THE THUBSO 253 



the river mouth. The netting in the river itself had by this 

 time been long discontinued, but the channel of the river just 

 above the town of Thurso was very shallow, so that in summer, 

 when the grilse naturally seek to ascend, they were often 

 unable to do so and had to fall back and wait about Thurso 

 Bay. This drawback has been obviated to some extent. It 

 is certain that July was always the best month for the nets in 

 the sea, and that the great proportion of the catch in this 

 month consisted of grilse. The nearest nets, those at Penny- 

 land, were within 500 yards of the river mouth. The 

 Pennyland and Scrabster nets were fished the whole season, 

 while those on the more exposed parts of the coast were not 

 commonly put in the water till May, when the grilse were 

 expected. 



A successful spring angling in the Thurso and in all other 

 northern rivers depends on a good grilse run in the previous 

 summer. This at first may seem rather enigmatical, but 

 since the small class of spring fish are chiefly relied upon, and 

 since those small spring fish are the same class of fish as the 

 previous season's grilse, being the members of that class which 

 did not elect to enter fresh water as grilse, a poor grilse year is 

 commonly followed by a deficiency of the small class of spring 

 fish. 



Mr. J. G. Walker, one of the leading members of the syndicate 

 which leased the river in 1891, in giving evidence before Lord 

 Elgin's Commission stated that in a good angling year the 

 average weight of the fish is about 10 lb., but in a poor year, 

 numerically, the average weight is much greater, because then 

 the bulk of the fish are more exclusively of the large spring 

 class, older fish. The large records of fish in the past were 

 made from fish averaging about 9 lb., which clearly indicates 

 that when the Thurso was at its best the small spring fish were 

 very numerous. In a river of this class an increase in the 

 average weight of fish is not as a rule a blessing. 



It would appear, therefore, that to prevent the capture of 

 an undue number of grilse in the sea is of great moment in 

 maintaining the proper stock of fish in our northern rivers, or 

 in any river dependent, for good spring angling, upon the small 

 class of fish. 



With such a small estuary as that prescribed for the Thurso, 



