SCOTTISH SALMON-FISHING 175 



boats, i. e. two rods, so that those who could enjoy 

 the best sport were really few. Wherefore my 

 brothers and I as often as not sought our sport in 

 other waters. Nevertheless, there was always an 

 odd day to be had, even at the " crowded " time, 

 and so it fell to my lot to experience some grand 

 days of sport with the big fish. 



I think the best three days I ever had were October 

 9th to 11th, 1889, when I killed twenty-one salmon, 

 averaging 21 lbs. The first two days were on the 

 lower beat of Murthly, when I caught seven and 

 six respectively, and the third day on Burnmouth, 

 when I captured eight. The average of these fish 

 was exceptional even for the Tay, but the fish ran 

 big that year, and we caught one hundred and 

 twenty between August 22nd and October 10th, yet 

 the largest fish of the season was only 32 lbs. 



My father was always hoping to kill one of those 

 monsters which usually appeared about October 1st 

 and seldom looked at a fly, but one day in 1887 he 

 rose and hooked a very big fish in the still water in 

 front of Miller's house, and after a gallant struggle 

 of an hour he landed his prize. It was a clean- 

 run fish of 44 lbs., and his joy was great. In 1895 

 an enormous fish was seen jumping several times 

 at Ballathine. Father tried for him several times, 

 and at last rose and hooked him. Haggart, the 

 fisherman at Stobhall, who was one of the few men 

 who had actually killed a veritable sixty-pounder, 

 told me afterwards that this was the biggest fish he 

 had ever seen on the Tay, and was as excited as my 

 father when the great struggle began and the giant 

 leaped clear of the water. The fight lasted for two 

 hours, and then the fish suddenly dashed up-stream, 



