262 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



streams already referred to and the river abreast of Ben Hope, 

 which towers up 3040 feet on the right. 



Some fine pools exist in the Strath More river, especially below the 

 ruined castle of Dornadilla, and here a very fair number of fish are 

 taken in summer. The salmon average from 12 to 14 Ib. in weight. 

 The fishing on three days a week goes with Hope Lodge, which 

 stands on a beautiful site at the foot of the loch. Kinloch Lodge 

 also fishes three days a week. Kinloch Lodge has also a boat on 

 Loch Hope, to fish which necessitates about eight miles on pony 

 back over the hill ; and, as already explained, Mr. Gilmour also 

 shares right of fishing here. 



The river Hope itself is a beautiful looking river of considerable 

 volume, and contains seven good pools in its short length. The 

 river is never fished till summer, and I understand that the average 

 take is about 45 fish. A great number of sea-trout frequently 

 ascend. In this respect the Hope is again like the Ewe and Loch 

 Maree or the Shiel and Loch Shiel. Some of the trout run heavy, 

 and I believe the record for this species is 14 Ib. But both river 

 and loch have the reputation of being " stiff " salmon-fishing waters ; 

 in other words, the take is not what the evident stock of fish might 

 lead one to expect. 



It may quite well be that some of the fish which ascend the Hope 

 are bull-trout, by which I mean the variety (eriox) of sea-trout so 

 common in the Tweed and Coquet ; but of this I have as yet little 

 proof. These bull-trout are notoriously bad risers. But another 

 reason also has repeatedly occurred to me, viz. more fish may run 

 into the loch in the early part of the season than are thought of, and 

 may be off the take before fishing usually begins. The keepers in 

 the district are no doubt convinced this is not the case. No fish is 

 known to have been caught before, I think, the 12th of June. The 

 Hope is always described as a late river. But with very similar 

 conditions occurring at two or three other places, notably on the 

 west coast of Scotland, I want some proof that fishing has been 

 tried and has failed before I am disposed to admit that the Hope must 

 be a quite exceptional river in our country. It has considerable 

 volume, and it has a large loch only a short distance from the sea. 

 The temperature of the loch is not at all likely to be unusually low, 

 the temperature of the short river will be similar, the gradient is 

 easy. The conditions suggest that the gradient is so easy and the 

 temperature so suitable that fish run through the river to the loch 

 at once, and that they do so at a comparatively early date. Even 



