THE SHIN 



227 



rapids. The falls themselves are objects of beauty and interest 

 to all who visit the district, although the lower Cassley Falls at 

 Rosehall are in many respects finer. In the case of the Shin 

 the river makes one plunge in a contracted rocky chasm. The 

 height is, however, not great, and the crest of the fall is 

 considerably sloped, so that although the actual difference of 

 level may be 11 or 12 feet, salmon are able to ascend when the 

 water is fairly low by a leap of about 5 feet into the slope, 

 succeeded by a strong swim upwards. Any June or July 

 evening, if the river is low, fish may be watched making the 

 ascent, and fish generally move about freely in the pool below. 



Once clear of the rocky gorge the river shows, for about 

 3 miles, a fine series of pools, which deserve more attention 

 from the salmon angler than, I understand, they get. There 

 is a sort of belief that this upper water is only secondary, but in 

 the summer months these fine pools should yield interesting 

 sport, and be pleasanter fishing than some of the black eddying 

 pools of the gorge lower down. The mile of water just below 

 the loch is inferior to the rest ; yet in a month in early summer 

 10 or a dozen fish may be taken. 



In the spring months, below the falls, the Skibo tenants, 

 during April and May, usually run up a good score of fish, and 

 although some days are blank, as they are everywhere, other 

 days yield as many as 5 or 6 salmon to one rod. The 

 tenants on the Shin don't change much. 



Here is the list of rod-caught fish from the year 1873 to 1899. 1 

 The nets were removed in 1888. 



Year. 

 1873 

 1874 

 1875 

 1876 

 1877 

 1878 

 1879 

 1880 

 1881 



Fish. 

 198 

 166 



75 

 108 

 199 



98 

 145 

 134 

 203 



Year. 

 1882 

 1883 

 1884 

 1885 

 1886 

 1887 

 1888 

 1889 

 1890 



Fish. 

 315 

 368 

 301 

 376 

 298 

 230 

 135 

 93 

 183 



Year. 

 1891 

 1892 

 1893 

 1894 

 1895 

 1896 

 1897 

 1898 

 1899 



Fish. 

 388 

 373 

 175 

 231 

 357 

 371 

 328 

 286 

 222 



Some alterations have been made in the Shin, which must be 

 referred to briefly. The most noticeable is the contraction 



1 Report of Commissioners on Salmon Fisheries, 1902. Part iii., 

 Appendix, Section ii., p. 60. 



