April 29, 1893] 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
307 
to our beautiful strath enjoy but seldom in a life¬ 
time. But where are the fish they came to kill ? 
I fear that their absence will blind them some¬ 
what from observing with an appreciative eye 
nature in all its glory. The agriculturist has got 
all the rain he wants, but not so the angler. He 
wishes a spate and nothing less. Disease, I am 
sorry to say, is pretty prevalent in the mean¬ 
time, and although it were for nothing else, a 
change in angling conditions is very desirable. 
The vagaries of the temperature are noteworthy. 
One day, for instance, it registered GOdeg. Fahr. 
at noon ; within an hour it had fallen to 45deg. 
When writing on Monday it registered 70deg. in 
the shade, and 89deg. in the sun.” 
I HEAa from our Ross-shire correspondent that 
for the last fortnight very little successful salmon 
angling has been obtained on the Beauly, Conon, 
and Blackwater because of the water being very 
low. Some fairish fronting has however, he says, 
been got. On the Alness there will be little to 
report for some time, this being a summer and 
early autumn river. _ 
That accomplished practical angler, Mr. David 
Murray, fishing tackle maker, Brechin, N.B., 
writes me :—“ Owing to the extraordinarily dry 
spring the streams have for long been clear and 
small, and that coupled with the heavy night 
frost has had the effect of keeping the fronting 
back. Very good finnock fishing indeed has, 
however, been got on the South Esk. The rivers 
Horth Esk. South Esk, and West Water are; still 
full of kelts, which will not be got rid of till we 
have a flood. Their continuance in the South 
Esk has proved a great temptation to poachers, 
who are credited with having caused a big 
explosion in the pool below Brechin Castle a few 
nights ago. Evidently dynamite was used, and 
for the purpose, it is believed, of destroying fish 
for gain. A great many of the kelts are affected 
with disease. Lately we had some rain, though 
not enough to increase the water any appreciable 
extent. However, the weather is softer than 
before, and this may bring the trout better on the 
rise. The angling club held their first competi¬ 
tion yesterday, when a lot of the members were 
out, and some of them had fair baskets despite the 
unfavourable conditions. The streams fished 
were the North Esk, the South Esk,^ and the 
Bervie. The first prize went to D. K. Smart, 
with 81b. 14oz.; the second to W, Burnett, with 
71b. 12oz.; and the' third to J. Hutcheon, with 
tilb. 9oz. The prize for the heaviest trout went 
to D. K. Smart, that for the three heaviest to 
J. Hutcheon, and that for the six heaviest to W. 
Burnett. Latek.— On Thursday evening last we 
were visited with a severe thunderstorm. The 
peals were exceedingly loud, and rain fell in 
torrents for a couple of hours. The volume of 
water in the South Esk was slightly increased, 
but on the whole it did not affect much the size 
of the streams in the neighbourhood. In spite 
of the small and clear state of the rivers good 
baskets of trout are being got with the fly. Such 
old friends as Hare Lug, Professor, Toppy, and 
Glenesk Deadly are keeping up their reputation 
as specially enticing lures. On the North Esk 
some capital trout are being got with the Par 
Tail, and as this is the best time for this mode 
of fishing anglers should not let it slip. Mr. 
William Lindsay, a veteran at this style, has had 
grand baskets of trout varying from _|lb. to 31b. 
weight each. Night is his favourite time, and it 
is usually then that he succeeds in killing the 
old wary chaps who are too shy to feed in day¬ 
light. At the same time it is right for me to 
say that even in the small clear state of the river 
at present good baskets are got even during the 
day with this deadly lure. The tackle found 
best is the old Scotch, which holds its own in the 
face of all the late vaunted improvements. Kelt 
salmon and sea-trout are retiring down the rivers 
to the sea under great difficulties owing to lack 
of water, and many are being killed at water- 
wheehs, on the South Esk especially. It is to be 
hoped that we may have rain soon, to allow these 
unseasonable creatures to clear out, as they un¬ 
doubtedly have a contaminating effect on the 
rivers, besides being dead nuts on sinolts and 
par. The finnock season is practically over now, 
but good sport is expected with the younger 
generation by the month of July, or, as local 
anglers say, ‘ When the hay is in the cole.’ ” 
On the Ness, Loch Ness, the Oich, and the very 
celebrated Loch Oich and the River Garry, I 
learn that angling for salmon is completely at a 
standstill in the meantime, owing to the bright 
weather and extreme drought having not yet 
relaxed in the districts of these waters. 
Even yet—which is quite unusual so late on in 
the season—the salmon trolling on Loch Tay 
keeps very good, and though the fish got are 
perhaps not of such nice colouring as could be 
wished, they yet as a rule have fallen but very 
little off in condition._ 
Our Tay correspondent writes :—“ The fishing 
here has been quiet for some time, but the little 
fresh which came lately did a good bit to mend 
matters. It gave the trout fishing especially a 
fillip, and now good baskets of nice trout are the 
rule. The river Tay may be said meantime to be in 
excellent ply for the season, only it is now getting 
rather late over for salmon, hence both rod and 
net fishers are now wishing for a commencement 
of the run of grilse, which will be here shortly. 
In the absence of other sport to equal it, the 
trout fishing I recommend to be pushed in the 
meantime. Grand baskets are to be got with fly, 
both now and for several weeks to come. That 
is dead certain. Whitling have been got in large 
numbers during the season, but, as for the 
salmon, it is getting rather far advanced for 
them, too. Of late no very big salmon have been 
reported, nor trout that I have heard of. The 
upper waters, Tay, Loch Tay, Tnmmel, and 
Garry keep on doing well, considering the water 
is not altogether in the best of order. I have not 
heard of over half a dozen salmon being got by 
the rod on the best and most extensive beats of 
the river during any recent week.” 
i^otes antr terns 
The “ Gaiter Wader.” —An old angling friend 
refers us to the Field, of February 18, 1871, for 
a notice by tbe late Francis Francis, of a “ Sand- 
proof Wader.” We have, by the courtesy of the 
publisher of the Field, borrowed the volume for 
1871, and on page 135, under date of February 
18. 1871, we find this notice: “ Sand-proof 
Waders.—One of the complaints most frequently 
made by salmon and trout fishers who practice 
wading is that the sand gets over the tops of the 
boots, and, working into the foot through 
the worsted stocking, chafes the waterproof 
material, and, in time, wears it through. Mr. 
Woolgar has shown us a stocking and boot 
specially contrived to prevent this. The boot 
comes up some distance above the ankle, and 
from the stocking a deep flap comes down all 
round over the top of the boot; so that very 
little, if any, sand can be carried into the boot. 
The invention appears to be likely to answer the 
purpose it is designed for.” Another case of 
nothing new under the sun.” 
A MOORHEN had to be shot recently at the Sol¬ 
way Fishery Fry Ponds, and it fell into a pond 
containing over 500 large trout. These persis¬ 
tently “ went for ” the fallen bird, but it was 
rescued before being quite pulled in pieces. 
G. M. M., Deeside, writes:—“Dr. Stewart’s 
guests on the Heathcot water had good sport 
with whitling last week. Another grilse {sic) 
has been reported from that water ; but there is 
no doubt from its size, 41b., it is a small salmon. 
Mr. Barry and party on Glen Tana reaches are 
now fulfilling their expectations. They have had 
on an average eight fish a day to three rods. 
Mr. Davidson, Wellwood, had a very good fort¬ 
night on the north beat of the same water. He 
has been followed by Mr. Whitebead from York¬ 
shire, who was the first to introduce live bait 
from England for early spring salmon angling. 
Both he as well as Mr. Davidson have found 
comfortable quarters at Mr. Profiet’s Temperance 
Hotel, Dinnet. From the Parliamentary return 
of the Crown Fishings let to individuals in Scot¬ 
land, it is seen that Dr. Farquharson and Mr. 
H. E. Nicol have the Commonty water between 
them till August 1896 for a ten pound note. Both 
claim a ‘ servitude right ’ however, whatever 
that may mean, and hence competitors are scared 
off. As an instance of the kelts’ rapacity for live 
bait, an angler and his gillie have had “to do” 
with upwards of 400 kelts since the fishing 
opened, at a cost of some twelve or fourteen 
hundred minnow, gudgeon, dace, &o., while they 
have only secured some thirty clean fish in that 
time. Their bill for live baits need not be spoken 
of as a detail, especially if the tear and wear and 
loss of traces and spinning lines be added 
Minnow fishing is no joke when reckoned up 
Had the fly alone been en evidence the expenses 
would have been less, the season’s creel heavier, 
and the sport infinitely more satisfactory.” 
An Aberdeen correspondent writes : — “ The 
fishings are not a great deal better, but still equal 
to last week. Many of the salmon are of very 
fine quality. The average weight is 91b., but 
some beauties have been got from the Dee and 
Don weighing 201b. to 281b. Trout are improving 
in numbers and the quality is also very fine. For 
some time back they have been very shy in taking 
the river, owing to the clearness of the water, and, 
I think, if we had a few inches of rain it would 
greatly improve both salmon and trout fishing, 
as also entice the grilse, none of which have been 
heard of yet. I hear that this week from the Aber¬ 
deen Salmon Company’s hatchery. Fish-street, 
Aberdeen, there have been put into the Don at Pit- 
inedden from ten to twelve thousand fry and a 
like quantity into the Dee at Mur tie.” 
The first perch ova taken this year at the 
Solway Fishery, Dumfries, were taken on Thurs¬ 
day, April 20th, and as the embryos develop 
very rapidly orders should be sent in at once by 
intending purchasers. These eggs bear transit 
very well, and can be sent anywhere, and require 
no hatching apparatus, as they hatch quite well 
if laid in the pond. _ 
An Dnusuau Sight is to be witnessed on a well- 
known salmon’pool on the Lower Annan this week. 
The pool referred to appears to be over-crowded 
with hundreds of old salmon brought down the 
river by a slight rise in the water last week. The 
salmon continue to rise all day long at the rate 
of over twenty a minute in a single pool. The 
antics of the fish are being watched by crowds 
of people. _ 
Mr. C. "VV. Gedney, writing from Lake Vyrnwy, 
says :—“ Complaints were made early last season 
of the want of condition of the trout iniy^bove 
lake. Nature has come to the rescue. We have 
had such a rise of natural fly as 1 have never 
witnessed before in the course of my life. Every 
bush and tree by the lake side are enveloped m 
dense clouds of these insects, and their einpty 
husks cover a large area, to the depth of eight 
inches. The trout have been madly on the feed, 
and they have consequently got into splendid 
condition. The evening rises are something to 
dream of. Fourteen trout in one and three quarter 
hours was done by one boat on Saturday evening 
last; another boat got ten in the same period. 
I am sending you some samples of the trout in 
order that you may judge for yourself as to their 
condition.” [They were of excellent flavour.— 
Ed.] _ 
Fish Poisoning.— The fish in the little river 
Bela, one of the best trout streams in Westnaore- 
land, bave recently been almost entirely 
denuded. From Beetham, down to the mouth of 
the river, upwards of a mile below, where it 
empties itself into Morecombe Bay, numbers of 
fish were taken from the water in a dying condi¬ 
tion, and hundreds of fish were seen lying along 
the bed of the river dead. Young smelts and _ sea 
trout were most noticeable among the victims, 
there being usually large numbers in the river 
until next month, when they run down. One 
splendid specimen when taken from the water 
weighed 4|lb. River trout, the coarser fish, and 
even eels have all shared the general fate. The 
water was noticeably dyed a strange coffee colour 
and the head keeper to the F;shery Board, who 
visited the district last week, making inquiries 
into the affair, is said to have traced the source 
of the deleterious matter. Surely the matter 
won’t end at this point. 
