CHAPTER XXV 



THE MORAR AND SHIEL DISTRICTS 

 MORAR DISTRICT 



RIVER MORAR AND LOCH MORAR 



ANGLING SEASON: February llth to October 31st. 

 NETTING SEASON: February llth to August 26th. 



Morar district is remarkable in having the deepest loch and 

 the shortest river in the British Islands. There are a few 

 places where a mere tidal stream separates fresh and salt 

 water, or where a short burn, or little more than a burn, joins a 

 lake to the sea, but I think I run no risk of contradiction in 

 saying that nowhere else is there a combination like that of the 

 Morar district. As a consequence the salmon fishing conditions 

 are somewhat peculiar. 



The loch is some 11| miles long, and the river some 600 yards, 

 but the fishable part of the river is practically confined to the 

 lower half of its course. The loch is 30 feet above sea-level, 

 and the outflow is sluggish, with a bend first to the south and 

 then to the west. Two hundred yards beyond the latter bend 

 the water suddenly plunges over a fall, confined in a narrow 

 channel, and varying from 4^ to about 7| feet in height, the 

 rocky ledge being lower at the left than at the right bank. 

 Thereafter for 300 yards the river flows somewhat rapidly to 

 the sea. 



There are really only three pools, of which the Fall Pool is 

 considered the best by some, because it is here fish naturally 

 congregate, being checked in their ascent. But fishing in the 

 Fall Pool is almost exclusively with " the garden fly," or some 

 variation of that insect. The area is very prescribed, and the 

 water often heavy. A long pole, with a wire ring at the end of 

 it, may generally be discovered near the pool. I believe the 



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