The gHiK 71 



dressers. The favourite lures are Jock Scot, Black Doctor — here 

 called the Cromarty— Childers, Blue and Silver Doctors, and John 

 Ross's invention, " the Brown Dog " — something like a Childers, 

 and dressed as follows : — 



Silver twist yellow floss. 



Tail. Topping. 



Body. Yellow mohair, picked out ; silver tinsel. Half-way 

 up body a claret hackle ending at shoulder. 



Wing very spare of black and white turkey-bustard, two strands 

 of yellow dyed swan, and sprig of gold pheasant ruff, with topping 

 over all. 



Blue chatterer cheeks. 



Many of the other standard flies can also be used, the size varying 

 from an iron of three inches down to the smallest double-hooked 

 trout flies, according to the period of the year and weight of water. 



As showing how tightly these beats are held on to, it may be 

 mentioned that Dr. H. H. Almond has had February and March for 

 seventeen years, Mr. Lake has held Aprfl for nearly as long, while the 

 late Sir James Furguson Davie had May for over thirty years, with 

 Mr. Lewis D. Hall holding the August and September period for a 

 considerable time. 



From the loch to the Kyle there are altogether thirty-five named 

 casts and a good few " bitties," while the lower section has the 

 advantage of being fishable without waders. There is just about 

 three hours' smart work from the Big Falls to the sea, so that any 

 fairly hard worker can easily jish the water twice, or even three 

 times, in a day. Quite early in the year the upper pools are not of 

 much account, a state of affairs which is reversed after June, when 

 . he lower ones are not productive. 



To the friendly kindness of Dr. Almond I am indebted for my 

 first cast and my first fish on the Shin, on the 27th of March 1896. 

 I fished from the Big Falls to the top of the Cruive Pool without a 

 touch, and then had the luck to land a lively fish of 11 lb. After this 

 Mr. Almond joined me and fished down the pool again with a three- 

 inch Sflver Doctor, which quickly took the fancy of a bright eighteen- 

 pounder, soon to be laid on the bank alongside of mine. 



While fishing this pool I was greatly interested in the movements 

 of a hoodie crow and its extraordinary tameness. On pointing this 

 out to John Ross, he told me at this season of the year that particular 

 hoodie did nothing else in life to gain a living beyond watching and 

 waiting on a lot of Mackay's ducks, accustomed to paddle about in a 

 reedy bit of river close to the farmyard, and where they were in the 

 habit of nesting. Then, no sooner was an egg laid than Mr. Hoodie 

 proceeded to discover and devour it. The audacity and trust of 

 this crow had so pleased Mackay that orders had been given to leave 

 it unmolested. 



During the months of February and March 1896, Mr. Almond, 

 without fishing very hard, took sixty-eight salmon, of which a score 

 were 20 lb. or over, and the heaviest 30 — the lot averaging 16 lb. ; 



