ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 59

ANGLING.

By

Jock Scott

To be a perfect fishermun you require more •xeHlenciea than are usually to be founl ia sue* a bi'iall space as is allotted to a man’* carcase.— PaILKIR iiILUODR. Headers are inrited t*» contribute Items of local fishing nows (or insertion in this column. For insertion in the ensuing issue they should reoofr Dunedin by Batura*/ night's mail.

The continuous rain is proving very detrimental to angling, and fishing for trout is, to a great extent, becoming paralysed. So far as the city angler is concerned, he does not feel disposed to leave town for the week-end, as he is in the habit of doing. and I can scarcely blame him. The man in the country is all right—ho can “hop out” at any moment, and if he feels inclined, “hop in” again. But my sympathies are with the keen angler of the town, who finds his occupation (pastime) gone. However, the weather may mend its ways, and h 8 may get a good time yet before the season closes. So far as I can ascertain, the most of the rivers are fairly high, in some instances too high for angling purposes. I heard one very good piece of news at the end of last week, and that is that the Water of Leith is providing some very good sport. Time was when one and ahalf and two-pound fish were by no means scarce in the little stream. Anyone standing on, say the Duudas street bridge, could see a goodly number of such fish in the broken water just above the bridge—l have seen them myself and taken not a few — and the rises in the pool below it were evidently made by good sizeable trout. From what 1 heard, there is every indication that the Leith is returning to something lifeo its old form. A Dunedin angler, fishing the river near the Woodhaugh Gardens on Thursday night, took two trout in splendid condition, one weighing 21b and the other 51b. Mr W. Gunn the previous night took two three-pounders from the water behind MdGavin’s brewery. The recent rain has produced a succession of “freshes” in the river, and a run of fish •from the harbour has resulted, and they have got up both branches of the Leith. It is reported that there are some real good fish up Lindsay's Creek, and up the Woodhaugh branch. It would appear that the Taw of compensation is at work, and that the result of the recent destruction of trout in the former is being made good. Auent this destruction, I notice someone lias been writing to the daily newspaper insinuating that the source whence the whole trouble came is not unknown, and the writer twits the powers that be with exhibiting a reluctance to strong action on account of the personality of the offender. If it be true, that is very regrettable; whether it is true I cannot say. To come back to the trout fishing in the Leith, my informant tells me the fish are being taken with the worm, and that there are plenty ,of them in the river—l mean trout, not worms. Several good fish have been lost. Any angler who reads that will smile and say, “ The old story! ” but my information comes from a source that I do not for a moment doubt. Flyfishing lias been put aside, and the only lure, other than the worm, is a small “ spoon,’” which is fairly effective. There is one thing that puzzles me, and that is that the fish taken are full of spawn. I had one trout of about 21b weight given me. It was a female fish, and was cleaned when I received it, but I was told by the giver that it was full of spawn in an advanced stage of development. This puzzles me for this reason: the spawning season is two or three, even four, months’ distant, and it is early days for spawning fish to enter the rivers. The trout taken are evidently sea run, and have come from the harbour and entered the Leith with the object of spawning. It may be that an unusually wet summer has something to do with it. When I suggested that, my informant replied, with a grin, that he thought it was due to the Exhibition, blit I don’t believe that. If my surmise be correct: that the fish are coming in to spawn acclimatisation societies will have to be ready to conduct stripping operations for the collection of ova much earlier than usual. A special competition in which any legal bait was permissible was held at Tomahawk Lagoon recently, and attracted 10 competitors. The first prize was won by J. A. Stewart, with two fish, weighing 31b; the second by W. Williams, with one fish scaling 2slb; and the third by T. Veitch, with one fish weighing 21b. Another competition was held under the auspices of the Otago Anglers’ Association on the same water, and resulted in A. Spears coming first, F. Hordeu second, and W. Williams third. The relative catches were: One fish, 241 b; one fish, 21b; three fish, lib 12oz.

A third competition took place prior to the last named, F. Horden winning with one fish. 3£lb; F. Monson coming second with one fish, lflb; and W. Williams third with one fish, l£lb. There were 14 competitors in each of the two last-named competitions. In the lastmentioned competition the use of any legal bait was allowed. Evidently the Tomahawk Lagoon has “ gone off ” somewhat. At a meeting of the Acclimatisation Society there was much discussion whether tar would mix with water. It will be recalled that a short time ago a largo number of fish were found poisoned in the Leith. On investigating the matter the society discovered that the poison had

entered the atreum from a storm water channel, and an analysis of the water in the vicinity showed the presence of a common disinfectant. On attempting to account for this large amount of disinfectant it was discovered that a tar container used by the City Corporation had been set on lire, and a large quantity had boiled over, finding its way into tho drain. A heavy fall of rain had washed the tar into the Leith, and the supposition now is that the solution of the tar in the waters of the Leith caused the poisoning.—[This seems to be something in the nature of an explanation of the letter to the press I have referred to.] “ At the present time the Waiinakariri River is as thick as soup. It is a pity the Department of Health was not there at the time/” said Mr E. F. Stead at a meeting of the council of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society (reports the Press). He was referring to the effluent from works at Belfast and Kaiapoi. The secretary was instructed to get into touch with Dr T. F. Telford, medical ollicer for health, and ask him to visit the river and see it in its present state. Mr T. Dairy, employed at the Balclutha freezer, recently caught a trout which tipped the beam at 171 b, besides two seven-pounders and one six-pounder, or a bag of 371 bin all. The big one was a line specimen of the salmon fario, and was promptly placed in a freezing chamber at the works, to he later exhibited at the Exhibition. The trout were caught in the Molyneux below the “ shoot ” at the freezer, and by what is known as the “ still water ” method of fishing, the bait used being a natural whitebait. “1 orily took one oyster, sir,” said a poacher of these shellfish at the Police Court at Auckland. “That does not matter,” ’-©plied Mr J. W. Poynton, who presided on the bench. “Don’t you know that every oyster you kill lays 5,000,000 eggs?” Defendant was fined £5 and costs. There was great excitement on the Matakana River recently, when 100 sharks were landed in three hours practically equalling the performance of two fishermen who ccught, 316 previously (says the New Zealand Herald). None of the shark- secured was under sft. A large sunfish, weighing about a ton and a-half, has been washed up at Hokitika. THE MISERIES OF FISHING (Continued). 16. Wishing to show off before a young friend whom you have been learnedly instructing in the mysteries of the art, and finding that you cannot catch any fish yourself, whilst he (by mere accident, of course) hooks and lands a very largo one. 17. Attempting to walk across the rival in a new place without knowing exactly whereabouts certain holes, which you have heard of, are. Probing the bottom in front of you with the handle of your landir.gnet, and finding it very soft. 18. Going some distance for three days’ fishing, on the two first of which there is bright snushine and no wind, and thou finding that the third, which opens with “a southerly wind and a cloudy sky,” is the day which a neighbouring farmer has fixed upon for washing two hundred sheep on the shallow where you expected to have the best sport. 19. Being allowed to have one day’s fishing in a stream, the windings of which are so many, that it would-require half a-dozen different kinds to enable you to fish the greater part of it, from the only side to which your leave extends. 20. Fnding, on taking your book out of your pocket, that the fly at the end of your line is not the only one by many dozen which you have had in the water, whilst you have been wading rather too deep, 21. Wading half an inch deeper than the tops of your boots, and finding afterwards that you must carry about with you four or five quarts in each, or must sit down on the wet grass, whilst your attendant pulls them off, in order that you may empty them, and try to pull them on again. 22. Jumping out of bed very early every morning, during the season of the Mayfly, to look at a weather-cock opposite to your window, and always finding the wind either in the north or east. 23. Having just hooked a heavy fish, when you are using the blowing-line, and seeing the silk break about two feet above ycur hand and then watching the broken end as it travels quickly through successive ring, till it finally leaves the top of your rod, and follows the fish to the bottom of the river. 24. Receiving a very elegant new rod from London, and being told by the most skilful of your brother anglers, either that it is so stiff or that it is so pliant, that it is not possible for any man to throw a fly properly with it. 25. Being obliged to listen to a long story about the difficulties which one of your friends had to encounter in landing a very fine trout which has just been placed on the table for dinner, when you nave no story of the same sort to tell in relurn. 26. Hooking a large trout, and then turning tho hand'e of your reel the wrong way, and thus producing an e,ffect diametrically opposite to that of shortening your line, and making the fish more unmanageable than ever. 27. Arriving just before sunset at a shallow, where the fish are rising beautifully and finding that they are about to bo driven aw r ay immediately by five-and-twenty cows which are prepared to walk very leisureli across tho river in open files. 28. Coming to an ugly ditch in your way across a water-meadow late in the day, when you aro too tired to jump, and being obliged to walk half a mile in search of a place where you think you can step over it. 29. Flattering yourself that you had brought home the lnrgest fish of the day, and then finding that two of your party havo each of them caught n trout moro ihan half ft pound heavier than your§.