THE DEE 115 



of the way down, and after a few preliminary trials, so to speak, he 

 went straight up the river into the heavy water at the neck of the 

 pool. The river was high at the time, 'and the whole force of the 

 Dee came down under the south bank, on which I was fishing. In 

 such water, right under my nose, the brute sulked, but I was using 

 very strong tackle on the strength of the water being much dis- 

 coloured, so I simply turned the point of the rod down- stream and 

 gave the gentleman the butt. Minutes passed without a sign, and 

 I was beginning to think that the fish must have surreptitiously 

 fouled me and made off. Three or four times, in fact, I was on the 

 point of breaking, deeming it impossible that any fish could stay 

 motionless in such water. At last, however, I felt a quiver, and 

 knew that the fish must still be there. My landing him was a 

 matter of luck. It would probably have been an impossibility from 

 this deep side of the river, but a ferry boat happened to ply two or 

 three hundred yards further down, and by good luck I managed to 

 hail the ferryman. He soon put me on the opposite bank, playing 

 the fish all the while, and it was in quite shallow water that I 

 gradually tired my salmon out. . . . That fish took an hour and 

 three-quarters in the killing." 



The Dee is a conspicuous example of what can be done to improve 

 a district's salmon fisheries by removing river nets. The operations 

 of the Dee Salmon Fishing Improvement Association have been 

 referred to in more than one publication, 1 but it is impossible to 

 refer to the Dee, as one desires to do, without referring to this 

 Association. In 1872 the Dee was netted up to Banchory, about 

 sixteen miles ; the stock of fish was comparatively small, and the 

 rental of the river amounted only to 1254, the total of the district 

 including the coast and other fishings being 7031. The Association 

 was formed in that year " with the view of improving the river 

 fishings by leasing net fishings, commencing at Banchory-Ternan, 

 there being no nets above that point, and going downwards as far as 

 funds would permit ; and this with the view of removing the nets, 

 and thereby allowing a larger number of fish to reach the spawning 

 beds in the upper waters." 



The alternative of commencing hatching on a large scale had pre- 

 viously been considered by the District Fishery Board, and plans of 

 rearing-ponds, etc., had been drawn and submitted, but it was decided 

 that to allow breeding fish in greater numbers to reach the splendid 



1 Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart. , Salmon and Sea Trout, Appendix A. ; Augustus 

 Grimble, The Salmon Rivers of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 49. 



