THE SPEY 157 



certain that a proportion of each run of fish entering the river 

 can pass through to the unnetted waters. The lower reaches 

 of the Spey are rapid ; when the water is cold, spring fish 

 ascend very slowly. In the close season of 1896-97, 150 clean 

 fish were marked in the Gordon Castle water. At the 

 commencement of the netting season 67 of them were 

 recaptured in the same water. Of this -number 25 had 

 actually dropped lower down the river, 8 were in the same 

 pools as when marked, and 34 had moved up slightly. 

 Only 2 fish were recaptured by rod after having left the 

 Gordon Castle water and ascended the river. In other words, 

 the natural conditions of Gordon Castle water are such that at 

 certain seasons fish are more likely to accumulate there than 

 elsewhere, and, this being the case, they are more likely to be 

 caught in greater numbers there than elsewhere. With the 

 netting which used to exist in the Spey, there can, I think, be 

 little doubt that an undue proportion of spring fish were caught 

 before they could pass through to the angling waters. 



I have no hesitation in saying that the best interests of the 

 river were considered when, at the end of 1903, an agreement 

 was come to between the proprietors above Orton and the Duke 

 of Richmond and Gordon, by which nets were removed from 

 Orton and the upper part of Gordon Castle water. Netting 

 now reaches only to the Cumberland Ford below Fochabers 

 Bridge, a distance of barely 3 miles from the mouth of the 

 river. In the agreement as to proper compensation I under- 

 stand it was decided that between 6,000 and 7,000 fish would 

 on an average be thus allowed to ascend annually. A limited 

 amount of water close to Fochabers Bridge was retained for 

 private angling ; tha rest was let. 



As has already been said, the rod catches have now greatly 

 improved, an improvement which I understand amounts to 

 50 or 60 per cent, in several waters. Mr. George McCorquodale 

 has had 426 to his own rod at Dalchroy. When mentioning 

 this distinguished angler I may add that in 1919 he killed a 

 38 Ib. fish on a trout rod, with a trout cast. In the same 

 season, Miss Spender Clay had a 47 Ib. fish at Fochabers. 



Apart from those considerations, however, is the possibility 

 that the fish which are present in the river, be they numerous 

 or few, are not so prone to take as they used to be. I am 



