NIGHT FISHING

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 92, 9 July 1927, Page 10

NIGHT FISHING

After the usual addresses of congratulation had been made and acknowledged at the annual meeting of the Rotorua Rod and Line Club, a petition bearing 300 signatures was placed before the new executive protesting against the pi-ohibition of night fishing, Rotorua and Taupo, controlled respectively by the Tourist Department and the Department of Internal Affairs. The contention that under cover of night illegal bait, such as spoons, minnows, etc., was used is entirely wrong, trout not responding to anything but the artificial fly, the petition stated. The presence of night anglers had a tendency to guard the streams against the depredations of poachers operating with either net, light or spear. The regulations prohibiting night angling imposed a hardship on resident anglers who. for at least five and a-half days a week, had to pursue their ordinary occupations, leaving them free to fish only by night. This gave the visiting angler a great advantage; during the day he had the field entirely to himself with much more plentiful results. Night fishing claimed one outstanding advantage, however: instinct leads the bigger fish to frequent the shallower waters inshore after dark, seeking the safety and seclusion of the deep waters during the day. For this reason bigger fish were caught during the hours following sunset. As the Rotorua and Taupo areas are the only areas in the Dominion to which the prohibition applies, the petitioners respectfully appealed to the club to use its best endeavours to secure the repeal of the regulations.