HANK NOTES,

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 46

HANK NOTES,

I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr> D. Slater's descriptive catalogue of fishing tackle.

I regret to learn that my friend, Mr A. Anderson has been unfortunately assailed with illness, which will probably prevent him from wielding the rod for the rest of the season. lam glad, however, to learn that ho ie recovering somewhat.

I was delighted the other day to make the acquaintance of a, lady anglei, the wife of a southern correspondent of mine, and quite enjoyed a 10 minutes' chat about fishing with her

Tht Mimihaai.— W. P. S., writing on the 10th inst., bays that on the 10th Mr R. Allison got n\e fine fish, but owing to the low state of the river, it was only with extreme care that he got any at all. The weather at the time of writing had fairly changed, hail showers and cold winds prevailing. Thi*s should put the streams in order for the finish of the reason, providing the weather permits of the use of the rod.

The Pomahaka. — Oil Easier Monday MiThomas Edwards, ten., took a fine basket of 18 fish out of the Pomahaka, and has also since seemed some nice trout.

The Orawia. — Excellent fishing is, it is said, to be obtained in the Orawia stream, which is not much frequented by anglers. A Fine Trout From the Lower Selwyn. — An 81b trout was caught by Mr W. W. Burton in the Lower Selwyn recently. The Oreli. — " Anglei " informs me that this river is a little up, and that it has betm in a half-flooded state during the past week. It is now subsiding, and if the weather holds good, some satisfactory baskets may be expected to be made. On the 12th inst Mr J. The mas (secured four good Huh, Mr A. Coekroft three;- and Mr Keeley three, one weig'j,ing s£lb. All these were taken with tho worm. On the fame date Mr T. M'Alath took four, averaging 3ilb, with the minnow. On the 9th inst. Mr Jones killed 24 sma" fish with the fly, and on the 16th Mr M'Math got eight with the same lure, and Mr J. Rcbinson four, using the worm.

Winchester,* April 17. — A broken week, weather generally wet and unfavourable, clearing towards the close, and now more settled and colder. Very few fishing. Messrs T. Brown, sen. and jun., brought in 46 fish from the Waihi, while Mrs Brown, fishing in the same stream for an hour on Friday morning, caught three nice fidh with the fly. Last night a local fisherman got one fish weighing 41b from the Opihi, and reported that the watei was clear, but rather high. All the othoi Blreams, including the liangitata, aio in good order. — Correspondent.

Netting.— Af a meeting of the Southland Council of the Acclimatisation Society Mr M. Gilfedder, M.H.R., was to present a petition from residents of Riverlon tc have the Aparima estuary opened for netting. The closure, which has been in existence for ovei 10 years, was instituted becau D e trout were caught with the sea fish.

Silkworm Gut. — Silkworm gut is manufactured in Spain by a- process which is briefly and clearly described in " Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures." Good silkworm gut is evenly round like a wire, silky, bright and colourless. The thickest and longest is most in request for salmon fishing, and such quality is scarce. Fine is also in great demand. The article is usually put up in little bundles of 100 each, and these *,gain in tens. The process of manufacturing the gut consists of two or three operations. Select a number of the best and larges* silkworms, just when they are beginning to spin, which is known by their refusing to eat, and having a fine silk thread hanging from their mouths. Immerse them in strong vinegar; and cover them closely for 12 hours, if the weather be warm ; but two or throe hours longer if it be cool. When taken out and nulled asunder two transparent guts will bp observed, of a yellow green colour, as thick as a small straw bent double. The rest of the entrails represents boiled spinach, and therefore can occasion no mistake as to silk gut. If this be reft, or break upon sti etching it, it is a proof that the worm has not been long enough under the influence of the vinegar. When the gut is fit to draw out, tilt one end of it is to be dipped into the vinegar, and the othei end is to be gently Btretehed to the required length. When thus drawn out it must be kept extended on a thin piece of board, by putting it- extremities into slits in the endc of the wood, or fastening them U pins,, and then exno-ed in the -un to dry. Thus genuine bilk gut is made in Spain. Vitality of Trout,— M a»jtol in tha Ber-

wickshire Eden recently captured a trout under peculiar circumstances. It was little more than a fingerling, being only about 6hv long, but the peculiarity was that a piece of brass wire, rather thicker than a sodarwater bottle wire, encircled its body with a running noose. It had evidently been snared, and in •some way escaped with the noose avid about 2in of wire still attached to it. Partly by the force used when it was snared, and partly by subsequent friction, the body had been nearly severed in two. There was a deep cut all round, the belly being entirely cut through and the viscera severed. Strangest of all is the fact that in this state the fish took a worm, showing that it was sCill inclined to feed, although the place where ite stomach should have been was a mere " aching void." — " Tweedside," in the Field Octopus Taking Baited Hook. — From personal experience I can confirm the statements that the octopus occasionally takes a bait. Fishing noar the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, N.S.W., I hooked a very heavy fish behind a snag in about sft of water. I played it very hard for nearly 15 minute.", and/when it rose near the surface, I saw that my capture was an octopus of good size. Having previously had a very unpleaEant experience- with a stingaree, I had no intention of hauling the brute into the boat, so was compelled to cut the line and let it go. I. should have mentioned that I had two lines out, one baited with shrimp, the other with pieces of {fathead. The octopus took the latter. — Cockatoo. Mullet Fishing at Marseilles. — In an article on mullet fishing in the Field of August 27 mention was made of the various waya of angling for this fish in Marseilles. One of our methods is as follows : At the mo\ith of one of the long drains which fall into the sea at the port of Joilette a very long rod is used with wire lino and a big hook. The bait is paste made of sardines and bread crushed together ; the fishermen sit as near as possible to the outflow. I have seen mullet up to 31b or 41b caught here, but aB they are hauled out at once without play they sometimes drop off. At the Goudes, a little*, fishing village near the town, fishermen often catch, mullet in rough weather, using rather short bamboo rods — one length of about 7ft or Bft. A piece of bread is dipped for a fow minutes in boilng water, then lightly pressed to get out the superfluous moisture. Strips are placed on the hook ; the striking has to be done instanteously, as the fish are very clever at stripping the hook. To attract the fish moist breadcrumbs are thrown in near the baits. Some people use a rather large triangle and the fish are mostly foul-hooked in the throat. A good plan for^ small mullet is to crush up fresh sardines ih water, making a sorl of soup ; some of the oily liquid is then thrown in the water ; the bait on a small hook is a bit of sardine the size of a pea. Many small mullet are thus taken, and with larger bait in very windy weather a, bream or a brass in occasionally caught, but this is rare. — A.R. (Marseilles.) Anarchy on Tweed — A Pitched Battle. — The following appears in a recont number of the Field: — For some time past tho river police at the mouth of the Tweed have been engaged almost daily in the seizure of nets which had been Bet in the Eea by the fishing population of Berwick and adjoining villages for the purpose of intercepting and capturing salmon in their progress towards the river. These seizures arc understood to have numbered pome hundreds since the autumn poaching reason began. The officers had reason to believe that a. good deal of this kind of poaching was being carried on at the little fishing hamlet of Burmnouth. on tho Berwickshire coast, a fow miles from Berwick ; but the approach to tho village, either by sea or land, was so difficult, and tho inhabitants so constantly on the outlook, that special arrangements had to be made to effect a raid upon the place. The village is situated at tho foot of towering cliffs, whence invaders might be etoned to" death if their approach was known in time, while there is always a sharp lookout towards the tea. On a rercnt .occasion-, when the bailiffs made a visit to the placo in their steam launch before dawn, their approach was signalled to the villagers by the blowing of horns and other noises, and in a few minutes the whole place was 1-it up, and the inhabitants — men, women, and children — swavined out to give the bailiffs a warm reception. The boats M r erc manned, but no actual hostilities resulted. Later, however, a different plan of campaign was adopted by the authorities. A force of no fewer than 45 bailiffs, including the superintendent (Mr Smith) and our inspectors, wae mustered at two diiierent points at a distance, and were thence driven by different routes, and, approaching the place from opposite directions, they effected their entrance without attracting attention. They had only time to pick up one net lying on the shore when their presence was noted, and announced in the usual manner. The whole population turned out, a tug-of-war ensued over tho seized not, which ultimately developed into a general melee. Numerous hand-to-hand encounters were in progress at onco, while all the time the officers were sub- : jected to a fusilado of stones thrown by women and men. On both sides there were numerous serious cuts and bruises, which afterwards had to be attended to surgically, several of the bailiffs, who had ultimately to resort to the use of their truncheons, being battered about the head by women with stones in their hand? assailing them from behind while struggling with their male friendn. No fewer than nine of the rioters were apprehended, including six fishermen, one fish dealer, and two fishermen's wives, but they were all liberated after their names and addresses had been obtained. A Big Haul of Fish.— Writing to the Field, "A Spectator" says: — It may interest some of your readers to see particular, of a haul of coarse fish in the River Kennet in water belonging to Mr H. J. Walmesley, of Inglowood House, Hungerford. The draw extended over about half a mile of the river, from the Inlease Farm boundary to Avington Manor. The Kennet in the district mentioned is essentially a. trout river, and coarse fish of every kind are generally regarded as vermin. Among the ipeclators were owners and occupiers of adjoining waters, and the conflict of opinions upon the advantages and disadvantages of tho existence of coarse fish in trout streams Jn relation to trout fishing waL not the least interesting part of the proceedings. A held thai tho water could not be preserved t- the best advantage if there were any considerable numbor of coarse fish. B said that he never netted his part of the river or took ou l ' any ;oarse fish except pike, for the reason, he contended, that the coarse fish other than pik* were tho chief and the indispensable providers of food for trout. O said ho had come 22 miles to see whether tho grayling would be taken out as coarse fish, and detrimental to trout. D said grayling did no serious harm to trout, and afforded sport from September to January, and therefore should be leH in the water. E said he had nevei thrown a fly in his life, but considered, from what ho Lad teen, thai bettor gnojrb could b$ pb-

tained with rod and line with the coarse fish than anything that could -be shown with trout. The- netting resulted- as- -follows : — Grayling, 135; roaoh, etc., 2561; pike, 137;-, total, 2833. After the catch the fish were ! carefully weighed, with the following result: — The pike weighed 2cwt 841b, average 21b 4oz each j the grayling weighed lewt 221b» average, say, lib each ; the roach, etc., v. eighed 16cwt 21b, .average, say, lloz each; total, 19cwt 1031b. Six roach weighed 21b 3oz 3ach, two roach weighed- 21b each, one pike weighed 171b 3oz ( one- pike- 121b 6oz, three pike weighed 101b 4oz each, four pike weighed 81b 4oz each, five pike weighed 71.b 3oz each. One pike when opened had inside him a trout which, when taken out, weighed lib 3oz.