204 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



ever killed three grilse in a day. After the middle of May the 

 Garry season can be said to end, though in some years a few fish 

 may be got even a little later. The average weight is 17 lb. ; no 

 wading is necessary, but fishing boots reaching to the knee are 

 useful. The best take ever made was in 1884, when two rods took 

 420 salmon by the end of April. 



In 1892 two rods had 124 fish with a 15 lb. average ; in 1893 

 the take was nearly 100, averaging 16 lb. In 1895 the Duke of 

 Portland had the water and has kept it ever since ; in that year the 

 river was not fishable until the 8th of March on account of snow 

 and ice, the latter being nearly twenty inches thick on Loch Oich ; 

 from that date to the 12th of April the Duke and Lord Berkeley 

 Paget had in about thirty days' angling no less than 142 fish, the 

 heaviest of which was 32 lb., while the lot made the splendid 

 average of 17 lb. 



In 1897, from the 17th of February to the loth of March, the 

 same rods had fifty fish of 15 lb., while in 1899, from the nth of 

 February to the 8th of March, these two rods had but twenty-nine 

 fish of 17 lb. It will be seen, therefore, how even this fine river 

 varies in the yield, while it is also remarkable that, in spite of the 

 splendid average weight, no fish of 40 lb. has ever been taken, 

 and up to date 37 lb. is the top weight. 



There are two carriage bridges across the river, one between 

 the hotel and Invergarry House, and another a mile below the 

 falls, while lower down, about the middle of the river, there is a 

 foot-bridge. The spates that come are seldom dirty, and the 

 river is fishable as soon as it begins to go back. In the early 

 part of the season, flies dressed on two and a half inch irons may be 

 used, the size decreasing as the water gets smaller and the season 

 advances. No other lure is permitted in the river, but a Phantom 

 minnow is used in Loch Oich. The favourite flies are : Beauly, 

 Silver Beauly, Jock Scot, Silver Doctor, Gordon, Childers, and 

 Wilkinson. 



There are twenty-one pools on the river as follows, but those 

 with an asterisk against them are only small places that fish in 

 low water : * Falls, * Otter's Hole, Little Crooked, Big Crooked, 

 * Black Hole, Chest, Upper MiU Pool, Lower Mill Pool, Englishman, 

 Dog, Shot, Rea Stream, Long, Cairn, Lunde, * Flag, Bridge, Point, 

 Carry, House, River Mouth. 



