SPORTS FOR SPORTSMEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 29 (Supplement)

SPORTS FOR SPORTSMEN

LAND FOR ISAAK WALTONS New Zealand, as a whole, is rightl looked upon as a fisherman’s paradise both as regards large and smai species. In the very early days, Net Zealand waters were the venue o whalers, who, in their primitive boats

and gear, pursued the leviathans with success. That industry has now been very much curtailed; considerable numbers are still being caught in Cook Strait, but the pursuit at present occupies a much less important position among the Dominion’s industries than it did 100 years ago. But while the giants of the ocean are now definitely fewer than a century ago. other species have multiplied, notably trout. As a home of big sea fishing New Zealand has been placed on the map by the almost magic catches made in the Far North, mast noticeably in the vicinity of Russell, the prominent publicist in this connection being, of course, the late Zane Grey,

whose bocks, read in all parts of the world, have drawn attention to a sport which has captivated the imagination of large numbers, a spoil which must have been an entire blank to that great exponent of the fisherman's art, the renowned Isaak Walton. Sword fish and many other varieties were, of course, indigenous of NeW Zealand water. hut inland ee£> constituted the piece de resistance ui this connection. as without this source of supply the native population would frequently have found them®-

I selves in sore straits. Naturally, when I the Europeans reached New Zeal ' they sought the varieties of fish ■ which they were familiar in their I native land, and which formed such a material staple of food. But on the I whole they were disappointed. The inland streams were poorly supplied in this respect. It was not long before those scientifically inclined began to • contemplate the possibility of introducing other European and American i varieties, attention being concentrated ; mainly on trout and salmon Attention ' in this respect was first confined ;o northern waters, and the success j which at once attended such efforts l stimulated additional endeavours, the I initial success being a sufficient 1 guarantee that the venture could not ■do otherwise than prove a success. Trout Introduced It was just 70 years ago. in 1869. that trout were first introduced into South Canterbury rivers, the first consignment being liberated in a branch of tlie Tengawai. at Pleasant Point, by Messrs Meek and Howell, the consignment consisting of a dozen fish secured through the Otago Acclimatisation Society as part of a consignment from Hobart. The second consignment—so—were liberated bv Mr W. K. Macdonald of Orari. a year later, the young fish being obtained from the Christchurch Acclimatisation Gardens. Thereafter there appears to have been an interregnum m connection with this enterprise, and there is no further account of liberation till the beginning of 1875, .-hen some 150 fish were placed in the

J The initial rl-rt in ace mi a : j later, in June. 1876. wntn an exte*i>ive l purchase was made from the North ■ Canterbury Acclimatisation Societv—--1300; 300 being liberated each in the Pareora. Waihcu. Oran and Waihi . I rivers; 100 each m the xtiverslea stream Three Springs and otrathcona. From that point forward the stocking of South Canterbury rivers gained momentum, the movement spreading to other rivers, the adaptation for fish culture of all these streams being endorsed by those who had devoted attention to the subject.