CHAPTER XXV 



THE CRERAN 



Is a short, rapid river, draining thirt\'-fLve square miles of the 

 hilly country lying between Ballachulish and the Dalness Forest. 

 After a course of about six miles it is joined by the Ure, a small 

 stream affording good spawning ground, though too small for rod- 

 Irshing. A little farther down it enters the Loch of Fasnacloich, 

 from the foot of which it has a further run of two miles before it 

 falls into the salt water of the long and narrow Loch of Creran, 

 some twenty miles to the north of Oban, the spring tides reaching 

 to within three-quarters of a mile of the loch. 



It opens for nets and rods on the nth of February, closing for 

 the former on the 26th of August and for the latter on the 31st of 

 October. Here we have one more instance of a too early opening, 

 for the Creran is a late river, in which clean fish are rarely seen 

 before the ist of May. June and July are the best months, and the 

 run of fish is usuall_v over before August commences, so much so 

 that the Barcaldine nets are generally taken oft' at the end of July, 

 as they do not pay their expenses after that. The nets of Barcaldine 

 to the south of Creran moulh, and those recently started on the Loch 

 Nell property, near Eurka Island, take the bulk of the fish that would 

 ascend the river. Thus the average take of the Creran and Loch 

 Fasnacloich is brought down to thirty or forty fish, which includes 

 those taken by occasionally netting one pool in the river. They 

 average 12 lb., although in each season some are taken of 20 to 

 251b. 



A grilse rod wiU do all that is required, while nearly any of the 

 small standard patterns will kill, and those most in favour on the 

 Awe are equally good here, whether for salmon or sea trout. 



The Creran itself can, however, hardly be called a salmon 

 river as far as sport is concerned, for though they are at times 

 taken with a worm by persons fishing for sea trout, there are but 

 few, if indeed any, instances of salmon ever having been captured 

 with the fly and the take to that lure, and therefore all the sport 

 is in the loch, which, however, fish can only reach in times of moder- 

 ate flood ; for these reasons in a dry season nearly all the fish are 

 caught in the sea nets or poached by the Oban scringers. 



The right of fishing in the Loch of Fasnacloich belongs to Mr. 

 J. C. Stewart, and has been rented for many years by Colonel 

 Spencer Stanhope, C.B. In reply to inquiries addressed to him 



