BANK NOTES,

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 44

BANK NOTES,

I have to acknowledge the receipt of a photograph of a trout caught in the Waitaki by an angler last month. The fish, 15£lb in weight, is a real beauty, to judge from the picture, and one that any angler might be proud to take. I congratulate its captor. Winchester, February 19.— A few nice baskets have been made with the fly from the Opihi and Waihi — viz., 121 fish, weighing 801b. Great things were done with the minnow on the Rangitata between Friday ovening and Sunday morning. Messrs Holt and Woodcock took 25 fish, weighing 661b (one fish 161b weight); Mr E. Gillum 18, weighing 451b; Mr C. Haar 19 fish, weight 601b; and Mr C. Opie, 8, weighing 201b. Mr A. Sugden, fishing the Opihi, took 4 fish, weighing 271b, making a total of 74 fish, turning the scale at 218ib. The rivers are reported to be in good order. Langdon's -register shows that 195 fish have been caught, the weight of which was 4181b. Besides these, m the period named, Messrs F. Brown and Turton took about 2001b weight of trout out of the Rangitata. — Correspondent. The Mimihau.— "W. P. S. writes that Mr Tanner is up at Venlaw station for his annual holiday, and is having fair sport among the trout. The weather was (16th inst.) very hot and the streams clear. The Biter Bit.— Two Fleminpton stable boys, going for a day's fishing, in the Saltwater River, of course, agreed before starting to have a bet on the weighls of their respective takes. On returning to the hotel, and before the fish were handed over to the cook to weigh, one of the horsey anglers resorted to the old dodge of loading each of his seven fish with a leaden sinker, and he was beaten by soz. A friend to wTiom lie confided the facts passed the information on to the winner, who, on being informed that Bill thought the pinkers would have made a certainty for him, Said, "So they would if I hadn't squared the cook to slip one o' my lib leads under the scale when she was weighing mine. You go an' tell Bill 'c don't know he's born yet." Rough and Ready Rod-mending. — "C. H.," writing to tho Field, says : You published a note from me on this subject in the autumn of 1894, giving an equally rapid and much neater and stronger method than "S. G.s" in your isaue of November 18. Perhaps j r mi will allow me to mention it again. It is this.

Alwas's' carry a quill about 2in long in your fly book. You may carry it for years without needing it, but if a smash does occur, you have all that io wanted to mend it. Split the quill down one &icle, and insert the broken piece= ; thrre or four turns of thread or silk or siring will do the rest. In thi- way you can mend a broken top anywhere, from short off by the ferrule to the tip. Never use a knife to a rod, but always "treat it as if you loved it." As "S. G." says, a middle ioint never breaks, and I have only once seen a butt go, and that, of course, just when the fish were rising best. My friend did what I think was the wisest thing ; he discarded the broken butt, lashed on the reel just above the break, and fished double-handed for the rest of tha day. A still more useful hint is this : Never attempt a permanent repair yourself, but send off your rod to the maker. A Suggestion.— At Trial Bay, New South Wales, where "there is one of the Government lodginghouses," long-sentence men who haye been found worthy of trust are allowed to do a bit of fishing with line and net. Great hauls of mullet, bream, salmon, and tailer ara always made about tin, tiif.e every year, but the plethora of supply is not met by a sufficient demand. If a large smoking or curing establishment were established in connection with the gaol, prisoners might learn a profitable occupation, which they could turn to advantage when free. If only to supply other gaols with fish, the innovation should be encouraged. — "Plomb." Catching the Elusive Grasshopper. — The New Zealand Mail says angling about Wellington has been"qmet lately. All the rivers in the Bush district have given good &port, both with brown and rainbow. The grasshopper is very much in evidence, and it is very amusing to watch the attempts made to catch this very elusive insect. Ono very stout old gentleman was recently observed dodging about on his hands and knees, with a bottle in one hand, wherein to pop the high jumpers when caught. But after half an hour's frantic effort he gave up tl\e attempt, find mopped his heated brow, forcibly expressing his opinions, with language plentifully interspersed with words best represented by a dash. A small boy, for the small sum of 6d, got him as many hoppers as he wanted in a few minutes, and peace once more reigned in the valley. The Result of Pollution of a River.— ln a recent issue of Land and Water the following note relative to the pollution of a famous salmon river in Ireland appears: — Last week the Strule received a terrible blow, for thousands of salmon and trout fry were killed by an influx of tar water, and a great number of salmon and trout were killed also. From the spawning beds alone 85 salmon, weighing 5451b, were taken dead or in a dying state. Of these 61 were females, all ripe for spawning. To give an idea of the destruction, we may state that each fish or> the average contained 61b of ova, and with 4000 ova to each fish we .have the astounding number of 224-.000 ova, or young salmon, destroyed; and this only represents a tithe of the fish destroyed, as hundreds are lying in the deep holes. A searching inquiry is being made into this wholesale slaughter of fish.

Australian Visitors. — A well-known Sydney angler, writes "Plomb," Mr J. P. Dowling", editor of the* Mail, has just returned to Sydney after a trip to New Zealand. His notes anent the trip, especially with reference to the fishing facilities, will be read with interest. I can especially endorse the recommendation to the shipping company to make arrangements for anglers on board the boats. There are hundreds of amateur fishermen in Sydney who would be delighted to make a trip to the sounds for indulgence in the gentle art, and the word would be speedily passed round that for the expenditure of a sum under £20 a man could have 16 to 20 days' fishing and travelling in the beautiful West Coast waters. Another matter which might bo noted is the cooking of the fish caught. With fresh, flopping choice fish, such as blue cod, dory, and so on, it is absolutely cruel to as kpeople to cat fish which have been on the ice.

An Opinion on .the Introduction of Salmon. — The pisciculturist engaged to succeed Mr Ayson as curator to the Masterton Fisli Hatchery arrived by the -Ruahine, and was met by several members of the council of the society. Mr E. De Latoui is a man of much experience, and the society may be congratulated upon securing him. He has had plenty of experience in the successful prosecution of fish culture in the United Kingdom and in South Africa. In discussing with Mr De Latour the apparently fruitless attempts which have been made in this colony to introduce the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and his Pacific cousin (Salmo quinnat), he was inclined to think that it was too soon to regard our efforts a-s having completely failed. The fact of no fish having yet been caught in any of our rivers does not prove that the fish are not off the coast, or that they do not actually enter our rivers for spawning purposes. Many of my readers may remember that last year it was reported that a great shoal of large fish had been seen entering' the Waitaki River. It is quite possible that these were salmon, and it is a pity that pome of them were not caught to set the question a matter of fact, tho standard of differences is Salmo salar and the migratory trout, Salmo trutta, are few in number, and no one but an expert could determine the difference. As a matter of fact, the standard of difference is subject to variation, and anomalous specimens are continually being brought forward to confuse the student. Many of these are forwarded to scientists under the title of "bulltrout," which name so far* has not been applied to any one known variety. — New Zealand Mail. A Fiehiug Enigma. — "Plomb" says: A fishing enigma may interest readers who like word jugglery. Here it is: Cut off my head, and singular I act ; Cut off niy tail, and plural I appear ; Cut off both head and tail, and — etirous fact — Although my middle's loft, there's nothing there. What, is my head cut off? A sounding sea; What, is my tail cut off ? A rushing river ; : And in their mingling depths I fearless play, Parent of sweetest sounds, yet mute for ever. I have had "a go" at this myself, but have J failed at elucidation. Perhaps others may be more successful. — J. S. Jottings. — Some fine salmon are at present being caught about the Little Grey Junction. — Argils. The Southland News reports that the Matama and Titiroa are alive with fish. Loch Fishing. — Under the head of " Some Experiences," the following, by Captain R. | O. Drummond, appears in St. James's Ga- | zette : — The breeze had died away where I I was casting, but noting that it caught the surface of a deep bay aboiit a mile distant I j /aid down the rod and proceeded to row in that direction. The loch contained large fish — salmon, sea and bull trout, also ' great lakers.' The boat was light and travelled along the smooth loch with each of the three flies on the cast cutting the water astern,

for I had reeled up the line, and only a few yards were out. I was near the centre of the loch, which, in that part, is of great depth, and more than a, mile broad, when a great ' boil ' showed behind the boat ; the rod was nearly jerked overboard : I caught it just in time, and the singing of the reel as the line flew off told me I had hooked a big fish. It ran deep under water at a tremendous pace, taking out about 60yds of line without a falter, and then, alas, came that hopeless slackening which tells that the hold has parted. The incident, so far as my experience goes, is unique, and I have often wondered what kind of monster this mysterious fish might have been. On the same loch I had a prolonged "Struggle with a salmon, which, until it was brought to bank I judged to be of prodigious dimensions. The fish was hooked while casting from a. boat, and, according to custom, I lauded in order to play it. The water was exceedingly rough. The force of the waves assisted the efforts of the salmon, and 20 minutes elapsed before I was in any way able to control it. In the end it was safely gaffed, when we found that it only weighed 91b, but was foul-hooked in or near the back fin, a point of attachment which gives a fish more leverage against its would-be captor than any other. On another Scottish water frequented by salmo ferox, I once tried trolling by night with natural bait. Being well acquainted with the loch I took no attendant, and, starting about 10 o'clock, I rowed slowly along the shore with a couple of flies trailing astern. The night was dark and very still, and it was curious how difficult it was, so to speak, to find one's way. Time and again I thought I was well out in the loch and discovered my mistake by striking an oar against the bottom. Never a touch came at the spinning, baits, and coming to the conclusion that trolling by night was a delusion, I turned to row back. Scarcely had I done so than one of the reels began to 'apeak.' I could see the rod; it was pointing ahead, and, concluding that the fiph was making a run away from the boat, I continued at the oars. The harder I rowed the more rapidly that fish made play, and, at length, knowing that the line nuist nearly be exhausted, I took up the rod. Almost immediately I realised the situation. In turning, the bait had taken the bottom; the line somehow had got eauglit round one oi the forward rowlocks, so naturally the more rapidly the boat tijavelled the faster the supposed fish departed. Satisfied with thio experience, I made no further attempts at night-fishing on that particular loch. Master E. Butt caught a splendid trout weighing 171b loz on Friday evening, the 16th, on the north side at the mouth of the Waitaki. He had another on afterwards which seemed even larger, but he failed to land it.