The AGM was a bit like a rerun of the last supper with only 13 members present and a candle lit top table.  Despite the low turn out it was a convivial evening, good business was conducted and efforts made to clear a monumental buffet.  Brian T is President for this year and the remaining Council members were re elected en bloc.

All members planning to fish the river this season are encouraged to get a record book from the Hon Sec.  The purpose of these is to provide a fuller picture of the state of the fishery to assist future management plans.  This season there is an incentive to complete them.  Each book will contain a raffle ticket and if your number is pulled from the hat (creel) then you will get two days salmon fishing in Scotland with Neil H as a reward.  This initiative is being run in conjunction with Settle Anglers who have a large membership so the more MAA members who return booklets the more chance the club has of securing the prize.

A working party at the Tarn on Sunday was well attended and all is now ready for the season start on 15th.  The contents of B&Q has been removed from the boathouse, the boathouse doors rehung, the boat varnished and much tot removed from around the lodge.  The keeper can vouch for the continued low temperature of the water having spent a good half hour immersed up the parting of the ways helping to rehang the door.

After last week's blog I got a message from a member who is about as far from Horton as is possible to get.  Edward M left a message on the blog from the Falklands where he is currently carrying out a peat survey.  It's a strange coincidence as the last time Ed was on the Falklands was in 1983 and at that time I was in daily contact by phone with the team down there who were overseeing the construction of the airfield after the Falklands conflict.  Phoning the Falklands in those pre internet days was interesting.  You could hear your own voice echoing back and after a few seconds delay you might if you were lucky hear a disembodied voice from the bottom of the planet.  Since our staff were all housed in redundant shipping containers this only added to the echo effect.  Chinese whispers wasn't in it!

Ian

With March looming large tomorrow winter will soon be over and the balmy days of summer are not far off.  It's still perishing cold here today though, but dry so far unlike the soft south.

I spent a very pleasant evening on Friday as a guest at the Settle Anglers' annual dinner.  Plenty of good crack, good food and a highly convivial atmosphere.  Once we had got the after dinner speaker wheeled down the room so that those on the cheap tables could hear we found that he was Hugh Falkus fly tier and had a wealth of anecdotes about the great man not all of them complementary.  A late (very) malt in the bar rounded of a great night. Thanks Mike!

I did the Turn Dub invertebrate check on Tuesday and this turned in results very similar to the New Inn check a couple of days before.  The river is teeming with small baetis nymphs as well as heptagenia and shrimp.  I found no cased caddis on this check which was a surprise.  Once again I turned up a couple of very large stoneflies that sat in the tray and glared at me.  Alone on the river bank at this quiet spot these creatures can be quite intimidating, but they make a tasty meal for our larger wild trout.

Just for a change it's snowing here this morning.  Not heavily, but it is persistent and falling on a frozen ground so it's laying quite quickly.  If this keeps up for any appreciable time as it looks as if it might it may well put paid to tree planting plans for tomorrow.

On Thursday I met the contractor who will plant the thousand tree slips above Turn Dub that have been very generously donated by the Woodland Trust.  We looked at the site and agreed a detailed planting plan that will see the slips planted in pockets following the contours of the site to create a natural drift of trees with open areas where natural shrub regeneration can proceed unchecked.  4 yards above and below each weir will be left unplanted so that fishing the weir pools will be unhindered.  The plan is to begin work tomorrow, but as I say we shall have to see how much snow we get today.

It was good to see members of Council at Horton yesterday for the pre season meeting.  A constructive and convivial discussion resulted in a number of agreed actions principle of which is the agreement to accept the tender for re fencing the wildlife area at the tarn.  This will secure the site from the predations of sheep and cattle and means that we can get some native hard woods planted here tomorrow.  A gate will be installed in the fence to allow access for maintenance and Council has also instructed me to arrange for the replacement of the stiles on the cross walls at the tarn with self closing gates.  This will make the circuit of the Tarn somewhat easier for less mobile members.

Once again we will try to get a more detailed knowledge of where fish are and where they are caught on the river.  To enable this each member who fishes the river will receive a record book which they are encouraged to complete. There is an inducement to complete and return the records this season in the form of a prize draw.  Each book will have a unique number and should that number be drawn out of a hat at the end of season the owner of the winning number will get a significant prize.

Last week the crayfish tank at the old hatchery was drawn down and the resident crayfish checked over.  All are very healthy and the plan is to return these creatures to ark sites in south Yorkshire near to where they were rescued from.  The draw down was not without incident.  A pump was hired locally, set up and set running.  A loud "pop" ensued followed by an invigorating shower of ice cold water as the cap on the filler chamber blew off sending a jet of water several feet into the air. The cap traced a perfect arc and descended into the crayfish tank well beyond reach.  A trip to Settle secured another pump which behaved perfectly ensuring not only tat the residents could be checked over, but also that the wayward cap could be recovered.

Ian

A visit to the Tarn on a gloriously sunny, crisp and cold morning was an ideal way to ease into a Sunday morning. The ice is now receding and three swans are back; mum, dad and a cygnet.  The youngster is now looking almost adult with almost a full complement of white feathers.  Where its two siblings are I know not, but they are now well able to care for themselves so there is every chance that they too have survived the severe winter that we have had here and are somewhere down on the river.

As I approached the water a small flock of goldeneye scuttled away towards the wildlife area.  These little black and white duck are regular visitors to the Tarn and it's good to see them as they are quite rare in the UK.  I have a particular connection with goldeneye as my namesake called his house on Jamaica after this diminutive duck.

So the year turns and once again it's time for the annual Wild Trout Trust on line auction.  There are 203 lots this year up for grabs so why not visit www.wildtrout.org and grab yourself a treat whilst contributing to a very worthy cause that has helped our fishery immensely in the past.

It was good to see two friends on TV last Sunday.  I thought that the piece about Ribble crayfish came across rather well.  It's unlikely to turn Paul and Neil into overnight celebrities, but they got a good message over in a very clear way and the crayfish performed well too.

A winter newsletter is now winging its way to members letterboxes.  Do remember that I put this together twice a year and am always keen to get contributions from members.  Articles in any format will do, even scribbled on the back of a sandwich wrapper whist contemplating the capriciousness of fish on a quiet day by the river.

A more immediate way of sharing your thoughts, questions and ponderings is to put them on the club website.  Once again if you don't fancy getting your hands dirty with writing stuff directly on the site just send it to me and I will sort it for you.

Ian

It's been a quiet rather non descript week with not much happening.  The Tarn is still frozen making this the longest period without open water that I can recall.  It does have the benefit of deterring the cormorants which have been absent all winter so far, but it also prevents other more welcome wildlife from frequenting the area and visits to Tarn pasture are now typified by the almost total absence of anything living.  The river on the other hand is alive with duck and gulls and the absence of spates so far this winter has resulted in a more settled population of creatures in the river and on the banks.

Once again it's a frosty start to the day with the ground giving off a "crunch" as you walk the pastures.  The snowdrops here are now in full bud and should break within a week or so.  These diminutive flowers are the first signs that spring is returning to the Dales and they seem to thrive here multiplying year on year to carpet any ground once a handful of bulbs are set.

Yesterday I was reading an article on a website that reported strong evidence of the complex relationship between what we call sea and brown trout.  It would seem that observation is suggesting that there is regular switching by individuals between a migratory and non migratory state.  So for example a male returning from the sea may for reasons that are as yet not understood "revert" (if that's the right word to use) to brown trout state as may a female.  Clearly something triggers this action and my suspicion is that it's food related.  Most creatures instinctively opt for a regime of minimal energy expenditure for maximum energy input so it makes no sense for a trout to migrate down river expending energy when there are plentiful food sources available close at fin.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are now more sea trout in the upper Ribble than there were last century.  What changed here at the millennium was the disappearance of the river's crayfish that provided a convenient food source for larger trout so it's likely that once they reached a given size more fish began migrating to seek better quality feeding.  There is a PHD's worth of research here for someone.

On the subject of crayfish, don't forget to tune in to Countryfile at 6pm this evening to learn more about the project to get these creatures back into the upper Ribble.

Ian

And so this long rather trout friendly winter continues into another bitterly cold week with a severe frost this morning and a temperature of minus seven last night.  Our river invertebrates seem to thrive in cold water.  I reported on the very encouraging results from New Inn last time and these were replicated at Turn Dub on Monday.  Each sample at this site produced very good numbers of baetis and heptagenia many of these were small creatures that will provide good foraging for emerging trout alevins.  The real delight of the check at Turn Dub was a giant among stoneflies.  This creeper measured in excess of 3/4 inch and is the largest example I have yet found at this site.

Those of you with pachyderm like memories will recall that last spring we spent a lot of time up at Ling Ghyll working on a project to conserve native crayfish.  If you didn't manage to visit the site last year it's coming to a screen near you next Sunday.  BBC Countryfile spent last Monday at Horton in the company of Neil Handy and Paul Bradley filming at both Ling Ghyll and the old Bransghyll hatchery.  It should be one of the main features on the programme and will highlight the brilliant work that Neil and Paul have been doing over the past 10 years to preserve native crayfish in the Ribble valley.

Finally, it looks like the Woodland Trust will begin work in February on the conservation project at Turn Dub that we organised last Autumn.  This should result in a thousand native hardwood trees being planted between the Dub and the site of the new bridleway bridge at Far Moor.  They will also put some alder and willow into the wildlife area at the foot of the Tarn to act as a wind break and further enhance the cover.  By the time this is completed we shall be almost into the new fishing season.  How time flies!

Ian

Despite the bitter cold and fairly high water yesterday I managed to get the invertebrate check done at New Inn.  It seems that our native river flies thrive in very cold water as each sample produced prodigious numbers of baetis nymphs and very good populations of the other six families that are found at this site.  I got some truly enormous gammarus (shrimp) some of which seemed to be in the process of mating.  Water quality is superb with high levels of oxygen and a fairly neutral pH.  Conditions could not be better for nurturing trout alevins as they begin to emerge from the redds over the next few weeks.

Rain over night has lifted the river enough to make sampling at Turn Dub today too much of a risk so an early morning assault on this site is planned for tomorrow.

Readers of the Dalesman should look out for an article on yours truly round about March.  This will include some photos and focus on my work for the MAA and the efforts the club has made to preserve native trout in the upper Ribble.

It's always good to see other clubs achieving success and expanding.  I had a fairly long conversation with the Hon Sec of Settle Anglers in the local supermarket yesterday afternoon.  He confirmed the news I had heard they they have just signed a lease on a reservoir above Settle and are busy assessing what they have got.  It looks like a decent brown trout water, but since the reservoir feeds the Leeds and Liverpool canal draw down in summer may be a problem.  Settle Anglers are now hoping for a continuation of the wet summers we have had here over the past couple of years.

Returning to media matters, keep an eye on BBC Countryfile over the next few weeks.  You may see something familiar.

Ian

The stubborn fingers of the icy grip of winter have finally been prised from the valley and the Tarn is slowly returning to its normal fluid state.  It's been a month now since we saw much grass and the local rabbit population has been much in evidence around the house looking for those illusive bits of greenery exposed by the relative warmth from the buildings.

The river which had been down to summer drought levels was in spate yesterday.  Nothing too severe and not enough to pose any serious risk to the trout redds that we hope are now full of ova, but enough to clear the ice flows and debris that filled the back eddys and quieter beats.  It seems that we may be in for a warmer spell over he next week or so before a return to colder conditions with more snow.

A look at the crayfish in the hatchery yesterday revealed not a single animal lost over the past month which is remarkable.  In fact most of the females are now carrying eggs and barring any unforseen disaster this rescued population should return safely to their south Yorkshire home in the spring.

I am determined to do an invertebrate check this week. It's a couple of months since the last one was done which is far too long, but too much water in November and far too much snow in December prevented me from safely getting to the check sites.  It will be interesting to see what effect if any this icy weather has had on the riverfly population.  Strangely there were flies dancing in a brief sunny interlude this morning in the back garden.

Ian

Its been three weskit weather here this past week with night time temperatures reaching as low as minus 12 and daytime temperature not much better.  We still have a lot of snow lying with the threat of more today.  I went down to the hatchery on Friday just to check that everything was running.  Our founding fathers really did know what they were about when they established the old hatching house and fish ponds at Brants Ghyll.  Because the water emerges from its long journey underground only a couple of hundred yards above the hatchery site the water is always at a constant temperature summer and winter. The spawning channel and ponds are ice free despite the intense cold and there is even signs of life in the water plants in the channel.  I took a few photographs some of which you may see in a future "Dalesman" article that is currently in preparation.

The Tarn is frozen solid with a deep layer of duck egg blue ice right down to the duck wall.  How the overwintering fish will fare in this prolonged freeze up I can only wait and see, but there should be sufficient depth for them to descend to relatively warm water.  The big concern is that the dissolved oxygen in the water will become depleted and the fish will suffocate.  My normal method of combating this is to break holes in the ice with a sledge hammer, but this year the ice is far too thick to even contemplate doing this.  Time will tell.

As for other wild life the local rabbits are having a tough time and are coming in close to the house to feed.  This is much to the delight of the farm cats who now have ready meals delivered to the door.  I went to the woodshed on Thursday and found a half eaten rabbit on the log pile.  The top garden is alive with birds after the nuts seed and fat that we have been putting out daily.  We are now visited by a wood pecker whose orange legs flash like beacons against the blanket of snow.    With the pond frozen my ducks have taken to bathing in their water bucket and seem to enjoy the warm water so much that arguments break out from time to time when one outstays its turn in the bucket.  The good news is that I have found no fox prints in my local wanderings so it looks as though they are absent from this bank of the river this winter and the swans may breed in peace in the summer.  Summer, now there's a thought.

Ian

Right, that's Christmas over for another year and we are already into a new decade.  As you get older it seems to me that you only have to blink and you miss a year.  Childhood memories seem to be composed of interminable summers and long days spent in stuffy classrooms distracted from the wit of Shakespear or the nuances of Keats by the sound of leather on willow filtering through a dusty windows and counterpointing the drone of Mrs Ralph as she tried to instil in yet another gang of spotty adolescent boys the merits and joys of English literature.  We won't even mention Charlie Tofts whose approach to teaching maths was similar to the English abroad and to shout ever louder if you didn't get the point of compound fractions or calculus the first time round.  I never did and I share with Paul Merton the fine distinction of failing CSE maths which Paul asserts leaves us both less mathmatically literate than a monkey.  Old Charlie would often end a maths lesson a quivering, spittal drenched wreck looking like the aftermath of an audition for Nosferatu.

This past couple of weeks has seen us with the most snow I can recall here at Horton in the past 11 years.  In fact I was talking to a local farmer up by the Tarn on Thursday and he reckoned that this was the most prolonged spell of wintry weather in the past 20 years.  The Tarn is frozen solid and the swans have removed to the slightly warmer environs of Turn Dub which remains unfrozen as the water is warmed (relatively) by its journey underground from Ingleborough.  There are a number of hare tracks in the snow near the Tarn, but so far no evidence of the fox that left tracks here last winter.  The Lodge has really benefited from the insulation that we installed at the start of the year and it feels remarkably warm inside despite the sub zero temperatures just a few inches the other side of the wood work. If there was any waterfowl on the Tarn it would be a very comfortable place to sit and watch them.

The birds are flocking to the bird tables and feeders in the garden.  They seem to have set meal times with an eary morning feed (breakfast?) followed by a mid morning snack and a much longer blow out at around 2pm.  I know when the raisin supply has run out as a large female blackbird bounces up and down on the roof of the bird table clucking, scolding and flapping her wings.  A re stocking of raisins restores calm.

I have seen very little sign of life in the river, but it's really been too difficult to get down to the bankside anywhere but at New Inn.  Our wild brownies will be well on with spawning now and I am very hopeful that this cold calm weather will encourage a bumper year for young trout.  There have been no damaging spates and provided we get a steady thaw the trout redds should remain undisturbed when winter loosens its grip.  In the meantime the conditions here are pretty well deal for spawning although how any creature can contemplate sex when it's this damn cold beats me.

Ian

I suppose that the main topic this week is the weather.  It strikes me as ironic that we should have the most snow I have seen here in the Dales in the past 10 years during the week in which our leaders failed to reach a consensus on tackling climate change.  Mind you, as a climate change sceptic I'm not much exercised by the posturing at Copenhagen.  I accept that I'm classed with flat earthers and other weirdos, but I remain deeply suspicious of scientific research that chases the easy money and scientists who regard challenge to their work as hysteria.

Be that as it may we have some truly spectacular scenery here this morning with the valley blanketed in over a foot of snow and more falling.  The river is a black ribbon winding through a white wilderness.  A robin is sitting on the bird table feasting on the seed I put out a while ago and the cat is playing silly buggers diving into snow drifts and sending the powder snow flying.  It's just come sledging down to the kitchen window and brought a fair sized snow drift into the house.

Coming back from Halifax on Thursday afternoon all was well until we hit Helifield on the A65 then it took a further five hours to get up to Horton.  Since no gritting had been done prior to a snow flurry just as it got dark the road was like the Cresta run with 45 ton lorries replacing toboggans.  Thankfully we had a flask of coffee with us so life was not unpleasant.

I have not been up to the Tarn this weekend, but may take a wander up there this morning to see how the swans are faring in this wild weather.  Water fowl do seem quite impervious to the cold.  My ducks much prefer to stomp about in a blizzard rather than shelter in the warmth of the duck house.  And no, I didn't claim for that on expenses.

A merry Christmas to you all.

Ian

It was good to see most of Council up at Horton on Saturday for what proved to be a highly constructive and productive meeting.  The Crown Inn was warm, welcoming and very comfortable reflecting all the hard work that Thomas has done recently to refurbish the lounge.

Stocking for the coming season will be similar to this year with 600 rainbows put in over the course of the season.  It was agreed that I should try to get some brown trout to go in at the pre season stocking just to add a bit of variety to the fishing.  The plan will be to treat these browns as catch and release fish so as to give them a chance to grow on over the next few years.  It's evident that Tarn brownies do over winter and can grow to quite respectable size and these big fish do provide a bit of a challenge when they mistake a bit of fur and feather for a Tarn sedge.

The wildlife area will be fenced before the start of the new season and the stiles over the cross walls will be replaced.  We already have a commitment from the Woodland trust to plant a thousand trees between Turn Dub and the Bridleway crossing and a planting plan has now been prepared and agreed that should provide for much improved habitat along this beat without compromising access to fishing.

Some while ago I mentioned Mike Harding's new book on North Country Spider patterns and a couple of copies of this book turned up on Saturday.  One is destined for the club library, but you really should invest in this guide if you are serious about fishing the upper Ribble.  It's a beautifully presented ring bound book with a potted history of North Country Spider patterns and those who popularised this style of fishing fast rain fed high gradient rivers.  The photos of each fly are stunning with enough definition to enable even a cack handed dresser like me to have a serious stab at an imitation.  a very great deal of thought has gone into the planning, writing and presentation and it deserves to become a classic.  It's not too late to get this into your Christmas stocking so do yourself a favour and get it ordered.

The 2010 Hot Pot Supper has been booked already.  So put the date of 1 October in your diaries now and get booked into the Crown whist rooms remain available.

I had planned to get out and do the invertebrate check this morning, but the weather Gods have put the kibosh on that by providing a morning of quite heavy and very cold rain. 

Ian

Apart from the relentless rain it's been a quiet week with very little to report.  An email at the end of last week suggests that our conservation work at Nanny Carr which we carried out in 2007 may feature in a new northern rivers conservation guide.  I have emailed a few photos of the site before work began and the results of all our efforts so we shall see what comes to pass.

For the first time in what seems like weeks it's turned sunny this morning with almost no breeze and the forecast is for a spell of more settled weather over the next few days.  If that comes to pass then I think that I will do an early invertebrate check to make up for the check that was missed in November due to prolonged high water.

As we have a club Council meeting coming up I pulled together all the stats from the Tarn fishing season just gone.  These show that 2009 was a pretty good year with a total of 290 visits by members and guests, 787 fish caught and 377 returned out of a stocking of 605.  This gives a ratio of catch to visit of 2.70 which is the second highest in the past 5 years.

The quality of fish this year has been exceptional.  I saw every fish that went in and all were in prime condition with full tails and fins, firm bodied and fighting fit.  All credit to Dunsop Bridge.  For the first time ever there was a comment in the Tarn register thanking Council for providing such high quality fishing.  I am happy.

Ian

I arose this morning with the intention of playing in the river (doing the November invertebrate check).  A dry and almost bright day yesterday had reduced the flow to non life threatening levels so a quick check before the snow arrived that we were promised this afternoon seemed a good plan.  No it wasn't.  A look out of the window showed, even at 7 am this morning that the weather Gods weren't playing ball.  It's now been raining hard for hours driven on by an unusual north east wind and the meadows below the house are several inches deep in water.  The river is in full flood and well across the lane down by the Crown Inn.  So no invertebrate check today.

Friday saw me up at Malham Tarn Field Centre for a meeting to review progress in the various crayfish/trout in the classroom projects that have been under way this summer.  These seem to have been very successful with a very encouraging survival rate seen in the captive breeding tanks at both Horton and Wortly schools.  It was concluded that the projects should run for a further year with more sites being investigated especially  places with a high public throughput to maximise the publicity and educational value.

It was further resolved to keep this years crop of young crayfish captive for a further year so that their rate of growth can be monitored and their maturation observed by the schools involved thus giving a bit of continuity whilst next years crop are gathered and hatched.  Whilst these projects are very small scale they do contribute significantly to raising public awareness of the plight of native crayfish and help to ensure that extinction is still some way off yet.

Ian

A bit late with this post this week, but refurbishing my utility room has rather taken up most of my time.  The job is mostly done now and a flagged floor with Belfast sink should make washing waders and other assorted gear a good deal easier.

It's rained pretty well every day since last Sunday so the November invertebrate check will have to wait until the river is a tad safer.  Even in moderate water there is a pretty fierce tug over the rocky substrate that makes wading less than easy and it's well nigh impossible to use a staff and grapple with the sampling net at the same time.  Swimming in the Ribble at this time of year is not my idea of fun.

We now have confirmation from the Woodland Trust that they will supply and plant a thousand native hardwood trees on our fishery.  Some of these are destined for the far end of the Tarn with the majority to be planted in pockets between Turn Dub and the Pennine Bridleway site.  There is some good spawning gravel on this beat and the tree cover as it matures will provide habitat to encourage salmon and trout parr to remain resident here.  In the longer term these trees should also offer some good refuge for mature fish and encourage an increase in fly life.

The aim is to get the contractors on site in the New Year and have the job completed well before the commencement of the new fishing season.  Thanks are due to the Trust for their generosity, Gavin for all his support with the Tarn fence and Geoff D for agreeing so readily to planting on his land.

Ian

Wonderful news for all those of you who invested your fortune with Bernie Madoff.  I understand that an auction of all Bernies worldly goods includes a fair amount of fishing tackle.  This is likely to be top notch stuff so if you fancy bagging a bargain (even though you probably paid for it in the first place) watch out for further news of the auction.

Even better news is that Mrs swan and her three cygnets are back from their autumn break and reunited with the cob on the Tarn.  The cob has been looking lonely this past few weeks and I was beginning to wonder if something untoward had happened to the pen and her family, but an early morning foray to the Tarn this morning to check around and batten everything down  for the approaching winter revealed all five birds happily feeding down by the duck wall.

There's a new on line presence in the local angling fraternity.  Settle Anglers have just put up a website that's already full of useful and interesting stuff.  Check it out at www.settleanglers.co.uk or MAA members can find a direct link from Angli Vespers under the Resources/weblinks menu.

One idea I plan to pinch from this new site is a page of favourite flies along with photos and tying recipes.  Over the next few weeks I will pull together details of all the artificials recorded in the river return on the MAA website and their standard dressings, but please do email me with your own favourites, when they are most effective (time of year, time of day, conditions etc) and where on the river they work best and I will include those too.  Even better if you can include a small jpg showing the beast in all its glory.

Ian

After almost persistent wet weather since the close of the season it's been a gloriously sunny day here in the valley.  We had the first sharp frost of the autumn this morning and this abrupt change to cold weather will trigger thoughts of spawning in or wild brown trout.

A glance at the metcheck forecast for tomorrow reveals a chance of snow flurries so here comes winter.

I mentioned a while ago that one of our esteemed members had just published a book on north country fly patterns.  In my mailbox this morning arrived the first review of said tome.  Gavin tells us that;

I have just finished reading Mike Harding’s new book “A Guide to Tying North Country Flies”. It is a fully informative little book with many old and localised fly patterns along with many of the old faithful patterns and variants that we all use on our rivers. Mike should be congratulated on producing this book in the spiral format and with its entertaining ease of reading hopefully will encourage more anglers who do not tie their own patterns to have a go.

So here is something else for the Christmas list and a chair by a warm fire with a glass (or two) of malt.

I'm off tomorrow to look at the hatchery with crayfish Paul who has an "idea".  More on this in due course.

Ian

Isn't it always the way?  Just as the season comes to an end down comes the rain and the river is in super salmon fishing condition. Since Sunday we have had a series of spates and the fish have been coming up the Foss in droves.  I have had a number of calls from locals in raptures about the sight of leaping salmon down at Stainforth.  A guest staying in my holiday flat went home as pleased as punch with his first ever photo of a salmon in full flight.  Less welcome were the visitors captured in the photo below whose fishing methods were unorthodox in the extreme.



Seriously though,  we haven't yet to contend with this problem at Stainforth.  (Picture acknowledgements to Roman Gollubenko/Solent and the Daily Telegraph).

I'm switching now to a weekly Blog probably posted on Sundays.  The daily dose of rant will return in March.

Ian

With water levels too low for decent fishing the season has rather fizzled out and the final day tomorrow is hardly worth the effort. 

I did the invertebrate check at Turn Dub yesterday in some bright, warm sunshine.  The river was crystal clear and flowing strongly over the riffles just below the Turn Dub inlet.  The results for this site were once again very similar to last October with a good number of gammarus and a lot of very small cased caddis.  The kick close to the bank turned up a couple of surprised looking bull heads.  It's important to get these little fish out of the sample quickly because they can play havoc with the results of a sample by eating any invertebrate that wanders within reach.  I learnt this to my cost in the very early days of sampling when I left a very large bullhead in the sample tray and then wondered why a seemingly good haul of mixed invertebrates was diminishing as I counted them. 

Long term readers of this blog will recall that a couple of years ago we planted a lot of saplings between Turn Dub and the top of the fenced run just above where the Pennine Bridleway will cross the river.  Most of the hawthorns have taken, but we had less luck with the ash that went in here.  The Woodland Trust contacted me last week and came to visit last Friday.  I have now submitted an application to them to complement the planting we did in this fenced area with a thousand mature saplings.  At the same time we will repair the fence at the foot of the Tarn and put some native hardwood trees in the wildlife area.  The beauty of this scheme is that the Trust provide not only the trees, but also the guards, stakes and labour to put the whole lot in.  Once again we will be planting in pockets and groups so as to leave plenty of casting room and avoid creating an unnatural sylvan corridor.  Our hope is that these trees will mature to provide good cover for young brown trout.  Some willows will be put in right on the bankside so that their roots create ideal homes for mature trout.  It will take a few years, but you have to start somewhere.

I was recently sent a wonderful account of habitat improvement carried out on the Wharfe over a hundred years ago  They were trying to do then what we have recently rediscovered and improve habitat by planting trees and sowing wild flower seeds to encourage the recruitment of river flies.  I will shortly post this up on the club website along with a great deal of other material that has recently been sent to me.

Ian

Well, it looks as if that's it for the 2009 season.  The river has fallen quickly today and is now too low for decent salmon fishing.  With no real rain forecast for the next few days it's unlikely that we will get another spate before Friday.

I got a call this evening from a friend who has lived all her long life in the village and had taken a relative down to Stainforth to see if there were any salmon coming up the Foss.  She was beside herself with excitement having spent an hour by the falls during which time she thinks that she saw dozens of fish leaping.  Many were quite large, but she was intrigued by the small (she believes about 2lb) fish that were jumping also.  these seem too small to be returning salmon and my thought was that these were sea trout, but I would welcome any ideas.  Coincidentally Alan M dropped by at lunchtime having caught the last of the good water this morning and also caught and returned an eight pound very coloured fish.  Alan said that he was just leaving the pool below Whit (Monkey) Beck when a shoal of five trout passed him going up stream.  Received wisdom tells us that trout don't shoal, but could these also be migrating sea trout?

Finally, here is a photo of the discharge entering the river yesterday.

The rain was pretty relentless yesterday and combined with the wind made for a thoroughly miserable day.  Clouds do however have silver linings and consequence of all the wet was a river in spanking form this morning or at least it would have been if it hadn't been for Horton Quarry which chose to discharge a rather unpleasant flow of washings down the beck between Cragg Hill and Whit Beck.  This came in  a series of pulses and caused considerable turbidity down through Cragg Hill.  The President was fishing at the time and rang me in high dudgeon.  Two solutions sprang to mind, use florescent flies or ring the EA.  The latter seemed the more constructive action and a very speedy response resulted. 

I stood by the Tay bridge with the Pres and watched this muck spread across the river.  It's unlikely to be fatal to fish, but I see no good reason why members should have their fishing spoilt by the actions of a company that should know better.

If any member is down by the Tay Bridge tomorrow and sees a pulse of muck discolouring the water can you please ring me.

Despite this problem I gather that at least two salmon were caught and released today with plenty more seen or lost.
We are forecast more rain tomorrow so the river should remain in good salmon water.  There are reports of plenty coming up over Settle weir.

Ian

As I confidently predicted yesterday we awake this morning to a river in full spate.  Looking out of the window now I can see that the heavy rain clouds are lifting on a stiff westerly breeze and a fair bit of blue sky is breaking through so by lunchtime we should have a falling river and near perfect salmon fishing conditions.  Be prepared for blustery showers though as I doubt if the current blaze of blue will last long on this breeze.

I now have a lot of material waiting to upload to the club website which has been sent to me by one of my regular correspondents.  I will try to get this on to the site later today so if you haven't visited Angli Vespers for a while then it may be worth a browse later this evening.

Ian

Good news for all members who have been eyeing their salmon rod with a growing sense of desperation as the seasons close draws ever nearer and the Ribble remained rather lacking in salmon lubricant.  It's been raining hard on and off all day and it's currently chucking it down.  The prospects for good fishing water tomorrow must be good and even better the strong winds we have here this evening are supposed to moderate tomorrow morning.  So why not forget the extra hour lie in tomorrow and celebrate the transition back to GMT with a spot of salmo salar baiting.

Ian

I did the October invertebrate check at New Inn yesterday morning in some surprisingly warm sunshine.  The results were unspectacular and rather reassuring.  A fair number of seven of the eight families we monitor.  No true mayfly (E danica), but as I have said many times before this stony spate river is pretty much hell on earth for a creature more associated with languid chalk streams.  I thought that overall numbers were down compared to last year, but a check with the records when I got home showed that the results this year are almost identical to October 2008.  That's good news as far as it goes since it shows that the river has suffered no noticeable harm from pollutants.

My ambition remains to see a steady increase in invertebrate populations year on year so as to provide a sufficient food source to support increased trout and salmon recruitment.  I think that one of the key factors influencing riverfly populations is the presence of good bankside herbage and tree cover and here we may be able to make some headway after a visit I had today from the Woodland Trust.  It would seem that the Trust are fairly flush with grant money for native tree planting at present and we are now looking at a couple of schemes that will increase the amount of bankside planting without impinging on fishing or grazing land.  More on this once all the necessary permissions have been obtained.

We had an added bonus this morning up at the Tarn whilst I showed my guest around.  Our crayfish are now in breeding mode and a number of large specimens were moving about in broad daylight much to his delight.

Still no rain, but the forecast for tomorrow promises us a wet day so fingers crossed.

Ian

Well we got the wind that was forecast for today, but not so much rain.  Despite that the river is still in fairly good water and with a wet day in prospect tomorrow should remain so for a while yet.  The Ribble salmon should be running up to Horton in good numbers now.

I raised the issue of the Rowe End sewer at last night's parish Council meeting and councillors have undertaken to write to United Utilities asking them why we have now had four pollution incidents in the past two years related to this pipe, what they have done to alleviate the problem and what they propose to do to ensure that no further incidents occur.  I seem to have been given the task of drafting this letter (serves me right for raising it).  We will see what sort of response we get from UU.

My broadband connection has been going up and down like a bar maid's knickers over the past couple of days so if you have emailed me and not got a reply, sorry.  The problems with the equipment are hopefully now resolved (I hope that's not tempting fate).  It always amazes me that such a complex and advanced system that we have here to get broadband into this valley does not fall over more often.  All credit to LN Communications who designed and installed the network.

Ian

Good news for those of you with twitching rod arms.  The river is currently in quite good water after 24 hrs of steady rain so we should see some significant salmon movements over the next day or so.  The forecast is for more rain sweeping in from the south west on a strong wind so favourable conditions should last most of this week.

Ian

It's a miserably wet day so far, but precipitation is falling as mizzle rather than the prolonged heavy stuff that will lift the river to salmon fishing levels.  So as we approach the end of the salmon season there is still not enough water to make the trip to Horton to wet a salmon fly worthwhile.

A chance meeting with a member of Settle Anglers in the hardware store in Settle yesterday saw us chewing the fat for so long that we were in danger of being locked in as the store closed.  Only the intervention of Mrs F who came in to find out if  I had slipped through a time warp into another dimension curtailed the natter.  I learn that the screw turbine at the Hydro plant will be installed shortly, but work is well behind schedule and considerably over budget.  I really do have my doubts as to whether this generating plant will ever be of any value and I really can't see it having a long life.  Looking at the work done so far I get the distinct impression that one really good Ribble flood and the whole lot will go to hell in a handcart.  I shall keep my fingers crossed!

Ian

It's a dismal start to the day with a veil of thick fog draped over the valley masking the river and fells opposite and severely restricting the view from my kitchen window.  No rain so the river is still too low for salmon and judging by the forecast for this week will remain so.

I thought that it was just me that suffered the baleful attention of Mr Sod and his well known law, but it seems that others fall within the scope of his radar from time to time.  A regular visitor to the Tarn emailed me yesterday to recount the sorry tale of his last visit on Monday.  he took the boat out to mid water and began fishing. The fishing was going well, too well.  On attempting to retrieve the anchor he discovered that it was held fast to the bed of the Tarn. 

Now I make it very clear to new members when they join that extreme care must be taken at all times when fishing deep for fear of snagging the plug that prevents the Tarn from draining away little thinking that this might actually come to pass.  Be that as it may, our esteemed member was now stuck with no means of summoning help and a set of self help options none of which were ideal.  He could cut the anchor line and abandon the gear, swim for the shore or make a further attempt at freeing the recalcitrant anchor.  He decided upon the latter and after much heaving, sweating swearing and exhausting effort managed to haul up the anchor together with a rather large carboy that was last seen many years ago when it was employed to anchor barley straw bales to prevent them drifting in the wind.

To have dropped anchor right on top of this hazard that has lain happily unmolested for years must count as very bad luck, but leaves me wondering just what else is lurking in the depths of the Tarn just waiting to ensnare an unwary fisherman.  A mermaid with a Yorkshire accent or a kraken like giant crayfish?  Happy fishing!

Ian

I really should learn that reading the Sunday papers over breakfast is a sure fire way of bringing on dyspepsia, apoplexy and a chronic attack of the Victor Meldrew's filled as they are with tales of the "elf and safety" Mafia, a legal system that seems far more intent on punishing victims of crime than the perpetrators and politicians whose perceptions of real life seem to have been formed on the planet Zog.  But this morning as I waded through the small rain forest of Fleet Street's finest (now produced in Victoria Street) I came across the salvation of the world! 

I have long been addicted to the delights of a small brown bar in a distinctive black, gold and red wrapper.  This has sustained me even when found to be deformed, redolent of sweat and carbide (when carried under a caving helmet since you ask) or almost liquid on a hot summer's day in the oven of a railway carriage.  The magnificent Mars bar is, oh glories of glories, now to be offered in dark chocolate

So the economy may be going to hell in a hand cart,  the earth may be about to boil away into the void and there may be no new series of Dr Who next year, but who cares now that we have a dark chocolate Mars bar.

Turning to matters prosaic and piscatorial, the river is far too low now for decent salmon fishing with merely a dribble going over Settle weir and nothing of note moving up Stainforth Foss.  The forecast for this week holds little prospect of rain with a ridge of high pressure centred over the UK.  So it looks as though the Tarn is the best bet for the time being.

Ian

Sorry for the silence over the past few days, but cellar renovation works have rather taken up most of my spare time.  The river has been too low for decent salmon fishing most of this week, but a little rain last night has lifted it a bit so it may be worth casting a fly over some of the bigger pools today to see what's lurking and may be irritated.

There was a minor pollution incident at Horton at the end of last week when the main sewer backed up and overflowed in the heavy rain we had at the weekend.  My devolved river watching arrangement here worked perfectly.  After the last incident with this particular sewer I gave the EA Hot-line number to a local resident whose house overlooks the river and asked her to phone it immediately if she saw any overflow.  This she did and the EA were on site within fifteen minutes arranging for United Utilities to tackle the problem.  Little damage is likely to have been done as the river was in full flood and any sewage entering the river will have been well diluted and dispersed.  This sewer pipe is becoming a too regular source of trouble so I will raise this at the next Parish Council meeting and get a formal assessment of the problem from UU.

The recent major incident on the Trent just shows how vigilant we all need to be if our fishing waters are to be protected.  It takes just a moment of carelessness or crass stupidity to wreck an ecosystem that will then take years to fully recover.  The upper Ribble is especially vulnerable because of the natural barrier at Stainforth.  If we were ever to have a really major pollution incident then non migratory fish stock would almost certainly take a heavy hit along with all the fly life that are such a vital part of the system.  Organophosphates are our biggest worry up here, but there is always the fear that some unscrupulous fly tipper will dump something nasty up on Gayle beck where the road comes close to the watercourse.

Don't have nightmares!

Ian