386 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
[May 27, 1893 
stretcher occasionally touched a leaf, it was only 
to drop more lightly close to the distant bank. 
Trout after trout came to creel, or was dismissed to 
grow bigger, and I was in a fair way to make a 
“ record,” when I caught sight of my friend some 
hundred yards off, and found, on consulting my 
watch, that it was past the time at which we were 
to meet for luncheon. So I ceased slaughter, and 
hastened on to the trysting place, followed by the 
sociable keeper, who would fain have landed some 
more trout for me, though he had already a stone 
and a half on his back. Then came a pleasant 
meeting with H., who had been well pleased with 
his morning’s sport, having taken nearly all his 
fish on one bright shallow, whence they came out 
absolutely sparkling. And so on cheerily to the 
neat little inn on Ovingdon Shallow, the rival 
keepers following us amicably, like the squires of 
two knights errant after a harmless encounter. 
Our rest soon reached, I dismissed my attendant 
with half-a-crown and a glass of ale. What ale 
they brewed in Hampshire in those days ! 
I need hardly carry my tale further. An hour 
later my friend and I were following the stream 
homeward, pausing here and there for a specially 
tempting cast. Just at the close my creel, which 
held two stone, was choke full, and had overflowed 
into my pockets. Let me hope that my younger 
brethren of the angle will pardon me if I have 
lingered too long over these memories of an 
April day. 
[We are sure our readers will be delighted to 
have again something from the pen of the 
veteran angler and author of ” The Fly-Fisher 
and his Library,” published in 1856.— Ed.] 
g»cok]^ Wotcs. 
By Mac. 
The other day a good specimen of the now rare 
golden eagle was secured in the Achinduich 
district of Sutherlandshire, by one of the keepers. 
It measured 33:fin. from beak to tip of tail, and 
76in. from point to point of spread wings. In 
this quarter the real wild cat, speedily in the way 
of becoming extinct, is still sometimes to be met 
with. In Caithness it still ‘‘ hangs out” as well. 
I LEAHN from Mr. William Gunn, Strathpeffer, 
the Earl of Cromartie’s factor, that salmon 
angling on a fine reach of the Blackwater—the 
best salmon and grilse river in Eoss-shire—will 
henceforth this year be obtainable four days a 
week by anglers who put up at the Ben Wyvis 
Hotel, Strathpeffer, Dingwall, N.B. 
Last week a gentleman fishing Loch Awe had 
the good luck to secure a fine yellow trout of 5|lb. 
On the Cuilfail Hotel lochs, Argyllshire, which 
are well attended to at no inconsiderable ex¬ 
pense by the enterprising liotel proprietor, Mr. 
MacFadyen, the large number of rods “out” 
have been obtaining very good sport for several 
weeks past. _ 
Low as the water has been, salmon, neverthe¬ 
less, have managed to forge their way up the 
Carron, Easter Ross, for a considerable distance, 
and three of 81b., 81b., and 91b. were one day last 
week caught by Mr. Wallis-Smith, of Glencalvic, 
fishing the Glencalvie beat. 
The drought’s continuance notwithstanding, 
sport would seem to have been looking up of late 
on the River Awe, Argyllshire, on the Taynuilt 
Hotel section of which an angler had one fish of 
191b. one day and two of l‘21b. and 141b. another 
day, the week before last. 
A CORRESPONDENT Writes : “ On Lccb Skene 
some capital sport has been got of late. Mr. 
James Thomson-Greig, Moffat, last Thursday 
caught two trout of Hb. each, also a number of 
smaller ones. This is a good weight for trout on 
Loch Skene, but I understand that to improve the 
fpiality there has, for the last few years, been intro¬ 
duced fresh blood in the shape of Loch Levens.” 
The phenomenally low state of nearly all the 
rivers of Scotland during this year’s May month 
has suited only one sort of fishing specially well, 
and that the pearl fishing. While fishers for fish 
have generally done badly, fishers for pearls have, 
in most cases, done uncommonly well. Of the 
splendid success of the latter we hear from a 
number of rivers. The Don has yielded some 
nice pearls, of which a couple were secured by 
one fisher. In the Aberdeen Evening Express of 
Monday it was stated that “ Mr. George 
Macdonald, pearl fisher, who found an exception¬ 
ally large pearl a week or two ago, has again 
been successful in bringing up. a still larger one, 
weighing 12 j grains. The pearl is, however, not 
quite so round as the previous one, and, there¬ 
fore, not so valuable, but is calculated to be 
worth about £30. It was found in the Don at 
Parkhill Water.” 
Two salmon poachers from the Tay were, at the 
Coupar Sheriff Court the other day, mulcted— 
and that sweetly—to the tune of £13 5s. for 
having fished with a coble, and a sweep net of 
illegal mesh, in the estuary of the Tay, and 
caught two sea-trout and five whitling in contra¬ 
vention of right. It cannot be said that this is 
not a healthy fine. Tweedside sheriffs please 
note. 
Although it is now beyond the usual time for 
the “ finish up,” salmon are still being got by 
trollers on Loch Tay. This year’s season on the 
loch has proved one of the best on record, and 
this is all the more remarkable in that most other 
fisheries have fished about the worst on record, 
taking their season from start to finish. 
McBouncer writeth: “ Thedry weather of April 
and May, 1893, will be memorable in the North 
Highlands. It cannot be called a drought, for the 
genial showers which occasionally fall are just 
sufficient for vegetation, but that is all. In fact, 
grass and crops in general are fully a month in 
advance of last year at this time. For pastoral 
and agricultural affairs this is said to be the most 
favourable spring since 1861. But for angling 
matters, particularly salmon angling, a different 
tale must be told. Rivers dried up, and sport 
almost nil everywhere. The Carron, the Shin, 
the Cassley, the Oykel, and other streams in the 
Ardgay district, as well as the Naver and other 
rivers which discharge themselves into the ocean 
on the northern seaboard, are all in a bad state, 
being not in the least affected by the recent rain, 
which the ground greedily absorbed as it fell. 
Trout-fishing on the lochs has been yielding more 
than average sport. The Overscaig Hotel waters 
have already done exceedingly well, both \nferox 
and brown trout angling. Some splendid baskets 
of trout have been made by various anglers on 
Loch Migdale, a charmingly situated loch near 
Bonar Bridge. On Loch Ailsh, Ben More-Assynt, 
Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, Langwell Lodge, have been 
getting first-rate sport, the trout being of good 
weight and quality. Loch Craggie, and other 
lochs in the Oykel and Altnacealgach districts, 
are giving better and earlier sport than usual.” 
G. M. M., Dee.side, writes: “It is now quite 
commonplace to remark that the rivers were 
never so low in the month of May as they are at 
present; but it is worthy of recording the fact 
that the present ebb of the Dee is within one 
inch of the great drought mark of July, 1878, 
which was the lowest record ever authenticated. 
Mr. E. P. Tennant (the Glen), who has had the 
Carlogie water this season, left on Saturday. 
He has not scored so well during the whole of 
his month’s holiday this season as he did in one 
day during last. Mr. Percy Wormald leaves the 
Borrowstone water during the week, and that 
veteran angler Mr. Edward Drummond, Ballogie, 
is left the sole rod on many miles of the Dee. A 
good few sea-trout of about Ijlb. in weight are 
presently being met with in the middle reaches. 
They come freely to the ordinary trout fly. I 
hear that only six grilse have, as yet, been got on 
the east coast between Montrose and Newburgh 
—a distance of sixty miles. The supply of 
salmon at the netting stations is again running 
short. Prices are in the ascendant. I had three 
days among the Cairngoram mountains last 
week, having crossed from Dee to Spey, and, 
inter alia, what struck me most was the amount 
of snow—silver streaks—winding serpent-like 
along the corries in the black background of the 
higher hills. In an ordinary season insignificant, 
but after such a drought really refreshing.” 
Our Spey correspondent writes :—“ The salmon 
culture at the Duke of Richmond and Gordon’s 
hatchery at Fochabers is proving most successful. 
Ova were deposited in November, December, and 
January, in all some 400,000. For the first week 
after hatching out, not more than one out of 
every 20,000 died, and since then very few have 
succumbed. Although this artificial hatching was, 
of course, for the first season naturally largely ex¬ 
perimental, it is pleasing to know that the result is 
so highly gratifying. The young fish from the 
ova first deposited were placed in the river last 
week in a vigorous and thriving condition, and 
they measured in length fully l^in. The 
hatchery is the largest of its kind in Scotland, 
and the propagation of young fish in this way 
has been initiated and carried out by the duke 
solely at his own expense, and, we doubt not, for 
his own ultimate benefit, although, forsooth, some 
think that by the addition yearly of so many 
extra thousands of salmon the fishing all along 
the whole course of the Spey will be affected 
beneficially. I fear, however, that as long as the 
river is rack-netted the results will not be so 
beneficial as one might imagine. Nothing doing, 
and until we get a regular downpour of rain 
things will remain as they are. Anglers are 
whiling away their time as best they may, shoot¬ 
ing, gardening, and paying visits to one another." 
On Tuesday last, Mr. Thompson, Royal Hotel, 
Tyndrum, fishing on Loch-na-bea, had a basket 
of seventy trout. _____ 
On the Kinlochewe Hotel waters, the Rev. W. T. 
Tucker caught a salmon which scaled 171b. 
Baron von Schroder has sublet to Col. Charles 
North, M.P., the shootings and fishings of Atta- 
dale. _ 
From Eonar Bridge, I understand that over 
19cwt. of salmon have been sent south within 
the last week. _ 
From Grantown-on-Spey a correspondent 
writes : “ The river is so low that fishing with any 
degree of success is simply impossible. On the 
Tulchan water last week, Mr. McCorquodale had 
pretty good sport. On Tuesday, one salmon of 
81b. and one of 231b. On Wednesday, two, of 61b. 
and 71b. On Thursday one or two. On the Hotel 
water, Mr. Cameron (out from the Grant Arms) 
had a fish of 81b.; and Mr. Stephens some fine 
baskets of trout. We cannot expect much im¬ 
provement until we get heavy rain. The river is 
within four inches of the lowest recorded ebb.” 
An Aberdeen correspondent writes: “ The 
Don fished very well up to Friday, when a nasty 
gale came away from the south-east, and a good 
deal of sea has been running ever since, putting 
a good many nets adrift. Where in the Dee the 
water is deeper there is a little improvement. 
The winds are not unfavourable, but inclined to 
fog. I believe that if we had from eight to ten 
hours’ good mild rain it would bring more fish in 
about. The average weight of the salmon being 
got just now would average from 101b. to 12lb., 
with a few of 201b. and 231b. Very few lean fish 
are being got, and no diseased ones are coming 
in from the sea. Grilse, although late, are 
looking remarkably well, and a good few have 
been got last week in the Dee district weighing 
from 21b. to 2flb. The sea-trout have fallen off 
a little, not looking so well as they were a week 
ago, and much in want of a little more water in 
the river, which would also improve the grilse. 
The average weight of the sea-trout is from Hlb. 
to 210. There are still a fish or two got daily of 
a more unusual breed, several being between 
salmon and trout. Seeing that the number of 
salmon being caught at this season is still 
increasing instead of falling off, as is sometimes 
the case, I believe that the full spring stock 
has not yet come in from the sea. The fact 
that they were driven off the coasts hy 
spates of cold snow water in spring is in 
favour of their coming in yet. The output of 
the young fish from the Aberdeen Salmon Com¬ 
pany’s Hatchery in Fish-street, into the Rivers 
Dee and Don, was undertaken the other week, 
when the several consignments seemed to take 
kindly with the change, and went swimming 
away briskly as if quite delighted with it. Coles 
and cod are in vast numbers at the mouths of the 
