Good time to join salmon anglers' club

The South Canterbury Salmon Anglers are holding a mystery weight salmon competition that's open to everyone.

Just weigh your salmon (must be caught in the Opihi, Rangitata, or Orari rivers) at Bairds Motordrome (Temuka) or Bill Whipp (at Rangitata south side reserve), and be in to win.

The competition runs from December 1 to January 31, 2008, and is divided into two classes. These are: Junior anglers (15 years and under), and senior anglers aged over 15 years.

For South Canterbury Salmon Anglers Association members the entry fee is waived, and non members pay just $2 per fish weighed.

With a number of salmon caught in November, and much good work being done at the McKinnons Creek salmon hatchery, it's probably a good time to look at joining the Salmon Anglers Club and supporting the important work they are doing for salmon anglers.

Adult membership is just $25, and family membership is only $30. Junior membership (under 18 years) is $10.

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The South Canterbury Anglers Club trip to Lake Clearwater coincided with a flat lake with no hatches taking place.

"Hardly a fish broke the surface," said a spokesperson. "Weatherwise it was one of the best days we have had there in recent years, but despite the nor-easterly breeze rippling the lake from early afternoon the fish remained elusive."

Frank Sanders would likely not agree. Using a threadline he landed four small fish inside 30 minutes, and Alex Davis lost two; one of which he said was around 2-2.5kg.

Peter McLachlan caught the heaviest fish (1.45kg), and Mark Tomlinson caught the heaviest fish on a threadline (0.65kg).

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The South Canterbury Anglers Club is conducting a weekend competition on December 8 and 9, for anglers fishing the Rangitata River.

The club hut at the South Rangitata Reserve should prove to be a popular place for some fishing stories this weekend.

The competition is for the heaviest salmon weighed, or the heaviest fish weighed. This could of course be a searun trout or perhaps a marine species taken from the surf.

Inspection of the Rangitata River mid-week, the water was gin-clear but with fish out in the surf, it's going to be very important for anglers to be there immediately a small fresh flushes through the river. Is it too much to ask that this occur this weekend?

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In the Waitaki River the caddis hatch has been predominant during early evening, and last week I found plenty of brown beetle flying in the vicinity of the Pareora River. Both species are a good sign that feeding trout will be sipping a nourishing meal from surface water as the night progresses.

Less encouraging was a recent meeting at which a whispered voice near me commented that, "the Pareora River is just a drain, and might as well be taken for irrigation." It was a flippant remark that was probably tongue in cheek, and as far as I could hear, that view was not supported further. Which was just as well, because it's on record that Ecan considers the river is over-abstracted currently, and anyone who reads the RMA will appreciate the intentions of the act don't support the total loss of any recognised river.

The meeting took on a more positive theme when it became clear the review process being conducted by Ecan would take note of local expertise and viewpoints. It was a significant step towards establishing a flow regime based on science and local knowledge when Ecan called for a committee of all persons who wanted to be involved.

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I'm a fan for science and local knowledge being a strong co-operative basis for decision-making in matters pertaining to water issues in this district, but science is sometimes blurred by opinion that goes beyond the specific science of the issue at hand. Science must always be comprehensive and not just a once-over-lightly approach. More importantly it needs to be more than just a narrow focus on the science or a focus aimed at achieving a specific result. All the cards should be on the table to achieve a good decision.

Anyone who has attended tribunal hearings will know the science -- often espoused by scientists who have trained together -- on occasions comes up with diametrically opposed viewpoints. It's no wonder that some who seek consents have discovered the trick of employing almost all the (limited) range of water scientists available in New Zealand. That stops competitors from seeking advice from those scientists, and so, in my view, the hearing becomes skewed.

I'm reinforced in this opinion after reading Falling for Science by Bernard Beckett.

This book is not an easy read unless you stick with it and digest the writer's intention before moving on, but it is a strong attempt to show that science often becomes more "opinion" than "science," and as presentations proceed, such opinion accounts for the diversity of information provided to their audience.

Beckett says the modern fashion for making scientists the high priests of everything is mysticism in a lab coat.

Many who attend hearings might agree.

He argues for a new model of skepticism, one which leaves scientists and story tellers to each get on with what they best do.

Published by Longacre Press, Falling for Science is 254 pages of incredibly detailed analysis of science throughout history. The RRP is $39.99, and it's for you if you have ever contemplated akin to: What is consciousness? Is evolution compatible with traditional religion? Does time exist of is it just our way of ordering experiences? Could a machine think? What do scientists really mean when they call something a fact?

It's brilliantly unsettling and a compulsive read.

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This week's tip: Most inland lakes fish best when the wind is strong. Fish literally line up near the shore, facing into the wind, and scooping windblown feed from the waves breaking on the shore.

It's the kind of weather that puts most fly anglers off, because casting against a nor' westerly wind is difficult, but it's usually worth the effort. Using a weight-forward fly line helps, and perhaps a line-weight one step heavier than the rid designates -- to make the rod work hard and spring the line forward.

 

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