THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 55 



season on Loch Tay is a short one, and commences 

 on the 5 th of February. During that and the 

 two following months angling is at its best, but 

 in May it begins to fall off as nearly all the fish 

 run through the Loch into the Dochart, whilst 

 in June the sport is quite at an end. As there 

 are no gravid fish in Loch Tay in November, 

 I never could understand why the law should 

 prohibit the capture in that month of fish by 

 far superior in quality to those imported into 

 our markets from the Rhine during the winter 

 months, and allow rod-fishing on the Tweed and 

 other rivers during November, when nine-tenths 

 of the fish caught are in a gravid condition. I 

 consider that the close time for rods in the 

 main river and tributaries of the Tay should be 

 from the loth of October, at the very latest, 

 to the 1st of January, and from the ist of 

 August to the 15th of November in the Loch 

 itself. It is to be regretted that people whose 

 function it is to fix the date of the close time in 



