48 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



The opening of the season is generally the best. I noticed in 

 1908 that between 15th and 31st January, 4 fish were caught 

 in Loch Doine, and that later a few fish had also been taken 

 in Loch Voil. 



The distance from Loch Voil to Loch Lubnaig is 5 miles, 

 and the river Balvag meanders with many windings along this 

 flat Strathyre. The fall from the one loch to the other is only 

 9 feet, so that naturally the flow of the river is very slow. 

 The Kirkton Burn, behind Balquhidder, and the Caladir Burn 

 directly opposite are no doubt responsible for the termination of 

 Loch Voil, while several lesser burns further down account for 

 the rest of the alluvial stretch. The Balvag is of little use as 

 a salmon stream. 



Loch Lubnaig is 4 miles long and has an average depth 

 of about 43 feet. It is not a simple rock basin as the two 

 lochs above are, but has a floor composed of three separate 

 depressions. The greatest depth was found by the Bathy- 

 metrical Survey to be 146 feet, or 24J fathoms, but nearly 

 two-thirds of the loch is of less than 50 feet in depth. The 

 western end, as might be expected, is slow in deepening, and 

 geologists consider that at one time the loch reached about 

 three-quarters of a mile past the present eastern end into the 

 Pass of Leny. 



This loch contains salmon from the opening day of the 

 season, in spite of the marked fall which occurs in the Pass of 

 Leny, due, apparently, to one of the faults which strike through 

 this region in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction. 

 It has sometimes occurred to me that there are considerable 

 possibilities of salmon fishing in Loch Lubnaig, if the run of 

 fish to the loch could be improved. 



The Leny has some most interesting casts below the Falls 

 which yield a very fair number of spring fish. In a wet year, 

 such as 1920, the catch is still quite good. The lower part of 

 the river is boulder-strewn and comparatively shallow, while 

 above the Falls some good spawning ground exists till the 

 sluggish runs below the loch outlet are reached. The rise and 

 fall of Loch Lubnaig appears to be about 6 feet, and in spite 

 of the unfortunately low ground in Strathyre at the head of 

 the loch, it is, I think, worthy of consideration whether or not 

 some impounding of water could not be accomplished. The 



