14 SALMON FISHING IN THE TWEED 



other ; so that the fish ascend from side to side in a 

 zigzag direction, and can rest in their ascent, should 

 they find it necessary. This is a very ingenious 

 contrivance, and it has been constructed on the 

 Teith, near Doune, with complete success. But I 

 conclude it can only come into operation in such 

 floods as raise the water to a higher level than is 

 required for the mill-dam ; and therefore if rude 

 steps of rolling stones were constructed at a portion 

 of the back of the cauld, the end would be answered 

 in a better manner, since the ascent might be made 

 more gradual. 1 



The fish pass every practicable obstruction till 

 they arrive at their spawning ground, some early, 

 and some late in the season. The spawning in the 

 river Tweed continues throughout the autumn, 

 winter, and beginning of spring. It commences 

 about September, and I have caught full roeners as 

 late as May ; but the principal months are December, 

 January, and February. Mr. John Crerar, who was 

 fisherman to the Duke of Atholl for sixty years, 

 and who left behind him some pages in manuscript 

 on the habits of the salmon, has recorded in them 

 that fish full of mature roe may be caught in the 

 Tay in every month in the year. 



The fish become weak and wasted before the 

 spawning time, and change in colour. The male 

 loses its silvery hue, and is deeply tinged in the 

 cheeks and body with orange, and is also dappled 

 with red spots, when, in the upper parts of the 



1 A complete description of modern improvements in salmon ladders 

 will be found in Fisheries Exhibition Literature, published by Messrs. W. 

 Clowes and Son. ED. 



