48 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



are no doubt responsible for the termination of Loch Voil, while 

 several lesser burns further down account for the rest of the alluvial 

 stretch. The Balvag is of little use as a salmon stream. 



Loch Lubnaig is 4 miles long and has an average depth of 

 about 43 feet. It is not a simple rock basin as the two lochs above 

 are, but has a floor composed of three separate depressions. The 

 greatest depth was found by the Bathy metrical Survey to be 146 

 feet, or 24^ fathoms, but nearly two- thirds of the loch is of less than 

 50 feet in depth. The western end, as might be expected, is slow in 

 deepening, and geologists consider that at one time the loch reached 

 about three-quarters of a mile past the present eastern end into the 

 Pass of Leny. 



This loch contains salmon from the opening day of the season, in 

 spite of the marked fall which occurs in the Pass of Leny, due, 

 apparently, to one of the faults which strike through this region in 

 a north-easterly and south-westerly direction. It has sometimes 

 occurred to me that there are considerable possibilities of salmon 

 fishing in Loch Lubnaig, if the run of fish to the loch could be 

 improved. 



The Leny has some most interesting casts below the Falls which 

 yield a very fair number of spring fish. Three, for instance, were 

 caught on the opening day (15th January), this season. The lower 

 part of the river is boulder-strewn and comparatively shallow, while 

 above the Falls some good spawning ground exists till the sluggish 

 runs below the loch outlet are reached. The rise and fall of Loch 

 Lubnaig appears to be about 6 feet, and in spite of the unfortunately 

 low ground in Strathyre at the head of the loch, it is, I think, 

 worthy of consideration whether or not some impounding of water 

 could not be accomplished. The outlet is very narrow opposite St. 

 Bride's Signal Box on the Callander and Oban line, which traverses 

 the Pass and western side of the loch, and the banks and sub- 

 structure might with advantage be tested to see if a weir and 

 easy pass could be erected. 



If, as I believe to be the case, the fishing value of Loch Vennacher, 

 and the Vennacher water is for ever impaired by the abstraction of 

 water to Glasgow, and the value of the Teith also impaired by the 

 lack of water from a former important source, it may still be possible 

 to restore the Teith to its former value by increasing the water 

 supply from Loch Lubnaig, and in so doing to improve also the 

 fishing of the Leny and Loch Lubnaig and the higher lochs. Not 

 only would sporting capabilities and values be certainly increased, 



