216 



THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



gravelly bed and running pools. From Inveran to a short distance 

 above the falls the river is in a rocky channel, in some places 

 narrowing to a most picturesque gorge, fringed with birch. In this 

 the water surges along in black and frothing rapids. The falls 

 themselves are objects of beauty and interest to all who visit the 

 district, although the lower Cassley Falls at Kosehall are in many 

 respects finer. In the case of the Shin the river makes one plunge 

 in a contracted rocky chasm. The height is, however, not great, and 

 the crest of the fall is considerably sloped, so that although the 

 actual difference of level may be 11 or 12 feet, salmon are able to 

 ascend when the water is fairly low by a leap of about five feet into 

 the slope, succeeded by a strong swim upwards. Any June or July 

 evening, if the river is low, fish may be watched making the ascent, 

 and fish generally move about freely in the pool below. 



Once clear of the rocky gorge the river shows, for about three 

 miles, a fine series of pools, which deserve more attention from the 

 salmon angler than, I understand, they get. There is a sort of belief 

 that this upper water is only secondary, but in the summer months 

 these fine pools should yield interesting sport, and be pleasanter 

 fishing than some of the black eddying pools of the gorge lower 

 down. The mile of water just below the loch is inferior to the rest ; 

 yet in a month in early summer ten or a dozen fish may be taken. 



In the spring months, below the falls, the Skibo tenants, during 

 April and May, usually run up a good score of fish, and although 

 some days are blank, as they are everywhere, other days yield as 

 many as 5 or 6 salmon to one rod. The tenants on the Shin don't 

 change much. 



Here is the list of rod-caught fish from the year 1873 to 1899. 1 

 The nets were removed in 1888. 



Year. 

 1873 



1874 

 1875 

 1876 

 1877 

 1878 

 1879 

 1880 

 1881 



Fish. 

 198 

 156 



75 

 108 

 199 



98 

 145 

 134 

 203 



Year. 



1883 

 1884 

 1885 

 1886 

 1887 

 1888 

 1889 

 1890 



Fish. 

 388 

 373 

 175 

 231 

 357 

 371 

 328 

 286 

 222 



Some alterations have recently been made in the Shin, which 

 must be referred to briefly. The most noticeable is the contraction 



1 Report of Commissioners on Salmon Fisheries, 1902. Part iii. Appendix, 

 Section ii. p. 60. 



