126 



THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



RIGHT OR SOUTH BANK. 



Mugiemoss, i mile between Water- 

 ton and the Cruives. Let to 

 Mr. P. D. Malloch. 



Cruives of Don, 



Nether Don. 



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LEFT OR NORTH BANK. 



Grandholm, 4 miles. At times 

 very good autumn fishing. 

 Netted in netting season. Mr. 

 W. R. Paton, owner. Let to 

 Mr. P. D. Malloch. 



Cruives of Don. Netted in netting 

 season. Good rod fishing in 

 autumn. 



Nether Don, li miles from Seaton 

 House to the sea. Good sea 

 trout fishing. Netted during 

 netting season. 



The lower reaches of the Don are still and deep and abound with 

 pike ; those anghngs that are rented by Mr. P. D. Malloch, of Perth, 

 are let to a hmited number of rods, and some years ago ten of them 

 got an average of about seventy fish each in the two months after 

 the nets came off. For many j'ears past, however, the anghng of 

 the Don has fallen off so greatly that it has become difficult to gather 

 accurate details of the numbers of fish caught. Fifteen years ago 

 the Castle Xewe water used to yield from twenty to thirty fish each 

 season, and after the rod season ended plenty of spawners could 

 be seen in these upper waters. On Kildrummy water from seventy 

 to 100 fish used to be captured, but nowadays nothing approaching 

 this number are got, and it is rare even to see a couple of spawners 

 on the redds of Roughmyre and Kildrummy, where formerly a 100 

 couples could easily be counted. 



Of late years the whole of the spa\\-ning fish have been forced to 

 pack into the Saugh and Benzie Pools below Mugiemoss and Stoney- 

 wood dams — both famous poaching places. 



Wading trousers are wanted on many of the anghngs. The 

 local flies that kfil on the Dee will Idll here, though they should be 

 dressed rather smaller : also nearly all the standard patterns will 

 do quite as well, notably the silver bodies, Jock Scot and Gordon. 

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

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

 October. In addition to the fly, baits of all sorts are used, the 

 natural minnow being the most successful. 



The Don is certainly the best river friend the lawj-ers ever had, 

 for lengthy lawsuits about pollutions and water abstraction have 

 ever been rife. 



In 1902 the Fishery Board Reports state that " no rehable 

 information is to be had of takes made by nets or rods " ; but as 

 there are 16 water baihffs employed for most of the 3'ear it does not 

 say much for their powers of observation that they should profess 

 themselves unable to supply at least the rod catch on one or two of 



