ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 49

ANGLING.

BY "fOOK SOOTT. To be a perfect fisherman you require more excellencies than are usually to be found in such a small space as is allotted to a man's caroaso.— 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 Dunedin by Monday night's mail. BANK NOTES. A correspondent at Athol sends the following interesting particulars as to the pleasure Melbourne visitors are getting in New Zealand waters: —"Till Tuesday (15th) the Waiau at the mouth has been low and clear Farther up, opposite 'the island,' a good number of river fish have been taken; but they were not in first-class condition. At the heads on Monday night (14th) four anglers got eight fish, but none of them was large. On Tuesday a freshet came down, and 'the river trout could be got during the day time. A small run* of minnows began to come up, followed by tho sea trout, so that on Tuesday evening Mr Menpes got a seven-pounder in prime ccrdition. Dr Rentoul lost a fine fish" and Dr MacFarland got a well-made 71b sea trout on Wednesday evening. These seemed to be the forerunners of a run, for on Thursday morning the trout and minnows were to be seen off the island in a way which reminded one of the old days in the encampment so well known to anglers. There ought to be good fishing at tho Waiau during the coming week." Mr J. Permin has just returned from a very pleasant and successful fishing jaunt to the Waiwera, where, as one of a party of four, 60 trout were grassed in a few days. The- best sport was obtained near the gorge, where Mr M'Callum, a local angler, landed a 91b fish. Mr Pormin's largest catch was a four-pounder. Mr P. Garden landed -ma weighing 341 b, and seven others averaging 2£lb. Mr Lambert's best catch weighed 241 b. The general size of the fish was good, and they were in prime condition. The Pomahaka was reported 'to be very high, consequently the sport was not good at the time of Mr Permin's vfsit.

Mr J. H. Oliver, during his recent holiday, enjoved -some capital sport in the Fuc-rua, Waiwera, and Kaihiku Rivers. His catches for the Ashing days in his fortnight's holiday totalled 54. some of 'them weighing up to 31b. The average of the lot would be about gib. The heavy rains at the end of his holiday interfered, of course, with the pastime.

The trout season at the Waitaki, according to local-reports, has not been a satisfactory one, with a few runs of sea trout as a compensation. At this time, now that the quinnat salmon season has opened, anglers are looking for some compensation''; from the vasty deep. In this matter tho trawling operations of the Marine Department will be watched with interest. Our local fishing experts are not at all afraid that trawling will interfero with river-fishing, contending- that the sea about tho mouth of the Waitaki must have millions of salmon, and all that can bo caught bv trawlers will not appreciably effect the passage of fish up stream. The Leith is at present very low; but som-} visitors last, week did not whip the stream in vain. One party had a catch of five, and another six. The largest fish grassed turned the scale at 2|lb. These were caught between Duke street and Woodhaugh, and in the ripples below Leith street. . . Dunedin visitors to the contour channels on the Taieri have been rewarded during the past few days with some good catches up to lib to-lift) weight. One angler got a nico basket of 21 fish for his afternoon's The Dee Stream is in fair order; but some Dunedin anglers who visited it last week-end were not very successful owing to the high wind. The party secured altogether 35 fish, tho largest being gib. The stream is reported to be well stocked, and somo good eport is expected next month, when tho cricket will bo in full evidence. Sea-fishing is in full swing at the Pudding Stone, Otago Peninsula. Dunedin

enthusiasts visit this favourite spot every week-end, and good catches of groper, ling, and bluo cod aro frequent. The eels in tho lower part of the Toko River are reported to bo very numerous at present. Thero seems to bn a pretty general feeling amongst some local anglers that Lagoon is not receiving the attention it is .entitled to at the hands of our fishing authorities. The Acclimatisation Society has very properly stocked tho water, and, at week-ends particularly, Dunedin fishermen who have not time to pursue their pastime far afield resort to the lagoon by the dozen, and try their skill from tho shore or from, tho punts. Their, chief trouble, which is a growing ono, is that ill weeds aro growing apace, after the manner of their kind,' and no systematio efforts aro being made to abato tno nuisance. Some enthusiasts have not been idle, and may bo seen dragging barbed wire through tho too luxuriant aquatic crop, and working with sickles like reapers in a harvest field. The latter tool is found to be the more effective; but tho harvest is "ripe and the labourers are few, consequently tho results aro so comparatively insignificant as to be disappointing to those who regard this pleasant sheet of water so near to town as the ideal locality for city anglers. Some of tho less hopeful frequenters of the lagoon doubt whether they will take out further licenses unless our local bodies take up the question of weeding the waters. Tho Lumsden correspondent of the Southland Times reports as' follows concerning the doings of Dunedin anglers who have achieved piscatorial fame: —"The river up in this part of the world has been in good trim for fishing these last two months. Soveral anglers from Dunedin and elsewhere all report good sport, and vote this their most successful season. • Considerable rivalry existed every day as to who was getting the best fish. Rev. Mortimer, from Caversham, held pride of nlaco for some time with a six-pounder, which he caught in daylight' with fine tackle and small purple grouse Qy. Then Mr Logan, of Dunedin, came to light with an eightpounder. This fish was a beautiful specimen of a sea-run trout Mr G. Sise tiad an unfortunate experience with a 14pounder. After playing it for three-quar-ters of an hour he lost it. It is a pity 'that he had no one handy to assist him, as he had it in shallow water when it broke his cast. George says he is coming up here at Easter to get this fish. Other visitors who report good sport are Messrs Williams, Crystall. Moffett, and Loughnan. Mr G..T. K. M'Kenzie (Dunedin), at Dipton, from 4th to 11th January, got a number of small fish, and five weighing 331 b (an evening catch) on the Jock Scott fly, grilse size. All new run fish."

Winton anglers are evidently having a good time. The local fishing scribe records the capture of several very fine fish by Messrs W. Buchanan and J. Swale, two well-known Spar Bush anglers, the former's take including three ■well-conditioned specimens weighing 13-ilb, 71b, and 6ilb respectively, and the la,tter grassing a six and a-haif pounder. Also that Winton anglers are also meeting with considerable success, a nice 10-pounder being recently secured by Mr J. Gerrard. The big fish are proving, with hardly an exception, to bo in the pink of condition.

QUINNAT SALMON

By Pescadoe

The- trout season per se in the Waitaki and other declared salmon rivers, which ended last week, was a disappointing one to Waitaki anglers for the most part. For six weeks at the commencement of tho season tho river was a banker, and much too thick to fish; and notwithstanding that good weather arrived and splendid runs of feed were recorded, neither in "number nor weight did the fish taken since equal the records of previous years, though the river has been fishable most of the time. An unusual number of ill-conditioned fish were taken —lank, leathery brutes, with tails, ,fms, and heads several times too large fOi' them —and a surprising number of three-pounders, by courtesy, were landed to the disgust of old hands. Good fish were caught; but there was no large run of sea fish, such manifestations of the kind as were observed Irest'ricting themselves to brief incursions between tides. The mouth of the river is now straight out —indeed, a little to the south, and there is less fishing ground on the water affected by the tides, with the consequence that anglers seem more plentiful than they were last year. This is easy enough _ to understand, as there is but half a mile of tidal water in place of the two and a-half miles of last year when the mouth wandered Tima.ruwards. Many—nearly all, in fact —of the good grass banks and wadeable islands near the huts have been wiped off the map by floods, and anglers of last season on a first visit shake their heads sadly, and wander forth to learn their river again. In the limited space anglers meet with the frequency of interned aliens, and, of course, discuss, In language with many ornamental bindings and a thick coat of varnish, the why and the wherefore of their disappointments. The truth is the fish are not there this year. A view which finds almost general acceptance is that the salmon are responsible for it, though, of course, no one can advance proofs therefor. The most plausible reason to date is that _ the samlets, smolts, or parr, during their sojourn in tho river in millions, so skinned out the up-river feed as to both reduce the number of trout the river can sustain, and to adversely affect the condition of those that remain. * Others draw attention to the habit of spawning salmon of playfully killing everything that comes their way. There is need for a scapegoat in the. Waitaki just now. and that scapegoat will bo the salmon until it is proved otherwise. As for the salmon themselves, there can be no two opinions of their value as a sporting fish, and if they do not please most palates as well as a trout, they will be forgiven that and much more by anglers on that account. To forecast the prospects of the salmon season now would be rash, as all depends upon the state of the river; but there can bo but little now to come down in view of the many warm rains, and, short of heavy rains in tho back country, there is not much likelihood of floods. A few salmon have already been seen insido tho mouth, porpoising in slack water; but no big run has taken place to date, though the cognoscenti (not necessarily excluding the Chief Inspector of Fisheries) anticipate an earlier and larger run than wus the case last year. Nevertheless, Dunedin and southern anglers who contemplate taking out a salmon license this year, and who can only pay one visit, are advised to leave their venture until at least mid February or the commencement of March, and,' if they can curb their impatience,

later still. If February pasEea without heavy floods, and March is warm and kind to us, the conditions should then bo ideal. When tho water is low, blue, and clear, and tho sun shines warmly at midday, while tho morns and eves are tinged with a hint of impending change of season, salmon take tho lure most readily. They should, moreover, by then be there in force. They bite from daylight to dark, but-not after dark, and last year gave no indication of a predilection for any special time of day for suicide. Quite a number wore caught from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; but early morning ia perhaps as good a time as any to get a rise. It has the advantage that it encourages good habits, and it promotes candour when from a distance you perceive that the salmon pool is fringed with rods as a' basket of crayfish might bo with antennas. There is always a 'salmon pool" whero these fish res't moro numerously than elsewhere; and though at • similar spots it recurs all tho way up tho river, it is surprising in how many such pools tho salmon are always lacking. Although taken in every variety of water last year, more salmon were taken in still, swirling pools than anywhere else. Hero they "porpoise" or lie still. There are a dozen spots in tidal water whei'e the salmon may rest this year, but which will be the most fruitful to the angler remains to bo seen. It is not improbable that they will not rest 60 near the huts as previously, as the mouth is so much nearer.

A few hints as to tackle may not be amiss. Any form of spinning jinny appears to serve as a devon, and neatness is no sine qua non for the hooking of salmon. A heavy devon is not required—indeed, it is a nuisance, —as most salmon are taken in slack water. A large-bodied, thin-shelled devon with big fins, of light epeoifio gravity, will get its manipulator into fewer snags and into mora salmon than the customary tidal devon; but if he is looking for trout as well as salmon he may make a compromise by seeing 'to it that his devon is an exceptionally good spinner. Salmon take a devon most readily—that is, piC'Ccoding fairly slowly and not too low down. Nothing is more fatiguing and annoying and less productive of results than fishing slock water with a heavy devon: but some of the later patterns, for tail hooks only, spin well in any kind of water, and the depth may be regulated by keeping the point of the rod up. The larger' th-3 hooks the better. . Three cod-hooks fashioned into a species of balloonist'* kedge with the aid of wire formed an extemporised tail hook that was successful on the Waitaki last year; but the wise angler will bo content with a pair of largo trebles —sizes 1,2, or 3,' according to hia fancy. Trout will take 'these also—indeed, with, more avidity in clear water than they will a clumsy wing hook mount. Swivels and wire should bo substantial, as below the pools there is frequently very heavy water, and a point beyond which the angler cannot go. Salmon have a be'tter hooking mouth than trout, and, generally, hook themselves well; and if the angler wishes, to enjoy himself he should give the fish his. head. when, he will experience somethrills. Tho reel should be large, and carry at least 70 yards of linG. Tho latter need not be-fine or expensive, but must be strong. Salmon can be landed on quit© a light rod by a fisherman; but he should be cai'eful in bringing his devon out of tho wator on the long casts he will be called upon to make. Last year more rods' were broken in casting than in landing fish. Salmon were caught in good table condition last year as far up as Kurow, so that anglers who care .'to camp out may find good sports far from the ravening devoning crowd. A- good plan would be to put up at a hotel until a good pool was discovered, and then to yiitch camp near rfi (tho pool; not the hotel), as a pool found good at any part of the season remains good until" tho end wherever salmon are running, In snch wise the angler _ may spend blissful davs in tussore silk pyjamas and. slippers, and bag as many salmon as the be-wadered, perspiring tramper of shingle, for there is not tho hard work attached to pool salmon fishing that must bo undertaken by the angler who intends to be successful with trout in the Waitaki.