THREE FISHERS, AND SOME BIG FISH 149 



remember the capture of two fish of about 20 lb. in a 

 similar period of thirty years, and the average weight 

 was about 7^ lb. I should think that this may be 

 taken as more typical of the normal condition of 

 things in small Scotch rivers. 



Many legends of big fish fail to stand the test of 

 careful examination ; but there are plenty of authentic 

 records of fish taken with the rod weighing 50 lb. and 

 over. These monsters do not always show such 

 desperate fight as in the historical encounter recorded 

 above. A fish of 56 lb. caught in the Cascapedia by 

 the Hon. Victor Stanley in 1892 gave very little 

 sport indeed. The record fish of 1897, a 53-pounder, 

 caught in the Gordon Castle water in the Spey by 

 Mr. W. Craven, although he fought gallantly, was 

 killed in a quarter of an hour. Mr. Craven, who was 

 fishing the Dallachy pool, not more than a mile from 

 the sea, with a small No. 4 Carron fly, with lemon body, 

 silver twist, and black hackle wing, tied on a double 

 hook, on a double gut cast with four feet of single, 

 observed the fish rising behind a sunken stone, and 

 beyond the rapid stream from which he was casting, 

 the rise, as is frequently the case with very large fish, 

 being only indicated by the swirl of the water. From 

 this position he could only reach him by casting his 

 rly into the comparatively slack water beyond the 



