94 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



men generally prophesy a short year, and this is one of the few 

 fishermen's prophecies I have never seen fail. Further, if the 

 stock of grilse is deficient the next season's stock of small spring 

 fish is also deficient, and no doubt the following years are 

 affected in the same way from the same cause, although, thanks 

 to the divided migration of the salmon, results are often not 

 quite so obvious. Only slowly, however, do bad years become 

 a little less bad and good years a little better, if we review a 

 number of years at a time. The proportion of breeding salmon 

 in any year is not perhaps very great compared to the stock of 

 fish in the sea, so a reduction of actual breeders is a serious 

 factor, recovery from which is not rapidly secured. 



THE EARN 



ANGLING SEASON : 1st February to 31st October. 

 NETTING SEASON : 5th February to 20th August. 



It has been contended that the Earn is a quite separate river 

 from the Tay, since it has a separate close time, being recognised 

 as a late river and because it has a separate entrance, coming 

 into the Tay estuary at a point where that estuary is 2 miles 

 broad at high water. There is something wrong about the 

 geography of the Tay estuary if this last statement is true. 

 As a matter of fact one has to go about half way to Dundee, 

 about 7 miles below the mouth of the Earn, before the Tay 

 estuary is 2 miles wide. 



The Earn is most certainly in the Tay district ; it is also 

 supervised by the Tay District Fishery Board ; and the close 

 time for netting is the same as the Tay close time. Only the 

 angling season is later, and that by a fortnight. It is a large 

 river, entering the tidal area of the Tay at what may be 

 described as the foot of the upper, narrow, and river -like 

 section of the estuary. It is itself affected by the tide for 

 quite 10 miles. It is netted by net and coble about 3 

 miles up from the mouth to a bend of the river called the Carey 

 Hole, and very occasionally, I believe, at Elliothead, which is 

 5 miles up. The quiet, even character of the lowest stretch 

 of the river is well seen as the North British train to Perth 

 crosses the flat ground beyond Bridge of Earn before reaching 

 the Perth tunnel. 



