IRELAND 187 



and the regulating weir across the river, arises the 

 wonderful concentration of salmon above the County 

 Bridge on their way to the upper waters a spectacle 

 with which most travellers to the West of Ireland 

 are familiar. From these causes, too, the catch of 

 salmon and grilse on the Galway has always been 

 remarkable as compared with that on any similar 

 piece of water in the United Kingdom. During the 

 last twenty -five years the average annual catch of 

 salmon by anglers has exceeded a thousand fish. 

 Catches of twenty, and in some cases as many as 

 twenty -five, by one rod in one day have been 

 recorded; baskets of from eight to twelve in the 

 height of the season are frequent. The grilse 

 weights are usually between 6 and 7 Ibs. ; the 

 salmon weights, about 14 Ibs. The heaviest fish 

 caught during the last five years have been 32, 42J, 

 30J, 27|, and 36 Ibs. The catches from 1901 to 

 1905 for February -September, inclusive, by eight 

 rods, were 1901, 944; 1902, 1726; 1903, 727; 

 1904, 1230; 1905, 1575. Besides salmon the 

 river contains a good stock of brown, tideway, 

 and sea -trout. Last season there was an unpre- 

 cedented plenty of sea -trout One rod, from May 

 to August, inclusive, caught 384 salmon and 796 

 trout. The trout were all taken between the 

 middle of July and the end of August. The 

 Galway and its tributaries are well protected both 

 in the open and in the close season." 



Mr. Scrope Doig, Oughterard, writing at the 

 request of Lord Ardilaun, says : 



