ALLAN WATER 51 



mildness of the season and the amount of water. The fish usually 

 run from 12 Ib. to 22 Ib. in weight, the average being about 17 Ib. 

 I am able to give the approximate results for the last five springs : 



1905 . . ' .; 14 



1906 - - - 16, including 2 in June. 



1907 - - , 12 



1908 - ' - * 30 and 7 or 8 in Loch Voil. 



In 1909 Loch Voil seems to have done unusually well. The total for 

 the two lochs was reported as about 50 by the middle of March. 



There are now about a score of boats available on Loch Lubnaig. 

 About forty years ago there were only some two or three. The day 

 may not be far distant when some systematic regulation of the fish- 

 ing on the loch will be quite necessary. 



ALLAN WATER 



One tributary of the Forth remains to be referred to, viz. the 

 Allan Water, which enters the left bank of the main river a short 

 distance above Stirling, and which flows in a south-westerly direc- 

 tion from the neighbourhood of Blackford, past Dunblane and Bridge 

 of Allan. It drains an area of about 77 square miles, and not long 

 after the junction of its small head streams, which rise on the 

 northern slopes of Sheriff Muir close to the source of the Devon, it 

 is used in winter time to supply water for the safety curling pond 

 at Carsbreck, upon which " The Grand Match," North against South, 

 is annually played when there is ice. This Carsbreck Pond is at 

 the present time being turned into a trout-fishing lake of apparently 

 a more permanent character. Presumably the Caledonian Curling 

 Club has satisfied itself as to the " safety " character and as to the 

 possible growth of weeds which may arise in a permanent but 

 shallow sheet of water. 



The Allan "Water is obstructed by no fewer than ten dam dykes, 

 and although it is not a large river, frequented by salmon in the early 

 part of the year, it attracts a large number of late fish, and is a most 

 useful spawning stream. With a considerable population on its 

 banks, it appears that the fish, which are checked by the various 

 weirs, are subjected to a rather serious amount of stroke-hauling and 

 poaching in other forms. It is therefore highly desirable that the 

 weirs should be provided with gaps and passes, and the lades 

 provided with hecks. 



An Angling Association of those chiefly interested in the Allan 

 Water fishings is now, however, in course of formation, from which 



