ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 38

ANGLING.

Br Jock Scott,

To be a perfect fisliermau you lequue more excellencies than tuo usually to be found ill such a small space as is allotted to a njan scaica'ss.— Pabkeu Giluour. Readers are invited to contribute items of local fishing news j for mseitioii in this column I'or insertion in the enauing issue I ttey should reach Dunedia by Monday night's, mail. | COMPfiTITIOxNfS. OTAGO ANGLERS' ASSOCIATION. Cup D"y Any stream in~\ SSsatioal hospital Day district / Hours for trout -fishing competitions, from 1 8 a.m. to 5 p.ia. ; for perch, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. j • BAHK NOTES. f Owaka. — Determined to reU-ieva my lost j laurels I leffc Dcmedin for Owaka on Wednes- j day morning, and about midday arrived safely j at Owaka station. Hiving paid due attention j to the waiits of the iuner man I mounted my bicycle (having bseu inlornsed that the road up the flat waa in fine order) and proceeded to T&hatika, where I had left my camp all standing-, j My tackle did nob come to hand till after 5 j o'clock, but when ib did I at once trotted off to j the riverside, keen to get a few troub that night, j I captured oue and rose another, and then ib j began to get dusk. Jast at this juncture the j fhh were rising wholesale, but I had promised to J give the eels'a turn that night, and being a man [ of my word I returned to the house, piivately j making up my mindbhab I could carry the two 1 eel poles and I would take the rod again and try where I had left cff. Strange to say, though ' only a quarter of an hour had elapsed since I left • the river, on my return not a risa broka the sur- 1 facs of the water where before you could count j the ever-increasing circles by tho half dozen. Nevertheless I tried for tEout for half an hour, bub without result;. The eel-fiihing was just about as successful. J. and myself kept at it for an hour or more, after which, as ib was chilly, j though a be&utif ul night, we gave ib up in dis- j gnat and sought the attractive fireside. The ; following day was magnificent — what a differ- -j ence to the weather I experienced three weeks j before ! — and I made great preparations for a run j down the flat to fish in tae neighbourhood of j Mr Dl'Latchie's. I meanb to have made an early starfe, bub what with fidJling after one thiDg and another ifc was nearly 11 o'clock before 1 was ready, and I was then per- ; suaded to wait for dinner. Immediately on its ; conclusion, with the gear fash to my bicycle, I ', made a start, for I had a couple of miles to go, ; and after one has been fishing for some hours a | two-mile walk home is not jusb the sorb of thing a man would most Qesire. For this I reason I took the bike lor it. I was nob long j g-tbing started with lbs rod, and using a March J brown and a black gnat I wcrked away for j aboub three-quarters ot an hoar and landed I some 3 fi-h. Now I kaow aiauy anglers will hold up their hands with horror at whab I am going bo say next. I tried the creeper ! I quite admit that fly-fishing 13 the nicf s1;,s 1 ;, cleanest, and most scientific mode of all for taking trout ; but ac the same time, if you find that you are not doing too well, aud you find creeper or cricket is killing, I think you are quite justified in what some will consider descending bo them. Whether j my idea is righb or wrong, Jock Scott certainly did fiflh with the creeper on Thursday afternoon, and made very good work with it, as my readers will admit when I tell them that, although I was only on tha river from 2 till 5 o'clock, I killed 14 trout weighing as nearly 20ib as possible. All these were Laken with the creeper, oubiide the thrte before-mentioned ] aud one I took on a March brown. I covered j aboub a mile and a-half of water for them, and took tham for the most part in the qu'et water, I the ripples as a rule containing notuing. The ! Owaka is in splendid order, though rather low i and very clear, and, late as it is for this river, I ! expect, if I get a continuation of fine weather, to make a few good hauls before I leave. — Jock Scott.

The Shag River — Mr Ru=sell has been good enough bo send me a report of the Shag. He writes on March 12, and aajs the river is 5., i1l very tow imd clear, but. th,<j £Uli B«em ta bo aa

numerous as ever. The stream at the time of writing was covered with green slime and weed, and great difficulty was experienced in fishing. On the previous Monday Mr Russell visited the upper reaches of the river as far as the Shag Valley station at Coal Creek, and found the water to be low and clear, but there were plenty of big fish in Home of the pools. The Molyneux. — Th® SiirliDg and Inch" Clutha anglerß held a competition on Tuesday, Bfch insb., for the purpose of sending the fish caught to the Benevolent Institution. The following gentlemen kindly gave prizes for the occasion : — Messrs D. M'Kisscck, E. Saunderson, and Jas. Harvey gave a priza of the value of £1 5s for the firot ; Mr G. Anderson gave 12s 6d for the second ; and Mr J. C, Anderson gave a fab lamb for the third. The association also gave two money prizes. The hours of fishing were frcm^ 6 a.m. till 7 p.m. The day was bright and sunny, with a strong wind blowing in the afternoon, while the river was low and clear. Ten anglers entered, bub only seven weighed in. The following are the scores : — A. Duckworth, three fish, weight 151b 7oz ; A. H. Anderaon, two fish, Bib ; J. Wright, oue fish, 51b Isoz ; J. Andrews?, three fish, 510 13cz ; G. Anderaon, one fish, 41b 13oz ; G Byers, ona fish, 3tb lOoz ; A. E. Fcrquhar, one fhb, 31b 8oz; total, 12 fisb, 47ib 2oz. Two of the fish were rejected as being in too poor condition to send to the institution ; the others were fins fish in capital condition. By the rejection of these two the weight of trcu j senfc in would be aboub 431b. There were &130 a couple of perch. With tha laudable object in view of sending the fish to the institution every angler did his level bepfc to secure a basket, bub weather and tide were rather against them. — Stirling correspondent. Lake Wakattpu.— Mr N. BL Maekay, of Diptoo, had some fine sport with rod and line on Lake Wakatipu while wool-classing at Sunnyside station. He landed 123 fish, weighing 2681b. Nearly all the fhh were caught in the Locky River, which mas into the lake at. Halfway Biy ; the baits used were fly and cricket. The following are fomeof his takes :—: — 13 fisb, 411b (cricket); 10, 40!b ; ], 9.b ; 1, 5Mb ; 8, 171b ; 8, 161b ; 8, 181b ; 1, s!b ; 12, 18,b ; 7, 171b ; 3, 4ib-each; 4.151b; 1, s£.b ; 2, 10;b ; 1, 541b. He landed 7 flab out of Lake Wakatipu with bate fly, 1 fish luruiog the scale at 51 0 15oz, caught on a ssuall Wicknam fancy fly. Hooked two others on the game fly, bub lost them — one of them would be about 71b. These fi3h are the first that have been taken out of the lake with flies cr rod and line.

Burning Plains, Pouahaka. — Mr G. W. Maxwell writes under date March. 11 :—: — "Major Fergusson; Mr Whittop, and ladies have been staying here since the 19th ulb. Barring ?orae bad weather the first 10 dajs, tha party have had splendid da^s and excellent sport. In fact, there have been no blanks — 7 and 10 being the minimum baskets. Major Fergusson'd biiskel yesterday was 20 fish, weighing 4-Olb, caught ia the ripples with the crickab. Mr Wnittou's largest basket was 12 fiah, the major's for the s&roe day being 15. The latter gentleman tried a ripple about a mile above my place on the 9ch (on his way up the gorg^), and in nine casts booked 8 fish, landing 4. Ido nob think this can be bsaten much. To-day Mr Wiiifcton i<j fly-fishing' and getting nice sport, the trout rising freely. -The liver is low and clear, with plenty of trout visible. The largest caught so far weighed just 6ib, and I thick k^'b is a fair average. Messrs King B:olhers were camped here lass week, and ciughfc a nice basket or two. Mr J. Crawford (Toiro) is here a'so on his annual Pomahaka ■visit;. On a trip up the gorg-3 the other day he landed a s|lb beauty, and two other fish broke clean away, his tackle no*; being strong enough. I was sorry to see, 'Jock,' that you had be«n on tho other side of the river Irom here the other week and had not called. Remember on your next visit that a high river will be no excuse, as a good coo-ec will always bring someone in a boat."

Waipahi. — Mr C. H. Gorrick, writing on March 7, sends me the following:— "All last; week, wita the fxception of one day, was good fronting weather, the fish taking the cricket very eagerly, especially on Monday last, when good bags weje made by Messrs J. R. Smith, G. Trusler, and E. Harrison. On Wednesday and Thursday Messrs J. R. Smith, Charles Trusler, and J. Trusler kindly devoted the whole of their time to catching me enough trout to have frozen and exported. The two days chosen were fhe wjrst of the whole week, but with such expert; anglers at work the bag was a fair one, considering the weather. On the firat day Me Smith was on top with a nice basket, which included 2 over 31b each. The total for the day was 141b. The nexb day Mr C. Trusler was in the lead with 6 fish, which weighed 111b. Mr Smith caught 9 fish, but mostly small ones, the total bag being 18^b. The writer caught 5 fish, weighing 9^'b, two days later, the heaviest fish being 4£lb, all on the cricket. From the gorge upwards was the part of the Waipahi fished. The river is rather low at present, but the troub are taking well, especially in the tails cf the ripples, where the biggest fish are feeding. On opening the largest trout numbers of natural fljes were to be see", on which he had been feeding, the most conspicuous being the red spiones.* and Waipahi. Big rises of both the flies named were up all through the week, but the fbh did not appear to be touching them 011 the surface, bub were evidently feeding on those drowned in the currents. The cricket is the lure at present."

The Waipahi.. — Mr J. R. Smith, writing frosn Atthufton on thel4 l h inst , says: — "Nice warm weather h«is prevailed during the past week, consequently the Waipahi is getting low and weedy, but the trout have been taking the cricket freely, and some good rakes hive been made. Mr Couperthwaite, of Gore, got 10 nice fish on Thursday in a couple ot hours, and Mr R. Bagrie landed four beauties on Saturday, one going wilhin a fraction of 4-lb, the four fi«h weighing 8510. Mr Bagrie 13 aa enthusiastic angler, and although this is hia first season with tha rod he has beea very successful for a beginner."

A Tjut? South. — A correspondent from j Clifdeu sends me the following : — "My brother and I have just returned from a trip round the coast from the Waiau Mouth to Patupo, or B'g River, We went round partly to see the country and also to fiad out if the reports of the big fish seen round there were true. The two large rivers — Wairaurahiri and Wai tutu — are crossed by means of chairs luuning on wire ropes. We found the contractors, who are making an excellent job, just fiuishing the one over the Waitutu. r ihey report seeing a lofc of fish in both rivers, those in the Wairaurahiri being exceptionally large. One taken out from it measured 3ft in length and 22in in girth. They . had no means of weighing it, but pub it down at [ 25 b. Another -which got »-way they said was- j quite 71b or 8;b heavier. We had very little j tim/j ior fishing, and al=o struck the tide when right out. Bat my brother rose oue and was fast to another in the Waitutu about 61b weight. In the Wairaurahiri I got- fasti to one which I estimated at quite 251b weight, as we had a very good view of him before he gob away. We also saw plenty of young fish. These rivers will not, however, be fished much, for they run fearfully rapid, and are heavily timbered on their banks right; to the a«a beach, from what we saw we

imnwmiiinrmMTnir-Mtf.. „,..,. ......„,, „,, , , mrm— imagine that the two lakes, - Hauroto-- andf Poteriteri, which are drained by these rivers, i£ not already well stocked with large fisb, very soon will be. The fbh we saw were evidently fresh from the sea, so all the rivers farther round the coast ought to be in a fair way to b8 well stocked. This ougbt to be good news to the acclimatisation societies and to fishers generally.— -R. T." Otamita. — Mr Chudleigh H. Gorrick, writing on March 14-, says :—": — " Since my last memo, to you I have left Waipahi, and am now. fishing the Otamita River. This river is very low ab present, but appears to be teeming with nice fish, which take the cricket in splendid fashion. Owing to the lowness and clearness of the water, the. very fioesb of casts must be used : tbe 'fiah averaging l£!b. They give excellent sporb in consequence, though it does not matter how lightly they are played, more than twothirds break away, .as immediately' they are hooked they dash away and almost at once strand themselves on the shallows. , As a rule ihe connection between angler and fish is then severed, as the troub is floundering aboub endeavouring to get back to deeper water, and ia his wild struggling a smash ensues ; ib is only when the fish stays Jn the channel that he is easily brought to net. I never killed gamer fish than these are. My~ biggest day was 9, which averaged l^-.b, but I lo3t twice the number that I landed. • I also devoted one morning to the Waimea River, ruy creel showing 5 nice fish, "which" weighed 441b. The fish in this stream are much smaller than those in the Obamita. This tiver is_also» very clear and low,' and rather difficult to fish owing to the high and clear banks. The cricket was also greedily taken. here. The writer devoted an afternoon to the Mataura River, fbhing it about two miles below the Mandeville Hotel, hoping to geb a big . fish, but his anticipations were act realised, 1 fish of 21b being the contents of the basket for the afternoon. This yiver is much clearer thaa ib has been, and the fish will- take a cricket in the tipples. The whole of last week was excellent for trouting, the fish being on the feed all and every day. I thould bs obliged if you or any angler would be . good enough to leb me know, through this eoiumn, the distinguishing features of ttie Loch Leven troub. I h*ve alwajs understood that after they are two years old it is impossible to distinguish the common brown^ troub of the tame age from the Loch Leven ; in fact, when ia the same river they become identical. I should like to ba set right if I am wrong." WiNciissrEH. — Jbifctls fishing has been attempttd locally durais? the pasb week, the neighbouring streams being sadly in wanb o£ water. Messrs Twigg aud Sugder., however, made a catch of soms 80 fish (1001b) in the lower Opihi. Mr Drummond Sharps took 661b from the Rangitata, while some fishermen from Temuka way made some finis hauls both in WdigQb aud numbers, Mr Orr's baskeb weighing 1301b, in which was included a fish which tamed tbe scale ab 32ib. The river is in fine order, but since Saturday heavy seas have interfered with fishing close to i^s mouUi. — T. L. i Ashbuhton. — A valued corretpoudtJibhasbeen [ kind enough to send me the following, dated : Ashburton, March 10 :—": — " I wrote you. last after ! giving the fish to the Governor. Since then, I owing to nor'-westers, the fishing in both the I Rakaia and Rangitata has keen very poor. On I the 20th ulb-, as the big'rivera were too thick, we I wem; to the mouth of toeAshburton, aud gob 2A fish, inclndiug two of 71b each and 10 more of 2£lb-np to 61b, -the remainder being em a}l f-lb fish. Altho.igh four rods were out. Cromeraad I I only took 1 small fish each,. Cambridge and ' M'Nicholl getting 11 each. We were alt fishing with the whitebait phantom, to luck has ; something to do with the bag.. Oa the 24tb and I 25 :h we went lo Rtogitftta .Lagoon, bub with a very cold east wind we got only one slb fisb and two very small ones, about lib each, I stayed bac!r, aud the nexb morning, sfcer the others had returned to work, -I gob -4 fisb, averaging 4£'b each ; but; that was up tbe river on the 'i'dmuka side. On March 6we w ere going to Rakaia, and after starting met Rees Jor.es, who had just returntd, and the Uakaia being ia flood trotn the nor'-wester on the previous Wednesday we went to the mouth of the Ashburton. It was just clearing, and we then made the record catch for Ashhurton — 31 fi-h to three rodp, weighing 1271b. The three heaviest fi3h weighed 35:h — cne of 13i'>b, 18in girth, 31int long ; one of 11 Jib, 17i ; n girth, 30in long ; one of 101b, lSiyin girth, 29iin Jong ; and alsa another of 6jr'b, 13£ in gh-th, 24in locg. There were 5 more of osrev s£tbeach, and the rest wera from 2£lb to 4£lh each, with 8 fish weighing s^-lb. We wonc back next day, but. tbe river was clear, and we only got 14 fish to four rods after sundown, and the nexb morning we could get nothing, the river being- too clear and shallow. All the big fish seem to have gene out to sea, lam going to the Rakaia Lagoon to-day, and hope to have a good report to make. I would mention I have taken, several 21b and 41b fish on the arfciSuial grasshoppsr, which can be obtained at Wilkie and Co.'a. My take up to the present date is 171 fieh,, scaling 3061b. This includes minnow and fly fishing." The Pomahaka — Mr A, Mason has seemed some good basket* this season, And on Wednesday l«sb took 16 nice fish from the Pomahaka. He had jusb a sufßeienfe 3osd to carry home. Mr P. M'Cann also got a good basket at tbe endoE the week. • . • The Mataura Ensign says :—": — " Although the season hat been decidedly against tbe successful pursuit of most avocations and pastimes pertaining to summer, the sport of angling has been prosecuted with a lurge amonnt of success: iv several parts of this district. During last week Ml- Bagrie, of C'iaton, took 52 fine troufc from the Kuriwao Stream. The previous week there. fell victims to Mr Basjrie's rod no fewer than 48 fish, the heaviest scaling aboub 31b. During the season Hr James 'Jrusler haaenticed some 500 tisii irom the Waipahi. These averaged lib each in weight, the largesb fkh, caughb not exceeding 51b. Over 4cwb of such dainty fare as trout is decidedly cheap meat at the cost of a license. • . • The Stirling and lucbclutha Anglers* Society held a fisting competition on the Molyneux on Tuesday last, Bbh, for the benefit of the inmates of tbe Benevolent Institution. The day was not favourable for making good baskets, the tiver beirg low and clear, while a gale o£ wind blew all the afternoon, which made fishing in some of the part 3 almost impossible.. Ten anglers wenb out, but only seven weighed in, the result being 10 fish weighing 42ib. All the fish were in splendid condibion. • • The atbention of anglers is directed to an advertisemenb elsewhere of a genuine Hardy rod with reel and line to match offered for sale by Mr Chudleigh H. Gorrick, the price asked, being under English cosb. The rod waa epecially built for Mr Gorrick for New Zealand waters, and to any augler requiring an absolutely new rod in perfect condition ib should prove a desirable acquisition. * ; ' Attention is directed to the notification by the Otago Acclimatisation Society with reference to poaching. Mr W. R. Robertson, formerly manager ot the branches of the National Bank at Qutram andlnvercargill, died lait week at NeUoa afttSK » £t°t?Wtjed. illness.