of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 25 



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

 times of greatest run, the figures are : — 





Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



April. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. 



Sept. 



C Salmon, 

 #By Fixed Engine-! Grilse, 

 (Trout, 







'1 

 •4 



1-9 



26-0 

 •4 

 10-5 



32 9 

 16-0 

 13-0 



36-5 

 77-1 

 68-1 



2 -6 

 6-5 

 8'0 





C Salmon, 

 fJBy Sweep Net < Grilse, 

 (Trout, 







10-0 



57 



34-0 

 1-4 

 9-2 



26-0 

 50-0 

 68-2 



8-1 

 29-3 

 22-6 



16-2 

 19-3 





§By Rod and ( Salmon, \ 

 Line (Grilse, J 



•7 



4-5 



17-6 



17-83 



167 



14-71 



15-7 



5-56 



6-7 



* West Coast bag nets. f Brora sweep nets, 



X Fishing on river suspended till 1st May ; figures shown in March and April arrived at 

 by including fish netted in Loch Brora. § Helmsdale river. 



Particulars as to the times grilse and sea trout appeared, as included in the 

 above return, are as follow : —First grilse caught in West Coast bag nets 

 was one of 2 lbs. caught on 8th May, and the next was one of same 

 weight caught on 18th of same month. First grilse caught in Brora 

 sweep nets was a fish of 2 lbs. weight caught on 8th May. Main run of 

 grilse and trout on West Coast appears to be in July, and on East Coast 

 in June. 



4. The weight of the heaviest salmon taken during the season was 29 J lbs., 



on River Helmsdale. 

 The particulars of time and place of capture are : — Caught 17th April, on 



Lower Torrish Pool, by Miss Radcliffe, Kildonan. 

 No return of heaviest fish caught by nets. 



Protection— 



1. The assessable rental for 1908 was— East Coast £2160, West Coast £1317, 

 but angling mostly let with shootings, and value not fully apportioned. 



3. The water bailiffs employed are 5 in number, but all keepers are bound to 

 assist in watching. 



The Spawning Season— 



1. Fish were first noticed spawning on 12th October. 



2. The greatest number spawned in November. 



3. Spawning ceased at the end of November and beginning of December. 



4. As regards numbers of breeding fish, and state of the water, the past 



spawning season is regarded as an average season on the River Helmsdale, 

 and a poor one on the Brora, where spawning fish were scarce all over 

 the river. Reports from the West rivers show a poor spawning season. 

 On the River Laxford the river during first part of spawning season was 

 so low that the fish could not get to the fords, and during the latter part 

 of the season river in flood. On the Inver and Kirkaig there was too 

 much water during the spawning season, and but few salmon were seen 

 on the spawning beds. 



Smolts— 



1. Smolts were noticed to be migrating seawards in the second week of April. 



2. As a smolt year 1908 was an average. 



Artificial Propagation of Salmon— 



1. The number of ova secured locally during the past season was 1,490,000. 



2. In securing ova the numbers of male and female fish captured were 



respectively :— On lower part of Helmsdale, 20 per cent, more females ; 

 on higher parts, 4 males to 1 female. Great variation. 

 Interesting note from Dempster, river bailiff, dated 5th December 1908 :— 

 ' ' As we had 24 marks left over after marking all the fish we had in the 

 ponds, and as Mr. Sykes was anxious to have all 200 marks put in, we 



