298 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



taken with a 2/0 Jock Scot at the tail of Finford Head, and was 

 killed in about twenty minutes, though I had to cross the river to 

 prevent his going through the rough water and rocks between 

 Finford Head and Finford Stream. He was a beautiful fish, fresh 

 from the sea, although without sea hce, in perfect order. Length, 

 48 in. ; girth, 27J in. ; breadth of tail, 13 in." 



From these experiences of Lord Ruthven and Colonel Clarke 

 Jervoise it will be seen that it is just as well to attack the autumn 

 fish of the Taj' provided with a steelyard that will weigh up to 

 60 lb., for it is rather a pity not to know the e.xact weight of such 

 very heavy fish. 



In my book of Shooting and Salmon Fishing there is given 

 a method by which a steelyard may be made to show the weight 

 of any fish, and as the " dodge " does not seem to be well known 

 to anglers, I mention it again. Suppose a fish is judged to be 50 lb. 

 and the available steelyard will only weigh up to 40 lb., then select 

 a stone of over 10 lb., weigh it exactly, and tie a cord round it, the 

 end of which pass through the ring at the top of the steelyard and 

 fasten it taut to the hook on which the fish is to be suspended 

 for weighing. Then place the fish on the hook, and before its 

 weight can tell on the indicator of the steelyard it will have to 

 raise the weight of the stone, and that added to what the indicator 

 then marks will be the total weight of the fish. Thus a fifty-pounder 

 having raised a stone of 15 lb. will lower the indicator to 35 lb. 



I have never had the good fortune to be in a position to experi- 

 ment with one of 50 lb., but have often tested the loss of weight in 

 fish of from 20 lb. to 25 lb., and " minnows " like these have always 

 shown a decrease in twenty-four hours of nearly 2 lb. ; therefore 

 if the loss is in proportion to the weight, then a fish weighing 

 50 lb. twenty-four hours after his capture would have scaled 54 lb. 

 at the riverside. From the foregoing it will be seen that a beat 

 on Stobhall, whether in spring or in autumn, leaves but little to be 

 desired. 



As Taymouth ends Burnmouth commences — a short stretch 

 of ten pools, under a mile in length, but all of it good, the lowest 

 catch bring specially so. 



Below Burnmouth, and still opposite Stobhall, the Stanley 

 water comes in, on which there are many fine casts ; and it was 

 from the Mill Stream here that in October 1895, Lord Zetland 

 got his fish of 55 lb. with a Claret Major— length, 50 in. ; girth, 

 30 in. 



The Stanley water also fished right well in the spring of 1900, 

 for Mr. H. P. Holford had a beat on it for six weeks from the opening, 

 and managed to average nearly a fish a day of 17 lb. mean weight. 

 As bad luck would have it, he liappened to miss the best day, when 

 old Joseph Panton took for him on the 19th of February, six fish 

 of 28 lb., 18 lb., 16 lb., 13 lb., 10 lb., and 10 lb. — a record day on 

 Stanley at that time of year. Colonel Philpots had the other beat, 

 and, I believe, did nearly as well. 



