THE BEAULY DISTRICT 189 



ascertained in the future, but it is not easy to believe that fish in the 

 Ness district which have ascended to the Garry, descend again. A 

 clean fish marked in December has been recovered in the same high 

 pool in June. We have taken marked Garry fish after they have 

 remained in Loch Oich for a considerable time. Moreover, the 

 Garry has no summer or autumn run of fish, and the same class of 

 fish which are found there in the spring are seen ascending the falls 

 in May and June, and are found spawning in the high tributaries 

 in the early winter. If we could suppose for a moment that the 

 Kilmorack Fall the red fall was blown sky high, the chances are 

 that a considerable rapid would be produced in the river just above. 

 Near Eilean Aigas a considerable rapid already exists. We would, 

 therefore, have two strong rapids instead of one big fall and one 

 rapid. The thermal conditions of the water could not be altered, but 

 the physical difficulty of ascent would be greatly lessened, and fish 

 would reach the flat valley tract above the gorge at an earlier date. 

 It is this flat valley tract which seems to me to offer much greater 

 possibilities of good angling than can be expected under existing 

 conditions. Many of the pools are very fine, and some could be 

 greatly improved by a little croy building, others are too dull and 

 sandy for early fish to lie in. A better fishing here would be of 

 great value. But I do not imagine the rocky barriers could be 

 sufficiently reduced to materially rob the lower waters of the fishing 

 which exists at present. I set down these thoughts purely by way 

 of suggestion, and because of the fascination which belongs to the 

 development of natural resources. I venture to think also that 

 much good might result from the systematic killing down of pike 

 and eels. Eel fishing might, indeed, serve a double purpose, for eels 

 are of good market value in England, and their capture is a neglected 

 industry in Scotland. 



In descending order, reference may now be made to the Cruive 

 Dyke just above Beaufort Castle, the residence of Lord Lovat. The 

 Beauly Cruive Dyke is the largest structure of its kind in Scotland, 

 and if the boxes were fished, the stock of fish in the river would 

 run a very poor chance indeed. For many years, however, the 

 boxes have not been fished, although the dyke is kept up and 

 certain of the boxes closed by means of hecks. 



Taking advantage of an island which here exists, the builders of 

 the cruive dyke as was very commonly the case in early days 

 founded the apex of a down-stream V-shaped wall upon it. The 

 structure is very substantial, and at ordinary levels of the river 



