THE PISHING GAZETTE 
51 
January 28, 1893] 
CONTENTS. 
at 
the 
Royal 
N.B.—All rights reserved in articles published in 
paper. 
The Spring Salmon Rivers of Scotland 
Scotch Notes . 
The Worcestershire Avon. 
Angling in Kent. 
The 1892 Piscatorial Exhibition 
A(inai-ium . 
Notes and Queries . 
Provincial Angling Association 
Recollections of Fishing in Ireland 
Fishing Quarters in Sweden ... 
Tlio Monster Troirt . 
Waltoniana. 
Correspondence. 
this 
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52 
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th, 1893. 
THE SEEING SALMON RIVERS OF 
SCOTLAND. 
AS THEY ARE. 
By W. Murdoch. 
The naturally early salmon rivers of Scotland 
'—which together comprise those that have, and 
those that ought to have a considerable, some 
even a great, strength of clean salmon frequent¬ 
ing their waters before the end of Afarch, in some 
cases earlier, in others much earlier in years 
when the weather has generally kept open and 
the water been uniformly in good volume—are 
Tweed, Forth, Teith, Tay, South Esk, North Esk, 
Dee, Don, Deveron, Spey, Findhorn, Ness with 
Garry, Beauly, Conon, Shin, Carron, Oykel, 
Cassley, Brora, Blackwater, Helmsdale, Thurso, 
Forss, Halladale, Naver, and Borgie. In this list 
are enumerated, in the order they occur going 
northward from the Tweed, or “ old Border river,” 
all the larger and more productive rivers of the east 
and north-east coasts of Scotland, together with 
those of the north coast westward from John 
o’ Groats, as far as Loch Eribol, into which flows 
the River Hope with which, according to this plan 
of compassing the country, the later or not actual 
spring rivers commence. All those named are, as 
indicated, naturally early; but within precisely 
the same geographical area are, here and there, 
to be found others which are not early—are indeed 
actually late—such as Ythan, Ugie, Nairn, Ness,* 
* The Nesa has a very strong run of fish through it 
early in the year. 
Alness, Berriedale, all which have no migration 
of salmon into their waters till summer, some not 
until autumn, in appreciable numbers. The 
north coast rivers west of the Borgie, and the 
whole array of west coast rivers, as likewise 
those of the isles are, without exception, strictly 
speaking, all late now for salmon. There still, 
however, are to be found amongst them—exclu¬ 
sive of the rivers of the Solway—such semi-early 
rivers as the Ewe, Carron, Lochy, Spean, and 
Orchy; yet, notwithstanding, it is but only too 
evident that all, save the Lochy, the Spean, 
and the Carron of Loch Carron, of the great host 
of western streams, have been made unnaturally 
late, and later still, by reason of the bad usage, 
increased and intensified as time has moved on, 
to which for many long years they have been 
systematically subjected. I say unnaturally late, 
because, from many of them having no clean fish, 
and most of them but few, frequenting their 
waters before midsummer, or at all events not 
earlier than the middle of June, they are not noiv, 
as they once were, worth being enquired after, or 
visited by anglers earlier in the year, as not until 
about the time indicated is their first show of the 
year’s fish—such a show as is worthy of the name 
of a “run”—found to have reached the inshore 
waters, for the purpose, if allowed, of running 
inland. Being thus late and not spring rivers, 
further remark concerning them is therefore, for 
the present, not called for. But with respect to 
those rivers named and enumerated above, all 
which are naturally early, and most of which are 
still early, it is timeous, and I think highly desir¬ 
able, to say something at present about how they 
stand, and how they should stand, not omitting 
in the case of several of their number to forecast 
the effect which I incline to believe the present 
severe winter most likely will have on their 
spring angling of this year, if not also on their 
sporting and productiveness several years hence. 
The Tweed, nowadays, possesses nothing like 
the reputation it ought to have for spring salmon 
angling. Nor is this at all to be wondered at, 
considering the severe strain that has been put 
upon it for long years, dating far away back. Un¬ 
questionably, it has possibilities—even vast possi¬ 
bilities—but in the past, as in the present time, 
the netting system has been and is such as to 
utterly prevent their realisation. Naturally the 
Tweed is a spring river. It may not be a very 
early one, but it is obvious to everyone who under¬ 
stands salmon fishery matters that it is much 
la'.er in the season in having a good head of 
spring fish into it than it ought to be. That it is 
possible even yet to make it as early as it once 
was there can be no question. It has many miles 
of first-rate water, the ideal haunts of spring fish, 
but, by reason of the terrific array of nets, con¬ 
stantly plied, along the ten or twelve miles of its 
course inland from the sea, the best even of these 
stretches are never now in the spring season well 
stocked with fish. The whole system of netting 
is decidedly at fault, having regard to the increase 
of the spring stock, and unless all the river nets 
stretching inland from within a mile or two of 
the sea are bought off, or a varied weekly close 
time is inaugurated, there seems no possibility 
of improvement in the head of spring fish to 
the nets or the rods ; on the contrary, matters are 
destined to go from bad to worse. If, however, 
they were as they should be it is certain that from 
March to Alay, inclusive, there would be very 
good angling on at least twenty miles of river, 
where now, merely with fits and starts, but a very 
trifling number of fish are caught during these 
months. It is sincerely to be hoped that very 
speedily there will be legislation to render it per¬ 
missible for fishery boards to vary the weekly 
close time in such rivers as the Tweed, where the 
netting extends very far inland. If such is not 
given, then, the only other way whereby matters 
conld be improved is to form an association for 
the purchase of the netting in the river, and the 
removal of the nets all along from within a few 
miles of the sea. This, if the spring fish that 
eventually reached the higher waters were pre¬ 
served from poachers, would gradually increase 
the duration of the river’s run of fish in great 
strength, and, in course of time, by reason of the 
spawning season being made much longer through 
many fish spawning earlier, would, as in other 
rivers, bring about a more equal distribution of 
the fish for the year. 
Of the Forth, with its spring salmon tributary 
the Teith, little need be said. The Forth itself 
has never been great for spring salmon angling, 
but, after a mild winter its tributary, the Teith 
usually in some of its reaches gives pretty fair 
sport early in the season. But after a winter such 
as the present it is not counted on to do so well. 
No year is the stock of fish in it very great at 
the best. Those that give the sport in spring 
have all to be into the river out of the Forth be¬ 
fore the netting commences, when a complete stop 
is put to more ascending. But for this the Teith 
throughout most of the spring season would be a 
very fair salmon angling water. 
The Tay is the largest, and, unquestionably, 
the grandest, of our Scottish salmon-rivers, and, 
if used as it ought to be, there is every reason to 
believe that it would prove throughout the whole 
open season, in some or other of its reaches 
during the times best for them, the most famous 
sporting river in the kingdom. But, like tbe 
Tweed, it is sadly racked by netting ; and, in 
order to have it's angling throughout the season, 
from the time the nets commence until the time 
they give over, made as first-class as it is possible 
to make it, there would require to be done what 
has been suggested in the case of the Tweed, 
namely, the river-nets bought up, or else a varied 
close-time established. The wonderful sport 
obtained on this river in the autumn should give 
some idea of the grand results that might be 
expected if only matters were arranged in such a 
way as to give evidence of foresight and intelli¬ 
gent regard for their own best interests on the 
part of all concerned—proprietors of rod and net- 
fishings and lessees of lioth. There is no river in 
Scotland so early as the Tay, as evidenced by the 
fact that in Loch Tay, as well as-in the best 
spring reaches of the river itself, the angling, 
when the weather is favourable and the water 
right, is first-class in the very earliest days of the 
season, and generally continues so until the 
netting in the long estuary and up tbe river 
ridiculously far gets a commencement, when it is 
bound to, and does, sadly fall off (in the river, but 
not in Loch Tay, where it is not affected, as ic is 
believed that in fairly open seasons the fish that 
incline to proceed to the loch are mostly all by 
that time past the furthest inland uetting-staiion 
of the river). 
Tweed and Tay proprietors may think as they 
like ; I tell them unhesitatingly that the system 
they pursue, or permit to be pursued, of working 
the fishings, is rotten to the core—that, instead of 
being for the greatest good to themselves, it 
is inimical to them to an incredible extent. 
Tweedsiders and Perthshire men, so proverbial 
for longheadedness in most matters affecting 
themselves, may well be charged with an utter 
lack of this perception in fishery matters. Can 
they see, I wonder, that they are far behind the 
times .P It were easy matter to show that their 
fisheries could be revolutionised, and that, too, 
for the better to an incalculable extent, by 
different management. Without a varied close¬ 
time, or else all netting farther inland than a few 
miles above the tide-way abolished, it is 
utterly impossible for their rivers to be so 
productive for the whole season throughout 
as their natural resources admit of. It 
stands to reason that unless to nearly their 
full capacity the whole spawn-beds everywhere 
along the main streams and tributaries are 
occupied by fish during the breeding season, the 
strength of fish coming in from the sea the year 
throughout must be less than the river’s resources 
are capable of producing. Wherever the spawn¬ 
ing waters have been more fully occupied by fish, 
in consequence of the rivers receiving more 
generous treatment, as in the case of the Dee, 
Helmsdale, &c., the spawning season has been 
prolonged—that is in duration, from commence¬ 
ment to termination—and the head of fish for 
the year throughout has become greater. In 
every case also both rods and nets have benefited, 
the latter, although fewer in number, having— 
taking the average of the years—caught more fish 
than before, the former vastly more. And this I 
am certain, by intelligent management of the 
fisheries on such lines as I have suggested would 
speedily come to be realised on Tay and Tweed, 
where at present, all owing to injudicious netting, 
miles on miles of the siiawn beds of the further 
inland waters are found to have almost no fish 
upon them during the spawning season. Of 
course, in the case of the Tay, its feeder the 
