They ALL DON'T GET AWAY

Cue (NZERS), Issue 25, 15 June 1945, Page 13

They ALL DON'T GET AWAY

Regaining the sport that they had enjoyed on English stream or Scottish tarn, many of the early settlers of New Zealand looked at the lakes, rivers, and streams of the new

country and yearned for the feel of a fly-rod in their hands, for the swish of a perfect cast, and the exciting shock of a ’’strike”. And so, in the ’sixties, the first attempts were made to import salmon-ova from Britain and to stock the waters of New Zealand with trout and salmon. It is difficult to imagine that seventy years ago the lakes and streams of New Zealand were devoid of the trout * and salmon which delight or tantalise the angler today. Before success crowned the efforts of a few keen fishermen to stock.the waters of the country with imported fry, the only fresh-water fish to be found in New Zealand were eels, small fish called by the Maoris koJcopu (cock-a -bully), and whitebait. Now New Zealand offers some of the best trout and salmon fishing to be found in the world, in . conditions and amid scenery that are practically unsurpassable. In those days of sailing ships and long voyages, the task of. shipping ova and fry from Britain to Australia and New Zealand whs no easy one. < Tasmanian sportsmen were the first to make the attempt, but failure followed failure. Then on one long, tedious voyage it was discovered by a sheer chance that the incubation of fish ova could be retarded by storing them in ice. After careful experiments on land the new method was found to be the answer to the problem of transporting

the ova from one end of the world to the other where they could he hatched successfully. In 1862, New Zealand had made a grant of L2OO towards the costs of

Tasmania’s experiments, but it was' not until 1867 that Parliament began to take an active interest in importing salmon ova. Only the preliminary investigations had been carried out however, when, in February, 1868, the General Government in Wellington was informed that a shipment of salmon and trout ova. for the ’’Government of Otago” was on its way from London to Dunedin. The southern government had forestalled the parent body. The Celestial Queen left London on January 15, 1868, with 10.000 Atlantic salmon ova for Otago, and reached Pert Chalmers on May 4. The province engaged a qualified pisciculturist and made arrangements for setting up a hatchery at Waiwera. From the Celestial Queen shipment, over 503 salmon fry wore liberated in the Waiwera ißiver. The liberation of these fry was the beginning of the widespread stocking of New Zealand rivers. Acclimatization societies were formed —in Southland in 1863, Otago in 1864, Canterbury in 1866, and Auckland in 1867 and soon large quantities of fry were being released in - suitable rivers. Brown trout ova were imported from Tasmania in the 1867-68 season by the Canterbury Society and soon the other societies were following suit. In 1876, quinnat salmon-ova was brought into the country, and it was

not long before this excellent fish was well-established in southern waters. In more recent years quinnat salmon have provided excellent sport for fishermen in many of the large southern rivers. Rainbow trout, noted for their great fighting qualities, first appeared in the Dominion in 1883, and; are now to be found in large numbers in most rivers and streams. Both brown and rainbow trout grew to a remarkable size and weight in their new homes, and fishermen in later years reported fish of up to. thirty pounds in weight that they had caught and much bigger ones which had got away!

• - Since those early days the trout and salmon in New Zealand waters have thrived until today nowhere in the world are there better stocked lakes and streams. The Department of Internal Affairs and the enthusiastic acclimatization societies in all parts of the country have combined to see that the fishing * waters are kept well stocked and that nothing is done to interfere with the feeding and wellbeing of the fish. The sport of angling is strictly controlled, but there are no obstacles, financial or otherwise, placed in the way of those who want to wield a.‘tod. ’Licences are cheap and there is unrestricted fishing in all parts of the f : country during, the prescribed seasons. Unlike Britain, there are no private : waters in New: Zealand and consequently no ’’off limits’’ sign to be watched for. Consequently, poaching is comparatively rare, although at times it is done on a big scale with nets and. gelignite.

There is very little need for the angler to deviate from the truth in respect of the size and number of fish he catches in New Zealand waters. At one time before restrictions were introduced, a fisherman was allowed to take up to 1201bs. of trout a day in the Hot Lakes districts of the North Island and 'there was no limit to the size of the fish. In the 1928-29 season, rangers , took a tally of .the fish caught

by anglers in the Tongariro River. The total recorded was 5,276, the aggregate weight of which was 34,8671b5. This gave an average weight of nearly Gibs. lOozs. The largest was a rainbow trout weighing Wifi's. This tally for five months, although necessarily an incomplete one, gives some idea of the sport offered in a typical North Island river.

An even greater variety of sport is provided in the South Island for the fresh-water .fisherman, for, not only are all the lakes and rivers stocked with brown and rainbow trout, but the Atlantic and the quinnat salmon have been well-established in southern waters. The Atlantic salmon is mainly confined to Lake Te Anau and its

rivers, where . the average fish is from 51‘bs. to 81bs. . Quinnat salmon run freely : from January to April in most of the snowfed rivers on the east coast of the South Island and provide thrilling sport. . The- average weight of the quiinnat taken in these rivers is from 151bs. to 181hs., though fish of 2Qlbs. are common and occasional 40-pound-ens and 50-pounders fall to parties larly lucky fishermen. In some of th*

lakes, another variety of the quinnat has been established. For brown trout fishing the southern part of the Island is unsurpassed, and, as the scenery where the ’’spotties” are is probably the most beautiful to be found in the Dominion, the fisherman in the south is doubly blessed.

In angling it is not the size of the fish and the number in the day’s bag that count most. The main enjoyment comes from tall the little things that are associated with a day’s fishing. The angler’s interest lies more in the fishing than in the fish caught. There is a quiet charm about fishing peaceful contemplation, the natural environment, the keen anticipation, the catch, if there is one, and the subsequent retrospection. The true fisherman will vow that there are few experiences to compare with the feel of a strong, plucky fish of three or

four pounds, on a light rod, thin line, fine cast and small fly, battling in a quick-flowing, clear stream. It taxes to the full the angler’s skill and judgment, the tenderness with which he handles the light rod, his temperament and .patience as he plays' the fish into safe water, exhausts it, and ultimately lands or, alas, loses it.

There is certainly some fascination about fishing and especially about trout fishing. Rich or poor, the well educated or the illiterate, the white man or the dark-skinned nativeall have something in common in fishing. Wherever men arc, there will be fishing and stories of fishing—the salmon taken here, the huge one lost there — .and wherever there are fishermen there will be good fellowship. For fishing has founded a 'special brotherhood of its own throughout the countries of the world.