LINE AND TRIGGER

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 663, 20 November 1902, Page 7

LINE AND TRIGGER

(By

“Gillie.”)

Some fine English trout were landed, from the Tamar. Launceston, last week. One was a 201 b fish, which is the record, while another. 141 b, . was also secured. Tn the North Fsk a 1411 b trout was also taken.

Some fish are greatly desired by anglers because of their extreme rarity. Such is the burbot, which is caught only in the deepest holes in the River Trent. Ihe Burbot is a curious and ugly-looking fish of eellike habits. Tt hides under stones at the bottom. Its flesh is white, firm, and delicious. resembling eel, but more delicate. Burbot are never caught of more than five pounds weight in England, bu’t in Scandinavian lakes they, run up to the great size of twenty pounds. 1

I hear from a friend of some nice trout being taken this season at Galatea. The fish are reported to be numerous, and risking freely. « ♦ • • ♦

A 9Jlb trout- was caught last week in the Okere River, Lake Eotoiti. this being one of a bag of seven nice sized fish. * * ■ -. •= .

There is a fish in Lake Bala, in Wales, which has never been caught with hook or line. It is a little silvery fish, which, like the charr in Westmorland waters, haunts great depths. Its existence it only known by a dead specimen being occasionally found along the shore. fishermen have tried all sorts of baits./but never found one which would tempt this curious fish.

A; splendid specimen of the opah, one af the rarest British fish, was caught lately in the North Sea. It was always the great desire of the late Frank Buck land, the great naturalist. to sec one, but he never succeeded in doing so. The opah is one of the most beautiful fish that swim I ts. groundwork is red and green, with tints of purple and gold. It is clotted with round silver-white spots. The firns and eyes arc of brilliantcarmine. The specimen iust caught was three feet seven and a-half inches long, and weighed 881}:.

Some vears ano a Mr Pepper caught, a trout weighing 291 b in Lough D<pg on a pike bait. This is the biggest trput that was ever taken with rod and line, and it is, ot course, the great desire of all fishermen to beat such a record. ‘ The nearest approach to it w*as the 27.A1b trout taken in. the Tay on September 10. I *42, by Colonel Tobiggin. But a trout half that size, would satisfy the ambition of most; anglers.

No salmon over 801 b has been captured during the past seventeen years. That was the’ weight of a fish netted at the mouth of the Almond in 18S5. The record fish taken with rod arid line was a 61Tb salmon. caught in the Tav by Mr Haggard in 1870.

The enormous 91b perch caught in the Serpentine nearly a half a century ago is also awaiting a double, and so is the 4jlb grayling which Mr Bryant hired from the Itchen in June. IS9B.

A cable received during the week reports an enormous haul of herrings on the British'coast. When the Yarmouth smacks got in no less than fifty-three millions of these (astv little fish were offered for sale.

The annual teams match between sides representing Victoria and New South AVales resulted in favour of New South Wales by two kills, the visitors grassing seventy-nine pigeons and the locals seventy-seven. 1 The conditions were eighteen a-side. five birds each. 2fi yards rise. The following killed all live birds, viz. : — For New South ' Wales - Eales, Rutherford., Bickering. La’wson. Garrett; Peterkin. Emmanuel, Glen. Haley and Cynack ; aod for Victoria. Sutherland, Greener, Mitchell. H. Fraser. Bobby. Dixson and Vauehan.

The chamnionship meeting i lomotcd by the Melbourne Shooting Gleb was a rronounced success. Twenty-eight shooters competed for tile, coveted I'i.tlo of Commonwealth champion, amongst the contestants being' several from other states, including A. W. .Eales, the Sydney crack. The winner turned up in A. Grosser, of Mount Gaiiibier, who was tlu- only one to gi:a-s the whole twenty-one birds. Eales and the Victorian shot A. J. Stevens each grassed twenty of the twenty-crie. and A. F. Smith, W. Ison, and H. Coburn,, of Victoria. accounted for nineteen each! J, Fraser, of Melton. J. Pitman, of New went over from New Plymouth, bringing South Wales, and C. H. Chevannes. who down eighteen each.