ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3890, 2 October 1928, Page 50

ANGLING.

By

Jock Scott.

To be a perfect fisherman you reoub~ more excellencies than are usually to be found ,n such b small space as is allotted to a man's carcasi.— Parker Readers are invited to contribute items of local fishing news for insertion in this column. For insertion in the ensuing issue they should reach Dunedin by Saturday night’s mail.

The prospects for the opening day of the angling season at the time oi writing (Thursday night) are decidedly poor.. For spme days a cold southerly wind, sometimes bordering on a gale, has been blowing, and in adaption tnere has been intermittent falls of rain and hail, which will have the effect of causing fish to seek the she.ter of the banks, whence they are not likely to move, no matter now great the inducement offered. Trout love a warm, quiet day, chiefly because the food supply is increased owing to greater winged insect life railing on the water. There is little or no chance of that happening under existing climatic conditions. Of ground bait there will be a good sup-' ply, and the -angler of experience will therefore fail back on the creeper, the worm, or some such appetising morsel. Even then the fish will not snow any great desire to quit the comparative shelter and comfort of some shady nook,, no matter how- near temptation may come to them. In other words they will be “ off the take,” and disinclined to feed until there is a change in the weather. That all sounds very pessimistic, i>ut it is what is likely to happen. I do not, therefore, expect to record any large catches for the first few days of the season. Probably' this will apply to all rivers in the Otago acclimatisation district, as the bad weather is not local, but has extended practically over all the streams within at least a radius of fully 50 miles of Dunedin. It is a bad lookout for the man at the one end of the line, and means the salvation of many a lusty trout, lor a period at least, ine consolation remains that the fish are still there ready to oe begu.ieu ny those skilful enough and sufficiently- experienced to cast a line at the end of which depends a tempting lure. In a general way the rivers near at hand have been giving indications of being well stocked. I myself have seen the break on the surface of the water that -always tells of the presence of a trout, and puts the angler on the alert, while 1 have been travelling on the Main North line. I noticed it not far from the mouth of the Waitati, at the Evansdale Creek, and crossing the Waikouaiti. Witn a change of weather I exp ,-t anglers will be able to give a good account of themselves. Of course fly fishing will be out of the question for some little time yet, and devotees of what is regarded as the high art of angling will have to come down to natural bait. The Pomahaka, Waipahi, Waiwera, Lee Stream, Waipori, Waikouaiti. and Shag Rivers are recommended. Road conditions to some of these rivers are much improved. The following information as .to the condition of most of the near-at-hand river may be of value: —

Waipahi.—ln flood; fishing good from Arthurton to the old Dunstan road, in the vicinity of which the largest fish are taken; mainly a fly- stream. Pomahaka.—ln flood, with snow water corfling down; will not be suitable for fly fishing till November or December; can be reached by road or rail; good fishing about Tapanui and Kelso; river well stocked and for the convenience of anglers there is a hut at Swan’s bridge, of which Mr Swan holds the key. Waiwera.—Water discoloured. Flystream; fish small in lower reaches, except at the mouth, near Clydevale, where big fish are to be caught with skill and patience. Best of the fishing is from the railway line up to and through the gorge. Kaihiku. —Good stream for worm and fly fishing. At the present time in flood and dirty.

Glenomaru.—Reported in flood; no accommodation. A good fly- stream, but banks rather bushy in places. Puerua.—ln flood; no accommodation. Good fishing from township up through the gorge to Lochindorb. The river is well stocked. Principally—in fact, almost entirely-—a fly stream. Molyneux.—Worm and minnow fishing from Balclutha to Roxburgh; in fact, from mouth to source.

Tokomairiro.—ln flood; best fishing from Milton to the mouth, where the largest fish are caught; minnow and fly stream.

Taieri. —A near-at-hand river, the lures being worm and minnow. Much mining and sluicing, and consequent debris coming down from'far up the river nearly always leaves the river in a dirty yellow condition. The river contains perch as well as trout.

Contour Channel.—Another nearby piece of water containing perch and trout. Fishing is mostly- done with the worm, and the best fishing is to be had in the lower reaches.

Wainori River.—Tn flood; 38 miles from Dunedin by road, and yielded well last season. The best fishing is from the mouth of the gorge up to the Power House. The fly is generally used in the upper reaches, and the worm on the flat below Berwick. The river is well stocked, and there are some beautiful rinples in the upner reaches. It is snow-fed. and cr/>d fly fishing is obtainable about November. No accommodation, except at Wainori Falls, where meals can be procured. -

Wainori Dam. —To be reached via Wainori Falls, or Lee Stream road. Provides good rainbow fishing; and in December and onwards good fly and worm fishing may be obtained.

Lee Stream.—Tn flood; reached by road via Outram; good fly stream, well stocked. Silverstream. —Reached ..by road to Rlackbridee, North Taieri; distance 15 miles. Fish pretty numerous, but small. Tbrnahawk Lagoon.—Close to Dunedin; •’ood minnow and fly fishing: many large snatening fish after strinning have been •h'Tated here; also two and three-vear-old 6sh. ' ’

Water of Leith.—Small fish may be taken with fly or

Waitati.—Thirteen miles by road; small plump fish in tne upper reaches; fish larger approaching the railway line,-lowei down, where the water becomes brackish. Fly most suitable for the upper reaches, and worm for the lower portion of' the’ river. River running high. Evansdale Creek.—A tew miles beyond Waitati. Fish small, creek not much water. Trout inaj- be taken with fly or worm.

Waikouaiti.—A few miles further north. Good fly and minnow fishing; mostly night fishing. Water highly discoloured at present. Contains some big fish about the mouth.

Shag.—Still slightly further north (40 miles distant from Dunedin); a good fly river that has yielded some of the best sport in Otago. The stream is well stocked. It is on the low side at present and slightly discoloured The Kakanui.—lt is reported that a good many fish have been seen in the Kakanui River of late, some of them being of goodly size. The river is said to be in fairly good order for angling, though it does not contain as much water as usual at this time of year. Occasionally the Public Works Department has t - clean out water races, and the officers of the department are usually good enough to advise the Otago Acclimatisation Society a few days prior to the work being done. Such an intimation was recently received, and Ranger Pellett was despatched in order to save any fish that might be in jeopardy. With the assistance of his own boys and-some local boys he succeeded in saving 1800 trout, a number of which were of considerable size, and transferred them to the upper reaches of the Fraser River. This is a practical demonstration of loyalty to the society, which is much appreciated. The save will be of considerable value to the society, and will be the means of giving local anglers improved sport. The secretary of the Otago Acclimatisation Society will be glad to receive any information that may lead to the saving of fish, and in receipt of it steps will be taken to secure them, arid thus avoid their being left to die for want of water.

Whitebait fishing started on September 1, but the fish did not run in large numbers. The highest price paid to fishermen was 4s per lb. The weather proved too cold for the fish to run freely. The attention of whitebait fishers is called to the regulation that only hand nets may be used in Otago rivers with an opening of not more than seven square feet at the mouth. Nets must not be set.

During the spawning season anything up to 200 stripped fish are placed in rn o-iahawk Lagoon, and naturally they are all large fish On the second last day of last fishing season there was a good fresh on the Water of Leith, and anglers made some good baskets. As a result of the fresh there was a large run of trout from the sea up the stream, which the anglers did not get, but those taken for stripping purposes are now in Tomahawk Lagoon waiting to be caught. Only 30,000 ova were secured from the Leith. The Waiwera yielded better, though not much, some good spawning trout being caught in the trap. These were placed in holding yards, but unfortunately all were lost owing to. excessive floods. Pemb-oke Creek yielued well, .over 500,000 ova being secured. Some brown trout ova were s.cured at the Matatapu, Lake Wanaka. The collecting of rainbow ova at Timaru Creek, Lake Hawea, is now being proc eded with, and results are not yet known.

In outlining the prospects for the coming season in South Canterbury an exchange states: “One has only to pay a visit to the Ternuka fish hatcheries to realise that in Mr JI Scott Main, the curator, the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society has a man who understands his job. A visit to the hatcheries found Mr Main giving delivery of 50,000 trout fry. which were to be conveyed by motor to the upper reaches of the Opihi, where they were to be liberated. This is the second consignment of fry -which has been despatched from the Temuka hatcheries this season, a consignment of 20,000 having gone to the Waimate Acclimatisation Society for liberation in the streams in that district. Asked as to the capacity of the hatchery Mr Main said that it was capable of rearing 750,000 fry in one season. This year 540,000 fry had been reared, and there was yet 480,000 to go out. In addition 100,000 were on order from Southland, but it was not known when these would come to hand. Questioned as to the prospects for the coming fishing season Mr Main, who has excellent opportunities of knowing, said that the possibilities of plenty of fish being available were excellent. There had been no severe floods, he said, to disturb the streams, and there had apparently been plenty of feed’ available. As regards individual streams, the Tengawai will be in splendid fishing order, should climatic conditions be favourable, when the season opens. Quite a lot of good fish will be.got up there, and a fine lot are to be seen in the pool in the Pareora. This stream, said Mr Main, has been a bit dry for some months past, but with a little more water in it t’’ere should be good sport for anglers—in fact, as good as there has been since trout was first introduced. As regards the Opihi stream there are quite -a number of good fish showing round about the mouth of that stream.” ,

Dogs have been trained to retrieve fish which have been hooked and played by an angler, but a dog playing a fish on rod and line is surely without precedent. Yet this has actually happened, according to “Cockspur.” who writes the angling gossip for the Wolverhampton Express and Star, and he says the story will be corroborated by a number of the members of the Springfield Angling Society. It appears that one of” the members of the society had his rod pulled into the water by a fish while he had his back turned. The rod floated away, and various futile efforts were made t 6 recover it. A local man passing by at the moment was attracted , by the commotion and had an inspiration to fetch his dog’ On returning with the dog, it was sent into the water to the accompaniment of cheers and instructions from the owner. The first attempt was unsuccessful, butj sent into the water a second time, the’ dog seized the rod, and, encouraged by his master, he commenced to drag the rod to the side. “Now a battle roval commenced,” writes “ Cockspur,” “ for

the fish by this time had begun to feel the pull and the hook again. As showing the weight of the fish, the dog was dragged under the water twice, but he kept a tight hold, and was within two yards of the side with his capture when, apparently IY 1 *> mighty twist of his great body, the fish broke the gut and escaped. The sight of this caused great groans to escape from the excited onlookers, who, unfortunately, never had a sight of the quarry, and, therefore, could not give an opinion as to the species.” We wonder n hat size that fish will be when the dog has finished telling the tale. **