ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3864, 3 April 1928, Page 60

ANGLING.

By

Joes Scott.

To be a perfect fisherman yon require more excellencies than are usually to be found in snch k email space as is altatted to a man's carcase.— PARKEK GILMOUR. Readers are invited to contribute items of local tubing news ■ for insertion in this column. Per insertion in the ensuing issne they should reach Dunedin by Saturday night's mail.

The following is the. result of the competition held on the Waikaia River for Messrs H. and J. Smith’s medal members of the Gore Angling Club:—H. Graham. 12 fish, 91b 940 z (handicap 71b), total 161 b 940 z, 1; ,G. Young, 12 fish, 81b loz (handicap 81b 8oz), total 161 b 9oz, 2; F. Hoffman, 7 fish, 41b 6oz (handicap 41b 8oz) . total-filb 14oz, 3. The prize for the heaviest fish landed was won by H. Graham, with' ; 'a fish of lib 1440 z weight. Two local .anglers visited the Pomahaka River last week-end, and met with, .considerable success with the rod. They took 60 fish between them, all being caught on the fly. The fish 'ranged from Jib up to 41b in weight, and. were all in splendid condition. They rose freely to the Jessie No. 3 and Jessie No. 4 flies. This water is evidently on the improve, as this is the first really good catch I have heard of being made from the Pomahaka during the season which will shortly expire. The river will probably be rather low and clear at the present time. “ Creel,” writing in the Southland Times anent fishing in his district, says: “ Sunny conditions with an easterly’ wind prevailed for last week-end. and some very fair bags are reported to have been, captured. In the upper waters of the Oreti River a slight fresh was experienced on Sunday, and the. Aparima River was also affected with the green slime and weed, removed apparently by the swollen, waters. However, the clean-out will undoubtedly do both rivers a lot of good. In the waters at Gastie Rock on the Oreti River Messrs T. S. Mackie, W. Henderson, and J. Spiers had some excellent sport on the fly, the take included a 61b trout killed by Mr Mackie.: At Thompson’s Crossing Messrs J. and -R. Ure grassed seven and a-half brace, while at Oporo Alessrs G. and H. Braxton secured a dozen fly fish, mostly killed on the Red Grouse fly. Messrs J. Kirkland; and ■ A. Manson caught about the same number in., the upper waters above the railway bridge. Some splendid fly water is now available in this locality, and it should be an ideal spot for a half-day’s excursion. From the Aparima Mr A. L. Whelham landed a nice 2llb and a 3Alb fish on the .fly. but the floating weed then, made operations difficult for . the balance of the day. The -Mataura River continues to hold a large number of fish, and anglers are experiencing ; some . good playings from heavy specimens; Over the week-, and a novice ’fly’ fisherman ianded an eight-pounder. Messrs F. Crosbie and G. Scott caught a good bag, Male March Brown and Dark Red Spinner being the best killing patterns. At Mataura Is-, land Messrs H.. Rout and E. Russell, were rewarded with six brace of trout averaging 21b. most of which were killed on the Anderson fly. Given suitable conditions; this, river should again show some good returns. A party comprising Messrs W. Snow, V. Wylie. W. Woodward, and “Joe” Pullar, visited the Mataura River, for the week-end. and were rewarded .with 13 good fish for their efforts. The heaviest specimen weighed.,7lb, and was taken on the Peveril of the Peak fly by Mr Pullar, who, despite the absence of. gaff- or net, made vigorous and successful efforts to eventually land the ‘kill.’” While shooting the rapids in the Wai-.. makariri River in a canoe, Captain Nicholas Everitt, a visiting sportsman, and Mr E. Stead, of Christchurch, had a narrow escape . (states a northern exchange). The canoe turned completely over and the anglers ..were thrown into 15ft of- turbulent water. Their plight would have been'' bad . enough under ordinary circumstances, but was made worse because- they both' wore heavy waders.After being carried downstream for about 60yds, they -struck a sandy patch, and managed to save the canoe. Fishing gear to the value of £4O was lost. Captain

Everitt was the guest of Mr Stead, whom he considers the greatest expert on fish he has. met in the Dominion. In the .’Wai* makariri River, Captain. Everitt caught several large quinnat salmon, the largest Weighing nearly 301 b. ' - -, A picnic party from Oamaru who recently camped at a plot of native bush in the vicinity of the Waianakarua River, found concealed in a'tree a rod to which a spear was attached. As trout are fairly numerous in the stream at this locality, ‘the use to which the spear had been put :is not difficult to imagine. ! Lately, fortune has smiled genially on those fishermen who ply their lines on the Bluff wharf, and record catches have been exceedingly ' common (states the Southland Times). Oae angler had a day of surprises last week, and he returned ‘■home that evening quite pleased with tris day’s sport. Hardly had he cast his line in from the seaward end of the wharf when he felt a substantial bite. To his amazement he could make but little impression when ha.uling in, and was quite unable to gather in his victim until he had summoned the help of a bystander. The double‘strain at last lamksd a’fairsized octopus, which bad-swallowed a red cod which was hooked. It took a deal of pulling and unavoidable mutilation to the repulsive denzien of the .deep, before the cord was extricated,, the fish emerging in a whole condition and the heavy sinker appearing last of all. The next cast was similarly successful, and very little time elapsed before another bite was felt. Aid was called again, and a beautiful ling, 4ft 6in in length, and weighing 251 b, was finally landed. Two more ling and no fewer than 15 cod, all of fair size, were hooked on the same afternoon.

The West Troast Acclimatisation Society is trying the experiment of stocking its lakes with yearling trout instead of younger fry. Five thousand rainbow, trout will be lifted from the Christchurch Hatchery shortly for this purpose. Good catches of quinnat salmon have been made, of late in the Waitaki an 1 Ahuriri Rivers. Three anglers landed salmon weighing from 141 b to 211 b from the Ahuriri, while Mr C. H. Swinard secured four fish ranging in weight from 91b to 241 b. Mr J. T. Kibblewhite, who is. a young devotee of Isaak Walton, killed two salmon weighing 141 b and 151 b. Other good hauls have also been made. Hie South Taranaki Acclimatisation Society will have a strenuous time -for the next four or five weeks (says _the Hawera Star). The liberation of a large quantity of brown and Tainbow trout will be commenced, and continued until the entire stock of fish from the Hawera hatcheries is exhausted. The fish are reported to be in excellent condition and a record stocking of the many rivers and lakes in the South Taranaki province will be the result. The. brown trout are the more numerous and will be liberated in both streams and lakes, but the rainbow variet-c will be confined to lakes only. Favourable weather again prevails for deep-sea fishing at Whangaroa. Fishing from the launch Reeletnin on Sunday, Mr S. Ellis, of Hamilton, landed a make shark weighing 3471 b -(states the New Zealand Herald). The fish put up an excellent fight, and broached a number of times. Several swordfish, were sighed. FISHING COMPETITION. The Mataura Angling Chib held a very successful fishing competition over the la«t week-end but one, commencing from 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and the weigh-in took place at 8 plm. on Sunday. There was a good mnster of noh-fishing members at the weigh-in,\ and the fish caught were distributed amongst them. The Mataura River was the popular ground for the competing anglers. The river was in good order, and the fish were taking well. Tlie popular bait was the Red Quit gnat fly and the Red Spinner. The largest fish was hooked by. Mr H. Cotterell out of the Mataura River, in the vicinity of Menzie’s Ferry, and it turned the scale at 851 b. Particulars of the competition are as follow: — Open Competition, any stream, any legal bate. —E. Duncan (Mataura River), 50 fish, 471 b, 1: W. Allison ■ (Mataura ■River). 49 fish. 401 b, 2: H..Cotterell (Mataura River), 17 fish; 2741 b- 3: H. Anderson (Mimihai and Mataura), 23 fish, 20? lb. 4: B. Cayford (Mataura River), 8 fish, 131 b. 5: T. Gaudion (Mataura River), 8 fish, 121 b. 6. Totals: 155 fish, 160|lb. SALMON FISHING. The Christchurch Press of a recent date contains the following:—“lt has become a veritable mania, and the symptoms are loss of sleep, shortening of temper, and neglect of business,” exclaimed Air D. Hope, curator of the Acclimatisation Society’s gardens to a Press reporter when referring to the sudden craze for salmon fishing in the Waimakariri. '“There has never been like it in Canterbury before;” ikaid Mr Hope. f ‘During the week-end there were quite 50 boats anchored on the river, and there was hardly standing room on’the banks. You would have thought there was a re.gatta on. Anglers were there yieby early on- Saturday and Sunday, mornings. As dawn broke silhouettes of boats and still figures showed up, and of a sudden there was a movement to certain’ spots which experience had proved to be favoured ones for quinnat. Fishermen Were not all successful, but many fish were caught. They would average about 1411 r in weight. An example of persistence was-provided by one .business man I meth -He said he had been out 11 times, but had landed ..nqthing. He succeeded, in getting, one on Sunday. Not only during the weekend. but also during the -week days scores of fishers (men and women) smtiy be seen lining the banks of the TVaimakarirr. . I cannot account for the sudden popularity of quinnat fishing,”. added' Air Hope, “ except it be the size of the fish and the ease with which they may ■ be caught. Trout fishing at its height never enjoyed snch patronage ■ from the public. The Waimakariri is near town, and the women can join in with the men. . Also quinnat .arefeasy . to angle. A tyro can catch one -if his luck is in.” INTRODUCTION INTO WANGANUI RIVER. In view of the comment concerning the nhw regulation just gazetted prohibiting fishing by set nets in the-Wanganui’. River, Air T. H. Jnmes ( vice-president of the Wanganui Acclimatisation

Society) has made the. following explanation of the events which have led to the drastic action taken :— “ Aftpr considerable correspondence and several interviews with the Chief Inspecter of Fisheries (the late l Mr Ayson) it wtls agfecd .that as soon' as. lie 'teas (certain the Atlantic salmon had - becii'me established in the South Island he would concentrate his efforts to stock our river, and our society in return decided to contribute towards the cost. It may here be remarked that qur society had every confidence in. Mr Ayson’s ability to succeed at Wanganui, for it is on record: that in establishing or acclimatising quinnat and Atlantic salmon in the South. Island Mr Ayson accomplished what had never been done in the world previously—namely, the introduction and successful acclimatisation of salmon from one country to another. In 1923 Mr Ayson had a substantial hatchcry built near Kakahi on a small tributary of cur river,- and hatched Atlantic salmon and salmon ova stripped from fish obtained hear Lake Te Anau, in the South Island. He realised that there were so many enemies, such as eels, shags, trout; etc., that the losses would be many, and therefore very heavy stocking was necessary, so he made provision for hatching out some .hundreds of thousands of fry. In the spring of 1923 Mr Duigan (the president) and I liberated several hundred of the first hatching of fry. and later in the month as they hatched out about 600,000 were released from the hatchery by the officer in charge. Annually since that time ’about the same number have been turned into the -river each spring by Air Ayson or Ins officers. ,j • “In 1927 a run of salmon from.the sea was expected, and the society has reason to believe that a run took place both then and in February of this year, although sufficient proof to satisfy the Marine Department has iot been produced. T?Jie department and onr society realise that?:in order to establish the fish in numbers, at an early date netting must be prohibited for some time. If the few fish now believed to be running from the sea can reach the upper waters of our river to spawn they will naturally I 'add to the number of fry now being liberated from the. hatcheries, and thus ' help to bring about a successful establishment all the sooner. There is no doubt that set nets arc taking a toll of salmon as well as trout, and it is authoritatively reported that motorists camping at Upper Aratnoho now advise their friends at a distance ‘ to- be sure and take their nets to the Aramoho camp.’ Although Auckland is clamouring to have Atlantic salmon introduced into the Waikato, the Alarine Department has decided to concentrate all its efforts on our river first, and . if. it succeeds it will indeed be a big thing commercially for Wanganui. In conclusion. I may say that our Acclimatisation Society does not intend the netting prohibition to apply to whitebait nets.”

DOCILITY OF CARP. Having armed himself with a slice of bread, the old man led the way.. to a pond about a rod from his house. He broke a twig from a bush and “ beat furiously upon the water.” Then he “ set up an incantation,” which rolled across the muddv waters: “Come carp, come carp, come carp!” Thus had farmer Govreau been calling, and feeding his trained fish for 20 years, according to Louis La Coss, who tells the story in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Govreau says: “I recollect a few years ago a professor ' from the University of Chicago brought' a couple of dozen students down this way, to study geology. They heard about liiy fish and said it couldn’t be done. Well, I just proved it to ’em. I brought ’em all over here, and I called enough fish to fill a gunny sack. Yep, they" were convinced, and I would have won sdol from the professor only he wouldn’t put up the money after he offered to bet.” Of the fish charmer himself we are told: “Govreau is a farmer, born of old French stock 73 yaars ago on the very: place that he still calls home. Twenty ’ years ago he read in a newspaper tha't remarkable things were being done by animal trainers, and he decided to see what, could be done with the fish that swani in his pond. He experimented with good results. He found that after a few lessons a dozen carp learned to recognise his call. He merely walked to the bank, whacked the water with a-.stick. yelled ‘ Come carp, come carp!’ several times, and the -fish cams leaping to him. He rewarded them with a few morsels of bread—and they were his friends. There may be’ sorcery or magic in it, but Govreau is not inclined to believe that he possesses occult powers. In Tact,, he disclaims being anything of a wizard, and explains liis friendship with the fish as being merely the result of kindness on his part." : This is Govreau’s own explanation of his feat: “I started out to make friends with them 20 years ago. It took me" just three days to convince them that when I hit the water with a stick and called ‘ Carp ’ I wanted to feed them. Within a few days they were eating out of iny hand. I never kill them, and they know that I will not harm them. They tell their babies that I am their friend. I know they tell them because fish can talk. I don’t know what they say,(but they talk just the same. •And so .everytime some babj’ fish are born they are brought to me by their mothers, and we get acquainted. Carp are the most easily trained oLall the fish I have worked with. They are real congenial, and thev always are jabbering something when they eat. I guess they are trying to thank me. Now it’s different with catfish —and there are a few of thftn in the pond. They, answer my call all right, but they are timid. They poke their heads out of the water, locate- the bread and then make a dive for it and jump away) I don’t seem to be able to be as friendly with them as with the carp. Last year I had some trouble with a turtle and-. a couple of snakes that got ■in the pond.- They wanted to be friendly, too. but that was a little too much,"-;-ao I-killed them.” [Wonderful tilings .happen in the United States, —J. S.}