234 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



season was 432, 1 believe. It will thus be seen that the total for 

 the whole river amounts to 1,100 or 1,200 salmon. 



Although Loch Brora acts to a certain extent as a reservoir, 

 I should say the chief drawback of this excellent river is the 

 frequent lack of water. There is no impounding of head waters 

 and consequent regulating of floods as is now possible in the 

 Helmsdale, and with the approach of summer the river is 

 frequently unduly small. It is not at all uncommon now to 

 hear that when the Helmsdale rods are still working away with 

 success, the Brora river is deserted. 



The following is the Brora rod-fishing score since 1900 : 



1900 . . 434 



1901 . .331 



1902 . . 348 



1903 . . 449 



1904 . . 348 



1905 . . 382 



1906 , 330 



1907 . . 359 



1908 . . 222 



1909 . . 315 



1910 . . 417 



1911 . . 248 



1912 . . 395 



1913 . 392 



1914 . . 371 



1915 . . 152 



1916 . . 294 



1917 . . 348 



1918 . . 148 



1919 . . 431 



1920 . . 432 



The mouth of the Brora used to be regularly netted by means 

 of net and coble after 1st May. Two cobles were employed, 

 and a watch tower was erected on the beach at the river mouth, 

 so that a sentry could better notice the approach of salmon 

 from the sea. This netting, while it frequently took a heavy 

 toll of grilse in summer, allowed the valuable spring fish to 

 remain untouched. In this connection it is interesting to 

 observe that both in the Helmsdale and Brora fish are on the 

 spawning beds by the middle of October. Reports go to show 

 that the greatest number of fish spawn in some seasons as early 

 as between 20th and 30th October, and seldom later than 20th 

 November. Compare this with the dates of spawning in rivers 

 where all early fish are netted, and it is seen that the spawning 

 period runs well into January. 



I have a complete list of the numbers of fish netted each 

 summer at Brora mouth. It seems unnecessary to burden the 

 reader with these, but I may mention that on several occasions 

 fully 2,000 grilse have been taken, the poorest grilse year being 

 1880, when only 209 grilse and 641 salmon were obtained. The 

 figures, while showing fluctuations for periods of years, do not 

 point to any material reduction in the stock of fish, although 

 naturally when other nets were fished in the immediate 

 neighbourhood, the sweep-nets showed poor returns. 



