FURTHER NOTES ON SALMONID^E 203 



not too clearly in my article in "Annals" for January 1901 

 (p. 23), in the paragraph in which I say: " It seems to me 

 that the earlier spawning of these large, old sea-trout in 

 September having come up in March and April goes to 

 indicate that these constitute, not an early run of the coming 

 season, but a late run of the passing season." I ought to 

 have indicated that I meant the class of fish, and not the 

 individual run which I gave account of. I did not necessarily 

 mean to say that these same big old fish would undoubtedly 

 spawn in the September of the same year that they ran 

 up in, but neither can I feel certain that they might not, 

 after the experiences our party had on the Gruinard (referred 

 to again below), and again observed this season on Loch 

 Eilt 



As regards what I said about the large Tay (Loch Tay) 

 Salmon, I also, like Sir Herbert, am one who has never fished 

 Loch Tay for Salmon : I hate trolling, and my statement 

 about these big fish, which are mainly, if not entirely, caught 

 by trolling, is given principally upon the authority I quoted, 

 viz. : the Messrs. Anderson father and sons of Dunkeld. 

 And, as far as my reasoning powers go, at present, I cannot 

 yet believe otherwise than that these are the last of the 

 seasonal run, and not the first. These Loch Tay fish, / know, 

 are not the most worthless, but I adhere to my original 

 belief that they are the oldest} It is true that many fine and 

 large fish are caught by the rod on the river Lyon above 

 Loch Tay, and these, I can well believe, may be true 

 " springers," which are running at the same time as the more 

 sluggish fish which lie up for weeks in the deep waters of 

 the loch. And these early Lyon fish seem to me to be the 

 analogues of the 1 6 and 1 8 Ib. fish which are caught by 

 fly in the spring of the (calendar) year in the Garry ; while 

 the dark fish, which are caught mostly by trolling in Loch 

 Ness and Loch Oich, and are found running alongside of the 

 said true springers which come fresh from the sea and run 

 right through the river Ness (vide Grimble and Buckley), 

 are the prototypes of the big Loch Tay fish which, though 

 cltan run, are still the later fisJi of the true season. The Loch 



1 Only in one sense are these Loch Tay fish to be classed with the estuarial 

 fish of lochless rivers like Tweed, and that is as regards age. 



