14 
Appendices to Ninth Annual Report 
Mr M'Fadyen' 
answers to 
Printed 
Queries with 
reference to 
River Oude 
and lochs 
attached to 
Culfail Hotel. 
a sort of imperfect natural salmon-ladder, and possibly this might prove 
to be the cheapest way. 
Mr M'Fadyen, the enterprising and energetic landlord of Culfail 
Hotel, told me that he Avas willing to subscribe £50 towards the opening 
up^of the fall and Loch Tralaig. The fall belongs to Mr M'Lennan, 
the owner of Melfort House, and the greater part of the river above 
the falls and the whole of Loch Tralaig belong to the Marquis of 
Breadalbane. 
Above the fall the channel of the Oude for about half-a-mile is very 
rocky and full of great boulders. There are few lies for fish, and a 
number of rapids. Above this there is some fine spawning ground, and 
between the rocky part of the river and Loch Tralaig there are at least 
twenty good pools in the two miles of the river that belong to the 
Marquis of Breadalbane ; and, in this part of the river, there is also 
abundance of fine gravelly spawning-ground. Mr M'Lennan's part of 
the river above the fall is not nearly so good. Loch Tralaig itself is a 
fine sheet of water, fully a mile long and from a quarter to three- 
quarters-of-a-mile wide. It has a large burn falling into the head of it. 
I have answers to the printed queries from Mr M'Fadyen of the 
Culfail Hotel v/ith reference to the river Oude and the numerous 
trouting lochs attached to his hotel. He states that the yellow trout in 
the lochs have increased, as the district is very thinly peopled, and the 
anglers coming to Culfail Hotel are not sufficient to diminish the 
numbers of the trout. The number of trout caught by anglers from his 
hotel in 1890 was about 2800, of the average weight of four to the 
pound. The heaviest yellow trout taken was 2 J lbs. The chief take is 
in the month of August. The average weight is getting smaller, because 
the numbers are increasing, and there is not enough of feeding. Yet Mr 
MTadyen has stocked the lochs every year for the last ten years with 
Loch Leven trout and American brook trout. There is no gauge, but a 
close time is enforced from the end of September. There is no illegal 
fishing, as the lochs are well watched. AVith regard to the waterfall on 
the Oude, Mr M'Fadyen writes : — 
I think Government ought to have the power of blasting any obstructions 
or waterfalls that prevent salmon getting to good spawning ground. 
He is in favour of repealing the * Wild Birds Protection Act, 1890,' as 
regards Scotland. 
River Don. I was in Aberdeen in August last, in order to meet the Clerks to the 
Dee and Don District Boards, with reference to the recommendations 
contained in the Keport of the Committee on Crown Rights in Salmon 
Fisheries in Scotland, especially that recommending tliat local fishermen 
should be allowed to use nets for the capture of salmon on suitable parts 
of the coast on payment of a license ; and while there I was glad to 
learn that Mugiemoss dam, one of the most objectionable artificial 
obstructions on the Don, is to be greatly improved. The apron of the 
dam was formerly about 100 feet long — more than twice the length it 
was originally — and salmon had to be lifted over the dam by the river 
watchers, as the so-called fish-pass was practically useless as a means of 
facilitating the ascent of salmon. But I was informed that the pass 
is now to be reduced to 46 feet in length, and is to have a resting pool 
in the centre. 
Answers Gordon of Manar, an upper proprietor on the Don, has sent me 
to Printed answers to the printed queries, which certainly do not give a rosy view 
Gordon'of^ position of the upper proprietors, owing to the cruives and dams 
Manar. which block up the lower course of the river : — 
