THE SALMON FAMILY 183 
rise. My note-book shows a capital season’s sport, brought to 
a great climax of two days on the Waiau River. This river is 
comparatively unknown, even to New Zealand anglers, but it 
is an angler’s paradise. Before going, I had been advised to 
take extra strong gear and long line ; I thought eighty yards 
would do, but I required a special line of one hundred and fifty 
yards. It is hard to describe fishing on the Waiau. The river 
itself is a very big one; I should judge it to be at least one 
hundred and thirty yards across, deep and swift, yet with some 
splendid ripples. On the night of my arrival I went out at 
about eight o'clock, lit a huge fire on the shingle with big 
driftwood, and started. My first fish was about ro lb., and a 
nice job it was trying to gaff him in the flickering light from 
the fire. It is all very well to write about it, but I should like 
to see some of your readers having the fun. It is not an easy 
matter to land a 10 lb. trout of a fast river even in the daytime, 
but at night it is a caution. However, by twelve o’clock I 
had landed fifteen fish, weighing 104 lb., and lost four supposed 
to be extra strong casts ; goodness knows what size the fish 
were that broke my casts, but had they not broken my casts 
the line must have gone. The following day I caught seventeen 
fish, averaging 6 lb., and lost another cast, apparently in exactly 
the same way as overnight ; the fish took the minnow, and 
made straight for the opposite bank, did not go up or down 
stream, but straight across. With a salmon rod, and the 
strongest gut procurable, I could do nothing with these very 
big ones, but have made up my mind to find out how big they 
are next season, by having a line which will reach across this 
river. As for sport, it is not to be beaten. If any of your 
readers desire exciting angling, let them try the Waiau River in 
January or February. My experience is not by any means an 
unusual one ; many of the local fishermen tell the same story. 
—C. H. Osmonp, Dunedin, N.Z., Fune 3rd, 1902.” 
A remarkable change has manifested itself not only in the 
