THE^LOCHY AND TRIBUTARIES 2ig 



of the stream, a little below the Suspension Bridge. Into it a stout 

 iron ring had been fastened, to which our boat was tied ; then 

 letting out some thirty ysLvds of line, the rapid current kept the fly 

 near the surface, while by moving the rod point from side to side, 

 the lure could be shown to every fish entering the river, for they 

 never came into the pool without making a splash as they passed up 

 the shallow at the tail of it. On that day fish were running fast, for 

 certainly between fifty and eighty went by us in about an hour and 

 a half, each one offering a certain amount of excitement as it neared 

 the fl}'. At last one small fellow did lay hold, and was duly brought 

 to the gaff ; but it turned out the blackest, lanldest, and most un- 

 eatable-looking creature I had ever set eyes on. The ghillie said it 

 was " just an Arkaig beastie " ; but I doubt if he knew much 

 about it, and being a Spean man, it is likely enough he tried to 

 shift the responsibility for the uncanny creature on to another 

 river. 



On the tidal pools of this Beat 7 there have often been made 

 some fairly good catches of sea trout. In i8go, the take of salmon 

 and sea trout from this beat weighed 200 lb., which may be 

 accepted as about an average one. 



The best flies for the Lochy are Black Doctor, Black Spean, 

 Jock Scot, Lizzie, Peacock, Sir Richard, Thunder and Lightning, and 

 Amethyst. The only one of these which is not commonly known 

 is the last named, which is dressed as follows : — 



Double hook. Size 6 and smaller. 



Tag. Two turns fine silver twist. 



Tail. Topping and sprig of ruff. 



Body. One turn pale yellow mohair, two turns of dark amethyst- 

 coloured ditto, two turns of black ditto ; very fine double silver 

 twist from tail to shoulder ; black hackle from half-way up body. 



Wings. Two strips of common, mottled brown turkey. 



For sea trout, the March Brown and small Jock Scot are the 

 most kilhng. 



The deep pools of the Spean will take a slightly larger fly than 

 those of the Lochy, and they can be dressed on irons ranging from 

 sizes 3, 4, and 5. 



The Muccomer is essentially a pool for small flies, dressed on 

 double hooks, ranging from No. 6 as the largest down to the very 

 smallest. 



In quite early spring there is no fly kills on No. 3 beat so well as 

 the Beauly or the Silver Eagle, dressed on irons of 5/0 and 4/0. At 

 this season also the Devon minnow and the prawn will both kill, 

 though the rocky nature of the river bed prevents the latter lure 

 from being freely used. The most killing bait of all, when well 

 fished, is the worm, nicely threaded on a Kendal bend hook, with 

 the leads twisted on horsehair and fastened some thirty inches 

 above the worm. This tackle wiU do great execution if in the 

 hands of a man who knows the business. The chief art consists in 

 the nice adjustment of the amount of lead to the strength of the 



