142 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



one in every two hundred and seventv vards ? Another example of 

 that greedy and unscrupulous over-netting which, if not restricted, 

 will eventually ruin alike our salmon fisheries and salmon anglings. 

 The Findhorn estuary also requires revising, and should be \^'idened ; 

 and if the hmits on this and on aU other rivers were clearly marked 

 by posts, a good deal of misconception would be avoided, for the 

 existing definitions of many of the estuaries are very puzzUng 

 reading. 



Here is the description of the one belonging to the Findhorn. 

 " A line dra\\'n due north from the outermost of the two shipping 

 piers of the town of Findhorn as extends from high-water mark 

 outwards to two hundred yards below low water of equinoctial 

 spring tides ; on the v est a line parallel \vith and one and a half 

 mile distant from the foregoing described hne, and also extending 

 outwards from high- water mark to two hundred vards below low 

 water of equinoctial spring tides, and on the north a line of two 

 hundred yards out from low water of equinoctial spring tides, 

 and connecting the outer ends of the two lines hereinbefore 

 described." 



Now, dear reader, if you want a puzzle to while away time on 

 a non-fishing day, take pencil and paper and try and draw the 

 Findhorn estuar\'. It will occupy vou the best part of half an 

 hour, and it is no certainty then that j^ou vvill have solved the 

 problem correctly ; therefore, how can uneducated fishermen be 

 expected to work out such an intricate matter ? 



Though the Findhorn opens on nth February, the chief run 

 of salmon is in April and Ma^' ; grilse and sea trout foUow at the 

 end of June, the latter seldom passing above the Sluie Pool. Each 

 season yields some heavy fish to the nets, but the average may be 

 taken as 12 lb. for salmon, between 3 and 4 for grilse, and i lb. for 

 sea trout. 



Sluie Pool is ten miles from the sea, the intermediate water 

 being netted by Messrs. Hogarth for the first six miles from the 

 mouth ; above that comes the Earl of Moray's Darnaway Castle 

 reach on both banks ; next above, on the right bank, is Mrs. Ernald 

 Smith's beautiful stretch of Relugas ; above that, and still on 

 the right bank, is the Earl of Leven and Melville's Glenfemess, 

 with 'Sir. Alexander Brodie's Lethen water opposite, and in posses- 

 sion of both banks as Glenferness ends ; above this follows Earl 

 Cawdor's stretch of the river for some miles on both banks ; and 

 again above this, on the right bank, come Corneybrough Clune 

 and Dalmigavie, while on the left bank above the Cawdor water 

 come Moy Hall, Tomatin, Kylachy, and Glenmazeran. But these 

 upper reaches are not of much account, although in the spawning 

 season the fish ascend to within a few miles of Coignafeam Lodge. 

 The netting season ends on the 26th of August, and the rods cease 

 on the loth of October, though for several years past it has been 

 urged by some of the proprietors that it should be continued till 

 the end of the month. Nearly all the standard flies will kill, but 



