LINE & TRIGGER.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 766, 10 November 1904, Page 13

LINE & TRIGGER.

The opening of the fishing season at Rotorua on November Ist was somewhat marred by the weather, the strong breeze making the water rather rough for the small craft. The catches throughout the day totalled 135, of an aggregate weight of 504 pounds. The largest trout secured, one of eleven pounds, was caught in the Ngongotaha Stream, with the fly The fish averaged between four pounds and five pounds. On Wednesday several good catches were made. Mr Howden and party secured eleven fish, weighing 50 pounds. On Thursday Messrs Howden and Simpson, trolling on the lake, bagged fourteen fish, the weight of which was 48| pounds. Messrs Johnston and Isles, flyfishing at the Ohau Channel, caught fourteen beautiful trout, the aggregate weight of which was 98 pounds, being an average of seven pounds. This was accomplished in an hour and a-half, all with salmon fly.

The small trout fry which were successfully hatched out at the Oamaru hatchery lately have been liberated in the various streams in that district. It is estimated that out of 50,000 ova placed in the hatchery boxes, only about 300 did not mature. It is calculated that about 47,000 healthy trout of about one inch have been liberated in the following streams :—15,000 in the Kakanui; at the Old Ferry (Waitaki), 15,000; 5,000 in the Awamoko; 8,000 in the Otepopo (Glencoe); and the balance in the Oamaru Creek and the Society’s ponds.

In an article on “'Trout in Australasia,” contributed to the Melbourne Argus,” Donald Macdonald makes the following observations : —“ T’hc inevitable conclusion is that in years to come, as the fish increase in numbers, and their food supply decreases proportionately, the trout will shrink also to the dimensions common in English brooks, pos.-ibly even smaller, for every well-known trout stream or loch in the Old Country is fished over by such a vast number of anglers that the stock are kept down, and the struggle for existence is made more easy to the survivors. In Australia the anglers will be few in proportion to the number of streams and fish, so that a few years hence we may expect to find many more trout in a bag, but the era of big fish will have passed, both in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. When the old angler of the future, who may be the, young beginner of to-day, tells of the big trout he caught in the Great Lake (Tasmania) or in the estuaries of New Zealand rivers, the fishers of that coming time will smile the incredulous but kindly smile that discredits a fish story.”

Although the German carp has none of the qualities of the game fish, and is below par as a food fish, an experiment is announced as follows by a Peoria (Ill.) writer, the plan being to make the fish more palatable : “ German carp are being corn fed and fattened like so many hogs

in Beesaw Lake, and when in proper condition 100,000 pounds of the fish will be shipped to New York. In the making of this experiment by local fishermen, several men guard the lake with rifles while grain is thrown into the water daily. It is expected the fish will be increased 100 per cent. in weight before shipping begins.”