488 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



slate and gneiss, it has not many good spawning beds but seems to have a 

 good flow of water during the first half of summer. Its trout are mostly 

 small, but they take the fly readily, and are possessed of good edible 

 qualities. They are brown on back and golden on the sides, with black 

 and crimson spots. In December, 1880, 1 had a day's fishing in it above the 

 washpool hut, and killed with fly 17 trout weighing 11^ lbs. I lost more 

 than half-a-dozen, including several fish over 2 lbs., but of those I caught 8 

 weighed about 1 lb. each. I had no opportunity of examining the stomachs 

 of these trout, but probably their food consists of shellfish, larvae, and flies. 



In March, 1879, two anglers fishing the Manuherikia River at Hawkdun 

 Station killed 8 trout from 1 lb. to 2 lbs. in weight. They were fat silvery 

 fish and proved very good eating. Below the station the pollutions from 

 gold-mining render this river useless for trout, but above it is beautifully 

 clear, and has plenty of good spawning beds. This part of the river is 

 about 1,500 feet above sea-level, and in spring must carry off a large amount 

 of snow water. I heard of a trout of 7 lbs. weight being caught in it, 

 during this same year, so that its yearly growth would be fully 1 lb., as the 

 stream was first stocked in 1873. I have no information as to its food 

 supply. 



Butel's Creek, which feeds Hayes Lake is a very small stream, but it is 

 well stocked, especially below the waterfall, which is impassable for trout, 

 being nearly 200 feet high. Hayes Lake is very full of trout, some being 

 supposed to be over 20 lbs. in weight, and these having for their spawning 

 ground only the mile and a half from the lake to the waterfall of this creek, 

 it gets very crowded during the spawning season. I have heard of one 

 trout poached out of this stream in 1882 which weighed 28 lbs., and these 

 great fish are known to have been actually caught, and removed in cart 

 loads, being afterwards salted and sold among the surrounding gold dig- 

 gings. The Lake Society has done almost nothing to prevent the poaching. 

 Now, trout having first been put into the streams about the Wakatipu in 

 1874, this very large trout must have grown yearly at the astonishing rate 

 of 3^-lbs. ! The trout in the creek are mostly small, running from ^lb. to 

 1^ lb., although they have been taken with the rod up to 5 lbs. It is only 

 during winter that the very large fish push their way up. Mr. Paterson, a 

 neighbouring settler, has told me he has seen the stream as " thick as por- 

 ridge " owing to the numerous spawning fish turning up the same redds 

 successively ! The bed of this stream is very gravelly and sandy, and it is 

 the only water entering the lake fit for spawning in. Such trout as I have 

 seen taken out of it are very silvery in appearance. In November, 1880, 

 Mr. A. C. Begg killed 15 trout in this creek in one day, their total weight 

 being 8 lbs. From observation I cannot say what the food-supply is on 



