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the Kello Water, the Euchan, the Ken, the Sear, and 

 the Gluden Water, are all feeders of the Nith, and 

 abound with fish of considerable size and good quality. 

 Indeed, several of these dependent streams are held in 

 higher piscatory repute than even the principal river 

 itself. There are several lochs in this vicinity which 

 are much frequented by anglers; they contain large 

 trout, pike, bream, roach, perch, chub; and in one 

 called Castle Loch, there is a scarce fish, called the 

 vendace, which is much sought after. There is a club 

 of anglers in Dumfries who award annual prizes for 

 the taking of this fish. It is said to be known 

 nowhere else, and is of such a delicate organisation that 

 all attempts to transport it to other waters have proved 

 abortive. 



" It is a beautiful fish, from four to six inches in length, and 

 of a bright silvery appearance, with a slight tendency to a light 

 blue along the back and sides. Upon the top of the head there 

 is a very delicate shape of a heart, covered with a transparent 

 substance of a brownish colour, resembling a thin lamina of mica 

 slate, through which the brain is visible. Nothing to the naked 

 eye is found in the stomach, though a late inquirer has said that 

 their food consists of incredibly minute entromostraoea. Over- 

 looking the fact that the vendace dies the moment it is touched 

 or brought to the air, and has hitherto defied transportation, the 

 common people speak of its having been brought by the Jameses 

 from Vendois, in France." 



Speaking generally, there cannot be a more agreeable 

 angling tour than along the banks of the Nith and its 

 feeders. There are all kinds of water, and all kinds of 

 scenery. The fishing, on the whole, is excellent. The 

 flies in ordinary use here are just of the ordinary kind, 

 nor does there seem to be any very special favourites. 

 Trolling is practised to some extent with the natural 

 minnow, and with considerable success. To those 

 sportsmen who like a day or two's bottom-fishing now 

 and then, there is ample room for indulging their fancy. 

 Places of refreshment are to be met with here and 

 there, but in wandering along the higher waters of the 

 Nith these become both less frequent and of a meaner 

 kind. 



