BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2331, 3 November 1898, Page 46

BANK NOTES.

Tho Waitati. — Mr A. Anderson and Mr Butterworth were on this stream on Saturday last, and found it in splendid order, though the fish were not on the take. They got a good basket between them, some being taken with the bars fly and some with the blackfellow. On "Wednesday Mr P. Aitken and Mr H. Crust secured about 20 fish between them, one of which weighed 3ilb. Mr A. S. Jenkins and Mr H. Crust on Saturday took about a dozen fish in tho evening with the blackfellow. Master M'Connell has, I hear, been very successful fishing about the railway bridge with the worm and creeper. He lias taken several fish weighing from l^lb to 31b. The Waipahi. — Writing from Arthur!: on on October 31 "J.R.S." says:— The weather is still very unsettled; consequently fishing is not so good as anglers would like it. It is raining heavily this morning and looks very rough. Mr C. Trusler has been fairly successful during the past week in securing a few nice fish. Mr J. Hockings has also been at work, but has not met with the success of former seasons. The two above-mentioned anglers live on the banks of thestream and have opportunities others at a distance have not.—" W.D." writing from Waipahi on the same date describes the state of the river as good there and states that on the 24th October Mr P. Murray gofc 7 fish and Mr W. Dellow 9. On the 28th Mr Dellow secured 6 fish and on the 29th Mr Murray got a nice basket— l 2. On the same date Mr W. M'Callum took 7 fish and Mr Dellow killed 16 on the fly. The river was on the 31st low enough for fishing, but the weather was very unsettled. All the fish taken were small, but in pretty good condition. The Molyneux.— Stirling:— On Tuesday, the 25th, Mr G. Anderson caueht 3 fish which weighed 71b. On the same day Mr Farquhar got one 21b and Mr G. Byers one 21b. On Wednesday Mr J. Henderson brought to grass 5 fish, weight 111b. The competition on Saturday, the 29th, was almost a failure. The hours for fishing were from 11 a.m. till 7 p.m. Saturday morning was fine, but from midday till night an intensely cold cast wind was blowing, and no doubt this militated against the fish rising. Of the seven competitors who had entered only three weighed in, with the following results: — G. Byers, 3 fish, weight 91b 9oz; G. Anderson, 3 fish, 71b 4oz; J. Andrews, 2 fish, 31b loz. The first prize was a trophy of the value of £1 ss, presented by Mr Farquhar, president of the Anglers' Association hero. The fish were all caught with the minnow. The river is in good fishing fettle. — "Eldrin." — I congratulate Mr Byers on his success. The Oreti. — This river is in fine order, and tho lurea in uaq are the worm, minnow, and. fly.

On the 23rd October Mr M'Math took 8 fish weighing 151b with the fly, and Mr King 5 averaging 41b. On the 24-th Mr J. R. Cowan killed 6 fish averaging 31b, on the 26th Mr A. Cockroft, at Benmore, took 62 fish, the heaviest 51b. This is the record take. Mr J". Ross, at Benmore, on the same date, caughfc 38 fish averaging lib, and M~r D. Nickless 20 averaging the same. On the 27th Mr WMoloney took 6 fish of the total weight of 18£lb, the heaviest fish turning the scale afc 51b, and Mr Maley took a couple of nice trout weighing s£lb and 6|lb. - Winchester, October 31. — Variable weather was experienced throughout the past week. Some very nice baskets were obtained with the fly from the local streams. These are in splendid order, and fish are plentiful. Bufc little has been done in the bigger waters. A Week at the Kakanui. — Mr R. Henry and Mr M'Cortley have spent a week on the banks of this river, and have had a very fair time of it. Mr Henry, fishing each day, took fish averaging from lib to 2£lb witli the artificial minnow, a few being caught on the fly. The river was very high in the early part of tho week, and on the whole the fish were not on the take; still the outing was satisfactory from an angler's point of view. Mr M'Cortley on one day made a particularly fine basket. The anglers report that Mr Little's Temperance Hotel is an excellent place of accommodation to stop at, the prices being moderate and a buggy and horde being available. The Maerewhenua. — Mr J. Nelson writes me that he again visited the north branch of the Maerewhenua on Saturday week and found it in good order. He took 6 fish weighing 811b, Uio largest fish turning the scale at 31b. They were beautiful fish, and were all caught on the blackfellow. I shall be pleased to hear of further success. The Mimihau and Wyndham. — The local men, " W.P.S." writes, had a day out on the 23rd October, although the streams were high. Mr James Mitchell grassed 8 fish weighing 1711b, Mr J. Mitchell, jun., landed 6 nice fish, and Mr J. Wright gofc a good basket. In the afternoon Mr J. W. Thomson obtained 6 fish, and Mr W. Loiteh got tho record fish for the upper waters. It weighed 1431b. The streams are now in good trim and the weather mild. — An exchange says anglers have been getting fair sport of late. On Wednesday afternoon Mr R. Kidd caught 8 fish in the Wyndham. At the same time in the Mimihau Mr A. Simpson caught 13, Mr Bremner 10, ond Mr J. Groenshields 8. The Waitaki and Kakanui.— The Waitaki is now in good fishing order, and we (northern exchange) are informed that some fair baskets have been taken at the mouth. Tho fish are now beginning to come in from the sea in greater numbers. Mr E. Farr took the record basket out of the Kakanui — 11 nice fish — on Saturday week evening. Mr W. Sinclair obtained 6. South Streams. — "Sam Slick" says in his fishing notes in the Winton Record: — "Local fishermen were plying their rods on tho Oroti during the week with varying success. Out Centre Bush way excellent baskets have been taken. Messrs Brown, Hammond, and Macdonald topping the tally. Of the town fishermen, Mr De Joux has been the most successful. I had the pleasure of a few minutes' conversation with Air H. F. Munro, the popular manager of Vennlaw station. He is a very enthusiastic angler, and the winner of competitions. On Saturday week he landed a fish out of the Mimihau 28in round the girth, 22in long, and weighing 14§lb. Mr Forrester, of Limehills, was presented with the fish, and he informs me that it was a regular beauty. The haunts of the fish were well known, and many Invercargill anglers have endeavoured to get him to walk into their parlours, but he wasn't taking any until a modest little fly on one end and Btr Munro on the other gave him a call on Saturday evening." An Unexpected Success. — Aspiring youngsters who would be fishers of the wily trout will be stimulated to still greater effort to acquire the license and tackle when they read tho following, which has been sent to the Wellington Post by a correspondent : —A skilful young angler, Master Owen Quickc, 11 years old, had good sport in the Huangaroa River, near Martinborough, one morning last week. Attended by only his younger brother to carry the basket, he fished minnow^ for three hours, and. caught 8 trout, weighing 17;zlb. The fish were in excellent condition, and gave good sport. Canterbury Notes.— A Canterbury paper says :— The following list of Mr Percy Strain's takes from the River Avon, with the fly, up to the 22nd inst., was inadvertently omitted from Mr J. W. Alpe's fishing report of the 24 th inst. The following are the respective weights: — 1, 2|lb; 5, each 2£lb: 4, each 2Alb; 3, each 21b; 3, eachl^lb; 4, each lilb; 4, eacli lilb; 9, each lib; 15, each fib ; 7, each £lb. Total number of fish, 55 ; weighing 6231b. Six fine trout were caught in the Ashley River by Mr Alpe and a friend. The lot; scaled 22ilb, the separate weights being lib, 21b, 31b, 311b 9ilb, and 71b.— An enterprising follower of Isaac Walton's gentle sport took up a position on one of the bridges across the Avon, in the city, the other day, and began fishing, probably under the mistaken belief that he would be allowed to remain in quietness. He reckoned without sufficient knowledge of a Christchurch crowd. In five minutes there were enough people round him to drink the river dry.— Mr W. J. Alpe and a friend took a basket from the north branch of the Waimakariri, the weights of the fish being 3ilb, 31b, 2*lb, 21b, lilb, lilb, gib, 41b. Temuka Anglers' Club.— The annual meeting of the Temuka Anglers' Club, .held recf.'ntly, was well attended; Dr J. S. Hayes presiding. Tho annual report set forth that there had been three local competitions for prizes given by Messrs Hardy Bros (per Mr Tisdale), Priest and Holgate, J. S. Hayes, D. Taylor, Wilkie (Dunedin, per Mr Cooper), J. M. Twomey, J. T. M. Hayhurst, and W. Cnllman ; and at Pleasant Point competitions had been held under club rules for prizes given by Messrs A. Scott, T. Bullick, pud W. Angland, to all of whom hearty thanks were accorded. The committee urged the importance of members maintaining their interest in the club, as amongst its objects was the provision of information to visiting onglerri and tho promotion of a sportsmanlike fteling among anglers gonerally. In all 63 visitors had been introduced by members, and many of theso were from all parts of the colony. Yanking Them Out. — Here is a fish story from a Transatlantic contemporary: "On© day this week a Boston party on a fishing trip to Moosehead came across ouo of tho old-school fishermen. He was up off the mouth of the Tomhogan Stream, .and was fisl-ing out of a lumberman's battcau. It developed later that he was cook for a gang jf river drivers. On the bank near at hand hlood the cookeo or his helper. The cook had thrown about a peck of table refuse into

the lake in order to ' tole ' the fish, and over that lure he was having great luck. His polo vas of the jib-boom variety, and when a' fish bit he would derrick it over his head into the bushes where the cookeo was stationed. The Boston men from the canoes watched operations with all the disgust of the truo sportsman. " ' Got enough for supper yet? ' shouted the fisherman over his shoulder, as he sent another great trout napping into the bushes. "'No; better catch six or eight more/ ehrilled baok the cookee. v 'Say, 'how* many fish do you fellows usually eat for supper?' shouted a Boston man, who didn't understand the situation. " 'When you've cooked for 22 river driver* &s long as I havo,' yelled ihe cook, derricking another fish, ' you'll know more about empty nail kegs.' " Hardly was this enigmatic utterance out when there came a tug at his lino that was something short of tremendous. Ho twitched. The fish didn't oome. He braced, set his jaws, and prised. His line only sawed the hissing water. j "'Play him! Play him!' screamed tha excited sportsman from the city. I ' 'Play your grandmother! ' bellowed back the cook. ' I ain't here to play. I'm here to fish.' And a3 ho spoke he boosted over his head a 151b laker. Any man in. the I'oston crowd would have given lOdol to play him an hour at the end of an eight ounco lod. 'Twas too much for their nerves. They came away."