96 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



minnow. In the hotel before starting I got one of the hooks 

 of the tail triangle up to the bend in my forefinger. One 

 cannot pass the hook of a triangle right through, so I just had 

 to harden my heart and cut it out. When I did get the thing 

 going in the loch, I caught one small trout about half as big 

 again as the phantom smelt my blood on the tail hook, I 

 suppose. I have cut out more than one hook from the fingers 

 of other people. I prefer that operation. 



The river issues from the loch at a level of 306 feet above the 

 sea, or practically 50 feet lower than Loch Tay. It is for 

 several miles a beautiful if rather small gravelly stream, flowing 

 largely through varied woods as far as Comrie. Here it is 

 joined by the Ruchill Water, an important tributary, which 

 flows in a north-easterly direction through Glen Artney. Four 

 miles up, the Ruchill becomes extremely rocky, and is deeply 

 cut in a gorge. Serious falls for long obstructed the further 

 passage of fish, but these have been modified with considerable 

 ingenuity and made passable, so that a fair number of salmon 

 are now taken above, and a valuable extent of spawning ground 

 opened up. About 50 fish were taken above the falls the 

 first season after the operations (1901). Other tributaries 

 of the Earn are the Leclnock and Turret on the north, the 

 latter having impassable falls, and the Machany, Ruthven, 

 and May on the south, but none of these is of any account for 

 salmon fishing. Drummond Castle, Dunira, and Aberuchil 

 hold the highest stretches, although trouting below Loch Earn 

 may be enjoyed by stopping at St. Fillans Hotel. 



Below Comrie come the Lawers and Strowan estates, on the 

 left and right banks respectively, then on the left bank Ochter- 

 tyre and Ferntower, still opposite Strowan Water. 



Below Crieff Bridge, on the right, the Drummond Castle 

 private water extends down to Colquhalzie (pronounced 

 Colwhiley), about 4 miles, while on the opposite bank Lord 

 Ancaster also holds the rights for 2 miles, this portion being 

 let. 1 Below the bridge on this bank and above Lord Ancaster's 

 water there are two short stretches of about 200 and 440 yards 

 held by separate proprietors, and below the water referred to 

 another small stretch of about 300 yards comes in before 



1 Tickets for the season or shorter periods can be had at the 

 Drummond Arms Hotel, Crieff, and elsewhere. 



