RANK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 63

RANK NOTES.

Ra.in and wind and plenty of both ha% during th© past week practically put a ■top "to angling, with the result that there is comparatively little to record. There is at the tinv> of writing just a faint indication that a change may take .place, and ■when it does good baskets should be obtained. I ragret to notice the extension made in the netting area in Dunedin Harbour. It is quite safe to assume that netting in the harbour has always meant that trout on their way to the mouth of th© Waiter of I<eith to spawn have been intercepted to some extent, and the trouble is going to be materially increased when th« preserved water only commences at Bla*k Jack's Poijit, which is but a few chains from the river mouth. The Water of Leiih has been a prolific source from which tho Otago Acclimatisation Society has obtained spawn, and last spawning season th.3 take was something phenomenal. With tho altered conditions it is, however, doubtful whether the society will be able to depend upon the Water of Leith for very much in future. I question whether a good deal of tho water anywli^re near Black Jack's Poant 16 worth netting, co that had a considerably larger area of water been reserved no hardship would have been imposed upen fishermen. It is well known that a^ro-s near Waverley, whore there are beaches and cover in the shape of rocks, is the feeding place of, and the spot most frequented by, trout, and this has now become included in the nettable area, and the reason is pretty obvious. From what I hear the extension of the netting area in the harbour, which has now occurred for the third or fourth time, is scarcely in keeping with tho ! previous understanding arrived at, and :s ' not in acordance with what was tantamount to a distinct promise. As fair as Dunedin Harbour is concerned, the department might very nearly as well haw* removed all restrictions as to netting, and let the fisherman do aa lie likes. ! Th© Molyneux. — A boy landed a nine-poundr-r below the South Molyneux punt on j Saturday. From a conversation I had with r resident on the banks of th« Molyneux, a considerable distance above Baklufcha, I •should judge that trout are finding- their way in fairly large numbers up the river fcr many miles. The Owaka.— The- Owaka Rivor has been, affording tome good snort to disciples oE the "gentlfr art." Mr Chas. Latta has boon «?e*ting tome good-sized fish, and on a day last weet Mr M'Callum basketed 16, which weighed 18ilb. while Mr James Nelson got 15 (141b). The Kaihiku.— Mr John A-likon, of Balcluiha, got a nice basket from the Kaihiku on Saturday week afte-rnoon— 2o fish, including some four-pounders. The Pomahaka. a.nd Kuriwao. — Fishlns, m the Pomahaka. last week Mr John Black, of Clinton, secured 2A fish aggregating 361b, Mar C. EJlis, 15 fish (181b); Mi J. M'Donft!d, 12 fish (111b). Mr W. Graham secured over 30 fish one afternoon last week in the Kuriwao. Anglers report fish plentiful and in very good condition.— From this it would appear tha.t the Pomohaka is at least some- j times not in the higrhly-discoloured condi- ■ tion from dradginig it is reported to be. | Angling at Winton.— So"me really fine baskets are reported as having fallen to the lot of angler 3 locally during the past two Vreeks, and up to 60 fish have been taken 5n an afternoon. The best single catch so far was made by Mrs G. Hamilton at Winton last week, when the 'an angler landed a "beauty" who scaled no less than 141b. It was caught by fly in the Oreti.— South- I l:oid Xcws. j The Kakanui and Waitaki.— The r\orrh ! C^taco TimAs says .1 local fisherman, in tlir^c ♦rips to th& Kakanui, obtain-d 50 fL-h Th° •Jvakanui is affording gocd sport to t}"> ' tohOTmen. Reports from tho "Waitaki .state •' \ha.t fish are seen in shea's, but 'or -ome j ifeason wilJ no' readily take the minnow. '

Soms fishermen obtain fair baskets, whilo others get nothing. The fish, it is said, are not" going up fchs river, but hang about the mouth, where- feed ruusi b-e in a'bundance-. This may account for tho absence of appetite for the lures of tho fishermen. Howevei, with such an abundance of fish fishermen are buoyed up with the hops that they will accept the baite that are offered. Good Sport at Athol.— " Emmeline'' has been good enough to pass on to me the following note from a correspondent at Athol, SputhJand Mr and Mrs C. Butterworth. Captain Tippinge, and Colonel Oldfield have been spending the past week [ fishing at Athol and secured 125 nice trout in good condition. The lady angler caught nine nice trout herself on. Friday and had excellent sport. They leturned to Dunedin by the express on Saturday. ' The Ashburton. — Mr tV. Sparrow, ?kti., secured an excellent basket oi trout at the mouth of the Ashburton. River reoentrv, the heaviest weighing 4-lb. There is good fishing water at the mouth of Ashburton River, and fieh are said to be plentiful and in fair condition. The heavie&t caught this season weighed 151b. Angling Competition at Oporo-. — The angling- competition resulted in % v.in for Mr C. D. Hunter, fishing at Oporo, who caught 14 fish, weighing Bib loz ; Mr H. H. Lyons, 7 fish, 81b 15oz, 2nd ; Mr J. Lyons, 7 fieh, 81b loz, 3rd; while the prize for heaviest fish wenit to Mr H. H. Lyons (41b 602), and for greatest number of fbh to Mr Jas. Collins (22, weighing Bib lloz). Some bags may yet be weig-hed which -will albsT the prize list. A Correction. — Newspapers are not infallible, and the Free Press corrects a mistake which I repeated). The Baldkrtha says: A mistake was made in last issue regarding the local© of Mr John Allan's (Balclufrha) catcher. He -was operating on the Waipa.hi, not the Kaihiku, and in t-ivo days and a-hal£ caught 3] fi&h, weighing in all 6GIb — an average of very nearly 2Jb — quite a handsome catch. Trout at Rotor ua.— The annual report of the Tourist De-partment contains the following reference, to the condition of the trout at Rotorua: — "A careful waroh wa? k^pt during the season on the conditions of diseases of the fish in the iak&?, and there is an improvement noticeable. The fish were (as is usual) not in vs.ry good condition in the beginning- of the season, bur. from January onwards a large number of catches of trout of excellent q-uality were taken from the lakes. Although there has bcon an improvement noticeable, it seems to be quite apparent that Lake Rotorua is overstocked with fi«h, and the poor condition of many of the EeK is attributable 10 this cause. Active etece have been taken to \ve"d out the unhealthy fkh and to permit only those that aie ir first-class condition to enter the main streams or lakes for spawnincr purposes. If this work is carried ouF carefully, tho result will be a noticeable improvement in the condition of the fish. Many of (ha statements regarding t,he number of poor-concfoioned fi-h in the lako have been very greatly exaggerated." Cannibal Trout Extermination.— Cannibal trout m the river Dart a,re to be exterunnatAd, and since operations were started by the Dart Board c f Con o i>irvators a few months aero over 3CO of the cannibaHs have been killed. There a.re many thousands left, however, which will have to be killed bofo^s th& river proCes , mon> pieel - and trout as it should ihe killing of cannibal fish, it is said is one of the mest useful things promoted by the teard for some time, and would bo an a<lvanfrap;o to tlie river.— Excha.n^ The Age of Fish.— Hie age of a fish" can be detcrminsd with accuiacy by the inspection of the otoliths or bony concretions winch are found in the auditory apparatus. Iheso otolkhs increase in size during the entire life of the fish, each year adding two laycis, a light-coloured layer formed in summer and a dai k layer formed in autumn and winter. Tho alternate layers are Miarplj contrasted and very distinct, £0 that there" is no difficulty in counting tlipui The nuiiib-v of pair, of layers is equal to the number of vpai- the fish has ii\ed. By this method Wallace has made an interesting study of the distribution of fish of tho plaice j-pecic-s over the various sea bottoms, according to apo. In this way the rapidity of t}n- growth of fishes and tho <^nec-t of (i^iiera-5 on the population of tilt sea can be dptonnin-xl. Poor Conditioned 'liout aiH It= Causo.--In Canterbury thrre ioems to b<? an a<?itation of mind with regard 1o tho condition of the trout cauc-ht, and ojjinicn runs high that it, is duo to thoni not having had time to recover from spawning. Personally I think it may be due to other reasons, such a- want of a plentiful supply oi food, and ]>ossibly climatic mfluoiKo. In any case it woukl not matter very much if, a= adtoaatctl, tlie opening of tho reason was put on a month, for in October the weather is such that but little pleasure is to be got out of handling a >-od. "Iron Blue,' writing on tho subject 'ii the Christchurch Press «=ays : — As a rill* 1 it i= not a good thing- to move the fixed and well-knowp date of an annual o\ent; but circumstances alter ca*es, and it maj be that in future "th< first" of the fi«hing feea c on will happen a month behind time. From h solfich point of view, I should be sorry if this camo to pass; I look forward to the first of October as a notable festival of tho year, and in tho m-ers which I usually* fish during the month, the trout arc nearly always in good order. However, these a.re merely personal roa*oi)6, and to many people have spoken of, or shown mp, Octoboi trout which are certainly not fit to take, that perhaps it mig-ht be better if the first of November became the opening day. There arc a few of the smaller rivers and streanio where everything is ready for the angk-r on the first day of the eea-on ; but in the Waitaki and Rangitata-I might say in most of the larger rivers — a great ! number of trout are caught at cho beginning which are scarcely worth taking; »nd a.3 a matter of course, nearly all would have assumed more aldermanie proportions aftei a satisfying diet of whitebait. In heavily-stocked waters the fish. ■are naturally longer about the process of recovering plumpness, for their daily rations arc according- to the number of mouths which must obtain food, while in places where there is onry a limited etock thfy can feed all day, andi pick up very quickly But more has bean heard this soa-on than in previous years of trout which were not fit to take. There are two causes winch may account for this fact — oither tho few freshes of tho pa^t mild "inter have failed to bring down so great a quantity of food a= u«ual, or, fjom the iiKieasing numboi of tiout, the quantity

lias bae-r insufficient to cro round. If the latter is fha case, there are two things which would improve tho fishing. The season could commence a. month later, ami some of the stock in crowded waters might be netted and transferred to rivers greatly in need of them. Money spent on the transference of trouv; whsre it is necessary, instead of on the transference of thai* to the top of Mount Cook or some other lively place, might not be misapplied,. New Zealand is famous for its trout-fishing and curious laws, but not fo-r thar; nor will it ever be, for they are infamous beasts, 6o ifc is a-3 -well to try to maintain th-e chief part of our fame. . , - Taking on 3 consideration, with anoth&r, I think it will be in the- best interests of sport if the opening oVy is postponed for a month. We can look forward to it just the came ; and between fish and: angler, six months of '"catchca' and six months of "no havee" will no doubt &eem a fairer arrangement to the G&h. An Interesting 1 Letter. — There is now in the possession c£ th» Canterbury Acclimatisation Society a moat iwt resting: letter from Dr Officer, of Hobaat, to Dr Lfcwellyn Powell, than president of the Acclimatisation Society, which refers to the first successful introduction of trout ova on any large scale, resulting in 433 being- hatched out. Dr Officer mentions in the better under date September 5, 1663, that he had deposited 1000 ova in the apparatus sent over in the Southern Cross to rece-he them. Dr Officer ex-presses the fear that the use of horsehair, as proposed, instead of moss, would prove fatal to the fish. There was also, he points out, no provision for the use of ice. Captain Thomson, at his suggestion, had obtained a small supply of ice. Dr Officer mentioned that ho had directed 200 ora to be added 1 to the 800 originally intended for Christchurch. in consequence oi a request that he should supply Mr W. D. Stoddart with a email number that he pro Dosed to convey to Lake Coleridge. As the letter is of public importance it ha^ been suggested that a copy should bo- taken, and the original deposited in the Museum. — Christchurch paper.