WARM WATER AND ANGLING

Southland Times, Issue 23438, 19 February 1938, Page 5

WARM WATER AND ANGLING

TROUT NOT ABLE TO FEED

(By

“MATUKU”)

The general experience of anglers is that trout are hard to catch in the lower waters of nearly all streams. The very hot weather has caused the water temperatures to be unduly high and when the water gets above a certain temperature the trout cease to feed. Experiments abroad have shown that high temperatures affect the digestive organs of fish and stop the digestion of food. In hatchery ponds during hot weather fry will survive so long as they are not fed. If fed during very hot weather it is found that the food sets up disorders of the digestive system and causes mortality among the fry and pond fish. Trout in the strea. is under natural conditions apparently have an instinct to avoid taking food during hot weather and thus avoid digestive troubles. Bathers in the Oreti about the Iron Bridge on Sunday afternoon found the water almost tepid. Under these conditions anglers found trout difficult to tempt and bathing was a pleasant alternative to fruitless angling. The lower reaches of the Makarewa, Aparima and Mataura similarly provided temperatures too high for successful angling during the day time. With the rain and lower temperatures at the beginning of the week, the trout may be more active and anglers may expect better sport. During the day time there has been an absence of may flies on the Oreti and Makarewa, but they may be more numerous from now on and cause the trout to rise more freely. UP-COUNTRY STREAMS Reports from up-country streams indicate that excellent sport is being obtained near the headwaters, where presumably temperatures are lower. The Mararoa has provided excellent sport for the dry fly angler during the last month and contains an excellent stock of large and well-conditioned fish. The fish run from 31b to 61b in weight and rise freely to the dry fly. During the forenoon when there are crickets in the tussocks, in the grass and on the water a large Peveril or Governor will prove successful. On other occasions a small artificial May fly such as Dad’s Favourite or Greenwells Glory fished on a fine 3X cast will prove more successful. It is interesting to report that a visiting angler recently tried out the dry fly on the Waiau river between Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri and found it quite successful. During a short afternoon’s fishing this angler landed on a 3X cast five fish, three browns and two rainbows from 41b to s|-lb in weight. He states that the browns were short nuggety fish in prime condition and played and jumped like rainbows. Needless to say, it takes an expert angler to land these fish on a 3X cast in the swift waters of the Waiau and in some cases the angler had to follow his fish 300 yards or 400 yards down stream before netting them. A small (No. 14) Red Quill or Cochy bondhu and 3X gut were necessary to tempt these fish, bigger flies being unsuccessful. In the past the method of fishing this portion of the Waiau has been with a casting rod and heavy minnow or with heavy gut and large semi-salmon flies on Nos. 4 or 6 hooks. This method failed to catch any browns, the catch being confined to rainbow trout and salmon.' It will be interesting to see if it is possible to tempt an Atlantic salmon on a No. 14 fly and land one on a 3X cast. There seems no doubt that on some days salmon will rise to large dry flies as they can be seen taking large flies on the surface of the water.

A beautiful 10-pound brown trout was recently taken on the dry fly and fine cast in the Eglinton. The discovery of dry fly fishing in the Eglinton river and in the Waiau near Te Anau have greatly added to the angling waters of Southland and opened up many miles of practically unfished waters to the local anglers. The Waiau below Te Anau has one unique advantage and that is it never gets discoloured and is unaffected by flood or rain. The water may rise and be more difficult to fish but it is always clear and fishable. THE MAKAREWA The Makarewa near Moffett’s bridge below Wallacetown has been giving good sport to night fishermen with the bully or smelt. This water is well stocked with fish up to 51b or more in weight and on a favourable night a bag of four or five good fish can be got. Some evenings there is a rise at shrimps and when the trout are feeding on shrimps they ignore other food and provide a problem for the angler. However they can be caught provided the angler adopts the right technique. The fish feeding on shrimps can be seen and heard sucking down shrimps opposite' a snag or clump of bushes on the bank. In the dark it is possible to approach within a rod’s length of these fish. The angler should use a short cast, three or four feet being sufficient. He then approaches the “shrimping” fish and dibbles a large fly, such as a Pollock’s Poacher or similar large fly up and down in the water at the nose of the fish—nothing happens for some minutes—possibly for 10 or 15 minutes—and the angler allows his attention to waver. Suddenly when he least expects it he gets a tremendous tug and finds that the trout, probably four orfive pounds in weight, has taken his fly. The angler then strikes and finds that with the short length of gut he has broken the cast. One main difficulty in this fishing is to learn to have sufficient control over one’s nerves, not to be taken by surprise when the trout does decide to take the angler’s lure. When trout are feeding on shrimp after dark this is the only method of catching them and the angler can either adopt it or go home fishless. A vary small bully on a small triangle hook or even a natural shrimp will probably serve instead of a fly to dibble at the trout’s nose. CASTING TOURNAMENT The Rotorua Rod and Gun Club recently held a fly and bait casting tournament which attracted a large number of entries from both local and visiting anglers—amateur and open competition. Fly casting competitions for light and heavy rods were included in the programme. One most interesting fact about the tournament was the long casts made with the light fly rods compared with heavy rods. The amateur trout fly event for heavy rods (not more than 11| feet long and HJoz in weight) was won with a cast of'69 feet. The amateur light fly rod contest for rods not exceeding 6|oz was won with a cast of 74 feet, the second and third competitors casting 73ft and 70ft respectively. Similarly in the open trout fly events the heavy class for ll|ft HJoz rods was won with a cast of 80 feet, whereas the open light trout fly event for rods not exceeding 630 z was won with a cast of 81 feet. It thus appears that there is no need for an angler to burden himself with a heavy clumsy fly rod. A rod of 6j>oz or 6soz will cast just as far and land fish just as effectively as the heavier rod and will be much more pleasant and less tiring to use. This fact is now generally recognized by experienced anglers and the general tendency at the present day is to select a fly rod of about nine feet or slightly more or less in length and weighing soz to 6oz.