THE RUEL 383 



netting is not carried on in this fashion, being worked by the 

 proprietor himself. A net is occasionally also drawn in Loch 

 Eck, mostly at the top of the loch. Three other nets are also 

 employed in the loch, but the proportion of salmon taken is not 

 great. Powan are found here, as in Loch Lomond. 



Fishing in Loch Eck may be secured by staying at Whistle- 

 field (under entirely new management) or at Loch Eck Hotel. 

 Both are on the Glenfinnart Estate. About 20-30 salmon and 

 grilse and about 200 sea- trout, besides a larger number of loch 

 trout, constitute the catch. Salmon have been taken up to 

 25 lb., but about 9 or 10 Ib. is the average weight. 



THE RUEL 



ANGLING SEASON: 16th February to 31st October. 

 NETTING SEASON: 16th February to 31st August. 



Glendaruel is perhaps as beautiful a glen as there is in Argyll. 

 At the head of Loch Ridden, which opens on the Kyles of Bute, 

 the entrance to the glen is surrounded by most typical Argyll- 

 shire hills. Bold escarpments of rock rise one above another 

 with great abruptness to a height of over 1,000 feet. The 

 little shelving slopes and terraces are richly covered with 

 heather and grass. The lower bluffs have a dense covering of 

 trees and scrub. Here and there groups of dark pines crown 

 well-marked eminences, or shining declivities seem to slide 

 sheer to the sea. Some of the finest larches I have seen any- 

 where stand around Ormidale, and the young Japanese strip- 

 lings are springing up in healthy coverts. 



Three head streams meet near Dunans at the top of the glen, 

 the central one being the longest. From the head of this Caol 

 glen it is a short step over to Strathlachlan on Lochfyneside. 

 The river from Dunans to the mouth is fully 8 miles long, and 

 winds a good deal in a rapid sinuous manner in the upper part, 

 and again below Glendaruel House. 



Ormidale water extends to about 6 miles, 2J on both banks 

 at the mouth of the river, and the remainder on the right bank 

 further up. Then Glendaruel comes in with a considerable 

 stretch of water, and Dunans has the topmost section. The 



