THE BRORA 233 



Salmon enter the river freely in spring, and usually ascend 

 pretty rapidly to the loch. In the loch they are practically 

 lost, although all through the early part of the season it should 

 be possible to catch them there, and after experimenting for 

 some years Mr. F. C. Gunnis succeeded, I believe, in taking a 

 fair number. That they congregate in numbers is well enough 

 shown when a net is put in for a short time each spring. In 

 rod-fishing over the whole district fly is the only lure allowed. 



The river above the loch becomes stocked with spring fish in 

 March, and the upward progress is not in any way checked till 

 the fall at the foot of the Blackwater is reached. There are ten 

 pools from the Deadwater Pool, just above the loch to the Fall 

 Pool. The slack water above the loch extends for about 

 three-quarters of a mile, and if the upper river runs low as 

 not infrequently happens fish congregate here in great 

 numbers. But for the much more beautiful surroundings the 

 fishing of this stretch is not unlike that so commonly ex- 

 perienced on the lower Thurso, where a good upstream breeze 

 is a blessing, and where under such conditions half-a-dozen fish 

 may be obtained. Some 700 or 800 fish should be caught 

 on the joint waters of Gordonbush and Balnacoil in a good 

 year. 



There are two beats on the upper water- one from the loch to 

 the Fall Pool, and the other the Blackwater above the fall. 

 The latter is exclusively a summer beat, for, like the Kildonan 

 Fall on the Helmsdale, fish do not ascend the Blackwater Fall 

 till the winter and spring temperature has left the water early 

 in May. Fr.om the time when fish reach the junction till the 

 time when they ascend the fall, the Feddar Pool is certainly 

 one of the best on the river. 



The class of fish found in the Brora is exactly the same as in 

 the Helmsdale. The majority of the spring fish are of the small 

 class the fish which passed their grilse stage in the sea during 

 the previous summer, and are in spring and early summer 

 ascending fresh water for the first time. They run from 8 Ib. 

 to 10 Ib. in weight. Amongst these are also a fair number of 

 larger fish of from 15 Ib. to 20 Ib. The total varies from 300 to 

 about 450 fish, but much depends upon the condition of water- 

 flow. As many as 400 fish have in the past been taken by the 

 end of April in the lower river alone. In 1920 the total for the 



