ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3448, 13 April 1920, Page 51

ANGLING.

By Jock Soott.

' ' ; » To be a perfeofc. fisherman you require more •xcellencies than are usually to be iound in such a email space as is allotted to a man's carcase.— Parker Gilmotjr. Readers are invited to contribute items of, local fishing news for insertion in this column. Fot Insertion in the ensuing issue they should reach Dunedin by Monday night's mail.

BANK NOTES. Q The Glenomaru.—Mr J. H. Oliver, who has been a liberal contributor to the angling column until he was called up—mot for his writings, but beoause he had to serve his country—has been at the Glenomaru quite recently, to be precise, last Tuesday. He was not on a fishing expedition, i>ut took his rod with him, and "had a shot" a t_fch e Glenomaru in a promiscuous way. .The stream was very low (it's small at any time), and very badly overgrown with weed. There were only one or two pools fishable, and any angler knows that to take fish . out of quiet pools, unless they are dynamited, is difficult. Mr Oliver caught a couple of fish, each weighing about slb. It was _ decided to fish up the Molyneux as far 'as its ju«ction with the Kaihiku, but Mr Oliver was dissuaded from doing this by what he was told. Anglers had fished that water the previous day and ''done no good." The only fish they caught were perch (very good fish, too). 'This note refers to the very early part of last week, but with the continuance of fine weather the same conditions must prevail. The Shag River.—Mr Dobson recently caught a 4£-pounder fishing near Bushey during Easter time. The Waipahi.—An angler tells me that, passing the Waipahi River recently, he noticed the stream was very low and full of weed; so full of weed as to make angling a hopeless proposition. Nothing can alter the stato of things except a tremendous scour out.

The Waiwera and Otimita.—These rivers are reported to be in very much the same condition as the- Waipahi. The Manuherikia.—Dr Williams and Mr Dobson visited the Manuherikia _ recently, and fished the water in the vicinity of Hawkden Station, up the gorge. They met ■with very poor success. In the lower waters they got a number of small fish, but did no good higher up. Lake Movora. —The Invercargill ranger paid a surprise visit to Lake Movora during the Easter holidays, and caught a party of well-known Invercargill persons—so-called sports—poaching. It is only what I am told, and I am further informed that proceedings will be taken against members of the party in the near future. It is stated that a fish weighing 301 b was found in the possession of these, "beauties." The Mataura. —Anglers tell me that the Mataura is absolutely dry (not in a prohibition sense) at Fairlight, and that fish have been dying in large numbers for want of water, and are still dying. That is to be lamented, but no one can control the .elements. Mr R. B. Williams and Mr E. Price were up at Garston during '"Easter time, and met with fair success. If they did not perform wonders they did not come away with empty creels. The Oreti.—Dr Stanley Batchelor and Mr Geo. Sise left Dunedin on March 31 with the intention of doing some fishing (that may be 1 a very wise course for the lastnamed angler, who has had a "rocky .- time" with regard to his health. In any case, I hope Mr £ise was benefited by his outing). To come to details: the two anglers motored to Lumsden.. which is the.central point,for fishing the Oreti. They made Lumsden their headquarters for the first day or two, and fished the water in their, immediate vicinity. They found the river low, so "low" that one novelist I have read, would describe it as "blackguardly." The water was clear — : much against successful angling—and the oldest residents. stated that the Oreti had never been so low. It Was stated that there had been no rainfall since January, ;; which would amply account for the condition of the river. The two anglers found the fish they caught in poor condition and inclined to be soft and flabby (that may be partly accountde for by the • approaching spawning season). The first few days the be partly-accounted for by the approaching the vicinity of Lumsden, but even if thev had hooked anything bis: a 4-X cast would have created an impossible position. To put it briefly, thev got some "decent" fish in the neighbourhood of Lumsden, weighing lib and under. After that the two_ anglers went to the Lo-.vther, about six miles further up the riveiv where they found the fish still in poor condition. They were taking the fly ver" readily, and a fair number of fish were captured up to Z£ir>. In the evening the anglers went dow T n to some of the lai-ge nools near the Lumsden railway bridge, and Dr Batchelor got fish (among others) weight witfj the minnow, find Mr Sise a fish weighine; on the ( fly. Then " Messrs Hodgkins and Loughman joined the pair of anglers, and the quartette- went up to Lowther, but did very little g-ood. Then they went to Mossburn and fished the water about a mile and a-half above that place. A south-west was blowing, and the sport' was poor. In the afternoon thev went to Centre Hill, further on from Mosfbu.rn,. in the. vicinitv of what is known as "the key to the Jake," but did no trood at all, although they saw a number of fair fish. The next day the anchors proceeded to Cardine and Josepbville fiust .t-elow.Lumsden), and found rjlenfy of fish in the but. as the wind was easterly they did not get a great number of fish. Thev picked up a few —apparently the party had become reduced to Dr Batchelor and Mr Sise at this time, —the b*i<r consistine of fish wcigbin<? 2ilb. The big fi«b up there are apparently in the pools, a. difficult place to catch fish. As manv ns 11 larere fish were counted in these pools in the clear water. They were easily sepn. and it is estimated that they ran from 91b to 141 b.. These fish, I ouite understand, Will not. be causrht with a low river in daylight. These fish were seen in nearly every pool of any size, sometimes lying out at the tail end of the ripple. The conclusion formed is that there arp plentv of fish, and, given better conditions, there is good spoi*t to be obtained here, with the prospect of capturing some bisr fellows. One ancrW says. "As a matter of fact T had several big fellows on, but I was fishing with a 4-X cast."