■264: 



Appendices to Thirty-third Annual Report 



instance, one fish marked at Rosemarkie on the Black Isle was recaptured 

 at the mouth of the River Don on the Aberdeenshire Coast, the distance 

 being 126 miles east and then south, in 17 days. 



Clean sea trout ascend our rivers in spring as clean salmon do, al- 

 though the runs are not so well marked. On the East Coast, they may be 

 found in such rivers as the Tweed, Forth, Tay, Beauly, etc., and on the 

 West Coast in the Awe and other of the larger rivers, and also in the Outer 

 Hebrides, in the river Grimersta. In winter netting for the purpose of 

 marking salmon, I have found them in the Beauly, in beautiful condition, 

 as early as the end of December. 



In the great majority of districts, however, one does not expect large 

 runs of sea trout till summer time, while in the Outer Hebrides, in Orkney, 

 and more especially in Shetland, autumn is regarded as the best time. 

 In Shetland sea trout are not much looked for in fresh water till September, 

 while October is the time of the largest runs, the rod fishing season con- 

 tinuing till 15th November. 



Season 1914, as already noted at the commencement of this Report, 

 was rather singular on account of extreme variations in the success or 

 non-success of the coast fishings. It is therefore a season from which we 

 may not be able to draw normal deductions. The results of sea trout 

 fishing seem to have been equally variable, and to have varied to some 

 extent co-extensively v/ith the salmon fishing. For instance, the catch 

 in Nairn neighbourhood is reported as " above average," while the catch 

 in the Forth was about the worst within living memory. The report 

 from the Solway Dee is " much better," while from Ayr it is " very much 

 below average." There is a patchy condition of things round our coasts 

 east and w^est which is unusual. In this connection, however, one should 

 not forget that there are certain localities such, for instance, as the coast 

 round Tarbet Ness in the Moray Firth, and of! Caithness where sea trout 

 never seem to be much in evidence. 



It will be advisable, hov/cver, to watch the sea trout fishing results 

 w4th more attention than they have commonly received in the past. 



In the case of the Outer Hebrides, famous for large numbers of sea 

 trout, and where alteration in the methods or amount of fishing do not seem 

 to come into the argument, it is interesting to find from the following two 

 instances that a similar discrepancy seems to appear. From the keeper 

 of the famous Howmore district in, South Uist I hear that " During the 

 past three or four years the Howmore fishing has been very good. . . . 

 We have not noticed any decrease in the stock." He adds that the weights 

 do not perhaps run as heavy. 



With regard to the Grim'^-rsta in the Lewis there is, on the other hand, 

 a distinct decline as the following figures, for which I am indebted to Mr. 

 George Pople, till recently tenant of the famous little river, bear out : — 



Sea Trout. 



Sea Trout. 



1901. 

 1902. 

 1903. 

 1904. 

 1905. 

 1906. 

 1907. 

 1908. 



1390] 

 1553 

 1063 

 1177 



'^av. 129G 



1909. 

 1910. 

 1911. 

 J 912. 

 1913. 

 1914. 



548^1 

 8081 



567 

 495 



673 



