ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 60

ANGLING.

By Jock Scott.

To ho a perfect fisherman you require more

.•,'coellenoies than are usually to be found in such i small space as is allotted to a man’s carouse.— VARKER Gilmouii.

Headers are invited to contribute items of local isliiug news for insertion in this column. for .nsertion in the ensuing issue they should reach ouuediu by Monday night's mail.

BANK NOTES.

Very little success has been met with at Tomahawk Lagoon during the last few days. Two fish were caught on Saturday afternoon and five on Labour Day.

Mr IT. Islip spent about a fortnight on the Waikouaiti River recently, and had very poor sport while he was out with the rod. The river was in an extremely dirty state during the time he was on it, and this is no doubt the reason of his meeting with such poor luck. Mr Austin has had some good sport on tho Pleasant River with the worm. Ho made a good basket of fish, running from 51b down to lib. The Tapanui and Milton Anglers’ _ Clubs have written to the Otago Acclimatisation Society intimating their intention to hold eel-fishing competitions as suggested, and an angler at Waikaia has stated that it is hi a intention to endeavour to promote a similar competition in his district. A communication from Middlemarch states that streams in that locality have improved since the rainfall. Some very nice baskets of fish have been taken; but the fish are not so numerous as last year. In places, however, they are very plentiful. One youthful angler got 17, averaging a little over half a pound, and on other occasions caught four (one of which weighed 21b) and 16, among the latter take being a good many between and |lb. Mr Tyndall is reported to have boon fairly successful with tho rod so far.

Two Dunedin anglers fished the Orcti River at Little Bush, which is in the neighbourhood of the mouth of the stream, recently, but did not meet with much success. The river was full of snow water, and very few fish were seen. It does not follow, however, that there is any scarcity of fish in the river, as they would not bo much in evidence under such conditions. One of the anglers took a fish weighing about ‘lib, and secured two or throe small ones. The worm was compulsorily used, owing to the state of the water. The Tokomairiro River. —The \V aronui correspondent of the Bruce Herald reports that very fair fish were caught in his locality in the early part of the season. The heaviest fish captured weighed i^lb. The Shag River. —A correspondent signing himself “Cast Line” writes that Mr Jack Drew had a very good day’s sport

>n the Shag River last week, his bag consisting of 48 fish, averaging £lb, the b.ggest aiming the scale at l-|lb. Mr Drew states that the river was in good condition, the recent rains having cleared it. of slime, and opines that it would continue good for a week. In the vicinity of Glenpark seems to be a good fishing ground. From the foregoing it will bo seen that Mr Drew’s catch we : ghed 361b —a big haul to make from the Shag River these days. The Waiwera. —Some good creels are reported to have been obtained from the Waiwera; but no details are given. The Waitaki.—The Waitaki River has not been in good condition for fishing (says an exchange;, the recent rain causing it to rise and become dirty; but it is gradually regaining its usual appearance, and should bo clear by the middle of this (last) week. The Waipahi and Other Rivers.—Messrs Wm, and J. A. Willocks and another angler are reported to have met with very good sport on the Waipahi, the only drawback being the prevalence of weeds in the stream. Fish, however, were plentiful, and in wonderfully good condition, consequent on the early appearance of feed, due to the phenomenally fine weather that has prevailed in South Otago for some months. They caught trout weighing up to 3lb. Parties who have patronised the Kaihiku and smaller streams since opening day secured small catches, the water being low and clear. Anglers who tried the Molyneux in the early part of the season found the fish in great condition, owing to whitebait being plentiful; but the catches were not large individual anglers having to be content with ones and twos. Fish weighing up to about 41b were in extra good condition. In the vicinity of the freezer, where bait-fishing is practised, some big hauls were made, one party landing no fewer than 36 trout, the largest 111 b. Mr Lance Harvey took an Sg-nounder out of the Koau, near Finegand, and a party near the same locality bagged 18 altogether, and some beauties, too. The Otamcte and the Waimea. —The Mataura Ensign of the 19th inst. contains the following:—“Fishing is the only sport we have here at present, and since the heavy rain on Thursday evening and again on Saturday, the Otamete is in first-rate order (writes our Mandeville correspondent). Some exceedingly good catches are reported, and the fish are in splend : d condition and fairly numerous, if not large. The Waimea is attracting anglers’ attention more and more as the seasons come and go. The fish as a whole are larger than those in the Otamete Stream.” The Orari and the Rangitata.—An exchange says:—“Geraldine sportsmen enjoyed only moderate fishing last week, the catches being in most cases on the small side, though some had fair baskets. One party of two took 43 fish in the Orari as the result of three hours’ fishing, and another sportsman landed 16 for an afternoon’s fishing. The Orari is full of whitebait just at present, and is also full of slime, the rains not having put much water in the streams. The Rangitata is reported to be very dirty and full of snow water.” Stranded Trout.—Some very large trout have been found this season on the beaches and in the small streams in the Pomahawk district (says the Tapanui Courier). A few have scaled up to 201 b._ and one measured 39in in length and 21in in girth. The stranding of the big fish is probably accounted for by a low river all the season preventing them from returning to sea after spawning, as most of the trout found were in good condition. North Island.—Anglers appear to be doing fairly well in the North Island, among successful fishermen being .Messrs J. R. Ross, F. Smith, H. Bates, and Fred Collins. The vicinity of the Balclutha freezing works continues to prove a groat attraction for the Molyneux River trout, and on week-ends those anglers with a preference for worm fishing have boon making good hauls 'says the Free Press). On the 16th one lad bagged 10 good fish, and another had a 10-pounder to his credit. 20 fish in all being captured. It is said that very few fish pass the freezer, the attraction of the blood issuing from a drain into the river being too great for the finny tribe.