THE BROOM 187 



and that when they went spearing they used to be accompanied 

 by thirty or forty crofters, who each received a fish for himself. 



In answer to queries sent to him by the Fishery Board in 1883, 

 Sir John Fowler wrote that " The take of fish is graduaUy diminish- 

 ing. Sea trout have almost disappeared. I impute this to scringing 

 or trawling off the mouths of rivers by crews with long seine nets 

 with a small mesh. Several crews from Ullapool and the district 

 fish regularly during July, August, and September near the mouths 

 of the Broom and Ullapool rivers. When prosecuted, their defence 

 is that they are fishing for herrings, cuddies, or white fish. Thirty 

 years ago eight to ten fish a day to a rod was not uncommon on 

 the Broom. Now from fifty to fifty-five are killed in a season, and 

 about a dozen sea trout. Bag-nets have likewise enormously 

 diminished the supply of fish to this coast. The bye-laws regulat- 

 ing the observance of a weekly close time by stake- and bag-nets 

 are only fairly well observed. The penalties should be more 

 severe. The weekly close time is not sufficient, and should be 

 increased to sixty hours instead of as at j^resent thirty-six. Either 

 this should be done, or there should be a close time of a whole 

 fortnight during the grilse run." Which last suggestion of the 

 late Sir John Fowler appears an excellent one and well worth 

 serious consideration. 



Up till recently Sir Arthur Mackenzie of Coul owned about a 

 mile of the lowest part of the left bank ; but when he sold Inverlael 

 to j\Ir. W. E. Gilmour, the fishing, of course, passed with the pro- 

 perty, and now belongs to that gentleman, who is himself a hard- 

 working, good angler. 



The Broom opens on the nth of February, closes for nets on 

 26th of August, and for rods on 31st of October. Clean fish are 

 rarely caught before the middle of April, while July, August, and 

 September are the best months. No waders are required ; a 

 fourteen-foot rod will cover all the pools. The fly is the only 

 lure used, and Jock Scot, Thunder and Lightning, and the silver- 

 bodied ones are the favourites, though nearly any of the standard 

 patterns will kill if dressed on small hooks. The river rises and faUs 

 quickly. Fish average about 10 lb. and sea trout i lb. The best 

 flies for these are the same as for salmon, only dressed very small. 



