OTAGO ANGLERS' ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2688, 20 September 1905, Page 63

OTAGO ANGLERS' ASSOCIATION.

The twenty-third annual meeting of the Otago Anglers' Association was held on Monday evening in the Victoria Hall, there being a good muster of m«rnbers. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs Jas. Richardson, Jas. Edgar, J. F. Peake, and C. D. R. Richardson.

Mr A. Anderson, vice-president of the association, who occupied the chair, mentioned the fact that the president (Mr R. Chisholm) was absent on a visit to the Old Country, and said he was sure they all regretted that he was not present. The report covered a good deal of ground, and he should, judge from it that angling laefc year had not baen up to the usual standard. The secretary had gone into matters very thoroughly, and had given a regular outline of all tho association had don© during tho last year. During that time there seemed to have been the saino number of ' competitions, and these in a manner had been successful, and had brought forward several new winners. The casting competition seemed to have lapsed through some reason or othei^ It was quite a new departure in the list of competitions, and no dcubt if the incoming committee sawfit to bring it on a little earlier it would attract more attention. The perch competition seemed to have been unfortunate, the weather preventing anything like a take being- made. They would be aware that during the close season a paper dealing with the deterioration of trout in Otag">, by Mr G. M. Marshall, had been brought forward by the Otago Acclimatisation 5 Society. Various opinions had, of course, been expres-ed by those who had attended a meeting hold to discuss the paper, and ,-j there was no Question that the paper had been productive of great gocd. Mr Forrest and Mr Butterworth would bear him out in that. The Acclimatisation Society had thought so much of the discussion at the meeting that it had taken the matter in hand, and had set about having eel pot 6 constructed, and was in other matters look- ) ing after the interests of anglers. He thought that anglers Would agree that the Acclimatisation Society, when anything was brought under its notice, was always "willing and anxious to meet the wants of anglers, and it had other matters connected with sport to look after than fishing. He was reminded that the Anglers' Association had donated a guinea to assist the corporation in keeping the Water of Leith free of rubbish, the contribution being intended to assist in the erection of notice boards j warning people from depositing rubbish lin tbe stream. The corporation had intii mated that it would take action in c-onnee-I tion with this matter if anyone would come forward and give evidence. He moved the reception of the report, which was seconded by Mr Barnes. Mr R. Forrest said the Acclimatisation Society was paying attention to the wants of anglers, and had already a number of eel pots ready for distribution. The con-fe-rence at Wellington had recommended that netting should be put a stop to within half a nautical mile of the mouths of rivers. Instructions were to bo given to clear the Water of Leith of obstructions to fishing, and to have the weirs attended to. The Treasurer (Mr P. Aitken) read the balance sheet, which showed that the credit balance had increased from £22 7s 6d to £24- 9s 9d. The committee has pleasure in stating that the membership still keeps up to the average, although not quite up to last year's, there being now 72 members, as against 75 last year. The committee thinks that if members would bestir themselves the membership roll could be easily increased to 100. With increased membership, the functions of the association would be greatly assisted. The balance sheet shows a credit balance of £2i 9s 9d. The committee arranged a series of competitions for the season, including a perch fishing and a " casting " competition. The first competition was held on the Shag River on Labour D^y. 24 membeis entering. The following were the prize- takers : — First, gold medal, S. Lawson ; second, gold medal, T. Turnbull ; third, special prize presented by Mr P. Aitken, W. M'Callum; fourth, special prize presented by Mill. Jslip, J. Black. The second competition was the " bare fly" competition, held on the Waipahi River on the 9th November, open to all license-holders. Seventeen entries were received, and the prizes — two gold medals prer sented by the Otago Acclimatisation Society — were won by : First, W. Marzahan ; second, D. JTiniayson. The third competition was held on the Waipahi River on November 10. Ten entered for this competition, and the prizes were won by: First, president's prize, F. Ladpwig; second, presented by Mr A. Anderson. G-. Howat; third, presented b-s Mr R. Forrest, T.

] Murray. The perch competition only attracted five competitor's, and owing to the boisterous weather this competition had tc be abandoned. The "c-aotmg " competition lapsed, as did also the competition ariangecl for the Shag River I m March. The bad state of this river was ' owing to the growth of weeds dm ing the greater ' part of the season, and practically made fishing impossible. It is hoped that the recent flood will have cleared ont this nuisance for the incoming season. The last season, on the whole, was not a good one for angling. Tha summer was a very cold and broken one, and not conducive to successful fishing. The Leith, as usual, was well patronised during the early part of the season, especially in that part in the neighbourhood of TVoodhaugh. The erection of the weirs on the Leith should assist angling, especially as the tapping of the upper waters will tend to diminish the quantity of water in the Leith considerably. The Waitati wa.s fairly good last season, antl some very good baskets were taken there on the opening day. Like the Leith. this streaai will also suffer so that the inhabitants of tho city may have a plentiful supply of fresh water. The Waikouaiti, though not up to its one-time glory, supplied some very good baskets. The fish in the lower part, however, arc much smaller than a few yeans back. The Shag River was worse from an angling point of view last year than at any time we can recall. However, as mentioned previously, perhaps the recent flood combined with the > efforts of the Acclimatisation Society iri the destruction of eeis, will make a much-to-be-desired improvement. The Tokomairiro Rivei was not so good last season as usual, but no „ special cause can be assigned for this, so we trust it will excel itself this season. The The Poinahaka provided some excellent baskets as one of the most reliable .fishing districts. The Poniaha-ka provided some excellent baskets last year, but the size of the fish taken is milch less than some years back. The "Waipahi is one of the few streams which seems to yield anything like the same size of trout taken in years past. A.thousch notably a fickle stream, the trout seem still to be there m number and size, and some excellent baskets were made last seaso'i. The members of the ; association were invited to join the Acclimatisation Society in discussing Mr G-. M. Marshall's paper on the deterioration of troutfishing, and the results have already been published. One feature which was strongly commented on was the practice of taking iisii under size, which was alleged as being 100 prevalent. The committee trusts the members will back up the Acclimatisation Society in their endeavours to improve the state of ang'ing generally. The association held a very successful smoke concert in connection with, thd last general meeting, which was attended by about 100 members and friends. The coini miltee has again to thank the various donors of prizes, also Messrs Scoullar and Chisholm for the use of piano, etc.. also Mr D. RxisseP, the seGretar^' of the Acclimatisation Society, for his assistance in the welfare of the association. The report and balance s'T-e .vo-> • --ii I on -the motion of Mfc&jv* C. P. "\L Burt-t - worth and K. T. Wheeler. Five new members were elected. i Mr D. Cooke said it was proposed, to j create a board of patrons, and he proposed ! that ilr R. Chisholm be elected the first l patron of the association. This was seconded by the chairman -"xl cai'ried unanimously. The following office-bearers were elected: i President. Mr A. Anderson,: vice-presidents, Messrs R. Forrest. C. P. M. Butterworth, S. M'Donald, J. F. Peake, R. T. Wheeler, and J. A. Park ; seere-tary. Mr A. S. Jenkins ; treasurer, Mr P. Aitken :, auditor, Mr D. Cooke : and committee — Messrs G. Crow, C. D. R. Richardson, H. G. Williams. H. Islip, T. B. Fairbairn, C. Speight, W. Finlavson. L. De Beer, A. Matthews,' and T. Turnbull. Mr D. Coote threw out a suggestion tbat during the winter months one or two nieetin?3 should be held for the purpose of {raining information from anglers as to their experiences of the previous seasonThere w-ere 72 members, and they fished different rivers, and ho thought it wouldi be a good idea to hold such meetings to allow of discussing the experiences of anglers. It might ho a matter for H tho oommittes to consider. — The suggestion was received with favour. Mr R. Forrest threw out another suggestion that a beard bearing the names o~ patrons and life u-.embers might be" plawl in the rooms of the association, and this al-io met with favour. This concluded the business, and a smoke concert was then held, at which there was a very lar<™ gathering not only of answers but of their friends also. This proved to be a most successful and sociable affair, and a very pleasant couple of hours wa« spent. Mr Robertshaw's orchestra was pre.sent, and th-ecs was auite a host of singers, among them beine Messrs James, Newmarf, Wilhelmson, C. Gray. Littleton. Ja-go, F,, . Hendrv, E. Falek, and Reid. A reeitaiiojj - was also given by Mr Denrnster. and nr claronet 6ok> hv Mr W. MTlencon. Mr Anderson presided, and carried out die functions of chairman in a manne-r iu*ii suitable to such an occasion. Refresh* - ments were provided, and the anglers • a'.fe"- . their friends formed a very merry p<ufy for the couple of hours- they remsii^rt together.