ANGLING

Southland Times, Issue 22770, 21 December 1935, Page 19

ANGLING

(By

“Matuku.”)

With continued dry weather the streams were all low and clear last week-end and in excellent order for fly-fishing. The lower Oreti from Lochiel down to Wallacetown is now in excellent order and is providing good sport to fly fishermen with either wet or dryfly. Judging from reports the Oreti is recovering its reputation as an angling stream and it seems to contain more and better fish than has been the case for several seasons. The best chance for a successful day on the Oreti is to use the dry lly during the sunny hours of tire day. In the evening after a hot day there is generally an evening rise and the wet fly anglers should get some good fish just about dusk. On a recent evening an angler near Little Bush found the Oreti particularly dead until about 8 p.m. From eight o’clock till dark the fish were splashing and rising in the ripples and were apparently taking flies. Fishing with a Matuku fly a couple of twopounders were landed and a post mortem examination proved that they were rising and feeding on smelts. The smelts were apparently migrating or feeding out in the stream and were not working up along the edges as whitebait do. Other trout could be seen and heard chasing whitebait in the shallow eddies along the edges of the stream. Reports from the Oreti at Dipton indicate that some trout up to 51b. or 61b are being caught and it is suggested that December run of sea trout is providing the river again this year. For several seasons these big fish have apparently been missing from the river during the fishing season and if they have again appeared it is a very interesting fact. The tidal waters at Otatara continue to get a threshing and a number of fair fish are ’being caught there. The lower Waikiwi near the Ferry Bridge is also proving a favourite rendezvous of some anglers and is giving good sport. The Makarewa is getting very low and clear, but is well stocked and the skilful dry fly angler can generally rely on getting a fair bag on most days. Last Sunday bags of a dozen fish were obtained in the vicinity of Diamond’s (near Hedgehope). These fish are in excellent condition and one’s bag will contain a number of two pounders. On a light fly rod and in weedy water these fish give excellent sport. A Murray’s Favourite or other similar dark fly is at present the most successful fly in the Makarewa and Hedgehope. Reports from the Waiau mouth indicate that the runs of sea trout are now coming into the mouth of the river and all anglers lucky enough to strike a run are assured of good sport. The Waiau at Clifden and at the Wairaki is now very low and good sport should be got at any time on the dry fly in these localities. In last week’s notes I mentioned the necessity of avoiding “drag” in dry fly fishing. If one casts across a swift current into a quieter one, the line is carried down faster than the fly and pulls the fly along the surface causing it to drag. Then again the fly may be cast into a swifter current and the line may rest on the surface and hold back the fly and cause “drag.” Again in windy weather the wind may catch the line and cause the fly to drag and behave unnaturally. A dragging fly seems to unduly alarm a feeding fish. Some writers say that a dragging fly will put a fish off the feed for a considerable time. If a fish is rising in the deep run under a bank, with a shallow beach on the other side, as so often happens, don’t work from the beach if you can help it. If you possibly can, make up from below on the deep side or along the bank and cast directly upstream where drag is more easily avoided. Thick gut should not be used in dryfly fishing. It prevents the fly from sitting nicely on the water and if stiff and di-y it prevents the fish from sucking the fly into his throat and causes fish to be missed. Timing the strike is one of the most difficult things to master in dry fly fishing. In wet fly fishing the rise is not seen until the fish turns away and the angler strikes when he sees the rise, which is after the fish has turned. In dry fly fishing in quiet water and

with big fish the fish is seen before he takes the fly and the angler must exercise the greatest restraint to avoid striking and pulling the fly away before the fish has taken it. On some days an angler will miss fish after fish and his nerves get rattled by his continual misses. Some English writers advise that the angler should wait till the fish turns and then say “palakona” before striking. In fast water the angler should strike more quickly and in very rapid currents he should strike as soon as the rise is seen first as in wet fly. fishing. In playing a fish the rod should be kept fairly vertical so that you have a safeguard against any sudden rush of the fish. The question whether or not trout are colour blind is debated by anglers the world over. In a recent American periodical the question was raised by a correspondent who wrote as follows :— “Ever since fishing in Colorado last summer I have had a question in my mind on which I would like to have your opinion. One of the old-timers in the district and one of the most successful fly fisherman I have ever had the pleasure to watch, told me that fish were colour-blind and all of this hullaboloo about various coloured flies being necessary to catch trout at various seasons had no foundation in fact. He did state, however, that trout reacted to size and he carried out his statement by .using the year round a medium Brown Hackle fly, in two sizes. As I have stated, his success speaks for itself and lends weight to his argument. Do you know of any scientific experiments that have conclusively proved that fish do react to various coloured flies which are offered to them?” The Angling editor replied to above queries as follows:—“The ’ question whether or not fish are colour-blind has probably caused as much bloodshed and ruined friendships as anything one could think of and I don’t want to be a party to further disasters. With what we know of the subject to-day it is largely a matter of opinion. Even many of the leading scientists are not in accord on this matter. Recent research seems to indicate that, while fish may be colour-blind, they can certainly distinguish between very delicate gradations of colour. For example while they may not be able to tell the difference between, let us say, grey and red, they can readily distinguish between various shades of grey and various shades of red—perhaps much more so than can the human eye. That fish know something about colours has very easily been proved in the case of fish which have the power to change colour themselves For example, there are certain species of flounders that adopt their colouration from the nature of the bottom, thereby becoming almost entirely protectively coloured. “When it comes to flies, a man can prove almost anything he has a mind to, at some lime or other. Certain experiments seem to indicate quite definitely that fish can not only distinguish shades of colour, but can tell one colour from another. I have spent many a day on a stream when at the end of the day there was no doubt left in my mind on this score. Then again there are times as every angler knows, that the fish will take anything and seem to have no regard for either colours or shades.” The above leaves the matter somewhat open, but few local anglers will be satisfied with one fly. The question of colours for flies is very puzzling. When the Mataura Midge is on the river a small silver Doctor fished dry is sometimes successful. The silver Doctor has a silver body and bright blue wings and in no way resembles the Mataura Midge which is dark in colour. The truth of the matter seems to be that the trout’s organs of sight are different from the human eye and exactly how it reacts to various colours has not been definitely determined. Likewise the sight of trout in the dark seems to be a matter on which there is room for much research. While true anglers are not pothunters, most will admit that there is something soul-satisfying in getting away once in a while off the beaten trails so that you can indulge in a real trout-catching spell. The opportunity to do this comes with the angler’s annual holiday and the angler should make for the unfished and unfrequented lakes and back country streams. To all brothers of the angle I wish during the festive season tight lines and a merry Christmas.