ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3278, 10 January 1917, Page 45

ANGLING.

Br Jock Scott,

To be a perfect fisherman you require moro excellencies than are usually to be found in such a small space as is allotted to a man's carcase.— Parker Gilmour. Headers are invited to contribute items of. local Ashing news for insertion in this column. For insertion in the ensuing issue they should reach Duuedin by Monday night's mail.

BANK NOTES. The Pomahaka.—Last Saturday Mr J. A. Roberts and Mr G. Sise left Dunedin at midday and motored as far as the Pomahaka, below the Burning Plains. They pitched their tent on the side of the river, and soon after commenced operations. Residents say that never within an experience of 15 years has the Pomahaka River been so low. What mak-38 matters worse for angling is that the stream is full of green slime and weed, which make fishing very difficult. " We did no good whatever," remarked Mr Sise in the course of conversation. " There were hardly any fish moving, and unless wo have a fresh I am afraid that the water from the Burning Plains to the Clydcvalc bridge will bo covered with weed and slime, and that fishing for the remainder of the season will be at an end." The Ahuriri and Other Streams.—Mr G. W. M'lntosh is too keen an angler to let slip any favourable opportunity for trying his luck with the rod, and with Mr A. Harris proceeded shortly after Christmas Day to Omarama with the object of fishing the Ahuriri River at Sailor's (Jutting. Mr MTntosh describes the water as splendid for fishing purposes, with plenty of line ripples at short intervals. He tried the minnow in the afternoon, and rose eight fish, but failed to secure one of them. The anglers then went six miles farther on, and fished tho same river again from 7 p.m. till 9.30 p.m., but never rose a fish, though angling; in beautiful broken water. They returned to the Waitaki, but a high south east wind was blowing, which residents of the districts told them was against any chance of success. This proved to bo true, Mr MTntosh hooking three fish, and losing the lot, while Mr Harris had very much the same experience. They next fished the Waitaki below Dunfroon. but never got a rise. i*rom what Mr MTntosh heard other angk-rs were more successful. The two anglers then came south to the Waikouaiti River, from which Mr MTntosh took a nice fish (oAlb). This was caught in the Morton pool, "it is stated that Mr Yorston secured a 101 b fish on the fly a little farther up the river, and that Mr W. Morgan was successful, and grassed eight nice fish. Other anglers are reported to have done fairly well on the Waikouaiti. " There is no doubt." said Mr MTntosh,_ ''that there arc plenty of fish in the Ahuriri, and the local anglers state that a sure lure is the Maori devil." While the trip to this river was unproductive of good results, the two Dunedin men appear to have found it a most enjoyable outing. Tho Fraser River. —Mr G. Marshall spent a couple of hours on the big rare leading from the Fraser River one evening during tho holidays, and secured 22 fish, averaging Mb. with the fly. The Ikawai. —This little-known river, which is a tributary of the Waitaki, and lies inland some six or eight miles from Glenavy, was visited during the holiday season bv Mr G. Crow and Dr Marshall Macdonald. Mr Crow fished the same stream earlier in the season, and had splendid sport. and returned to town quite charmorl with tho river for angling purposes. On his last visit tho river was high, but was going

down, so that fishing was not at its host, but conditions were improving. Ho stayed for three days, and caught lo good fish, the largest weighing 61b and the smallest 31b. Right opposite tho Redcliffe Hotel he got a 4-pounder, and had another good iish hooked, but it got away, the high state of tho river making it, difficult to play a fish. Mr Grow did his angling with a cocoon minnow. Dr Macdonald, i understand. ;'lho did very well, as also his brother, who resides at Fairlie, and who joined him at the Ikawai. Those two anglers spent about a week in the locality, and secured fish every day,

The Upper Mataura. —Mr Geo. Siso seems to have acted as a kind of pilot to a party of anglers intent on exploiting the possibilities of tho Mataura River about Garston. On December 22 the gentleman in question went to Garston and had several days to .himself before his friends arrived. Mr Sise says tho river is better stocked with fish than it has been in previous years, but tho fish arc not in quite so good condition. The cause of this is put down to the big flood that occurred three or four months ago, which, it is argued, swept away the food supply. " But," said Mr Sise, " tho river was teeming with fish, not of great size, especially between Garston and Fairlight." Mr Sise opened operations on the evening of December 22, when, in company with a local angler, Mr Gorinsky, he went below Nokomai, and the two rods produced a basket of 18 fish, running from 21b to 3>.lb. The two anglers tried tho same water next day, and caught 24- fish of about the same weight. Christmas Day Mr Sise was joined bv the other members of the party, for which he had acted as pilot. This party consisted of Messrs R. B. Williams, Jno. Logan, and 8. Neill. In the evening the party went to Nokomai (I remember the good water there well), and grassed about a dozen very fair fish. To break the continuity of the narrative, it must be stated that on December 30 Mr Sise and Mr Gorinsky went down to what is known as tho Black bridge, and caught 32 iish a littlo better in weight than had been previously obtained. However, nothing over 3iib was ever got, so that I can only assume that tho fish arc not as big as they wore. as I caught fish up to 51b and oven 61b some nine or 10 years ago. To give daily details would become tedious, but the entire catch for the party, including that of Mr Gorinsky, would bo between 300 and 400 fish. But it has to be remembered that the party consisted of five, including the local man. Mr Sise's best day panned out about 63 fish —that is, taking smaller, but not rejectablo fish, into account. The flies used were principally GrcenwclPs Glory, rod-tipped Governor, Blue Quill Gnat, and tho Jessie. At night time the Brown moth, the Alexandria, and the Coachman were tried.

The Phenomenal Feat. —A northern paper says that a female brown trout 271 b in weight, 3ft 7in in length, and 24in in girth, was caught in the upper reaches of the Wanganui River, near Taumarunui, recently with a fly. This is how it was done: —The angler spotted a very likely place for a riso, and with his first cast the fish was tempted and fell, and then the fun began. The line spun out with lightning rapidity, and as the end was reached the angler was unable to stop the dash of his magnificent catch, and bowled over in the middle of the river. Undaunted, he followed his pilot, and two rapids were passed in quick succession, and the angler eventually had the satisfaction of seeing his catch turn on its back, but almost immediately the dropper fly spanned off, and with a twist of its body the trout got hooked by the tail and glided to the bottom of tho river like a dead weight. The assistant angler got to work with his gaff, and after a desperate struggle he succeeded in grassing tho fish. —Some anglers may be sceptical as to. the report, which may, however, be true. Still, the story is rather startling to me. An Angling Expedition.—A party of Dunedin anglers (Messrs A. E. and C. S. Jenkins. W. Finlayson, B. Hatfield, J. S. Brownlic, J. M'Giil, and A. Hart) made a very enjoyable camping-out expedition during the holidays. The camp was set up at Caroline, on the Oreti River, on the 23rd December, and continued in existence until the 4th of January. The weather experienced was ideal from n holiday point of' view, but was too calm and hot most of tho time for fishing. However, on some days very satisfactory baskets were made, and no d'av resulted in a blank. On Christmas Dav * the best bags were made by Messrs Hatfield and C. S. Jenkins, with 18 and 14 fish respectively, running in size from gib to lglbt The next four days tho average basket was 12 fish per rod. with a sprinkling of slightly larger fish. On the 28th Messrs A. E. Jenkins and W. Finlayson took train to Josephville and fished back to Caroline, with the result that the former scored 19 fish and the latter 15. Ihe fish in the vicinity of Josephville proved to be appreciably larger than those between Caroline and Dipton. The flies most successful during tho day were the Green wells (dory. March Brown, and the Red Bodied Waipahi; while in the evening Moir's Fancy and the Red Quill Gnat were the favourites. Good sport was obtained after dark by allowing the fly to become well submerged, and although a largo number of fish were missed owinc: to the difficulty of striking the fish quickly enough, the net results were quite satisfactory. The minnow was tried at various times, but, owing to the absence of wind, it was not over successful. Tho largest fish obtained with the minnow was 31b. No large fish were hooked. although a considerable number were seen, varying in size from 51b to 101 b. Tho river is well stocked, and in one backwater (which was christened the Aquarium) about 50 yards lontr the visitors estimated there were from 1300 to 1500 trout of all sizes Tip to 101 bor over. The Oreti at present is exceptionally low and clear, but with_ a nice fresh very good fishing will be certain. as the large fish are already moving up the lower part of the river. The most successful minnow used by the party was (lie Brown Transparent Sfoleskin. Trip to the Temnka. —T am obliged to one who takes an interest in the angling column for a contribution tin's week. After extolling the Tenrukn River, more particu larly where it joins the Apiti, he continues that the fish caught there are sweet and of good size. It i<; all fly fishing, and the favourite flies are Green wells Glory (I notice tin's fly seems a general favourite in many streams), Yellow-tipped Govprno'-. and Red Spinner (small pattern) for day fishing. My correspondent goes on to describe the river rmd the restful feelinc experienced on its banks. Apparently tho beat experienced was intense. Thorp is much more interesting matter in "Awake's" contribution, which but for pressure of space I would have orladly welcomed. It is. _ however, in a literary rather than a practical anglinc direction, and I must keep it by mo in the meantime.

Visiting anglers from Duncdin, Timaru, Christchurch, and Auckland, in addition to local enthusiasts, woro present in force at the Waitaki mouth during the holidays (says the North Otago Times). The river was very clear, which mado fishing a little mora difficult. Notwithstanding this, some really good catches were reported. The heaviest) fish taken was 151 b. Many were obtained from 101 b to 121 b.