

96 CHATS ON ANGLING. 



rod, water, and luck had been enough for him, and. rolling on his 

 side, he swung round into the slack below me. I had had no chance 

 till then of taking my gaff off my back ; luckily it came off my shoulders 

 quite freely, and the steel went home. As I hauled him out with some 

 difficulty, the hook, which had worn a big hole, came out of his jaw ; 

 so my luck continued to the last. I could not make him scale 30 lb. ; 

 he was a good 29^ lb., and, inasmuch as I had never landed a fish of 

 30 lb. or upwards, that part was somewhat aggravating. But, as I 

 toiled home that evening over the three miles of sleepers and rails to 

 the inn with the three fish weighing just about half-a-hundredweight, 

 I several times wished he had not been quite so heavy. 



The upper waters of the Awe, above Awe Bridge, formerly retained 

 by the Marquis of Breadalbane in his own hands, and therefore not 

 open to the general public, can nowadays be fished from Dalmally Hotel. 

 Through that nobleman's enterprise one of the two big cruives has 

 been done away with, and there is to be an additional slap nightly, 

 between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. The results cannot but be both beneficial 

 and prudent. The characteristics of these upper waters are totally 

 distinct from those of the lower ones, being unusually broken and 

 rapid, the pools small, and not easily distinguishable. 



The pent up waters of Loch Awe, finding through the dark Pass 

 of Brander their only outlet to the sea, take full advantage of their 

 opportunity, and rush and boil over the boulder-bestrewn bed of the 

 river in a way that renders it imperative that your gut should be of 

 the best, your tackle sound, and your determination great that you will 

 not consent to be a mere follower of a hooked fish, but intend to give 

 him "beans" when necessary. 



The Black and Seal Pools and Verie are fairly typical of the upper 

 Awe waters ; most of them are fished from planks rigged out on staging, 

 and wading is not generally practicable. A hooked fish can never be 

 reckoned on as caught, nor can you ever be certain of him until the 

 gaff has gone home and your fish lies on the bank beside you. This 

 remark, of course, applies in a greater or lesser degree to all salmon 

 fishing ; but here the perils from heavy water, combined with the rugged, 

 rock-strewn bed, afford unusual chances of escape, and at the same 

 time add much to the sporting charms of a successful capture. 



