FISHING SEASON

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23316, 27 September 1945, Page 4

FISHING SEASON

Prospects Discussed Rivers Well Stocked Shortage Of Gear A Problem Next Monday. October 1. marks the opening of the 1945-46 freshwater fishing season, when anglers are again given the freedom of the rivers and streams. The prospects are hard to forecast, hut large numbers of trout have been reported following the whitebait into the mouths of the rivers and the inland waters seem to be well stocked. Unlike the opening of the Shooting season, October 1 does not come in with a bang. The angler has no need to arise before dawn on the opening day to skim the cream of the fishing. In the first few weeks of the fishing season, temperatures are. as a rule, too cold to provide good hatches of fly. Rivers are usually running high and their waters cold with the melting snows in the back country. November and early December are the most i productive months for flyfishing. for then the air and the water are warming up and the trout settie down in earnest t<A a diet of hatching nymphs and various river flies. There are some seasons in which October provides really good bags. Hatches of, Deleatidium Lilin, commonly -known as the Blue Upright, often take place, even during a cold southerly wind, and the trout will accept a Blue Quill or a Dark Greenwell’s on the surface of the water with confidence. More often they prefer the ascending nymph to the hatchedout dun. and the wet-fly fisherman usually reaps a better reward in the first few weeks of the season than tho angler who pins his faith exclusively to the dry-fly. Food Supplies With continued floods in the rivers ever since last Christmas, tne riverbeds have been far from stable and it is to be expected that much of the fly larva has been washed from the stones. The success of a fishing season depends as much on the amount of fly hatching as on the number of trout m tae rivers, ana _ie Acclimatisation Society is o.ten blamed for a poor season which is entirely due to climatic conditions affecting the amount of Cy larva in the streams. One of the greatest ’ requirements of cur South Canterbury rivers is a stable riverbed throughout the winter and spring, and this factor has net oeen present for the mst lew years. One of the main concerns tins season will undoubtedly be the difficulty of procuring many items of that extensive array of fishing gear necessary to outfit the “compleat angler."' Imports of fishing gear have been considerably reduced during the war, and the prospects of any immediate increase are not bright. Rods are practically unobtainable and gumboots or fishing waders will present a major problem. New Zealand manufacturers have risen to the occasion in the making of reels, artificial files and other sundries, but the manufacture of dressed lines is a highly skilled trade and this is one shortage which will be keenly felt.

A Wider Range A particularly bright prospect for the average angler is the easing of petrol restrictions. During the war, most anglers have been restricted to waters within easy distance of their homes. With adequate supplies of petrol in prospect, many rivers, and lakes which have received a good sped from the attentions of the angler during the last five or six years will again be visited and should provide much improved fishing because of their opportunity to build up good stocks of trout.