THE EARN 261 



dressing on a No. 4 hook. I was alone, so had to gaff him for my- 

 self just opposite the Dupplin kitchen gardens, some three-quarters 

 of a mile below where the fight began forty-five minutes earlier ; 

 and as, after that ended, I got seven others, of from 19 lb. to 8 lb., 

 it was indeed a red-letter day. 



The whole of this water, with the exception of Dick's from the 

 north bank, can be fished dry-shod. Like every other stretch of 

 angling, whether good or bad, this one suffers equally with them 

 all from the eccentricities of the clerk of the weather, and too much 

 rain is just as bad as too little. The river here takes several days 

 to clear from the effects of a real heavy flood, for as the banks are 

 mostly of earth, they are liable to wash away in masses, and when 

 that happens the water below is made extra muddy. Throughout 

 the whole course of this river the banks want careful watching and 

 preserving, while those that show signs of " going " should be dealt 

 with at once, for the neglect may entail not only the loss of a salmon 

 pool or two, but an eventual heavy outlay where at first a small one 

 would have sufficed to stop the whole mischief. 



The Dupplin Reserved water, with which is let the house of 

 Aberdalgie, was afterwards rented by Mr. A. Wynne Corrie, who, with 

 his guests, took 144 fish out of it in the season of 1899 ; thirteen was 

 his best day, while the two heaviest weights were 36 lb. and 37 lb. 



The lessee of this section also usually has the right of a day or 

 two a week on Dupplin Loch, a pretty circular sheet of water sur- 

 rounded by woods, where the trout give fine sport and delicious 

 eating ; in fact, for the table they are the very best in all Scotland. 

 They run from i lb. up to 4 lb. — nearly 3 lb. is the average — so, 

 therefore, the angler cannot expect to take several dozen of these 

 big fellows in the day ; but one three-pounder is worth a great 

 many small fish, and thus quality more than makes up for quantity. 

 I have fished this loch a few times, and my best day was five trout 

 weighing 17 lb. 



The Dupplin Lower Water begins as the Reserved ends, and 

 goes down to a little below the Caledonian Railway Bridge. There 

 are seven good pools on it, viz. Lower Sauchie, Condie, Sauchie 

 Dyke, Mains, Forgandenny, the Ford, and Bridge Pool. It is 

 chiefly slow-flowing water, which often holds very heavy fish — six 

 to one rod in a day is the best ever done on it in recent years, and 

 the average take is from forty to sixty each season. 



With regard to the best flies for the Earn, as the river is hard 

 fished by many anglers, there is scarcely a pattern that is not 

 given a chance. The Doctors, Dusty Miller, Wilkinson, WiUyams, 

 Jock Scot, Claret, YeUow, and Blue Wasps, Shannon, Winterton, 

 Benchill, with Mr. Kelson's Red Drake, D'Eresby, the Kendle, 

 Black Fancy, and Variegated Sun Fly, are as good a selection as is 

 possible. Personally, I hardly used any others than my own pattern 

 of Blue Doctor,' the WUlyams, and a Dusty Miller, dressed on irons 

 ranging from two inches down to the very smallest. 



' See chapter on " The Awe," p. 85. 



