THE BRORA 15 



(a fact much in lavour of opening the river for the rod on the 

 ist of February or even the nth of January, the same as the 

 Helmsdale, so close by) and is finished by the end of November. 

 Kelts migrate about the middle of March and have departed by the 

 middle of May, and then, in May and June, the smolts go to the 

 sea. 



Three miles above Loch Brora the Blackwater pours in its very 

 considerable volume of water ; indeed, from above the junction 

 this tributary plays a more important part than the River Brora 

 itself, for the bulk of the fish ascend this stream, and but com- 

 paratively few pass up the Brora proper. Immediately above the 

 loch is about three-quarters of a mile of dead water, into which, 

 when the river above is low, fish gather in great numbers ; and here, 

 when there is a stiff breeze, they may be taken with very small 

 flies. In this way Major Howey had seven one day, and on several 

 occasions Mr. Gunnis has had his half-dozen. From the 1st of 

 August, Balnakoil and Gordonbush divide this upper water between 

 them, beat No. i being from the Fall Pool of the Blackwater down 

 to the loch, and No. 2 extending from the top of the Fall Pool 

 for a considerable distance up the Blackwater, in which the fish 

 are beginning now to get somewhat off colour. They ascend the 

 Fall Pool during the first week or so in May, and passing up they 

 enter a rocky gorge, in which there are many good-looking casts ; 

 but, strange to say, in this bit of the water they seldom rise to the 

 fly. Above this gorge the river flows through a widish strath, and 

 here sport may confidently be expected. Just before the Black- 

 water joins the Brora is Pol Feddar, which, after the end of the 

 first week in March — depending on the size of the water — is the 

 best and largest of all the pools : on the 3rd of March 1894, Mr. 

 Gunnis had fish of 20 lb., 19 lb., 17 lb., and 7 lb, out of this pool. 



The following statistics, taken chiefly from the fish book of 

 Mr. Gunnis, will show the sport yielded by this river of late years. 



In 1891 — fishing from the 30th of March to the i8th of April 

 — Mr. Gunnis and Mr. E. Lort-Phillips had eighty-four fish, seven 

 of which came out of the New Pool on the 3rd of April to the rod 

 of the last-named gentleman. In the same season, from the 

 20th of April to the 28th of May, Mr. Gunnis, fishing alone, had 

 another sixty-two. 



In 1892, from the 6th of April to the 2nd of May, Mr. Gunnis 

 and his guest, Mr. C. Darley, had forty-nine fish. 



In 1893, from the 3rd of March to the i8th of April, Mr. Gunnis 

 had 115 fish, nearly the whole to his own rod. In that season, 

 on the 2ist of March, he had thirteen ; on the 22nd of March, 

 fourteen ; and on the 23rd nine, or thirty-six in the three days ! 



In 1895, Colonel Clifton had the Gordonbush rod (which is 

 sometimes let when Mr. Gunnis is in Somaliland), and from the 

 nth of February to the ist of April he got fifty fish. 



In 1897, Mr. Gunnis got sixty fish from the nth of February 

 to the 31st of March, and in April and part of May, Messrs. Brand, 



