MYSTERY OF TROUT

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1932, Page 9

MYSTERY OF TROUT

FISH IN LETTER-BOX.

POLITICIAN’S PERPLEXITY.

Some years ago the Fish Acclimatisation Society at Geelong, Victoria, had 20,000 yearling brown trout as a "-surplus from the seasons hatching activities. Secretly, on a dark night, the fish were conveyed in caps, and. were liberated in Wurdi Bulloc, a large artificial lake formed beyond Modawarre, about 11 miles from Geelong, on the Lome Road. The men who stocked this water kept the secret well, and the trout had a period of peace and quietness, during which they throve and multipiled exceedingly. Mr. Maltby, M.L.A., tells the sequel to the disturbance of this paradise of trout. The news spread that Wurdi Bulloc. was full of trout. “It was net trout-fishing; it was slaughter,’ said Mr. Maltby. “There would often 'be 100 men—l could not call them all anglers—around the lake, hauling in trout from 2Jlb to 51b, as fast as they could bait and thrown out the lines. .“Some employed • heavy schnapper tackle baited with clusters of worms, and it seemed that the cruder the tackle the heavier the haul. Day after day many would catch nearly 2cwt of trout each. I made many a protest against this systematic slaughter, but it appears that no one could take effective action. “After I had fulminated for a long time against this rapid depletion of what must be one of the finest trout resorts in Victoria, something occurred which leaves me still puzzling,” continued Mr. Maltby. “For several mornings recently I have discovered parcels of beautiful trout in my letter-box at my Geelong home. “Is*this attempted ‘bribery and corruption’ of a Parliamentary member to induce him to leave the ‘trout murderers’ alone? Or is it a token of appreciaiion from some angler who is grateful, for my protests? I wi?h. I knew, because I have eaten the trout, and if it was intended for ‘bribery and corruption’ I have not the slightest intention of stopping my protests, op doing all I can do to preserve- the lake for fishermen who are also sportsmen.”