THE GRIMERSTA 317 



TOTAL FOB THE WEEK. 



Salmon. Ib. Sea Trout. Ib. 



Naylor . . .143 856 31 23 



Probyn . . .84 490 14 10 



Hansard . . .106 680 26 19 



333 2,026 71 52 



" H. L. HANSAKD." 



A photograph of Mr. Naylor 's great catch hangs in the lodge 

 at Grimersta. John Mackay, the head keeper there, whose 

 property it is, has kindly allowed me to have it copied. 



The peculiarity of the Grimersta is that it holds spring 

 salmon and spring sea-trout. It is often doubted if such 

 things as clean sea-trout are to be caught anywhere in spring, 

 but I think there is no doubt about the matter here and in 

 several other places I could name. Whether the fish remain 

 any length of time in fresh water is another matter, but both 

 the condition and appearance of those fish, as well as the 

 ultimate test of the boiling pot, go to show that the sea-trout 

 which are present in the Grimersta in March are really of very 

 high quality. The former Chamberlain of the Lews should be 

 a connoisseur in the matter of sea-trout, the species abounds 

 so plentifully in these islands ; and I recollect his saying that 

 some Grimersta trout caught in March, which he ate, were as 

 fine as any he had tasted. Very few anglers are ever in a 

 position to test those waters in spring ; but Mr. George Pople, 

 New House, Perth, has occasionally visited the district with 

 one or two friends, and some salmon marking has then been 

 done in the district. I may say that one specially interesting 

 recapture of a Grimersta-marked fish was made at Castleton, 

 near Thurso, after an interval of five months. 1 



By the kindness of Mr. Orrock, the former Chamberlain of 

 the Lews, I am able to give the rod catches in quinquennial 

 periods from 1871 to 1900, and eight subsequent annual totals. 



1 Twenty-fourth Annual Report Fishery Board for Scotland, Part ii., 

 p. 67. 



