of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



281 



Taking the figures of rod-caught salmon and grilse in Loch Lomond for the 

 last ten years, the first quinquennial period, 1904-8, shows 308 fish 

 (average 61 per season) ; the second, 1909-13, shows 638 fish (average 

 127 per season). 



2. The catch in. relation to that of former years was : — 



(a) By sweep net — Below the average. 



(6) By rod and line — Salmon above, grilse below, the average ; sea 

 trout, average. 



3. Expressed as percentages for each month of the season, so as to show the 



times of greatest run, the figures are : — 





Feb. 



Mar. 



Apr. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



C Salmon 

 *By Sweep Net \ and Grilso 

 I Sea Trout 











16 

 13 



84 

 75 



12 







r Salmon 

 By Rod and Line j and Grilse 

 I Sea Trout 





1 



5 



5 

 1 



32 



5 



22 

 6 



12 

 18 



7 

 23 



101 



251 



11 



2U 



* The netting is for so short a period and so intermittent that figures are worthless. 



4. Sea trout : — The number taken was (1) in the estuary nets, below, and 



(2) by rod and line in Loch Lomond about the general average of 

 previous years. But although there was apparently a short crop of 

 sea trout, the yield to the rod would have been much higher had there 

 not been a period of drought and consistent calms lasting from mid- 

 June to mid-October. The rod yield in this district is, as regards sea 

 trout, never a. fair indication of the stock of fish. The quality of the 

 fish got was poor, many being obviously ill-nourished, in marked con- 

 trast to the salmon, which were exceptionally good. 



5. The weight of the heaviest salmon taken during the season was 21^ lb. It 



was caught in Loch Lomond on trolling tackle on April 22. 



Protection— 



1. The water bailifi^s employed vary in number, the system having been 



described in former reports. 



2. Particulars as to prosecutions instituted are briefly as follows : — There was 



an unfortunate recrudescence of poaching on the river Leven, wholly 

 attributable to pollution, which was intensified by a protracted period 

 of drought in mid -summer when the heaviest run of grilse and sea trout 

 normally occurs. As many as 36 cases were brought into court, all for 

 the illegal gafifing of the sickened fish, and at Dumbarton in all the cases 

 convictions were obtained. A case of illegal fishing with rake hooks was 

 detected on the river Endrick at the Pot of Gartness, and the two 

 offenders were prosecuted and convicted at Stirling. Were it not for the 

 temptations offered by the sick fish in the polluted Leven, the absence 

 of poaching would be a marked feature of the whole Clyde and Leven 

 district. 



Obstructions to the Passage of Fish— 



The attention of the Inspector may be called to the practice of certain of 

 the works on the Leven of extending an arm of wood into the main 

 channel of the river in low water to divert the stream (apparently) into 

 the mouth of the intakes of the lades. The effect must be to alter to 

 some extent the natural flow of water to the prejudice of ascending fish. 



