226 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



dealt with in the same fair and Uberal spirit, we should not now be 

 hearing the continuous outcry about the scarcity of salmon. A 

 few riparian owners on the estuary have agitated, fortunately un- 

 successfully, for a revision and curtailment in order that they might 

 be able to make money by the letting of such fresh bag-nets as the 

 shortening of the estuary would make room for — that is, one or two 

 people would hke to be better off at the expense of a great many. 



^ The Beauly river is also a sharer in the benefits conferred by 

 this well-fixed estuary, which is some eleven miles below Ness 

 mouth, and fully twenty from that of the Beauly. 



^ The Ness is weU watched, while the large and varied population 

 hving on its banks all contribute to render poaching very difficult, 

 and for these reasons offences against the by-laws are seldom 

 heard of. The chief offenders in this respect are the numerous 

 seals in the estuary, for whose suppression no effectual method has 

 yet been devised. Their depredations are ably seconded by the 

 many predaceous sea birds, whose ravages would, however, be 

 fairly well kept under if the Wild Birds Preservation Act were 

 repealed as against them during the two months \\-hen the smolts go 

 to the sea, for the very shallow waters of this estuary give these 

 interesting and pretty robbers opportunities which they do not get 

 in deeper ones. 



There is usually a small amount of disease in the river, chiefly 

 confined to autumn fish and kelts, which, however, has diminished 

 since the town sewage was diverted from the Ness in 1889. 



The river always yields some heavy fish each season, though 

 I cannot hear of any that have exceeded 40 lb. August and 

 September are the best months, for the October fish are turning 

 colour. The best flies are Brown Dog, Thunder and Lightning, 

 Black Doctor, and Dunkeld, the size governed by the state of the 

 water. Bait fishing is not prohibited, and Brown's Phantom and 

 par tail are the best lures. There is no record of the use of the 

 natural minnow spun on Dee tackle, and probably, if it were tried, 

 it would beat all other baits. Wading trousers are necessary, while 

 some of the wading is nearly as bad as it can be. 



Of recent years eleven fish to a single rod in a day is about 

 the best record, but some twenty-four years ago as many as thirty- 

 four salmon were one day laid on the bank of the Maclntyre Pool 

 before nine o'clock in the morning. 



The average weight of salmon is about 12 lb., and grilse 7 lb. 

 There are plenty of sea trout, and perhaps ten of them are caught 

 for every brown trout. They take the Blue Dun, the Mallard 

 Wing, and the Landrail Wing ; but for all these local patterns the 

 angler cannot do better than go to such knowledgable makers in the 

 town of Inverness as Messrs. Graham or Messrs. Watson. 



From the point where the river leaves Loch Ness the angling of 

 both banks for about two miles belongs to Mr. Baillie of Dochfour. 

 Below this comes i\Ir. C. Fountaine Walker's Ness Castle stretch of 

 about a mile on each bank, the Black Stream and Lady's Pool being 



