18 
BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 
in wRicli depths of 75, 76, and 77 feet were observed — the maximum 
depth of the lake — situated comparatively close to the northern shore 
at Coilledon. 
The area of the bottom between the shore and the 10-feet line is 
about 223 acres, or 34 per cent, of the whole area of the loch; that 
between the 10- and 25-feet contours is about 255 acres, or 39 per cent. ; 
that between the 25- and 50-feet contours is about 142 acres, or 22 per 
cent. ; and that over 50 feet nearly 32 acres, or 5 per cent. 
Loch Leven (see Plate XI.). — Loch Leven has long been famous for 
its trout. In the old Statistical Account of Scotland* we read : — “ The 
high flavour and bright red colour of the trout seem evidently to arise 
from the food which Nature has provided for them in the loch. What 
appears to contribute most to the redness and rich taste of the Loch 
Leven trout is the vast quantity of a small shellfish, red in its colour, 
which abounds all over the bottom of the loch, especially among the 
aquatic weeds. The trout when caught have often their stomachs full 
of them.’^ 
About the year 1770 the trout brought about a halfpenny each, large 
and small, and perch a halfpenny per dozen. Some years later the price 
was doubled, and towards the end of the century the trout were sold at 
4d. per lb., pike 2d. per lb., and perch 2d. per dozen. In 1845 two 
boats and four boatmen were employed during part of the fishing season, 
while in 1891 there were twenty-two boats on the loch for the use of 
anglers. Extensive operations for the draining of the loch were com- 
pleted about the year 1845 at a cost of £40,000, by which the loch was 
lowered 4| feet, and the area reduced by about 1400 acres ; some people 
maintain that the quality of the trout has been injuriously affected by 
the draining. Prior to 1856 rod fishing was disappointing, but about 
that time, from some cause that does not appear to have been satis- 
factorily explained, the fish rose more freely to the bait, angling became 
more encouraging, and Loch Leven became a resort for anglers from all 
parts of the country. Some years ago the fishing was taken over by the 
Loch Leven Angling Association, Limited, who pay a rental of £1000 
per annum. The statistics regarding the trout caught by rod in the 
loch, and their weight, show great fluctuations from season to season. 
In 1872 over 17,000 were taken, the average weight being nearly 1 lb. ; 
in 1873 the take fell to 13,400, in 1874 to 6400, in 1875 to 5000, and in 
1876 even less. In 1877 the take rose again to 6000, in 1878 to 13,000, 
and in 1879 to 21,000, but the average weight seems to have been less. 
The best year recorded during the last quarter of a century was in 1888, 
when 23,516 trout were taken weighing 21,074 lbs. In 1893, 1898, 
1899, and 1900 the takes again exceeded 20,000, but the weight never 
* Yol. vii. pp. 166, 168, 1793. 
