138 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



picturesque views are also to be had near the mouth of the 

 main river at Ravenscraig Castle, where the banks are steep and 

 bold, or at Inverugie, or at the section of the river where the 

 old cruives used to be fished, or where the Ugie Board now 

 have their hatchery. 



Much of the water is rather sluggish, as is inevitable from the 

 flat nature of the country, but at other parts, as the stream is 

 turned about this way and that, an interesting succession of 

 streams and pools exist, charming to the trout fisher, if not 

 always so to the salmon angler. Speaking of trout, I may 

 add that the North Water is, I believe, the best, although the 

 opposite has been stated. Mr. Murray of Ravenscraig says : l 

 " At one time I was under the belief that trout of fabulous size 

 inhabited the pools ; but, since then, I have fished it up and 

 down with real minnow, and have neither hooked nor seen 

 any much above 2 Ib. . . . 



" As the result of many years' fishing, I have never killed 

 them above 4 Ib. (and that on one occasion only), 3 Ib. being 

 quite an exceptional weight. 2 . . . 



" The Ugie salmon are exceptionally heavy for such a small 

 river. I believe the average is equal to that of the Don or 

 Dee ; 18 Ib. to 25 Ib. being quite common fish." 



I may say, with regard to the number of fish taken by rod 

 in 1907, that the Twenty-sixth Report of the Fishery Board 

 for Scotland gives the number of salmon and grilse as 21. 

 Without doubt, however, the chief sport in the Ugie is the 

 sea-trout and finnock fishing in the lower reaches Scott's 

 Pool, which is a long tidal pool and forms the first resting-place 

 for all the migratory fish on entering, the Cruive Pot, Pot 

 Sunkan, and the Craig Pot are the favourites. This angling 

 is carried on during July, August, and September, and further 

 upstream in October, almost exclusively at night. The first 

 run of sea-trout is generally composed of fairly heavy fish, 

 averaging about 3 Ib. Good baskets are quite commonly 

 made in an evening, and in order that others may share in 

 the sport, Mr. J. W. Forbes, Bronte Cottage, Inverugie, who 



1 The Scottish Field, January 1908, p. 12. 



2 I have seen it stated that in 1 864 a sea-trout of 1 9 Ib. was killed 

 in the Ugie, and that about that time sea-trout of 6 to 10 Ib. were 

 fairly common. 



