BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2692, 18 October 1905, Page 64

BANK NOTES.

Three Dunedin anglers are at present complaining about mean thefts whereby they and their friends were' deprived of a substantial share of that- keen enjoyment which follows a successful time on a, trout stream. 1 The first complaint is made by two anglers who met with sucll success on the"Owaka River that they decided to prolong their outing. They packed their first _dayV citch. in -a ;§ecure- case, and- consigned it ,to friends in town', but.it was discovered I Ton- avriyaj that, 2.1 fish out of AZ" had been. i , abstracted, the' case,, oeirig., neatly filled up with tightiy-rblled wads'. "of. paper. .In the second- case at appears an angler, who was returning' to towri with -a well-filled basket, I missed the connecting,.. train, 'and had' per- ! force- to stay overnight- in' Balclutha. . The basket aad contents . were : left ' in the left-luggage-room at the sta^on, and * were duly delivered^ in the morning on presenting the ticket. The owner, on arrival at his destination, found to his disgust, however, that fully half of bis fish had been stolen during the night. Efforts are being made to trace the-4hief or thieves, but the experiences here recorded will doubtless serve as a hint to other anglers.— [l have had a similar experience — J.S. ] Sunday Fishing-.— Trout-fishing on Sundays is objected to by a number of the landholders^ in the Waiwera district, and an effort is again being made {says the Clutha Leader) to put a stop to it by refusing permission to Sunday fishermen to trespass on the banks of the stream where the pro-perty-owners object to the practice. The Waitati.-— From what has reached me there , has been very little doing at the Waitati. so far. A few fish have been caught, but all have been 6mall. The Tokomairiro River.— The Milton Mirror of the 9th inst. says:— The best fishing catch that we have heard of among local anglers was made by Mr D. Hassett on the Tokomairiro River on Friday. Mr Hassett whiped the stream from Rocky Point to Fortification, and secured nine trout weighing 221b. Mr A. T. Bastings was successful in landing two fish on Satur-day-down at /Falconers, weighing l£lb and Sib respectively. t The Kakanui and Waitaki.— The Oamaru Times of 'the 10th inst. states:— The disciples of; lke Walton are doing fairly well .at the Waitaki and Kakanui Rivers. The -baskets are not .phenomenally large, but "the season for an abundance of fish has not yet set ' in. We have heard of a basket of eight fine fish at the Waitaki, and several of six at the same river; while good spore has also been obtained at the Kakanui, where the fishermen are said to be successful in landing better fish than for some years back.

The Waipahi. — "W. D.," writing on the 16th inst., says: — "The Waipahi is in good order for fishing at present. Last week it was flooded more or less all the week, so there was not much fishing done. Several tried it, but met with poor success. J. Walders killed 20 fish on Monday, and Mr Ewing got 17 good fish the same day, but nothing has been don© since." Tapanui. — A well-known angler, writing from Tapanui tin the 16th inst., says: — "The angling season opened favourably here, and some nice baskets were taken on the Pomahaka and other streams. I heard of one Dunedin angler who killed 23 fish on the Waipahi, the smallest weighing 221b, but — I did not see them. The heavy rain on the 9th and again on the 13th, which ended in a snowstorm, has put a. temporary stop to angling in this district." The Kuriwao.— The Clinton correspondent of the Southern Standard, writing on the 10th inst., says: — The Kuriwao Stream is giving good results to anglers. There are more amateurs this year, and some have already exhausted their patience. Mr Ed. Tuffley caught 90 fine trout last week. Others have fished out 30 in one day. The fly appears" to be used mostly. There are some big eels in this stream. I have weighed several over 201b.

Angling at Clinton. — The Clinton correspondent of the Clutha Free Press writes: — "Fishing is all the rage at present, and some very fair baskets were obtained by local anglers last week. The fish, though numerous, are on the small side. The best fish I have heard of was secured hx. M* ?3. Tuffley, and weighed t&l]*.' 1

The Teviot. — "Angler" writes that Messrs Fairbairn and A. Robertson were out recently, the first-named getting 16 fish and the latter 8, the average weight being lib. Rain fell heavily on Monday, and the river is now in flood.

The Upper Clutha. — "J. J." kindly sends me wore' that the Upper Clutha is too low and clear for good fishing. At the same time he never knew of better baskets being taken than those secured at the opening of the season as far as numbers were concerned, but the fish were nearly all small, with an exceptionally good one here and there. Mr B. Bartle got one 331b, and Mr W. Campbell got another about the same weight. Mr J. Holden secured a basket of 15 on the Ist. and my correspondent heard of other baskets of 10. He himself got a basket of eight nice fish on the Ist, but so far all the fish he has taken have been under l£lb. Angling About Cromwell.— The Cromwell Argus of a recent date contains the following. — The season opened on the Ist October under ideal weather conditions, and although the river is very low and clear, some nice baskets were taken. Mr J. Holden opened his account with 15 fish taken with the fly between the Lowburn and Cromwell. Mr James Varcoe secured 10 in the same locality, and informs me that fish were very [ plentiful, although on the small side. Fishing the island at the Shine, Mr C. Holden had a successful day, and left with 15. I notice the veteran of the -river (Mr John Jameson) is still to the fore, and although he does not put in as much work as of old. can always be looked to for a good basket. His take this week is somewhere about 18. Messrs W. Campbell and E. A. Jolly were above the Lowburn on the opening day, but only managed to take two and five respectively. The fish, on the whole, are small so far, but with the first flood in the river we may look for big ones, as they are still on the spawning beds. Otago Anglers' Competition. — The Palmerston Times says : — A fishing competition undei the auspices of the Otago Anglers' Association was held on the Shag River on Wednesday. The results are not yet available, but we understand that some very good baskets were obtained in the upper reaches of the river. Among the baskets recorded during the week are the following : Mr J. Summers, 12 fish, 171b; Mr J. T. Gwyniw, jun., 18 fish, 261b; and W. Burt, 13 fish, 151b. SE&js angling competition held under the auspices of the Otago Anglers' Association on the Shag River on Labour Day resulted in some fairly good baskets being made, but nothing phenomenal. The prizes for first and second places took £he form of gold medals, and these fell to Messrs C. and A. E. Jenkins ; Mr J. Burt secured tho third prize, presented by Mr J. F. Peake; and Mr G. Wilson, though- a good long way down on the list, takes a special prize (given by Mr C. Speight) for the heaviest basket taken by one who had never won a prize previously! There were 25 entrants, but <m1y,17 actually competed. Any legal form of lure was permissible. The following are bhe returns sent in to the secretary of the association: — C. Jenkins, 40 fish, 191b; A. E. Jenkins, 35 fish, 181b; J. Surfc, 25 fish, 17£lb'; P. Aitken, 26 fish, 14£lb ; J. Barnes, 31 fish, 141b; W. M'Callum, 5 fish, 101b; G. Wilson, 9 fish. 741b. Southland Notes. — As an outdoor pastime angling is one of the most popular pursuits in Southland* Though the season has only commenced, some hundreds of licenses have been issued,, and the probabilities are that Southland streams will bo whipped more energetically than ever this season. .It will j be- of interest to devote-es of "the gentle i art" to learn that a new patent minnow of local manufacture, supplied by Messrs F. and A. Steans, promises to yield excellent results. On Sunday, with a view to testing its value, Mr T. Milburn spent some hours on the New River at Otatara, and was rewarded with 31 rises, of which 16 fish were hooked and eight successfully landed, totalling about 251b in weight. .After performing this work, the minnow stili retained its shape, and was as good as new for fishing purposes. The day was not suitable for angling owing to the direction of the wind, and some who were fishing with the ordinary minnow had poor luck. — Southland News. « The experiences of Mr George Coyle, a local enthusiast of Walton's gentle art, will take some beating (says the Standard). Starting on the opening day of the season, he has put up the following record since, and the result shows very consistent fishing, and also demonstrates that local anglers are exceptionally well placed for suitable fishing waters. The fishing was all done in the Aparima, and Otautau Rivers, between the Willows on the Otautau to Ringway ford on the Aparima — a stretch of water less than a mile. His daily catches have been:— First 25, second 42, third 29, fourth 52^ fifth 27, sixth 49— a total of 224 for six days. This is enough in itself to ensure a big run on fishing licenses for the rivers named. — Southland News, 11th inst.

Fish are still plentiful in the Aparima and Pourakino. Mr T. R. Carroll landed two beauties at the Narrows, one 61b and the other 3£lb. The difficulty of fishing in the tiper reaches of the Pourakino can be got over by trawling the line from the boat. The same gentleman hooked four, and secured three of them in this way the other afternoon. The overhanging bush makes it impossible to fish from shore. The river is well stocked with large trout.— Western Star, 12th inst. The Waia-u.— The Southland News of the 12th inst. contains the following not very encouraging news about the Waiau: — A basket of 11 handsome trout was taken at Waiau yesterday by Mr E. F. Black, of Dunedin. The total weight was 301b, the average being smaller than usual in this river. Evidently the large fish are not moving up the stream yet. — The same paper of the 9th says: — On Saturday Mi- Charles Wilson, of Orcpuki, secured seven trout from the Waiau, the aggregate weight being 271b. The heaviest turned the scales at 141b, and is a beautiful fish. It is on view in the 6hop window of Mr F. A. Steans, and has been presented to the Tourist Department as a specimen of the trout that can be taken from the Waiau. No enthusiastic angler certainly could allow his eyes to rest on the fish without experiencing a desire to wend his way to the banks of this river to try his skill in the popular sport.

Canterbury Notes.— The Waihi River, owing to recent floods, is in fust-class fishing order, and large baskets are being caught by "local anglers. One of the best takes was that of Mr Leslie Young, who on Friday night caught 36 fish, weighing about 241b.

An Ashburton -inglei* caught four trout, avenging 2jb each, in the Asljbuxton on

Wednesday. The same angler landed » four-pounder a few days previously. Owing to the nor'-wester prevailing on Saturday the Ashburton has again been made unfishuble. During the past week very few fish were caught, either at the niouth. or higher up the river. Mr H. Margetts, the society's ranger, succeeded in catohing ihree lish weighing 51b in all, but beyond this other successes at the mouth have not been brought under our notice. On Thursday and Friday there were a large number of silveries at the mouth, but owing to the water being discoloured these never ventured up stream. The few fish that have been caught are eaid to be in very fair condition. Several new huts have been erected at the mouth, while it is the intention of other anglers to build at ar early date. The fishing in the Kaiapoi River after the water got clear was satisfactory. Some fine takes wei-e made of trout averaging from lib to lglb. One angler took about 38 fish.

The Ashbuvton Acclimatisation Society recently presented 11 fishing licenses to be distributed among the pupils of the borough school. These have now been awarded to members of Standards V and VI, according to a vote of those classes. A number of anglers took advantage of the fine weather prevailing on Thursday afternoon to visit the mouth of the Ashburton. Although the river is not yet in the best fishable condition, three anglers were successful in getting fairly good bags. Messrs Carney Bros, landed five fish between them, weighing from 21b to 51b, while Mr Johansen landed two fish averaging 41b. lish are reported to be fairly numerous at present. Fishing opposite the Rifle Butts on Wednesday Mr J. Millar caught four fish averaging 21b each. The same angler was successful some few days ago in landing a 41b fish in the same portion of the river. — Ashburton Mail, 14th inst. Southland Acclimatisation Society. — At a recent meeting of the council the Secretary having read the ranger's report with reference to a local angler having caught fish without a license on Ist inst., it was resolved, after some discussion, that as the angler had been a license holder, for some seasons, and spoken about a license for the current season to one of the dealers, under the special circumstances a prosecution be not instituted. The Secretary of the Orepuki Anglers' Society reported that the erection of the two shelter sheds at the mouth of the Waiau had been completed, and the treasurer was authorised to pay over the £10 voted by the society towards the cost thereof. The solicitor of the society reported that prosecutions had been successfully instituted against three defendants for illegally having trout in their possession au<J that ' two others .vere pending. The Secretary submitted a proposed list for the" distribution of yearlings -which had been approved by the Stock Committee, and was adopted by -the council, as follows: Apavima, .30,000; Oreti, 30,000; Dunsdale, 2500; Otapiri, 5000; Lora, 5000; Upper Mataura, 5000; Waimumu, 2500; Otamita, 5000; Waihopai, 5000; Waikiwi, 10,000: Waimatuk'u,- 10,000; Waimea, 5000; Mimihau, 2500. Demand for Trout.— The Cromwell Argus of the 10th inst. says: — "As showing the demand for trout here, on Monday, 2nd, about 1501b of trout came to Cromwell horn Wanaka, and in a few mmutes the jot were gone. The rush of people buying it would have taken three times the air-ount. On Wednesday another big lot arrived (about 3601b), and the townspeople were on the watch and it was sold out in less thnn half-an-hour, several arriving too late to get 1 ny. There was som© beautiftil fish, and the weights (cleaned) were from 51b to 161b, ifc being a very pretty sight to see them spread out. The 161b fish was a perfect beauty." Death of a Well-known Yorkshire Angler. — Mr Christopher Hogg, of Morley, died suddenly on the 17th August. He was well-known in angling circles in I*eeds and district, being for many years an ardent follower of the sport, and at one time a prominent official of the Leeds and Coimty Angling Association. For some time he was a successful raiser of trout, hatching 1 many thousands of these fish at the headquarters of his association. There is scarcely a river or stream in Yorkshire that he had not fished. Aged 72. .Limiting Catches. — The Governor has passed an Order-in-Cotincil to the effect that anglers are not to take more than 20 trout per day, nor is the day's catch to exceed a weight of more than 201b of trout. — [A regulation that will be exceedingly difficult to see carried out, I should think.— J. 'Si.]