ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3382, 8 January 1919, Page 45

ANGLING.

St Jock Scott. To be a perfect fisherman yon require mora txcallencies than aw usually to be found in such a small sptoe a* Is allotted to a man's carcase.— Pi.RK.iri GILMOUR. ■ Readers are invited to contribute itema ol local' lairing news ('or. insertion in this column. Tot insertion in the" ensuing issue they should xcaofc Duuedin by Monday night's mail.

BANK NOTES. The Waitaki.—Mr A. Dobson and Mr J. R. Wilson have just returned from the Waitaki, from which Mr Dobson, during a week's stay, basketed close on 30 fish, among them being one of 131 b and another of 101 b. Both of these were beautiful fish in splendid condition. His best day's record was 13 fish. He tells me that the fishing is patchy, and that the river was clear. He caught his fish, with a Devon minnow. During his stay about 200 kawhai were caught on the north side of the river at its'mouth. Mr Wilson was not so fortunate as his friend, but did not come away empty-handed, or rather empty-creeled. Other anglers met with fair sport, but I cannot supply details. A good old friend writes on_ the 6th inst., woo, despite skill and experience—especially as to the Waitaki —has had "poor luck," as follows: —"The Waitaki is in good order for fishing, and some fair fish have been caught towards the mouth on the south side. On the north side, where the camp is, sport has been poor until the last few days, when the silverys were coming in, and also trout, of the latter of which some good ones were got. No salmon have been reported yet. During the. holidays quite a number of anglers were at the fishing camp, but the majority met with poor luck, and no decent catches were made. The weather for one thing has been unfavourably boisterous and cold." My correspondent states that he got his first fish—a fine 12-pounder—on the morning of the 6th. I thank him. for his New Year greetings, which I reciprocate. The Fraser River. —Captain A. Cowie has been having good sport on the Fraser River, where ho spends a good deal of any spare time he may have at his disposal. Apparently Captain Cowie is among the most successful anglers who visit this stream, which is not far from Alexandra, where he is stationed. He is essentially a fly fisher, and has been getting fish up to 2Alb. One fish he got recently ran him 200 yards, and*-he had to do a good deal of following

up beforo he finally grassed it. The excitement lasted for some little while, tiia bag usually consists of 10 or 12. I am given to understand that the captain follows in the steps of the old fisher of the pa** by tying hia own flies, and imitating, at nearly as poseiblo, those that have formed the food of the fish he catches. It is a good plan if the angler has the time, the skill, and the patier.ee, and probably accounts for much of the success ho meets with as an angler. The Shag River.—At Christmas Mr R. B. Williams was out at the Shag River for two days, and secured 16 fish the first day and 14 the next, the average weight of the whole catch being about jib. The Waikouaiti.—The Saturday before' Christmas Dr Williams, fishing in the tidal waters above Toomey's Crossing, caught a three-pounder, three two-pounders, two onepounders, and a fish weighing ilb with the fly. The bag was a very nice one for this river. Mr R. B. Williams caught a nice four-pounder and several smaller fish, and Mr S. D. Neill secured a basket of trout of no great size. The Waipahi.—lt is reported of this river that it has not been up to the mark during l the holiday season. » The Waikaia.—During the holiday season Messrs Soper and Crowd got a' fine basket of 22 fish from this river, the catch running from 21b to 4ilb. It was one of the bert baskets made from the Waikaia for a long time, and was made with the worm, which ar.glero will know all about. The river was at that time slightly discoloured. On Boxing Day Messrs H.' and E. Price and G. Sise were out, and found the river much discoloured. They got about 20 fish between them, usine the fly. The catch averaged about lib. No big fieh were caught. The following day the thfea anglers were out again, the bag then consisting of about 14 fish of much the same average as those already caught. The Messrs Price then returned to town, and Mr Sise had a good time with Mr Christie, an elderly and evidently a very interesting personality, who has been a resident of the district for too long to remember. nJ£ have a few notes regarding Mr Christie's connection with acclimatisation and piscatorial matters which I must hold over in the meantime. The two anglers mentioned made one very nice bag together, the river then beginning to clear a little. This bagt consisted of 14- fish averaging about 31b, and was made practically with,the artificial minnow (light bodied proved most effective J whitebait phantom or Small Silver Devon). The flies found to be the most killing were Greenwell's Glory, Red-tipped Governor, and Red Waipahi. The shrimp also proved a good killer. The Oreti.—Messrs A. E. Jenkins, C. 8. Jenkins, B. Hatfield. W. Finlayson, J. &. Brownlie, and J. M'Gill spent about 10 days on the Oreti in the vicinity of Caro*line, and returned to Dunedin last weekend. They found the river very high, thw condition being due to a fall of snow the Saturday before Christmas, -which left a -deposit five inches deep. Fishing was very poor in consequence. Towards the end of the next week the waters of the river somewhat subsided, and the fish began riee to the fly. Unfortunately weather conditions, again became bad. More snow fell, and the river began to rise. Notwithstanding these adverse conditions, the party were out the day after their arrival on the scene of action, and caught some fish. Mr A.' E. Jenkins for one day of the stay succeeded in landing 21 fish, running front Jib to This constituted the best bag made. The fish caught were in good condition. The largest trout caught by the party during the 10 days weighed about 31b, and fell to the rod of Mr Hatfield, The flies that proved most killing were the Red Teal, the Red Spinner, and Greenwell's Glory. The most effective minnows in use were the Silver Devon and a dark Soleskin. When the party left last Friday the river wae falling, and there was promise of a greatly improved state of affair*, According to what I am told, some enormous baskets have been made in the early Sart of the season between Lumsden and lossburn. All the fish in the present instance were caught within two miles of Caroline. "Lumsden," who has assumed this norai de plujpe owing to residential location, writes on the 3rd inst: —"While fishing in the Oreti below Lumsden on the close of the old year, Mr Roxburgh, manager of Castle Rock Station, grassed a nice basket of 10 fish, weighing from 21b upwards. One beauty turned the scales at B£lb—a female fish. Mr Roxburgh inform* me that the river is in fine trim (January 3), with plenty of water in it, though it is a bit cold owing to the existence of bo much snow in the back country. The river is well Worthy the attention of visiting anglers, «o far as that portion between Lumsden \and Centre Hill is concerned, t am told the large fish are coming up much earlier this year. Mr Roxburgh secured his basket with the Pomahaka Ely."