20 THE SALMOX RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



on his side have not been fished over by his more energetio 

 neighbour. 



Starting from the Kyle, the two miles nearest the sea on the 

 right bank belong to Sir Kenneth Matheson of Gledfield, and to his 

 kindness I owe the pleasure of a long talk with old Lachlan Monro, 

 a hale and most sensible old keeper of Sir Kenneth's, who has known 

 the river for the last fifty years ; and when he first remembers it, it 

 was easier to kill five or six fish in a day than one now. This he 

 puts down to the improvements in netting ; in the forties most of 

 it was done by net and coble, and as in those days only shallow nets 

 were used, fishing could only be prosecuted at half to low tide, and 

 the fish had far better chances of entering the river than they have 

 with the deep nets that now never cease working day and night, 

 " one out, the other in." 



Opposite Gledfield, about the first mile upwards belongs to Mr. 

 A. Little] ohn of Invercharron, who has the right of the net at Carron 

 Mouth, a right which for the last four seasons he has very liberally 

 abandoned in order to secure a better breeding stock of fish and 

 better sport. About two hundred yards above Carron Bridge, 

 on the left bank, the Invercharron property ends, and Sir 

 Charles Ross's Braelangwell Reach begins and goes up for nearly 

 six miles. 



These lower reaches of Gledfield and Invercharron are let 

 occasionally, and for information on this head it is best to write to 

 M'Leod, the innkeeper of the Balnagowan Arms at Bonar Bridge, 

 only a few yards from the station, and less than a mile from the river, 

 for it is at this comfortable inn that the Carron anglers must stay. 

 These lower reaches fish best in March and April (the 15th of March 

 to the 20th of April is the picked time), and each should yield from 

 twenty to twenty-five fish, although in an unusually bad season the 

 take has not been anything like as high as that. The best pools in 

 these lower beats are : The Boat Pool, nearest to the Kyle, Jetty 

 Pools, Railway Bridge Pool, Whirling Pool, Raven or Rocky Pool, 

 and hereabouts Invercharron water ends and Braelangwell begins 

 and runs up for some six miles. 



Then comes Gledfield Pool, Little Fall, Macgregors, i\Iackenzies, 

 and here the Gledfield water ends and the Countess of Cromatrie's 

 Dunie reach begins at the Dunie Burn. This fishing is rented by 

 Mr. Littlejohn, who lets it with Invercharron. Following this is 

 the Clump Pool, Long Pool, Hiding Pool, Mrs. Ross' Pool, and then 

 begins the Gruinard water, belonging to Mr. R. T. Coupland, which 

 is some four miles in length, and holds the Corner Pool, Lower and 

 Upper Bulwark, Ore's Pool, Gruinard House Pool, Stream Pool, 

 Moral, the Keeper's Pool. 



At the top of Braelangwell the Amat water, belonging to Mr. 

 F. T. Gervers, commences, and here, after good heavy rain, plenty 

 of fish may at times be killed, as many as twenty-two in a day 

 having been taken by Colonel Long some thirty years ago. At 

 the top of the Gruinard water Mr. W. AUis-Smith of Glencalvie 



