The Salmon 51 



do even although possessed of the necessary energy, for the spawning 

 season would be on them long before they had arrived at the upper 

 reaches, and if the river Dochart had to depend on autumn fish alone 

 none would ever be got in it. I have always held the opinion that a 

 certain proportion of each run of fish should be allowed to pass, so that 

 all the diflerent parts of the river would be equally well stocked. Until 

 recently there was a large portion of the Tay and a part of the Lyon and 

 the I ummel with very few spawning tish on the beds during winter. 



It is a peculiar fact that as long as the temperature of the water 

 is low and snow is in the river, fish have a great disinclination to 

 surmount broken waterfalls or weirs. Few of these fish are seen 

 trying to ascend them before the middle of April. In the river 

 Helmsdale few fish are seen above the falls before April. The only 

 exception to this that I have seen is on the North Esk. On the 

 Morphie weir in February, before the nets go on, sometimes a dozen 

 clean fish can be seen trying to ascend at one time, generally about 

 mid-day, but unsuccessfully, as each one falls back again into the pool 

 below. It is little wonder, however, that these fish try to get up, 

 as there are thousands of them huddled together in one pool. They 

 collect here during the whole of the winter, and are all scooped out 

 when the nets are put on. It is difficult to imagine how this is 

 allowed to go on year after year. There is surely something wrong 

 when 2 miles of this river below the weir are rented at about ^5000, 

 and 30 miles above the weir scarcely bring ^500 ! 



The amount of running the fish do depends much on wind and 

 weather. In cold, frosty weather or when the river is full of snow they 

 run very little. Ideal conditions are when the river is free from snow 

 and a good fresh wind is blowing. I have known a strong west wind 

 take all the fish from the east end of Loch Tay. Strange as it may 

 appear, spring fish are unable to withstand a high Hood, and are some- 

 times carried a few miles down stream. Occasionally big hauls of 

 them are got with the nets in quiet places to which they have been 

 borne down. This accounts tor the fact that the rod-fishing is poor after 

 big floods in spring. Kelts seem to be able to withstand floods better 



