TROUT-FISHING IN NEW ZEALAND 



•* Having noticed a big one rising on the wrong side of the river for 

 me, I told a friend about him. He drove out next morning a distance 

 of six miles, and was home in time for breakfast at nine vdth two 

 pictures of brown trout; they weighed 7 lb. each, and might have been 

 brothers. . . . 



"... The Waiau 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 found that I required one hundred and fifty ! 



•* 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 130 yards across — deep 

 and swift, yet with some splendid ripples. On the night of my arrival 

 I went out about 8 o'clock, lit a huge fire on the shingle with big drift- 

 wood, and started. My first fish was about 10 lb., and a nice job it 

 was trying to gaff him in the flickering light from the fire. It is not 

 an easy matter to land a 10 lb. trout from a fast river even in the day- 

 time; but at night it is a caution. 



*' However, by 12 o'clock I had landed fifteen fish weighing 104 lb., 

 and had lost four casting lines, supposed to be extra strong ones. 

 The following day I caught seventeen fish averaging 6 lb., and lost 

 another cast. The fish took the minnow and made straight for the 

 opposite bank, not 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. If anyone wants exciting angling, let him try the Waiau River 

 in January or February (corresponding to July and August in the 

 northern hemisphere)." 



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