CONDITIONS OF A GOOD GRILSE YEAR. 97 



portion are kept back, remain in the sea, and 

 never put in an appearance up the river until the 

 year following. The year 1885 was perhaps one 

 of the best grilse years in the Tay within the 

 memory of man. Grilse average a heavier weight 

 in the Tay than in any river of the United 

 Kingdom, except, perhaps, the Awe, in Argyllshire, 

 where they run up to 10 lbs. in weight as early 

 as the month of June. I have seen the cast of 

 a grilse caught in the Tay that weighed 14 lbs., 

 which, I should think, must be the largest on 

 record. In the autumn of 1885, out of 163 

 fish killed on the Stanley water by Sir Hussey 

 Vivian, Bart., and myself, only fifty-nine scaled 

 over 10 lbs. A great many weighed 1 1 lbs. and 

 1 2 lbs., and were all grilse. Large numbers of them 

 continued to run into the Tay in 1885 up to 

 December, and I was informed on good authority 

 that when the nets were drawn in that year 

 for the purpose of procuring ova for scientific 

 purposes, there were ten grilse to every salmon 



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