A MONSTER SALMON. 155 



proprietors that the annual close-time is too long (it extends from 

 August 20 to February 5), and that the net season, in some 

 years, might be advantageously lengthened if a permissive 

 clause were added to the present Act, in order to suit certain 

 contingencies which in some years influence the takes of fish ; 

 but it is perhaps best to leave well alone, especially where the 

 proprietary is numerous, and not likely to be all of one mind on 

 the subject of close time. The Tay is now in a flourishing con- 

 dition, and so far as can be foreseen at present its salmon-fish- 

 eries are likely to go on increasing in value for many years to 

 come, showing that the Acts of Parliament passed during late 

 years have operated beneficially. The Tay is a salmon river far 

 excellence, and the breeding power of the stream is now allowed 

 to be better developed, and the fish have chances of obtaining a 

 longer lease of life than was the case long ago ; consequently 

 salmon have become of more value both in a commercial and 

 sporting sense. Indeed it is obviously better that the spawn- 

 ing " redds " of a river should be occupied by fish yielding 30,000 

 eggs than by others which would only yield half the number. 

 It is not only the number of fish which are annually caught, 

 but the number which escapes the net and reaches the breeding 

 grounds that renders a salmon stream truly valuable. Nothing 

 is more certain than that if no seed be sown no harvest can be 

 gathered, and only one salmon egg out of a thousand, it is said, 

 yields a fish for the dinner table. 



As regards the Tay fisheries, the present season [1873] 

 which has just closed as these sheets go through the press, may 

 be said to have ended in a blaze of triumph. It was signalised 

 by the taking of some very large fish — one of 60 and another of 

 64 lbs. weight. I measured the 60 lb. salmon : in length it was 

 4 feet 3 inches, and in girth 2 feet 8 J inches ; its circumfer- 

 ence at the narrowest part of the tail was 11|. inches, and the 

 breadth of the fan was 13 inches. I did not see the 64 lb. 

 salmon, nor the fish of 58 lb. that had been taken a few days 

 before at one of Mr. Speedie's shots, but I saw at one time 

 about 300 fish that had been all taken from the Tay, among 

 which were a great number of heavy salmon. A few days 

 before my visit, Mr. Speedie's boats brought to his fish-packing 

 house a haul of over 900 fish ! 



The river Spey is an excellent salmon-producing stream; 

 in fact, size considered, it is the richest in Scotland, the fishings 

 at Speymouth being worth £12,000 per annum. The Spey 



