NEW ZEALAND AS A FISHING GROUND 383 



trout varies according to the season, the average fish will 

 put up a fight equal to any clean run salmon of equal weight. 

 Night fishing, however, is in my opinion never so satis- 

 factory as day fishing. Fish will rarely play at night with 

 the same dash and vigour that they show during the day- 

 light. This may have some bearing on brown trout fishing 

 in New Zealand (Southern Island) for it is a fact that 

 the vigour and resistance of the trout vary tremendously 

 at different times, and that though day after day and night 

 after night, each fish may put up a magnificent fight, yet 

 this glorious spell of good fishing will be followed by 

 others during which the resistance of the trout caught would 

 hardly excel that offered by a fairly good stream caught 

 English pike. In this respect the brown trout differs from 

 the rainbow trout or the sea trout ; either of the latter will 

 always fight vigorously to a finish. In any case, taking an 

 average of pound for pound, the brown trout will, I con- 

 sider, during a season afford more sport than will a salmon 

 under similar conditions. 



In addition to brown trout a certain number of rainbow 

 trout are to be met with in the Southern Island, but the 

 brown or Loch Leven trout are the most common fish the 

 tourist will encounter. Besides brown trout, eels, which 

 grow to a tremendous size, exist in some of the lagoons, 

 reaching as much as 30 pounds in weight. These eels 

 will feed on water fowl, are tremendously voracious and 

 would no doubt attack any living creature unlucky enough 

 to fall into the water. The colonists in certain parts kill 

 them by spearing them. A client of mine having shot a 

 water fowl of some size, was amazed to see it seized and 

 torn to pieces by eels in one of the lagoons high up among 

 the mountains of the Southern Island. 



In some parts of the South of New Zealand during the 

 warm weather the fisherman is subject to the attacks of 



