222 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



receptacle still survives as the only monument of the abandoned 

 project. Eels still enter both Brora and Helmsdale in great 

 numbers, but are not fished for. The fear of injury to the salmon 

 fishing interests has hitherto been the chief reason, I believe. Our 

 Scottish eels are really quite wasted upon us. We require an Irish- 

 man or two to show us what to do. 



Salmon enter the river freely in spring, and usually ascend pretty 

 rapidly to the loch. In the loch they are practically lost, although 

 all through the early part of the season it should be possible to 

 catch them there, and after experimenting for some years Mr. F. C. 

 Gunnis succeeded, I believe, in taking a fair number. That they 

 congregate in numbers is well enough shown when a net is put in 

 for a short time each spring. In rod-fishing over the whole district 

 fly is the only lure allowed. 



The river above the loch becomes stocked with spring fish in 

 March, and the upward progress is not in any way checked till the 

 fall at the foot of the Blackwater is reached. There are ten pools 

 from the Deadwater Pool, just above the loch to the Fall Pool. 

 The slack water above the loch extends for about three-quarters of 

 a mile, and if the upper river runs low as not infrequently happens 

 fish congregate here in great numbers. But for the much more 

 beautiful surroundings the fishing of this stretch is not unlike that 

 so commonly experienced on the lower Thurso, where a good up- 

 stream breeze is a blessing, and where under such conditions half-a- 

 dozen fish may be obtained. 



There are two beats on the upper water one from the loch to 

 the Fall Pool, and the other the Blackwater above the fall. The 

 latter is exclusively a summer beat, for, like the Kildonan Fall on 

 the Helmsdale, fish do not ascend the Blackwater Fall till the 

 winter and spring temperature has left the water early in May. 

 From the time when fish reach the junction till the time when they 

 ascend the fall, the Feddar Pool is certainly one of the best on the 

 river. 



The class of fish found in the Brora is exactly the same as in the 

 Helmsdale. The majority of the spring fish are of the small class 

 the fish which passed their grilse stage in the sea during the 

 previous summer, and are in spring and early summer ascending 

 fresh water for the first time. They run from 8 Ib. to 10 Ib. in 

 weight. Amongst these are also a fair number of larger fish of 

 from 15lb. to 20 Ib. The total varies from 300 to about 450 fish, 

 but much depends upon the condition of water-flow. As many as 



