BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 63

BANK NOTES.

The WaipaliL^-W. D: writes .on tKe 19th inst'.. as follows: — "This river, is in good fishing;* trim at present, there haying been, a, fresh during; last .week',- so it , should"' be> in good, order for- the Christmas- holidays. I saw a . splendid basket on; Saturday*, night, taken up "the ArtKu'rton Gorgp- by Mr Geeirg-e- H6w«t;- of "-Tapanui. If consisted of , 18 Vfish-, -weighing- 451b,.' tne -fish being in splendid* condition." Tne-Teviot. — "Angler*' writes on December 17 as follows: — "The weather still continues changeable, and' no big baskets are ' being got- Messrs Shiels, Thompson, and" Graham have- been getting; good baskets in tho Bengerburn- and. Miller's Creek. Messrs Fairbairn and Cockburn. were out afc the , Bridge Hut on the 11th, and caught 43 fish, eigbfc of them- averaging over 41b. I understand- at. party of anglers are- going out to "Lake Onsiow during the- holidaj r s." The- Kak-anui. — The^ following- is from an exefiange: — The party of four who- visited - the Kakanui oa Saturday evening have every- reason to be satisfied with their evening's fishing. Although the bright moon somewhat * interfered with their pursuits, being, too bright at. times, the wary anglers \rer»- on the.' gui vive, and by careful manipulation, managed to land 21 fish between them. One of the party landed a beauty weighing 1018. The fish, was in the pint of condition, having apparently just come up from, the sea. It is very seldom fish of this size are captured, from tho ' Kakanui, and the- luuky angler went honi" quite- proud' that he had taken the largest fish -from, the Kakanui this season. Waikaka. — Writing on the 16th inst.. "A. D'- H." says: — "Mr W. Bennetts again risited the Leithan- en the 26th of last month, and secured' 14- fish. On .the 3rd inst.: from the same' stream, he landed 19 nice -fish. 4>n the 7ih inst. Mr .T. Corbett 3nd Mr RsKisay went to the Leirhamand eecirad 3* fifth. "Mr Oorhetr securing 10 iMi .(251b), the. htaviesfc being s£!b,« liamsav , four fish, • Mr Bennetts again fished the Leic&ani on the 10th ir.st, when he gras=ed 21 fish, weight 431b; all with creeper." The- Waiaii. — iSome capital fishing has been had at the Waiau lately (says the Western Starju Last week a- visitor from Dunedin had among his catch one beauty that farmed the scale at 121b. . i

Angling. About Clinton. — The Clinton correspondent of the Clutha Free Bcess writes : Some very goo-J baskets of fish wereobtained locally during last week. The most successful anglers were Messrs Nelson, Bagley, and Steel. Canterbury* Items. — Fishing at the mouth •of the Ashburton River on Monday week morning. Mr Win. Allen landed a fish weighing B|lb. Several anglers, fishing at the same place 'and time had indifferent luck. Fishing in the Opihi on Saturday night week one angler got 30 fish weighing in the aggregate 601b. Sport generally, however, was only^ fair. "He "applied Ibis professional cunning to the- art of angling, with remarkable success," ran an encomium passed on a solicitor by the president of the Christ1 church Anglers' Club. A. local, angler reports a good day's fishing in the Ashburton River near the Rifle Butts. He secured nine fish in fairly good condition, varying in Weight up to^ lib. — A Delicate Fish. — A specimen of what is probably the n:ost delicate of the fishes of the sea. — the ribbon fish — was picked up on the sands of Caroline Bay on the morning of the 15lh inst., by Mr Ware. It is about a foot long by five-eighths of an inch deep,, and of the thinness of cardboard. When alive, these fish are> practically transparent, but immersion in spirit to preserve them causes them to become white and •opaque,^ but the multitudinous muscles of the body are also brought into distinctness. — Timaru Herald: Trout in the .Waikato. — The following is a special, telegraphed to the Christchurch Press on the 14th inst. from Auckland : For several years the Auckland Acclimatisation Society has been liberating trout fry in thp Waikato River and its tributaries, but though the fish have been seen at various points from .time to time, it was not k'nowi that they were sufficiently numerous to afford sport for anglers. The society, however, has now. received information that the Maoris have- been netting them in. large numbers, though they are* naturally very ' reticent on- the subject owing to the fear of getting into- trouble. Ranger Spratt. who 1 was authorised to< investigate the matter, j reports that he elicited information to the effect that numbers of trout had been taken, some of them up to 51b' in weight. This news- is of great interest to Auckland' ■anglers, as it provides a new fishing ground for them close to their doors. Fishing Stories. — The Hawera Star says the following remarkably fishy stories are vouched' -fe*-: — Mr Wrigley. when fishing the Kaupokonui. caught and netted a wild duck on. his fly rod, with a fly oast. He had just landed' a 4-pounder trout in the twilight, when the duck settled in the pond where he was fishing. He cast over it, and ■ succeeded in. hooking it in. the thick part of the win". The next quarter of an hour I'he duck spent partly iD the air. partly diving, and the rest sailing round and round; only to be brought back each time with the supple rod. A friend netted the duck eventually, and after disentangling cast and hook, it was allowed to fly away again. Another cui'ious story, is that when. Mr J. Robertson was fishing the Inaha with ,a worm, bait he hooked' two 41b fish at once, one* on each hook: After playing them out -Be, in the excitement, gaffed the top fishfirst, and the tcttom one consequently slipped off. If lie had taken th& bottom on« firs 6, lie might have put up a remark- * able record- of. having landed two 4^pound«rs • at- one time-. JhristcEurch Anglers' Club. — About 40 members of the Christclufrch Anglers' Club enjoyed a fish- dinner at the Federal Coffee 'Palace- recently. The menu comprised dishes to wiich Great and Greater Britain Had contributed, for- the humble eel, taken in the Selwyn, proudly "soused a la Moor.i house," was_ set in company with Kins; Salmon, which had been hooked in Loch i/sv-en. A large number of toasts were honoured. Mr J. B. Ritchie proposed the health of Mr G.- F. Whiteside, the presi'denf of ili& club, and mentioned that that gentleman, assisted by two or thive other anglers, had mainly been responsible for . I bringing the club to the position which it at present heW. Mr Whiteside. in reply, gave some general advice to anglers. There was more sport, he said, in securing one. ifeh with the minnow than there was in ba^Siny 70 with- the gaudy bully. Dr Mcorhouse, in proposing "The Anglers' Club." said that he would like to see the room, which had been placed at the society's disposil by Mr Wiggans, adorned with casts oi fish and stuffed specimens, and provided -with literature of interest to anglers. In order to furnish a nucleus for a collection of trophies, he would undertake to mount a specimen whose weight should approach 201b. Sugli procedure, lie urg-ed, would bo an effective reply to people who. wh&nrhey heard stories aboiu gigr.nric trout, dubiously ' remarked that New Zealaixlcrs \seie "superlative- anglers." Other toasts i\hich were heartily honoured - were ''The Vice-presi-dents," "The Committee." "The. Suppliers of the Fish " "The Prizc-fjive'-s," "The Visitors." "The Caterer." and "The Pi ess." — Exchange. A Review of Ansrlins About Timnrn — T!: fallowing, vhi<?h' rorrlairs =o!no i'lt^ip^tinj information, is from thp pen of "Iron Blue-,*' and appeared in the Timaru Post on the 12th inst: — "Tho first months of tha present fishing season have nofc proved particularly happy ones for the mvehenduring. angler, and even the most persevering of the fraternity have obtained but moderate sport. The flood's in October and

the perpetual easterly winds of November have, to a great extent, been the cause of this want of success, but the fish do not seem to be coming up the rivers from- the sea in such numbers as they have dons in previous years. The Opihi is not what is called an "carry" river, and the big fish do not run up much before the end of December, but the November fishing- at the mouth of the Rangitata used to be good, and so far very little has been done there. Last week a report went round of a take of 20 fish made at the mouth of the Orari, whereof the smallest was said to weigh 3J>lb, so accompanied hy a friend I proceeded to the favoured spot. Our visions of great fish were somewhat damped on passing through Orari by hearing that the largest, instead of the smallest, was of the aforesaid weight ; still wo went on to see how things were. On arriving at our destination we found the river looking in first-class condition, and after pitching our tent walked down to the se-a. The mouth of the river is very good, and largo fish could easily pass up if they wished, but as yet Ido not think they have don© so. That evening my companion, an old and experienced hand, fished with minnow and caught six fish, weighing- in all 71b. I used fly and got" nothing. Next day I killed 10, averaging a pound, with fly (red spinner) 'n the- pool- at the mouth of the Ohapi, and we had nine more (all about the same size), near the sea. Nearly every one of these was fresh run, and the river is full of them as far up as the Ohapi, but our souls ; craved for something larger, so on Friday wti fished the Ohapi near Riverslea, trying to spot a rising trout, and then putting a dry fly over him. Very few fish seemed to be moving, and up to lunch time w© only landed 11, from =lb up to 2£lb. On the way to camp we saw a fish rising in a fairly open pool, and on being carefully stolked and offered a tiny red quill he cam© at it greedily. giving us five .minutes pretty sport before^ he was netted This fisn weighed 3ilb, but like- most of the large Ohapi trout he was in rather poor condition, and had a head like a pike. The whiftebait are coming in now, so perhaps they will improve. Two visitors to Woodbury have been trying the Upper Orari with some success, and I hear that their bag included a fish of 51b, taken with minnow. The. Hae-hae-te-Moana is very full of small ones, and they are rising, well. Recently Messns Burden and Blunt made a bag oi 81, but they averaged considerably under half a pound. The same anglers tried the Hae-hae-te-Moana Gorge on the following day. and got 20 from ilb up to 41b, and reported a good many large fish, but poaching is rife, and I doubt if they will stay there long, as the stream is getting low. The Waihi is also very full of small fish, but I can hear of no large ones. Liks eh© Hae-hae-te-iloana it is very, much overstocked, and the result is tnat the trout are in poor condition, in the upper waters at anyrate. If three-quarters of 'the trout i-i these two .streams were- taken out it would be~ a very good^ thing, as there .is not e.nough food in them to keep the stock which they hold* at the present time in even fair, order. Some treams see-m to contain much more fish' food than others; for instance, Cooper's Creek. This is a smaller stream than the Waihi, but for its size bs.s a stock just as large, and they are always plump and fat. Some good baskets of l 'rom 40 to 60; up to l^lb. have been made there lately, ihe average being abdut £lb on tho scales. I find that there is a wide difference between a fish which one puts down at £lb on the river bank and the fish which will weigh down a solid* iron £oz w>©ight on th© scales. The most kiling flies just now seem to be the red. quill, red spinner, governor, and in the evening peveril of the peak. On some of the streams there is a hatch of the New Zealand mayfly every year, which generally- comes on between Deoembe-r 10 and 20 in the South Island, and- vthils the mayfly is up, the fish- will rarely tf.ke any other fly. On a tiny creek near Wti.dbnry there is a good example of this, and for th© past fhree years t'hs ■iiy has appeared, on December 12. Oil the last | occasion I profited to the "extent of 38 fish weighing* 451b. As far as I know, the oreek has no name ; locally it is called the Mangawai, or "Dark Water,"' and I >lo not see- ,any use in my giving it away further, but if a keen, dry. fly fisherman •wished to try a New Zealand mayfly risn, he would, have any assistance which, lay in my po\yer. The fly seems closely to resemble its English relative,, and the patterns used there kill very welli I am not in-fallible-as-a weather prophet, but I vei Vire to forecast a, dry De-eem.be r, which will- Vn I splendid for the holidays, but (as th© rivers* are" getting low) quite the reverse for anglers, ond if my forecast should' urcve • true, lake- fishing will . urovide -he Yn-~t sport. Most favourable reports have come j in concerning the lakes near th& Hake-t&re-Station. and as. leave is said to be easily obtained; this -siiould' prove an ideal spot ' for a campinsr expedition at Christmastime. The fish run very large, up to 201b, and take a fiy w-ell. The best patterns to use are said to be a small Durham ranger, teal and red, or large z\,\>x; but 1 propose exploring the lakes s-jo i, and shall then be able to give more nuorinanon. In the meantime a hint that tho bikes ar,? being watched may be useful to tlte c-cnilte-men who. last season-, left belli -id tlxiii tbree spears and some burnt-out 'o>*oht^ -.s a mem©nto of their visit.

Two Notable Anglers. — Lord Orford is a great fisherman.. It was while fisl.-ng in Scotland that .he first met Lady Orfoid, who is a« enthusiastic a fisherwoman as he is p. fisherman. She was th -n Mi^s Louise Ccrbin. daughter of *he Anioviean railway magnate. Shortly after her marriage she took her husband tarpon-fish-ing, off the coast of Florida, and tim by-i ke the woman's tarpon record by killing two m these immense fish in one "iav. I.^i'd Orford on that expedition caught the fourth hiarsrest tarpon ever taken, one wrghing 1831b.

A novolty in tbo shape of an oil launch race. =airl to be the first •of its kind in New Zealand, was provided afc the Akaroa rcjratta last week. There were five starters, a lid the course was about 10 miles.

At Wangamii on Friday, Mr Cohen, in the course of argument ?R to the existence df IM linpi f.rto traveller. =aid:— "The licensing laws ns thoy now exist, with their most, rocont amendment, have bewildered the legislators who made them, amazed the public who are inflicted with them, embarrassed tho police who have to enforce them, amazed the. magistrates who havo to construe them, and gladdened tho hearts of the lawyers whose pockets are. enriched by them."