THE UPPER BEATS 235 



the upper beats are fished each tenant has the same number above 

 and below the division at Kildonan Bridge. If No. 1 is fished on 

 the upper section No. 1 is fished by the same tenant on the lower 

 section, and this tenant fishes the two next beats the following day. 

 A list is drawn out at the beginning of the season which sets the 

 order throughout, but after 1st August No. 1 upper beat is fished 

 exclusively by the lessee of Kildonan; No. 2 upper beat by the 

 lessee of Suisgill ; and No. 3 by the lessee of Borrobol. Torrish has 

 the water below Kildonan Bridge ; Kildonan, in addition to No. 1 

 upper, has the right to fish Loch-na-Moine ; while the river above 

 Kinbrace Railway Bridge is fished conjointly by the lessees of 

 Achintoul and Badanloch. Two rods may be fished on each beat, 

 but between llth January and 15th May the lessee must be one of 

 the rods. Any one fishing during the last month of the season 

 (September) must return all female fish caught. The use of the 

 gaff is not allowed. 



It is sometimes said that the charm of salmon fishing is its 

 uncertainty. One never knows when a great day may be experi- 

 enced, or, on the other hand, when the most unforeseen accidents 

 may happen, or again when fish will behave in the most extraordinary 

 and unpardonable manner. No doubt men who go to fish in the few 

 places on this planet where salmon are still very plentiful and quite 

 unsophisticated, where, in other words, a big score is almost certain 

 to be made at any time, return in a Uas6 frame of mind, and lose 

 their zest (for a considerable time at least) for angling in the old 

 country. None the less it is remarkable that all of us wish more 

 fish, and cannot be satisfied with the infrequency of really good days. 

 There is perhaps no river in Scotland where good days are more 

 frequent than the Helmsdale. Given reasonable weather conditions 

 in spring, one goes out with a fair feeling of confidence that one 

 won't be unrewarded, that the probability is two, three, or four fish 

 will be got, and with the secret hope that one's particular beat on 

 the particular day in question, being in all probability full of fish, 

 will yield a really great day. One perhaps never really gets that 

 great day; personally I never have got it, but one always knows the 

 possibility is there. One never suffers from the dispiriting feeling 

 that perhaps there are no salmon in the pools one is diligently 

 flogging. 



I have several times fished above a new salmon pass or in 

 the upper reaches of a river where, owing to altered conditions, 

 fish may be expected, just to see if any fish could be found. 



