consequence. Of other rivers I have not ye 1 ; heard anything authentic, so that I am nob iv a position to fort-ca-t anything concerning th°m, but I expect before publishing time to be placed in possession of somo facts as to their condition. Oue Anglers' Society in Dunedin has not been dormant or apathetic during the winter mouths, but haa kept vitality iv the concern by holding pe"iodicsl social meetings, which havo of late taken tho form of euchre tournaments, and some v*ry enjoyable evenings have been spent, which I hope ara only the forerunners of more to follow during future cose seasons Since wribiug the foregoing the annual meeting of the Obago Anglers' Association has been held, aud I am gl*d to note thab Mr Russell bas intimated baab the Shag at Loe's f«rm has beesi tbrjwn open to members of the asso"ciation. There was some tnlk of making Mr Kussell an honorary member of .the association in recognition of his kindness, bub the matter dropped, and a vote of thanks was accorded instead, which Mr Russell will no doubb appreciate. That gentleman in writing of the Sh<tg River says ib has been very low all the winter, bub thab the fi*h ara numerous in the upper reaches, though there are bub few to be seau in tho neighbourhood of Bushy. j At the aunual meeting Mr A. Matthews drew, attention to the u^e of large-siz >d flies, such ss (he Jick Scott, in angling competitions, -and pointed out thab they might be utilised as minnows by drawing them rapidly through the water. He appeared to think some restriction should be made a3 to aize. Mr J. B. M'C^l'um evidently did nob, judging from his remarks, think that th->re was such a fchiug as a di-honeßt augler in our midst, and was inclined to regard the restriction as unnecessary. Well, I am inclined to a great extent to agree with his ideas regarding OSogo anglers as a whole, bub there are, ib is said, black sheep in every to.d, and if tbere ate none among our anglers there may ba at leasb one or two piebald ones. Waelhec there are or not duen nob seem to me to be material to tho regulating of ihs lure to be. used, for it is almoHfc as neceieary to regulate the aizs of the fly to ba u«ed aa to regulate thß nature of the lure — fly, creeper, worm, &3. At any rate no possible barm that I can see could coma of restriefng the *iz) of the fly.

The Association i,«, I am pleased to observe,' in a good financial position, which I trust will continue, and this, according to the genial chairninn, is in a measure due to the generosity of the Acclimatisation Society.

Mr Williams at the meeting drew attention to fish sent in in connection with the Hospital and Benevolent Day Competitions being two or three days old when they reached bown, and conßtquenbly in some cases bad ; and Mr Matbhews — very fairly, I think—asked the question how* was ib bo be known that they were all got in the one day. Mr Ogg was right when he aaid that too much value w*b often placed upon prizes to be won, bat prizes act as a great stimulus in th« majority of sport?, and could scarcely be dispensed with entirely.

Mr Chisholm's paper on fhh culture in Obago was an able and interesting one, and a rich vein of hamour, pervaded the whole. The paper, which has been published, is well worth reading.

I have received the following from one who is in an txcellenb position to speak as to our rivers, and though a good deal of the matter is retrospective in character, I give ib pretty well in full. It is as follows :—: —

'• To express an opinion as to th& probabilities of an early and successful angling ssaaon is, to say the leas», a very difficult matter. However, appearances at present are in favour of tho angler. The winter h*s been very mild, and I should say the fall of snow on the high country has nob been exces»ively heavy, so that the season should bo an early one.

"In referring to our streams I will begia with the Shag River. This stream has for a number of years been well stocked, and being the best spawning sttvam in tbe district the fish are always plentiful. It is al*o tho easiest river bo fish, there being few, if any, obsbxcles in the wny of the angler. The only drawback is a little digging, but this is limited in character, and at timas tbe river is to be found in splendid fishing order. Anglers are sometimes very successful in the lower waters in the evening.

" In tbe case of the Waikouaiti anglers are never very successful in the upper waters, but goorl baskets of heavy fish are made near the tidal waters or in the vicinity of the traffic bridge. " Then we come to ths Watbati and the Leith. Theae two streams are ao well known to anglers that it is uonecessary to say anything about them further than that the former jiclds good baskets in the beginning of tha season, the fish being small but in good condition. The number of young fry, the result of .natural spawning, to be seen speaks well for the stocking of the Waitati. " From the Silverstream, which is handy to town, some anglera make nice little baskets.

" Little notice has been taken of the Lea Stream lately on account of the digging that is carried on, but .sometimes this affects ib only in a slight degree, and the last time tbe writer saw it) it was fishable, and the fish could ba seen feeding on the surface. There is little doubt but that there are good fish in it still, and it is well worth a trial.

" The Deep Stream, although there is a little digging near the source where the ground is of a peaty nature, is nob 80 much discoloured as where clay ia worked, and every season good baskeba are got about the Strath Taieri crossing.

" Some nice fishing is to be bad in the creeks crossing the plain in the district around Middlemarch, while the American brook trout are to be found well up the creaks on the Rock and Pillar.

" The Tokomairiro stream towards the mouth ha* this last year or two been making a record for it«elf .

'■ The Owaka ia becoming a favourite stream for the fly, and is every year becoming betber known. This and the Glenomaru are nic«

little sbreanu to flab, and both araTiow easy of access.

" The Puerua is a good stream that few onfcside the local anglers try their luck in. Som« good baskets are made from ib, and tha writer has seen some heavy fish in its water*.

"The K»ihiku is well worth a vi«it, fcher* being splendid fishing water up the gorge, and, considering the siza of the stream, some good fiih are b*ken from it.

"The Waiwera is a favourite stream with many, and is an early river. M*ny of the fiih are perfect models in shaps and condition ; buh, as is the case wi' h most of the other streams, it h of lilble u?e whipping this stre&m when ib is low. There is good fi-hiug water on the Clifton eht*te, and the fish are large, but not; numerous. The favourite part appears to be in the vicinity of the railway bridge, and competitors like to hold a piece of this watsr.

"The K'i'riwao, a snull stream, is much fi-thtd, and it is surprising the number of fish, averaging about three-quarters of a pound, thab are taken from it. In the lower waters the fhh are heavier, sometimes scaling 61b or 7ib.

•• The Waipahi and tha Pomahaka are perhaps the two stream* that are most fished, and they yield an enormoui quantity of troafc. Anglers report these two streams to be full of fiih The first-named is an early stream, and the upper waters afford splendid sport. On tha other hand, the other rivor is a late one ; aadl if an angler can g^t it in good order, witfc a good bretzj blowing, he can, with the minnow, jfery soon fill his basket.

" The Molyneuz and the Mataura contain good fiob, notwithstanding the silt from the diggings, and anglers havo their favourite spots where they can calculate on eeouriog » good basket. Some fins large fish have recently mads their appearanC3 below the Hataura Falls. This augur* well for an early season.

"Go id fishing is to ba had in the lower waters of the Waikaka, which ia very convenient and eaiy of accens.

"The Mimihau and Wyndham muat nob b« overlooked. Both are very convenient to tha Wyndham township. The former is a great favourib* with fly fi-ihers, and many flue baskets are obtained. The Utter stream is well stocked, but one has to go well up to get good broken water."

A correspondent writing from Winchester on the 2<Hh inst says : — "After an unprec«dentedly dry winter, tbe Ute welcome rain thai; brought: the principal streams down iv flood has vastly improved the prospect* for the coming season. Wacds, &; , have been washed away, and tha waleru are bright and claan. The rainbow trout liberated Ust year hava novr attained the Wigih of 7in, and ib is lo be hoped that angler* will carefully put b\ck any they may occasionally citah. The Rangitab* is in fioo order, and as Mr Lvagdon has provided extra accommodation at its mouth it is anticipated tjiab many will avail tkemsalves of the opportunity of securing the large fiih nowplentitulin these waters."

- Information from South Canterbury sayg :— " The fishing seaaoa opens to-d*y (September 27). The rivors are s >mewhat low, bub the small flo^d of a fow week* ago has prevented "th«m. from being thoroughly dried up, so tun seasoa will h&vd a v<jry fair start. There appears to be plenty of fish ia the rivers, and no doubfc fishermen will have good sport. The weathsr to-day is dimply delightful." A report just to hand from the Waipthi says that the we*ther is perfect, aud that ths 1.-?eal fiiherman are making great preparations for the Ist. My correspondent adds that he thinks the enthusiasm iucteases yftarly. He had » sfcroll, ho say.*, along the bank* of tha -Waipahi lately, and the trout were rising freely to tha fly. He saw some beaubie* thit appeared t-J be well on to 41b in weight. The fish teemed to ba in good coudition, and very lively when after the fly. So far as he could make out, the fly that w.w on the water was something lik« the Jessie, mallard wing, red spider, or darkwinged J'issi*. If the weather holds good an excellent opening day is expected, as tha stream is in perfect fly condition.

A Southland correspondent writes thafc tha O/eti is in splendid order. A. light flood occurred a few days ago, bub ifl subsiding, 'and from present appearances the river will be in tip-top order for the lab. The n»h soem to ba plentiful, and great preparations are being made among local anglers for their taking.