WITH ROD AND TACKLE

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 2, 12 January 1910, Page 10

WITH ROD AND TACKLE

THE SOUTH KARORI BURN. (Specially written for the ‘Weekly Graphic" by MAJOR BOYDWILSON.) No. 6. When one bears of the heavy fish which are now being taken in the Hot Lake District, and peruses the accounts of the mighty trout that reward anglers fortunate enough to enjoy the delights of battle with the leviathans in Lake Taupo, it almost seems as if the theme of angling in a small burn were too insignicant to merit chronicling; and yet the capture of a few trout in an unpretentious little stream will often yield almost as much pleasure and genuine sport to the fisherman, who's motto is small fish are better than none, as does the fifteen pounder, when the long looked forward to holiday has become an accomplished fact, and the monster of the anglers dreams is at length within reach of the gaft. One of the most picturesque of all the Wellington streams is the South Karori Burn, the volume of its water is small, nor must the angler expect to obtain record trout, but nevertheless a very pleasant day can be epent with a light rod on this pretty •treamlet. Its length from source to mouth is somewhere about ten miles, nnd its waters, bright and clear as cut crystal flowing over a pebbly bottom, present every characteristic of a river in miniature. jlere is a wide shallow ford, the water barely covering the stones, and looking as if there would hardly be sufficient depth for a creature the size of the smallest trout to disport itself in—approach the ford, and as your shadow falls on the surface you will see evanescent forms darting in almost every direction-—it is a favourite feeding place for the smaller fish, keenly on the look out for any scraps of the miscellaneous dietary that is roiled down by the waters, for the benefit of their inhabitants. Anon we come to a rippling little stream whose wavelets tinkle over the pebbles, and flash and scintillate like the facets of sparkling diamonds, and laugh in the sunshine as they merrily flurry, with musical bustle, on their jourtied to the seas. Then perchance comes a rocky gorge, where the little stream form* a succession of ca-s-ades and pool*, each little hollow the abode of gome lusty trout watchfully on the look out for flies or caddis worms. Further down, the stream narrows, and deepens to run with a puyl on its surface into a vasty pool, ujjjternoath an overhanging Kink, where it has carve,! for itself, by the •toady perseverance of ages, a deep

dark basin which afford* a sanctuary and a resting mace for gpme "f the largest trout, of which the stream can boast. All round tiie hrile. clad m verdure from base to summit and dotted with sheep, rise from- the banks, leaving ’’ere- and there a small flat meadow across which t» n oqcasioim rabtwt disturbed by the footfall of the angler, vu its way- to its burrow, ami disappears underground with an-impudent irseker of its white suit. Some of the. cleans ami ravines are clothed wrti tnq, greeiMuxuriance ot small native bush* amongst which the tree ferns spread their graceful fronds and the manuka, at this imp of year, in full blossom, looks as if it had received a powdering of snow. As one walks down the stream, for the only way to fish it is to walk nearly to the mouth and fish up, and the path, if path it can be called, is the bed of the burn itself, one realises what a •wealth of trout life there is in this rivulet, for at nearly every step are to be seen seared fish, clearly visible in the limpid water, darting up or down as the case may be. and hurrying to seek shelter under the shadow of a friendly overhanging bank or massive boulder, True! these trout are not of great size, the majority of them being from about half to three-quarters of a pound in •weight, but fish that will pull the indicator of a scale down to a pound, and perhaps a few ounces more, are not unoMnmon, and, although he refused to be tempted by either fly or minnow, the writer saw one goodly fish that would easily have weighed three pounds. To fish this stream in comfort a day must be chosen when either the weather is calm, or a light southerly wind is blowing, for the burn flows towards the south, and should it be the angler’s misfortune to try and fish it when a strong north •wind is tearing the surface of the ■water into spindrift, find it almost impossible to cast upstream in the teeth of the wind which bowls down the narrow valley, as if it were a natural windsail set to catch the northern breezes. All being well, however, from a meteorological point of view, a fisherman who is content with moderate-sized drout ought to enjoy capital sport, for in most of the little pools and rivers, with which he casts a speculative fly, he will find his offer accepted, and if a certain number of his catch will have to be returned to the water as undersized, there will still be a goodly proportion of trout weighing from three-quarters of a pound upwards, which, by the time he has reached the tram terminus at South Karori, ten rough miles from the mouth of the stream will make the strap of his liasket press quite heavily enough on his shoulder. As elsewhere, a small red-tipped governor will be found as good a fly to try for a commencement as can be desired, and a small black gnat and red spinner can also be recommended. The welcome rain that has fallen han had the effect of raising the waters in the various rivers in the Wellington district, and these are now in fair fishing trim. A great benefit that the fresh has conferred has been the removal to a great extent of the green shiny weed, which in the low state of the rivers was a great handicap to angling, and, now that the streams are all at a somewhat higher level, it is anticipated that better sport will be obtainable.