68 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



Stobhall on the left bank has about 6 miles of water. It be- 

 longs to Lord Ancaster but the late Mr. Malloch, used to sublet 

 rods upon it. Opposite Stobhall is Taymount and Ballathie. 

 Taymount House overlooks the Linn of Campsie from the 

 right bank. The gliding plunge of the water over the Linn is 

 fascinating to watch, for the surface, when at all high, is 

 unbroken in the central flow till it meets the lower level of the 

 pool below. If one is near this flow in a boat or on the rocks of 

 the left bank, the sense of force given by the mass of water is 

 tremendous. Yet during an exceptionally dry summer, Peter 

 Thomas, the manager of the fisheries here, once managed to 

 row a coble up the Linn. The pool below is not very deep, 

 but is wide and smooth till a reef of rock, utilised for netting, 

 breaks it about two -thirds of the way across. I know of no 

 more spirited place to see a sweep net worked than this Linn 

 Pool when the water is about a foot too high. I have seen 

 Peter Thomas send his boat out here in great style, and I have 

 seen him have the windlass whirling net and boat back again 

 when the latter had been taken a trifle too far to pay out with 

 safety, the boat coming in stern first and rearing up under the 

 pressure of the net till one thought it would be dragged under. 

 Then when the shot is properly rowed in high water it has to 

 be rowed with speed, and as the coble charges the beach, the 

 men leap out and the line is run along to the windlass, the 

 smartness of the whole operation reminding one of bluejackets 

 at their gun drill. 



Stobhall now commands a large total rental, something, I 

 suppose, over 1,000. I have been informed by Sir John 

 Graham that in his early sporting days he and two friends 

 rented this water from Islamouth to Lady Mansfield's cottage 

 for 80 a year. I should say they got their money's worth. 



The tendency of late years seems to be for the spring fishing 

 (reckoned to the end of May) to be rather better than formerly, 

 and the autumn fishing rather poorer. In a good year the 

 four months and a half of spring fishing will yield about 2,500 

 fish, leaving about 2,000 for the remaining four months and a 

 half. An extra good year in the whole district brings the total 

 rod catch up to 4,700 or even to 4,800, and it has to be 

 recollected that the great majority of the fish are of the 

 heavy five-year-old class. 



