ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 46

ANGLING.

By. Jock Scott.

Q'o be a perfect fisherman you require more excellencies thau ! »ie usually to be found in such a small space as is allotted to a ' Kan s circai*. — Pakkkr Gilmoue. ' Headers are muted to contribute items of local flsbinj news , for insertion in this column. For insertion in the ensuing issue thej should reach Dunedin by Monday mghfc's nia.il. t COMPETITIONS. OTAGO ANGLERS' ASSOCIATION. Cup D'y Any stream inS I southern ac- ( xr-. U Y,;toi n-itr i climatisation f Hospital Day i district; / Hours for trout - fishing competitions, f rom 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ; for perch, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. BANK NOTES. ■' '.'I hava to acknowledge with thinks a couple of photos of some excellent takes made by Ashburton fishermen. The pictures are good ones, and will no doubt be prized by the lucky anglers as a souvenir of the occasion. Ths MoTjYneux. — This river is low and clear, and the minnow is as usual the lure. On the, 15fch inst. Mr A. E. Faiquhar secured 2 trout weighing 41b each. The river is too 3ow anil clear at present for making big baskets. — Sfcirlifg correspondent. Tee Mimihau. — Writing on the 17th inst. "W. V. 8. " say<a that the streams are low and clear and that no takes worth recording have been made during the last two weeks. A change, however, took place on the day of writiug, raia foiling heavily. The result is that the streams are in flood, and the weather being cold and stormy no angling can be done. Ib is to Jat.e in the season for any great baskets being made, concludes my correspondent. Waihola Lake. — Messrs W H. Hastings, T. M'Gill, and C. Harvey fished the WaiholaLake about 10 dftya since, and to the surprihe of everyone, succeeded in catching some very nico perch f i'jih its waters. Ou reading that para- . graph over ib sounds ambiguous, and as it taight ba the means of raising a laugh against these gentlemen and calling their ekill as anglers into queation, I had batter explain thac the surprise at their catching the fish arose from the fact that perch were not supposed to exist in the lake, no one having taken them from its waters befcrc, and not to a. lack of skill on th? part of the trio who caught them. The anglers started at Tifcri bridge, but rose nothing except a trout, which they were not successful in , capturing. They worked their way up to the ' lake, and about 4 o'clock fell in with the > perch and had some very good sport, j N.B. — 1 should say that anyone intending to try j Waihola Lake for perch after this will have to j make cure of its being pretty clear, its usual ' condition, especially wlieu windy, being vary i thick. In such a case, judging from my own ; experience in other lakes, sportsmen would i get little or nothing for their pains. Perch are j a somewhai; tlow fish, and when the water is \ thick are liable Dot to see the minnov or whatever may ;io used as a lure. I omitted to say ■ that the fish taken were caught on the minnow I — J.S. j The Pomahaka. — Writiing of his recent visit j to the Pomahaka, Major Fergusson says : | "Ws w*>re very comfortable at Maxwell's. He has & large hut this year as well as the big lent, so there is accoTamodation for a party of four, which was our number. At first the weather was very stormy and cold, crickets were not properly on, and fish would not rise, J oven if you could keep the line in tho water, { but for the last 10 days I got lots of fish, my | best catch beiug 20 of Wlb, as regards number?, j but they were not up to the average, which waa ! 2£lb for 145 fish. I might have ciught more, but some days T left off when I had as many as I could conveniently carry. Latterly the fish ! were in good condition and played well, running out lots of line "and jumping frequently. The river has now gone down very much, and tbc fish have gone into the ripples and take freely up to 12.30 or 1 p.m. Crickets are afc present more abundant than I have ever seen them. They are a month later than laat year and seem to have come out in swarms. Anyone going to Maxwell's now would be certain of good sport. I caught nothing over 4^lb, but Mr Whittoa got one of nearly 6ib. I think the larger fish are only now coming to tho cricket. The Max- j walls are very pleasant to stay with, and most ' obliging in evevj' way — always ready to do aujrthiDg. To my mind, the Poniftbr.ka, especially above Maxwell's, is the prettiest fishing water I have geon in New Zealand, and reminds ono !of some rocky Scotch river. What splendid salmon pools ! You could see the very spot where ' he ' would rise, but I fear it will never be. However, I am one of those who prefer trout-fisbing when it is really good, and am i very well satisfied with what I have had in thia i couatry." '

Mandeyille. — Mr Gbudleigh H. Gorrick, | writiug oa the 21st insi., say« : — "The weather ! lies heen too rough since Tuesday lasb to do any angling. Moit of the week heavy rain haa bten i -Il'njf, bat on Saturday night it ceased. A ht nvy gale i» now blowing, bub the gun is winning and the air quite warm. Owing to the strong wind, however, fishing is out of the question for the present. On Monday last I fished the Waipahi from the Gorge upwards, and killed 4 uicp fish that weighed 10|lb, the heaviest barfly 41b. These were all taken on the crickst, and killed withia 10 minute.3 of eacb | other, on an lift steel centre Hardy rod Those ; trout gave superb sport and fought like ', demons. The rise only lasted about half an i hour, and then ceased as suddenly as it came on — cot another fin could be moved for the rest of the day. Should any anglers intend visiting j Mandeville, I would strongly recommend them | to stay at the Railway Hotel, kept by Mr Gad. j Smith ; he drives anglers to the best spots on the three streams free of charge. The table and Accommodation is second to none in Southland, and the charges are extremely moderate. Whtn the wind goes down good sport should be obtainable, bs the rain has cleared out the green , slime. The rivers he r e ara now in excellent ; condition, having plenty of water in them." j Winchester, March 21. — The Ohapi Creek I and Opihi Rivers hive provided some sport for j fly-fishing, while the Rangitsita haa been in | good order throughout- the week. Two Josal ' anglers fishing ye.-terdsy brought huma 201b, including a seven-pounder. They report the fish coming in in goodly numbers. — Correspou- , dent. The Opihi. — The following takes have been ! made trom «he Opihi : — T. Twigg, March 9, 34 } fish, 57ib ; March 10, 15 fish, 131b ;— total 701b. ; A. Suarieu, March 9, 14 u<b, 221b; March 10, ■ 8 fi^h, 7!b ;— (otal. 29! b. Grand totals, 71 "fish, 99!b. Mr Twigg's largest fish weighed 41b, and all the fish were, taken with the By. The Ranoitata. — There haa been some excellent fishing at the Rangitata lately. Mr Bjyd Thonacon records the following : — Mr J*mes Oir (two evenings' fishing), 18 fish, 1271b ; Mr H. Cook, Pleasant Point, 10 fish. 801b ; Mrs J. T. M Hayhurst, 10 tisb, weighing from 41b to 10£!b; Mr D Taylor. 7 fisb, 491b J 2 oz ;MrN C. Nicholas, 10 fish, 491b lloz. The latter records are competition outs for one night's fishing. Mr C. Horsman's take for a morning and evening was 8 fish, 301b. Mrs Haybnrat's basket is considered probably the best ever taken by a lady angler, and wai (he result of very determined fishing, with very little assistance from a gillie. Owak*. — The weather has been simply , delightful at Owska since my last budget. > Friday I packed my gear on the bike aud went up the flas ro Mr Frieuds, and starting immediately below his bridgp. was soon in the thick of it. About the third throw I was rewarded with a decided rise froai a trout that wont about l^lb, and in about a couple of minutes I had him safely in my basket. Things looked promising, and the looks were not deceptive. I found, as on the previous day, that nearly ill the ; fish lay in the quiet water, and if I had confined " my attention to the ripples or broken water, as is the anglar's wont, I should have come home with bub an indifferent creel Not that I neglected to take the whole of the water as it came. On the contrary, I did nob pas 3 a foot i of the river that was aece.3sib'e. My t cs 1 ; fish I wa=s very nearly losing, and for this reawon : I hooked him in a long stiil reach — n splendid fellow, and one that fought obstinately for his liberty — and after playing^bini for tome little time thought I might venture to get out my landing ne'e, which I always carry at my back through a loop in the shoulder sttap of my basket. My con.aterns.tion may be imagined , when 1 found that the net was nob j there! Where could it have gob to? H*d I j dropped it ? These and many similar questions I asked myself as I stood rod in hand with ray fine catch well on the surface. I next cas*; about in my mind for some other means of , bringing my querry to terra firma. The nature of the river was dead - against beaching, for the banks were stetp arid abrupt, and were more or lets covered with a growth o? scrub. Ifc was distinctly a case of ''Thou art so near and yet so far." W« 11, I thought to «jT«elf I c an'c take you out here ; I will take you down the river and Bee if I can pick up the n^t along the bank somewhere. Twenty yards below me there was a .'.light fall in the liver and a run immediately ,beiow it, and down that fall I was compelled t-j let my fish go. On again getting him into > quietsr water, I discovered the reef toed ran out \ in one pia.ee with a gradual incline towards the back, which was &till abrupt, and on to this shallowiog ledge I regolved to try and bring my fish. The firsb attempt was a failure, and I feared much that after all my trouble the strain I was compelled to put on would either break the gut or the hold the hook had aud ' tbat nay fish would vanish. The tackle, however, provad good, and at the second essay I , got my trout on to the ledge, and one flap he made enabled ra& to bring him still further on. Then away came the line. The strain had been too great, and the hook had torn its way out of the fish. In desperation I threw myself bodily on the top of him. What cared I if my legs were sprawling in the water and the water tunning into the tops of my waders. Lifting myself carefully off, I put nay hand under me ■ and felt for his gills, and slipping my thumb through them, I knew I had him secure. I telt inclined to sh'iut with exultation as I scrambled up the bank. He was a beautifully-conditioned fellow, and as compared wit.b. other catches made by myself w&s a big fish. I have given some space to a description of tha catch, tor I know anglers will understand exactly the state of excitement that must inevitably arise in the captor under such circumstances. I found I had neglected to return my neb to its proper place alter taking out the previously- caughi fish, and discovered it in the water leaning against the bank. I i continued my operations till about 6 o'clock, ] and to make a long story short got in all 15 j fish, much larger than I had got the previous day down the river. I did not weigh them, bub they would probably average close on 2lb. On this day I may mention I tried the fly with a considerable amount of perseveranae ; bub it was no use, and I had to resort to the creeper, with which most of the trout were taken. Next day (Saturday) I went over water from which I did not expect to take very much, and was agreeably surprised at getting nine trout, four ot which were a nice size and five rather small These were also taken with the creeper. On Monday I secured half a dozen close at home, and wound up the day with an evening's rabbit shooting. And now a word to anyone who may think of trying the Owaka. The river is low and clear, and requires careful fishing. Creepers are to ba got, but must be Bought for in the river, not on the banks. By no means fail to cast near the banks, especially where there ia cover of any kind, and fish far — by which I mean get your creeper well away from you. By following thia advice I think you will, late in the season aa ib is for this river, meet with success. I purpose goiug over to the Catlins River to-morrow, but that must form | the subject of my next contribubioa.—JoCK SeoxT, | A Good {Sign.— The Xapanui Courier states

thut most of the trout streams in the district are full of young flsb, and the past spawning eeMOD must hava therefore been good. Competitions. — The Timaru Herald of the 17th inst. says :— The Timara Anglers' Society started their last competition for clasees for fly and minnow lishiDg at 6 o'clock last erening. The entries were fair, and all the competitors went out to the Opihi. The fishing will continue 'throughout the dsy, and baskets will be weighed in at the Grosvenor at 10 o'clock. — The second angling competition in connection with ths Tetnuka Angiers' Club was htld on Friday night last. It was confined to minnow fishing, and there were thre9 prizes — the first presented by Hardy Bros., England, for the heaviest basket from any river ; the second by Dr J. S. Hayes, president of the club, for the next heaviest basket ; and the third by Mr J. M. Twomey, for the third heaviest basket, the second and third prizes to ba allotted to basket! taken from any river except the Rangitata. There were 10 entries, but only five competitors weighed in. The resu!t3 were as follows : — Rangitata Rivar : Mr N. C. Nicholas, 10 Bah, 491b lloz; Mr D. Taylor, 7 fi-sh, 491b £oz. Opihi : Mr S. Bowman, 9 fish, 241b 15£oz ; Me W. Radford, 18 fish, 19.b loz : Mr R. N. N. Hawkea, 12 fish, 121b 2oz. Rival Claimants. — The Kelso man whose prowess it was to land a trout with a big eel hanging on to its fUnk has a close rival in Mr John M'Kay, of Ardoch farm, Wyndh»m. Mr M'Ksy took a nice four-pounder out of the Wyndham. As he was landing it he observed that an eel was cla<ming fir»t mortgage oa the spotted beauty, and was determined to take all risks in order to retain his claim. Mr M 'K»y, as a true sportsman, entered a disclaimer instanfcer, end with one sturdy blow of his gaff gave tbe eel its quiebus. The trout's flaih was distinctly imbedded by the teeth of the eel. — Wyndh-un Farmer. ' * .'. "Plomb" sa^s: — "It ie not generally known th&t pisciculture was discovered by the Chinese. The scale upon which their operations were conducted was immense, but it was co practical that much cf it is in vogue to this day amongst them. They fixed in the rivers large piles, to which a framework was fastened, and en this they placed bundles of wood for the fish to spawn on. After the spawning season the bundles of tt ; ck3 were removed, and the eggs were collected, and either hatched in pools and artificially .made small stream*, or placed in other streams to mnke their own fight with nature. The rivers of China abound with Qfh, and fish forms the staple food of the lower olatsfs living ceir the rivers. In thia country the Chinese are v*ry fond of fish, aud in those localities where the long-tailed Eastern congregates the fish hawkers fiud a ready market. 1% seems incredible that ths Chinese should know more aboub pisciculture, spawning seasons, &c, than we do, but we may safely assett that the average fisherman of Sydney, or even of New South Wales, has a vague idea that a fish makes a ce^t and lays a few eggs in it like & bird, bub otherwise be is not interested in its habits of breeding. He can tell you when to iaks off a fly hook and pub on a 3, or when the black hr6a.m are being pricked by a blunt hook and getting off. If we succeed iv interesting some one in the matter we shall be well pleased, feeling confident that the -student of pisciculture will find & profitable, healthful, and pleasant pursuit."