THE DEE 121 



recall the death of the largest fish, 46 lb., that I ever killed. 

 This was on the Dee, at Culter, in the big pool just below the 

 railway station. I hooked him about a third of the way down, 

 and after a few preliminary trials, so to speak, he went straight 

 up the river into the heavy water at the neck of the pool. 

 The river was high at the time, and the whole force of the Dee 

 came down under the south bank,' on which I was fishing. In 

 such water, right under my nose, the brute sulked, but I was 

 using very strong tackle on the strength of the water being 

 much discoloured, so I simply turned the point of the rod 

 downstream and gave the gentleman the butt. Minutes 

 passed without a sign, and I was beginning to think that the 

 fish must have surreptitiously fouled me and made off. Three 

 or four times, in fact, I was on the point of breaking, deeming 

 it impossible that any fish could stay motionless in such water. 

 At last, however, I felt a quiver, and knew that the fish must 

 still be there. My landing him was a matter of luck. It 

 would probably have been an impossibility from this deep side 

 of the river, but a ferry boat happened to ply two or three 

 hundred yards further down, and by good luck I managed to 

 hail the ferryman. He soon put me on the opposite bank, 

 playing the fish all the while, and it was in quite shallow water 

 that I gradually tired my salmon out. . . . That fish took an 

 hour and three-quarters in the killing." 



The Dee is a conspicuous example of what can be done to 

 improve a district's salmon fisheries by removing river nets. 

 The operations of the Dee Salmon Fishing Improvement 

 Association have been referred to in more than one publication, 1 

 but it is impossible to refer to the Dee, as one desires to do, 

 without referring to this Association. In 1872 the Dee was 

 netted up to Banchory, about 16 miles ; the stock of fish was 

 comparatively small, and the rental of the river amounted 

 only to 1,254, the total of the district including the coast and 

 other fishings being 7,031. The Association was formed in 

 that year " with the view of improving the river fishings by 

 leasing net fishings, commencing at Banchory-Ternan, there 

 being no nets above that point, and going downwards as far as 

 funds would permit ; and this with the view of removing the 



1 Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., Salmon and Sea Trout, Appendix A ; 

 Augustus Grimble, The Salmon Rivers of Scotland, vol. ii., p. 49. 



