Bb tHE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



Inchard, Laxford, Inver, or Kirkaig ; in the same year the united 

 take to rod and hne of these four rivers was about 200 fish ! ! 



Of late years the average take of salmon and grilse is a Httle 

 over 100 fish, about equally divided between the tenants of the 

 two shootings and the two hotels already mentioned ; but verily I 

 believe that the Duke of Sutherland could easily make the angling 

 of this river jdeld him £1000 a year wdthout losing his netting 

 rental, or, at any rate, but a very small part of it ! 1 



On the Lower Beat, commencing from the sea, there are seven- 

 teen casts and some bits as foUows : The Bridge Pool, looks very 

 good, but is not of much account ; the Carpenter's Pool, a good cast, 

 and here, in 1857, the author killed his first fish ; the Rocky Pool ; 

 Little Rock Pool ; MiU Pool, a fine big pot ; Hog's Back Pool ; 

 Ladder Pool, so called from an iron ladder fixed at the tail, by which 

 the perpendicular chff can be ascended and a fish followed into 

 Hog's Back — a fine bit of sport, requiring an active man to carry it 

 through, and even then the odds are in favour of the fish ; Grave 

 Pool, so called from some large flat stones on the bank resembhng 

 gravestones. At the tail of this there is another iron ladder for the 

 same purpose as the one described above ; PoUan Pool — this is 

 Lord B^o^vnlow's favourite, and very good ; PoUachree Pool ; 

 Scramble Pool, a big, fine pool ; Corner Pool, not an easy one to 

 reach dry-shod ; Red Pool — from this pool, in 1897, Lord Brown- 

 low's butler and gardener, getting leave for a cast, had the luck 

 to take the two biggest fish of the season, 3ilb. and 26 lb. ; Island 

 Pool, long, good, and pretty fishing ; Dyke Pool ; Whirlpool, one 

 of the best ; the Long Pool, also good. 



Above this the Upper Beat begins with the Deer Pool. In 

 this stretch the river frequently opens out into small lakelets ; the 

 water is shaUower than on the lower one, and the best time is from 

 the middle of August to the end of September, the Minister's Pool, 

 the Narrows, and the Black Pool being the best casts. One of the 

 features of the Assynt district is the great extent and number of 

 trouting lochs which can be fished by anglers staying at the hotels 

 of Culag, Inchnadamph, and Altnacealgach ; they aU lie on the last 

 thirty miles of the high road from Lairg to Loch Inver, and for 

 those who are fond of loch fishing each offers plenty of attraction. 

 From Altnacealgach as many as 22,000 trout have been caught in a 

 season, averaging three to the pound, while the other two hotels 

 are not far behind this score. In some of the lochs there are ferox 

 also to be got. The charge for ghillies is three-and-sixpence a day 

 and one-and-ninepence for their lunch, which is rather too high for 

 the food. However, the season is short, and it is a case of making 

 hay while the sun shines. 



I was much amused by the ghillie of a trout fisher who could 

 not settle whether he would fish salt or fresh water. \^Tiile his 

 master went off to think matters over, Donald, with both hands 



1 Since this was written an arrangement has been made with the Clachtoll 

 nets lor a longer weekly close time. 



