WORM AND CREEPER FISHING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CIII, Issue 15741, 27 August 1915, Page 3

WORM AND CREEPER FISHING.

To the Editor of tlie "Timaru. Herald" j Sir.—As stated in. my letter last week regarding tho prohibition of worm and creeper fishing in South Canterbury the local Acclimatisation Society a r-a dealing with public waters, and it is not quite fair for Mr J. E. Pigott or any other member of the council to pub forward facts that worm fishing is not allowed in waters leased by hcrte' proprietors iu Britain from riparian owners who make regulations to suit tuemsclres for fishing their own private waters. Members of the council must adm it that sue}, comparisons should not be. considered. Now about licenses to fish for trout in Britain; Mr Pigott in his letter on Monday last wrote: "As everyone with any experience of trout fishing in England knows, there is no such thing as a license to fish for trout. At Home you may lish for trout iu any place you can get leave, and no such a thing as a license is required, or even procurable." This statement is utterly contrary to fact. In writiug a review of a large number of trout waters in Great Britain and Ireland a correspondent finishes witii tho following statement. "Of course for fishing most waters a trout license must be obtained, the price of which differs slightly under the various Fishing Hoards." Another correspondent on the subject of "Angling licenses in Norfolk. 1 *" writes "I think the trout license is rarely less than 2s 6d." Another report 6tatea "Show the trout angl'era whose licenses pay so large a proportion of tlie expenses etc.." a comparative -tatenient of the Eslc (Yorkshirel fishing snows that 660 licenses were issued for trout in one season. Tn addition to bs>ing able to procure licenses to fish for trout in Britain it is also possible, and in some districts necessary, to procuro a. rod license. A note bv the editor of a London sporting paper on "tlie agitation for a Bod License in Norfolk and suffo'k" contains the following; "any movement for the protection of fisheries from poaching and unfair fishing ought to have tlie support of all anglers." Another .natter of local interest at the present time is that under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act, (British) if any fishing district wishes to add to or alter its regulations an officer is appointed by rhe Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, London, to hold a local inquiry into any matter such as prohibiting worm and creeper fishing. Notice is given that such inquiry will bo held, when all persons affected will have an opportunity of being heard. If we could alter regulations etc.. by the above method it would be more satisfactory 'than the present method of business, most of which should be "strictly censored' - ' for a term, during which time it could be considered, say. by the highest class in the infant room of a local school, a. fen- infants to form a deputation to advise the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society what, or what not. to finally decide upon before releasing the censored resolution. If successful, this method would do away with rescinding resolutions on ducks, trout, worms etc.. baying unsuitable leases of unsuitable section, and even on passing a drast'c worm and creeper regulation in a few minutes with 110 consideration whatever. T am. etc.. COLONIAL. To the Editor of the "Timaru JTera'd" Sir.—A paragraph appears in your to-day's edition. stating that a petition was being circulated with a view to hanV>g the restriction upoii worm and creeper fishing in South Canterbury rescinded .at rhe next meeting of theCour.cil of the local Acclimatisation Society, and I would therefore cravi a portion of your space to place the case- of the :!y fisherman before the anglers of this district. Many letters have appeared in your co'.umns of late from the opponents of total or partial prohibition of* the above named baits, and tlie chief burden of the song or the various •writers is "Selfishness on the part of fly fishermen": but we must remember that the present position of "total prohibition" was the outcome of a motion by an opponent of the fly fishermen's request- for a f'y area of a few miles only. In our immediate neighbourhood, we have the Pareora River, one of the most wonderfully recuperative streams known, tne Opihi with its tranches, the Tengawai, Opuha, Temuka. "VVaihi. Hao-hae-te-Moana and Kakaliu, and north the Orari and the sporting little Ohapi. Those streams alone constitute a total of 130 miles of good fishing, /O miles of which would be considered first c.'ass in any part <f tlie world, and yet the large bony of fly fishermen in this district seein open io a charge of selfishness, for having i-sked for a sanctuary from tne worm and creeper brigade of some o.V miles of water. Ten years .ago the wormer in South Canterbury was a rarity, now he is almost m the majority, for the simple reason that zhe great majority of young anglers now commence their angling with the worm, seeinir that it does not involve. such an arduous apprenticeship as the more difficult art of fly fishing, and again many really fine flymen, whose fishing 's restricted to one day a week, have had to tall back 11 pen the ignoble v.orm as a lure, in self defence, as upon arrival at the river they find ! numerous early birds have been teacli- 1 nig worms to swim since daylignt, and the trout have been put down for the sportsmen have classed ihe Opihi as one of the most wonderfiiL rivers in the world, but every angler in South Canterbury who has fished for fifteen or twenty vc-r ; \s knows that it is no longer the OpMii or old. and why? No river can stand the strain of continuous ha't fishing and not show a falling off. fiistly in tne number of fish caught, and second'y in the- average of such, as your free rising fish are rapidly exterminated, and verv few have a chance of reaching * vnaturity. No amonnii of legitimate fly fishjnE can hurt such a strearn as the Om'hi and on yich water as the Kerry town stretch, fly men can follow one another at half nou.r intervals and all enjoy excellent snort but let that same water be heavily wormed in the early morninc. a.nd gogd-bye to your chances of a decent fly backet for that day. When one considers tliat tlie number of anglers in this district is rapidlv inci easing, and the ranks of the worm brigade being swejled in a much greater ratio, one cannot help thinking that in spite of a possible fal'ling off 1a our leveiJuo for a. year or two. it womd ultimately prove to be to the advantage or anglers in South Canterbury " l .' !e present resolution of "total prohibition ' to stand as passed, but at t ie same tune one. cannot shut one's eves to the tact that such course of act.on would involve 'nardshin upon many anglers on the ground "of expense, and upon others who are unsuccessfulln. their efforts to master the gentle art of Uy fishing. One therefore comes io the conclusion thattlie motion passed hy the Council at its last meeting is too drastic, and "" e and Mr Raine's p „t through, T, in common with many others, think that the aj ° ri X , of -''nglers would be p ' ' ' convinced that in *O, v Gars a P''"!>°sal to increase the aiea of water so restricted would come spontaneously from the main bodv 2 i,n glers m South r CnirterburV 1 am. etc., T . . ' J** '*• V. SEALY. August 25tii.