However, the little bay known as Douglas Hall is now the main departure point for the fine cliff top walk that will take you round eventually to Rockcliffe and Kippford. Off the point are the salmon stake nets which are owned on a freehold title dating back to the 1690's and include the right to have stake nets in Sandyhills Bay as well as on the shore at Portling. Nets at these two other locations were removed many years ago. Sadly 2013 has been probably the worst year ever for wild salmon caught in the nets, possibly due to an unusually dry season and overfishing in the Atlantic. When the nets are in operation between Easter and September, it is possible to follow the fisherman out along the nets, as the tide recedes and watch as he empties the four pockets, assuming there is anything in them. This year's catch in addition to salmon and sea trout, includes sea bass, grey mullet, one large turbot and a porpoise (which was eased gently out of the nets and back in to the Solway. In previous years, there have been as many as 50+ salmon in the pockets on one tide and and many years ago when there was a single pocket net in Sandyhills Bay, large catches were very common. The catch is always better when there is a strong southwest wind blowing whilst variations in tide height or rainfall coming down the burns and rivers of the Solway appear to have little impact.
In 2016 the Scottish Government imposed a three year moratorium on fixed net salmon fishing and the nets have been stored since then. The assumption was that overfishing in the Solway was reducing the salmon population but this is unlikely and the cause has much to do with the dramatic increase in the grey seal population round Scotland's coast and deep sea fishing in the Atlantic, plus the spread of diseases from the farmed salmon on the West coast into wild stocks from a lack of regulation by the same Scottish government. Since most of these fish farms are Norwegian owned and their government has dramatically tighten hygene and other regulations, there has been a marked increase in investment in the more laissez faire waters off Scotland to the detriment of wild Salmon from the Solway.
The cach you are looking for is a medium sized clip box and contains a log and pencil plus several other items.