ANGLING IN SCOTLAND
By ALEXANDER WANLESS
TN Scotland, when we think of fishing, we think in terms .11., of trout, sea-trout or saint-on. Although we have perch, as in. Loch Leven where large numbers may be caught, and pike, as in Loch Lomond where they run large and are all too plentiful, we look upon these fish as of no account. Even the grayling is treated with contempt ; yet some of the best grayling fishing is to be obtained in the Teviot, while the Clyde can produce a pretty basket of these delicate fish. There is no mystery about it. If trout fishing were as easily obtained in England as it is in Scotland, the roach and the dace, the chub and the bream would never-have risen above mediocrity.
Ar oth-ri. advantage the Scottish angler enjoys ; he is not licence-ridden. The fishing licence does not exist in Scotland. Thus the visiting angler may, if he so desires, wander through Scotland casting his flies or throwing his minnow into the waters of this loch and of that river, without having to bother about licences and Boards of Conservators. It must not be inferred from this, however, that we are still living in the free and easy days of Thomas Todd Stoddart, whose ambition was to be an angler and who, fortunate mortal, achieved ambition and fame at one and the same time I The wind may still blow where it lists but one-cannot fish where one likes nowadays, even for trout. Indeed, as the cash value of rivers increases, the trout-fisher, and especially the trout-fisher " in city pent,". finds it increasingly difficult to get good trout-fishing near honie. Few, if any, of the city angling associations have rivers of their own to fish in. Thus their members are mostly loch fishers. Yet, at the begin- ning of the present century—to go no further back— there was a considerable amount of " free " fishing for trout in Scotland. Proprietors of rivers, in many in- stances, did not bother about trout. Anyone who wished could fish. _ That was a liberality .which over-reached itself and the position today -is -that, where fishing is free, it is hardly worth ha-Ving. For this we have to. thank cheap transport, the increasing popularity of the "pastime, and the ways of the Poacher,' The majority-of rivers in Scot-land, where they are- not preserved, are now controlled. One may not fish without authority. Fortunately, there are still landed proprietors broad-minded enough to share the enjoyment which the rivers yield, and to thein we owe the existence Of the local angling associations which are scattered up and down the country... From these associations visiting anglers may, without trouble and at small cost, obtain tickets which enable them to fish:: In addition, especially in the north, there are 'Many hotels,. which possess angling rights in rivers and.lOclis,,and the right to fish passes to those who stay. in hotels... The charges made by these hotels vary ; roughly they range between ten shillings and a pound Per "day;iieeiirding to the district, the quality of the fishing,. and the class of angler they. wish to attract. The association water has one advantage over the hotel. The visiting angler who, by purchasing a ticket, becomes a tempora.ry member of a local association, has complete: liberty of action. He may fish where, when, and, usually,- how he likes, in'the association water—always, of „course, provided that he observes the rules of the association as to size-limit and seed: In the . hotels, on the -Other hand; one is usually restricted to beats-;- one is expected to employ a gillie or boatman ; and one-has to endure the idiosyncrasies of the other resideritsT . - Let us first consider trout-fishing in rivers, the sport of the pair and the man of moderate means. The Border rivers; especially, are his playground. There is more good fishing, to be obtained in the Borders than in any other part of ScOtland. Literally there are scores of miles of water which may be fished at trifling cost. In these rivers the angler may fish fly or bait, as he chooses ; and his .skill—which is an essential ingiedient of the cake—will be appr iciated. Of the Border rivers the Annan, the Whitadder, the Teviot and the Tweed are best. Twenty years ago I would have put the Tweed an easy first, but the Tweed has fallen from its high estate for lack of proper management, and the Whitadder, that once glorious river, is but a shadow of itself. I incline to the opinion that better opportunities for sport are to be obtained in the upper reaches of the Annan than in any other Scottish river. That is because that part of the river is controlled by a well-conducted association. It has some ten miles or more of water to " suit every taste." In the middle reaches of the river some proprietors permit angling for trout at a ridiculously small charge—as low as 6d. per day. The money goes to charity. Fishing in these stretches is generally restricted to fly. Considerable stretches of the Tweed, Teviot, and Whitadder are also controlled by angling associations. In a few cases in the Tweed " fly only " is the rule—a restriction designed to prevent the salmon casts from being unduly disturbed by spinning.
As to accommodation; there are plenty of inns where visiting anglers will find comfortable, if plain, faring at moderate prices. Private lodgings are scarce. The best way to obtain information about them is to insert an advertisement in the local newspapers. If the visitor possesses a car he had best stay at an hotel, or in rooms, in the, larger towns, such as Berwick-on-Tweed, Kelso, Melrose, Selkirk, Peebles, Lockerbie or Moffat. From these centres numerous small streams may be fished iii addition to the main rivers. Those who prefer loch fishing must go north. To get the best loch fishing which Scotland affords he must go to -the northern counties—Sutherland, Caithness, Ross-and Cromarty, - Inverness-shire. There he will find well-stocked lochs—large and small—too numerous to mention. But it is all, or nearly all, hotel water. The simplest course is for the angler to put up at one of the hotels. To this end he should consult the excellent map published by the British Field Sports Society, or Where to Fish (Field Press). In the centre part of Scotland, par- ticularly in Perthshire, there a'e a number of lochs but, excepting the famed Loch Leven, which is run on com- mercial lines, the fishing is not sogood as in the north ; nor is there the same variety and choice. - In the north of Scotland there is- some good river trouting to be obtained, but there is not much of-it.- -Stretches- of the Don may be fished from hotel,s, _ at- Strathdon and Alford, while there is some quite good, though hard- fished water at Inverurie and Kiiftbite. ' There is also some " public " water on the Deveron, an excellent trouting river ; but mostly the northern rivers are " strictly preserved." For those whose, fancy is the sea- trout the Outer Isles and Orkney and Shetland may Le recommended ; chiefly for one reason—the angler is less dependent on rain than on the mainland. The voes, which virtually mean fishing in the sea, provide excellent sport when rivers and streams are at their lowest level. BAs - elsewhere, not much salmon-fishing in rivers is available, and thtit not of the first-class. Also the best times for fishing for salmon in Scotland are outwith the holiday months. One exception, however, is the Spey, where both sea trout and salmon' angling may be obtained in the waters controlled by the Grantown Angling Association. To go to the other end of the country there is the Border Esk which is also controlled by an association, and gives excellent sport in summer with sea trout and salmon—if the conditions are right. The best river for back-end fishing—so far as the visiting angler is concerned—is probably , the Annan, where tickets are available on certain stretches for 10s. per, day ; but the Annan is a " late " river—October and November are the best months. A fish or two may be picked up in the Earn, in the Crieff district, where tickets are issued locally at 10s. per day, but the quality of the sport depends entirely on the state of the river. No water, no fish.
A word about equipment. The visiting angler who is master of various methods of angling will obtain the best sport. The `!. fly only " man is so completely dependent upon the conditions of weather and water ; the angler who can fish with the minnow and the clear water worm will enjoy far better sport.
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