82 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



NOTES ON BRITISH SALMONID^E. PART II. 



By J. A. HARVIE-BROWN, F.R.S.E., F.Z.S. 

 (Continued from p. 24.) 



REMARKS UPON RUNS OF FISH IN OTHER RIVERS. 



IN Part I. of these notes I attempted to give an ap- 

 proximate account of the two rivers of Ailort and Morar, 

 subject to further experience and observation. I now wish 

 to make a few remarks upon certain other rivers which I 

 know I ought rather to say, have more or less knowledge of. 



Now, it is the case that the large, and " so-called early," 

 salmon of Loch Tay, which are caught in the very early 

 opening of the season on that loch, are all, or nearly all, 

 caught by trolling baits, and are rarely or never known to 

 rise to fly. I look upon these large fish as old fish and 

 quite as the antithesis of the large "true spring fish" which 

 frequent the Garry and Oich, and which latter run up to an 

 average size of 16 Ibs. (fide A. Grimble, and others). 1 I 

 look upon them also as the parallels of those old fish already 

 spoken of under Part I., and as a late run of the season, 

 and an early run only as regards the calendar year. In 

 this opinion I am borne out by the experience of some of 

 the most experienced and oldest anglers on the Tay, amongst 

 whom I may mention the well-known firm of Anderson and 

 Sons, Dunkeld ; and in this experience I speak of both father 

 and sons. They tell me that they have always looked upon 

 these Loch Tay big fish as the latest run of the passing, or 

 nearly past, season. 



They come up fresh from the sea, resting little on the 

 way, or not at all, until they reach Loch Tay. Loch Tay, 

 in fact, is their great Resting Pool before ascending the rivers 

 which flow into it. But, when we find a river where there 

 are no great lake -reservoirs, such as Tweed, Dee, Don, 

 Deveron, and others the late runs of heavy salmon are not 

 in so much of a hurry to push on, nor do they attempt to 

 populate the higher reaches, but leave these to the younger 

 real " springers," which push on in early runs as if nothing 



1 "Salmon Rivers of Scotland." 



