THE THURSO 83 



macaw, covered with three jungle-cock feathers on either side, 

 arranged so as to form a happy sequence. 



The other fly was tied by Colonel Rock, and is simple, a sort of 

 " canary," on an iron the same size as above. 



Tail. Red ibis. 



Body. Bright yellow mohair ; silver tinsel and mohair picked 

 out between the turns in an ascending scale ; a yellow parrot hackle 

 at shoulder, and the wing strips of bright yellow dyed swan, with two 

 strands of red macaw over all. 



This fly will kill in highly-coloured water in other rivers than the 

 Thurso, for I put it on one day when fishing the lower Careysville 

 water of the Blackwater in Ireland, and quickly got five fish with it. 



To the fly-tying amateur, therefore, the Thurso offers an endless 

 field for inventions, but for February and March " big and bright " 

 are the passwords to success. Any lure may be used, but the fly 

 is the best, for those trying bait continuously have ever been the 

 least successful. From the ist of July, however, when the angling 

 goes with the shootings of Strathmore and Braal Castle, no other 

 lure than the fly is allowed. 



At present the river is divided into eight beats, so that each rod 

 has a daily beat on the loch as well as one on the river. Beats 

 Nos. I and 2, nearest to the sea, are seldom fished after February. 

 The weather cannot be too mild for the early fish, and is more often 

 than not a great deal too severe for sport. Each beat holds plenty 

 of fishing, and No. 7 is the most sporting of the lot. It begins 

 some mile and a half below Strathmore Lodge, and from its starting- 

 point at "The Old Woman's Pool," "The Sauce Pool," "Maggie 

 Stumpie," " Bridge Pool," " Long Pool," " Castle Pool," and 

 " Devil's Pool," which is about half the beat, are all fine quick- 

 running casts with very little, if any, dead water. The syndicate 

 use fish-shaped wicker baskets for packing, procured from the Blind 

 Institute at HuU, which are excellent for the purpose, and I venture 

 to hope some of my readers may give them a trial, for they will do 

 themselves and the Charity a good turn ; they are cheaper than 

 boxes, and are very quickly fastened up. 



Loch More begins to be good about the end of March ; it is a 

 small, circular, shallow loch of some two miles in circumference, and 

 about a quarter of an hour's drive from Strathmore Lodge. In 

 taking what I trust may be only a paper leave of the Thurso — for I 

 hope yet to see it once more — I must tender my best thanks to my 

 friend, Frank Enys, for his kind help, and I am sure the rest of the 

 syndicate wiU join with me in wishing him many tight lines for many 

 years to come. 



In 1902 the rods took 139 salmon and grilse. 



In 1903 the rods took 414 salmon and grilse. 



In 1904 — February, 14 ; March, 50 ; April, 86 ; May, 90 = 240 fish. 



In 1905 — February, 23 ; March, 91 ; April, 115 ; May, 71 ; 

 June, 18 ; July, 24 ; August, 49 ; September, 41 =432 fish — heaviest, 

 251b. 



