BANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 64

BANK NOTES.

©TAGO ANGLERS' ASSOCIATION'S COMPETITIONS.

Competition in Otago Harbour. — Dat« to U fixed. The "Waitaki.— The North Otago Times writes: — Anglers who put in the Christmas and' New Year holidays at the Waitaki Moutb did not meet with much success, as the fish were very few and far between. Nothing of any size was caught, and several of these captured were in very poor condition. The season is going to be a late one. The harbour fishing at present ie in the same condition as the Waitaki. There are no whitebait or small fish to be seen, doubtless accounting for the absence of the trevally, which usually are caught in large numbers in the harbour about New Year time. The only thing which is plentiful just now are crayfish. Angling in the Jlolyneux. — Excellent sport has been obtained by fishing enthusiasts in the Molyneux River of late (says an exchange). On New Year's eveningMr J. S. Algie, while fishing above the Barnego Flat, landed a fish which turned the scale at 141 b. Is was 35iin in length, with a girth of 18in, and was in good condition, although in the opinion of a few experts it would have been capable of expanding if given a short time on really good feed into a 30-pounder. Mr J. Hislop, of Inchclutha, also caught a, big fish the other day on the Inehclutha side. It weighed 1411 b, and ■was in fine condition. Both these fish had the appearance of having come recently from the sea. Another exchange says the season when the Molyneux fisher may reasonably expect an encounter with one of the "leviathans' 1 which the river is known to harbour would eeem to be now on. The Fomahaka — Me=-«rs W. Johnson (Dun-edin) and W. Patti«on (Gore) spent the- Christmas and New Year week fishing on. the Pomahaka at Burning Plain*, and report the stream in good order. Sport for the fir^t part of the holiday was slow, but impro\cd during- the last three daj<s, the total number of trout grassed being 101, weighing just 2cwt. After six years' angling on the classic Pomahaka these gentlemen report the fi-h to be decreasing in size. — Exchange. The Waikaia —Mr A. Christie, of Waikaia, lias made some fairly large baskets j in the Waikaia lately, but full bags are the exception, and up to the present the season ha? besn only a moderate one. The Waiau. — A party of Gore anglers, three in rumber, have just returned (says a Gore paper) from a w&ek's fishing at the Waiau Mouth, and report that good Bport was not obtainable during their etay there. High -oas prevailed on the beach, whioh prevented both whitebait and trout from ge-.ting into the- estuary. Fifteen angler, were ca-mped there, and none had good sporr. The largest tiout secured was cne of 81b. The Gore anglers succeeded in landing a nice- 6-pounder and •ibout a dozen other smaller. 111-luck was the lot of the Gore fishermen, as after striking camp trout were coming up the river mouth* in large numbers. Regarding the Wawui trip cngiers complain of the Sugfc. ohargee made for all conveniences, the three anglers from Gore paying a jpornd to bo ferried over the river and tj*CK. — The Oropuki Advocate says: Among «»6 -numerous visitors at the Waiau this "**ek are tiie following gentlemen: — From Melbourne— Dr Rentoul, Dr M'Laren Prof Slobfion, Mr M'Diarmid. and Mr Littlejohn. From Dunedin— Mr Kidd and Mr Al'Greavpr. Mr Fisher (Gore), and Mr D. | ■Mtean (Invercargill). Although the weather iaa ceen unfavourable the river has provided excellent 6port. For tlie most part night fishing ha« been the rule, and good joaikets have resulted. A few of the •batches for one nLght"s fishing are as follows — Messrs Kidd and Fisher, 11 fish, *g?re*ra.te weijrht 66£lb ; Mr D. M'Leau. 10 vish, 341 b; Messrs Mason and Perry, 10 >>ih. 511 b; Profe^or Rob=on. 8 fish, 411 b: I Mr Thow, 8 fish, 391 b; Mr C. Wilson, 5 Jafc, 261 b. Visitors are higWi pleaded with $b«ir sucoess with the rod, and f=p°ak in Rowing terme of the perfect appointmenta vi *he eamre. Some Streams abouf "U'inchester. — Th-e T>lloTrinjf {s from the Timam HefaW : —

In aplte of Hia numerous rainfalls tha Waihi (above Winchester), the Orari, the Hae-te-raoana, and tha ixakaha are still very low, and, the Hae-te-moana and Waihi are practically dry in place-. Th« fish are still fairly numerous, and some fair baskets have beer taken with the fly. at the Rangitata Mouth Messrs Pollock and Hewson landed a basket of ver\ fine- fish on Christmas Day, the largest scaling 151 b. Rainbows at Taupo.— An angler from Napier (Mr F. A. Nesbitt), who is one of a party of fishermen staying at the Terrace Hotel, Taupo, while fishing on the east side of the lake, near the hotel, recently, caught a large rainbow trout weiG-hnig 211 b. Its total length was 34in, and" its girth" measurement 23in. This i-j understood to be the largest rainbow trout caught in the lake. Mr Nesbitt has been very successful during his stay at Taupo. having caught a number of fine fish, but nothing equalling the aforementioned 21 -pounder. Should Shags be Protected ?— The following is a letter -from Mr H. A. Shury, who it is well known, has devoted much time and thought to the subject of Gsh culture and fish protection, and whose opinion on matters pertaining to trout is of value. Mr Shury says:— "l see you have inserted Mr* Edgar Stead's letter in your valuable paper on -Defence of the Sha<" ' Mr Stead contends the "hag should be protected, as it destroys eels, which are • most destructive to trout, and on his opinion the Canterbury Society ceased pay- ( ing for the heads of shags. I contend that the shag is most destructive, and will , spoil any river if unmolested. Ido not ■ bet, and since I was 16 years old I ha\ c j gambled in no form, and I declined his ( challenge. A correspondent of the Press , stated there were from 60 1o 70 shags on j the Selwvn. and they were spoiling the fishin"-. I stated that a shag eats 91b or 101 b weight of fish a day, which statement Mr Stead disputes. In my reply I { said the Ashburton Society paid to its I membei/s 5s for every shag's beak, and yet they were so cunning that very few were killed; but I admitted that to prove the actual weight of trout a shag would eat ; was difficult. I contend that every shag that lives and feeds on a river will eat at least 10 trout of assorted sizes every ' day. I have shot many and seen many that have been shot and opened, but j though I have found them to contain trout ' I never knew one on the Ashburton to have an eel in its inside. I have seen ' trout 15in long taken from them. My contention is that the 70 shags on the Selwyn would, if they remained the whole season on the river, destroy 250,000 trout in the year, or at least 700 trout a day, , and this I contend is much below the average destruction. Last Saturday, j January 2, I was on the pier at Sumner, and a shag was there feeding. The pier was crowded, and everyone was watching the shag taking an early dinner, about 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The bird probably had breakfast shortly after daylight. Wbi-.i I went on to the pier about 10 a.m. the shag was feeding on small herrings. The shoal was on the surface, and for 20 or 30 minutes the shag followed the shoal up, and kept picking the fish up as he j swam, only stopping to raise his head • to swallow one. The bird was so riose , that a glass was unnecessary to see the herring in his beak. After that time the shoal went deeper, and then the shag had to dive. I timed him. He was usually . under water from 15sec to SO^ec, and the whole of the time I was watching him fee<l to near 12 noon it must have eaten from , 70 to 80 herrings of from 4in to sin long. Had Mr Stead been there to see the destruction caused amongst the herrings ho would probably have altered his opinion as to the havoc caused by shags on a trout stream." — I quite agree with what Mr Shury says as to the shag's destructiveness on a trout stream. I have seen shags taking trout on many rivers in Otago, but I certainly never saw one take an eel. I have also shot shags, and while an ct.'i- ! mination of their interiors, in most cases, disclosed unmistakable signs of trout. I never found anything to warrant the be- • lief that they had been feeding on eels. Even if they do I doubt exceedingly whether the good counterbalances the evil, j and there are other ways of dealing with ' (he eel than by allowing these marauders ( to c;o a( large — J. S. i A Big Follow from the Rangitara. — Mr C\ Nicholas, a veteran with the rod, land< d o beautiful 15-pounder when fishing in the Raniritara recently. ' Fiehiiig in the Neighbourhood of "Wellington. — It seldom happens locally that a trout exceeding 51b in weight is landed from a»> of the emaller stream? aiound Wellington. Thie season, however, the Porirua Stream is excelling itself. Ranger Cole, of that district, has reported two fish of over 101 b weight that have been caught there thi-^ season. The last one was captured during the Christmas season. Poaching; is fairly prevalent in local streams, according to reports received. The Kaiwarra will shortly be depleted cf trout, a= raids from jmeuile poachers are frequent, and the lownee* of the stream aids them in their lawless pursuits. Another kind of peaching is the alleged sport who fishes without a license. It i<s understood that a ca«e of this kind has been discovered at Porirua.— Dominion. A Warning — Persons in cjuc^t cf trout should be careful to be pro\ided with their licenses (says the Timaru Herald). An angler who could not satisfy the ranger recently had the experience, after cycling out some distance, of not being allowed to ply his rod. , Large Kels. — Very large eels are frequently leported to ha\p been" taken from our local streams and rivers (sayt tlie Dominion), but they hardly equal one secured recently fiom a stream in the Marlborough district. Mr F. Bird, of Flatcreek, near the Rye Valley, is reported to have captured this monster, which weighed 331 b. and on the u*ual port-mortem which followed a troui which turned the scales fu 31b was di«covei-ed to havp fallen a \ktim to its voracity. | Young Sharks. — A party net-fishing for flounders ou this <u\e of Kaka Point one night last week pulled ashore in eeparato hauls two young sharks between 4ft and oft in length. It is quite a common thing to have three or four smaller enca, a foot and under, in a haul. A few years ago sharks were quite unknown along the coast line here, but during the la«i two or thrc-s y«ar> tliev anpe-ar to hay- become rather ' numerous. — Clutha Leader. |

===== I — Meerschaum cmes principally frcm As,rt Minor. In Morocco it is vt.ted ac a substitute for soap. ,