398 THE RIVERS OF THE DORNOCH FIRTH. 



pounds. There is excellent angling for trout in a loch 

 at the foot of Ben Eui, not far distant. Salmon are 

 never caught in Loch Shin. Very superior trout ave- 

 raging one pound in weight, inhabit Loch Culrain, four 

 miles from Bonar-bridge. These are remarkable for 

 their symmetry and external beauty, but very shy. In 

 Migdale Loch, behind Bonar, pike abound, weighing 

 from fourteen pounds downwards. Within four miles 

 of Lairg, are two lakes close to each other, called 

 Crackle, which yield red-fleshed trout of superior quality. 

 As many as eleven dozen have been killed by the rod in 

 the course of six hours. About the same distance from 

 Lairg, on the Achanay property are situated Lochs 

 Craggie and Doula. The trout of these lochs are equal, 

 if not superior in quality and colour, to the finest sal- 

 mon. They weigh from one up to four or five pounds. 



" The salmon fishing on the Shin river commences in 

 the month of March. Grilse seldom ascend before the 

 20th of May. Last season, Sir G. Mackenzie killed 

 frequently five salmon in the course of a day, weighing 

 from ten to twenty pounds each. The largest ever 

 caught in Shin weighed forty-two pounds. The grilse 

 angling from the end of May to September is very 

 good average weight five pounds. Of the flies used 

 on the lochs for trout, the most killing is an imitation 

 of the common May-fly. The favourite for salmon is a 

 large hook with mixed wing, red, blue, and black 

 hackle ; with jay feather for the shouldering, crest of 

 golden pheasant for the tail, and silver tinsel. A similar 

 hook, but reduced in size, is used as the season ad- 

 vances ; and when the water is low, during the grilse 

 months, the fly ought not to exceed in its dimensions 

 a large trouting hook. 



"There is excellent angling in the Cassley which 



