It's another bright and sunny start with almost no cloud and a very light breeze.  The river is fairly low now, but still worth a try on the deeper glides and pools as there is an abundance of fly on the wing and fish are surface feeding.

You may recall that a number of cages containing crayfish were put into Ling Ghyll a few weeks ago to try to determine whether plague had died out in the pools below the weirs.  A thorough check yesterday showed that plague is still rampant so plans are afoot to draw down the weir pools tomorrow and also try to dewater the natural pool below the first fall in Ling Ghyll.  Then it will be all hands to clearing the area of any resident crayfish to try once and for all to prevent the further propagation of plague.  If you are coming up to Horton tomorrow why not take a trip up to Ling Ghyll bridge and take a look at what's going on.  Who knows, you might even get roped in to help search the pools for crayfish.

It's always deeply satisfying when a member brings a guest to fish our waters and they enjoy themselves so much that they can't wait to come back.  The main reason for issuing guest tickets is to try to encourage potential new members so I have high hopes that one particular guest who was a member some years ago will have found his past two visits so enjoyable that he can't resist the temptation to rejoin.  There is still time to introduce a guest to the delights of Horton before the end of this month and with the weather set fairer than it has been all summer what's stopping you?

Ian

All the signs are that summer is almost over.  For the past few mornings the local swallows have been arranged on the power and phone lines near the house like notes on a music stave.  It won't be long now before a morning dawns and they are missing, set off on their long journey to Africa and the skies fall silent from the squeaks and chitters that have provided a sound track to the summer months around the house.

The dry weather of the past few days has prompted much late season grass cutting as farmers along the valley try to get a second cut from meadows that lay parched in spring and boggy for much of July and August.  The river is lower now and whilst still fishable for trout salmon will have to wait for the next flush of water.  Only four weeks of the trout season left now, but we shall keep the Tarn open until the end of October so that days when the salmon are uncooperative can still offer a rainbow or two.

It looks as though all the scaffolding for the bridleway bridge is now in place so the main structure should go up over the next few days.  They will have to hurry as the arrangement is that all work should be finished by the end of September so that salmon and trout making for spawning gravels at the head of the river are not impeded.

Ian

It looks like gremlins got into the system last week resulting in most of the weeks postings vanishing from the site.  The first time that has ever happened.  So sorry for the apparent silence, but "not my fault Guv".

One word can best describe the weather at present: Poxy. It's cold wet and very windy despite the assurances of the forecasters that we are just getting light showers.  It is supposed to clear up later today and be fine and warm tomorrow, but since this is August bank holiday, it's the Yorkshire dales and we have had a wet summer my guess is that it will be poxy tomorrow as well.

The rather better news is that the invert check showed a pretty healthy river at Turn Dub and New Inn.  The Dub check was an important one this month as it is just below the site of the new bridge and a fair bit of muck has been getting into the river here as traffic fords the river.  The number of inverts is slightly up on last August in very similar water and weather conditions so no damage seems to be occurring (yet).

New Inn also gave very similar results to last August despite increasing difficulty in kicking into the substrate.  I don't think it's my imagination, but there seems to be far less gravel and small cobbles at this site than in previous years and trying to boot around in boulders in a moderately fast flowing current is becoming a bit of a sod.  What is interesting at this site is the significantly higher population of inverts that exists in the outfall of Brantsghyll compared to the main river.  I have remarked before on the very large stoneflies that turn up in samples taken from the Brantsghyll outfall which don't occur a few feet upstream in the main river.  There must be a reason for this.  So here is something to exercise your little grey cells on a wet and windy Sunday.

I'm stocking the Tarn next Saturday for the last time this season so expect some livelier fishing the following week.

Ian

It's another rather damp start to the day here in the valley with just the occasional glimpse of blue sky amongst lots of low cloud.  Yesterday morning was better and the Tarn looked stunning in early sunshine with a gentle breeze rippling the surface and an army of coots busy doing coot things.  I moved on the cormorant bobbing on the water by the cross wall and sat in the lodge for a while whilst the swan family slowly ambled up from the duck wall to check me out for a snack.

It's always rewarding how quickly life at the Tarn settles down if you just sit quietly watching from the lodge windows.  The more nervous residents that shoot into the reed beds to hide emerge and carry on with what they were doing before you arrived and a sense of calm descends which permeates ones soul making it very hard to eventually stir and get on with whatever job was in hand.

After giving the returning cormorant a nasty shock with the clapper board that sent him winging away down river I went up on the hill to take a look at the new river crossing.  Much scaffolding has been erected in the past couple of days and the steel anchors for the bridge seem to be in place so it looks as if the bridge sections will be swung in to place maybe next week.

I was talking to Neil Handy on Tuesday and mentioned Gavin's monster trout with the big tail.  He thinks that this will have been a sea trout and on reflection I am inclined to agree.  The fish had clearly been doing some serious swimming to have developed a tail like a salmon and it takes a lot of inverts to grow a 4 lb trout.  Hopefully this big fish will pass on its genes this winter be it male or (as I suspect) female.  If only a percentage of the parr we are currently seeing in the river now reach maturity over the next couple of years trout recruitment should increase dramatically.

Ian

I can think of few places more tranquil than the Tarn early on a still and sunny summers morning and so it was this morning.  I sat for a while in the lodge to give the residents time to settle again after my approach.  I counted six brace of coot sculling around and feeding out on the weed patches. The swan family was hauled up on the bank down in the wildlife area and the only cormorant had long since headed down river.

None of the traps had been sprung so with nearly a week gone and no catches I have blocked them off, but left them in place just in case.

All the rain that has fallen over the past month has made a dramatic improvement to the water quality in the Tarn.  It's crystal clear now that the algae has been broken up and dispersed.  There is a good flow coming out under the duck wall once again so the replenishment cycle is working once again.  This will reduce the already low nutrient levels and stop further algae from growing in the warmer weather we have here this weekend.

The river is still in good nick with plenty of flow on the glides and riffles.  Levels are too low for good salmon fishing, but are just about ideal for trout.  Mind you, we seem to be in the August fishing doldrums right now with very few visits recorded over the past couple of weeks.

Ian

The Tarn fished well today and my morning visit revealed no further corpses and no further evidence of mink so whatever the problem may have been, fingers crossed that it's behind us.  Visit the members website for more info.

The bridge sections arrived this morning at the bridleway site and construction has begun.  I will try and get some photos and post them up tomorrow.  Two dirty great waggons passed through Newhouses first thing loaded with the laminate sections that will form the ellipse of the bridge.  It will be a mighty structure and one does wonder whether all this expenditure is really necessary for a few horses.

The weather is as per usual although we have been blessed with some sunny periods today that enabled me to get some grass cut at long last.  It's now raining hard again helping to keep the river in good form.

Ian

After gloating over the quality of fish currently residing in the river I was brought back down to earth with rather a bump by the discovery of a number of mutilated trout at the Tarn.  We evidently have a predator at work and from the damage to these fish my guess is that mink are responsible.  The number of coots on the water seems to have diminished since Sunday and there is a half chewed seagull in Tarn pasture which tends to reinforce the theory.  Appropriate measure are being taken and for more info members should visit the secure website.

If you are fishing the Tarn over the next few days please do report to me anything that you see that suggests that it's something other than mink.  I know about the cormorants that arrived last week and am visiting the Tarn each morning to move them on.  Hopefully they will get the message that they are unwelcome here and return to Morecambe.

Other than that things are pretty much as usual with frequent showers keeping the river on the decent side of fishable and our salmon on the run.

Ian

For some while now I have been speculating about the imminent arrival of salmon to the upper Ribble.  Now comes proof positive that they are here, possibly in quite good numbers.  Gavin was fishing below the pipe pool on Saturday in quite good water and I will let him describe the experience:



This brownie must be a near record for the fishery since we ceased stocking and when considered with the 3lb fish who lives in Thompson's run shows that the river is capable of supporting very big trout.

It's one of the better days with high light cloud, a very light breeze and no sign of rain so just perfect for a foray to the river.

Ian

Its been rather soggy here over the past 24 hours and the river has come up well over night.  It's carrying a bit of colour at present, but with the rain having abated for the moment and a better day forecast for tomorrow fishing conditions should be OK for the rest of the weekend.

Its been a long time since I saw so many coots on the Tarn.  They do seem to have bred well this season despite the bitter winter and very dry spring.  In fact wildlife both fauna and flora appears to be thriving in the valley.  My rowan and elder trees are so laden with berries that their branches are bowed down.  This should provide a bumper harvest for the many families of blackbird hat have nested in and around the garden.

No news yet of any salmon at Horton.  I have asked our two post grads who are doing the crayfish survey to keep a watch out.  So far its been parr all the way and no adult fish. 

Finally, no confirmation yet of the date for the bridge erection, but with the foundations now in place I recon that its arrival must be imminent.

Ian

Conditions here are best described as moderate.  We had a little rain over night and into this morning that has kept flows on the runs just about fishable.  The clouds are lifting a bit now on a light breeze and some sun is beginning to break through so all in all things could be worse.

For those members who blanch at eating lunch in the lodge with slimy, fishy fingers I have some good news.  Thanks to yet another generous donation from Gavin I have installed a gel hand wipe dispenser in the lodge.  This will remove all traces of slime with just a water free rub and a wipe with a paper towel so you no longer have to tolerate your cream slice with a side order of essence of trout.

It looks as though the footings for the new bridge are at long last nearing completion so the timber should arrive sometime next week.  This might prove entertaining as I have just been told that timber extraction from Greenfield forest should begin next week.  I await with interest to see how an irresistible force will over come an immovable object on Newhouses lane should a logging waggon meet the bridge transporter.

News from the two interns who are busy with the crayfish check and riverfly survey on the upper becks is interesting.  Because most of the beck substrate at the sites they have checked so far is fairly well compacted few inverts have been collected in the samples, but they have found a very high number of cased caddis.  It's too soon to draw any conclusions, but two thoughts spring immediately to mind.  First is that a bit of judicious forking in selected areas might improve the spawning capacity of the becks and increase the inverts.  Second, the caddis will provide a good feed for adult trout if we can adjust the bankside habitat to offer suitable cover.

The survey has now reached Birkwith heading down stream so over the next few days we shall be getting data on the beats that members fish most often.

Ian

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on and off with our local crayfish expert helping him to establish a business in Settle.  This will be an extension of the work that Paul has been doing for the past ten years supporting utility companies, construction companies, the Environment Agency and others who undertake works adjacent to water courses and who need to comply with the stringent regulations that govern their activities in these fragile environments.

PBA Applied Ecology has recently taken on two interns who will be working on the upper Ribble over the next two months carrying out a thorough crayfish survey to winkle out any residual populations that previous surveys may not have picked up.  Since we don't expect to find much and spending two months turning stones may get a bit tedious for active scientific minds I have arranged with Paul for the interns to do a number of invertebrate checks on our waters.  This should give us much more detailed data on what is living where at a number of sites between Helwith Bridge and Far Gearstones and complement the monthly checks that I do at New Inn and Turn Dub.

A base for the business has been found and No 11 Commercial Yard Settle will begin to hum with activity from the end of next week.

A fair drop of rain fell here yesterday afternoon so the river has lifted a touch and with just a light westerly breeze crossing the valley fishing should be OK this weekend.

Ian

The saga of the bridleway bridge is becoming almost Icelandic in epic terms as a result of the unfairness of the weather here.  The latest estimate is that the bridge sections will arrive and be put in place next week.  The foundations have just about surfaced above the river which is now back to usual summer levels so concreting should resume shortly.

It's unusual to awaken to the sound of traffic on this lane at six thirty.  Not much travels up from Horton at that time of day and the sight of a car or waggon on the road is rare enough to be noticeable.  But since the bridleway work started it's been like Piccadilly Circus with vans and 4x4's providing a base line to the normal treble of the dawn chorus.

Now here is a treat.  A new Blog has appeared on the interweb that should appeal mightily to all you fishers of surface feeding fish.  Take a look at http://www.dryflyexpert.blogspot.com/ and give yourself a treat.

They say that angling is a quiet commune with nature that strips away the cares of a troubled world and sends the angler back to his or her business refreshed and of tranquil mind.  Yeah, right! that's fine if all goes well but three incidents over the past couple of days have shown that the baleful attention of Mr Sod and his well known law can turn to angling equally as to any other activity.

Take one (very) small boy, his grandfather and a three pound rainbow with attitude.  Add a sedge on a light hook and the thrill of hooking the fish of his young life then cap it all with a broken hook just as the fish comes to the net.  You can visualise the rest.

Then consider the scene last evening.  Two members fresh from the river arrive at the Tarn, tackle up and begin fishing.  Member number one eventually gets caught in weed and gives the rod a flick.  A sickening crack and a rather expensive rod has a joint where a joint don't belong.  Not to be outdone member number two does precisely the same thing about half an hour later.  They do say that one of the key reasons why Homo sapiens dominate the earth is that the upright ape is able to learn from experience and adjust behaviour and actions accordingly.  Perhaps evolution has some way to go yet when it comes to the pursuit of fish with a string on a stick.

It may just be that the extensive river survey work that was done a few weeks ago is about to lead to the first real improvement.  Plans are being hatched that will see some modest habitat improvement taking place near Lodge Hall.  This will take the form of in-stream works that should provide better cover for fish on this open beat. As ever the availability of money will be the factor that determines whether this goes ahead.

The river is low now, but just about fishable.  We have a gloomy, overcast day with almost no breeze and the threat of some rain later so conditions are far from impossible.

Ian

For the first time since April there was enough water in the river to do an invertebrate sample at New Inn and Turn Dub.  The results from Turn Dub showed that the prolonged drought seems to have had little or no impact on the populations of the seven invertebrate families that we regularly monitor.  In fact I was staggered to find two E. danica in one kick sample.  This "true" mayfly is not a common sight on the upper Ribble as the bouldery bed and spate nature of the river is far from their preferred habitat of muddy bedded sluggish chalk streams, but they do turn up very occasionally. I have never found more than one in a sample before though.

New Inn was slightly more disappointing.  Plenty of stone flies and cadddis with good numbers of olives.  What was lacking was a big population of flat bodied mayflies which normally turn up in high numbers.  What was noticeable here is how cobbley the bed has become over the summer.  Almost all the smaller stones and gravel has gone leaving a substrate that is almost impossible to kick in without breaking toes.

Friday's crayfish course went well and the students seemed mightily impressed with both the habitat at the Tarn and the chance to handle good numbers of native crayfish.  All seems healthy and females have released young now so the population will be many times what it was a few weeks ago.

We had some rain yesterday afternoon and last night that has refreshed the river a bit.  With the promise of more rain today conditions for fishing should remain good into the early part of the new week.

Ian

At long last it has stopped raining.  It's not what you might call bright and sunny, but at least the monsoon that plagued us yesterday has abated.  The river is very high and carrying quite a colour, but it is now beginning to fall back and if we get no more rain today it should be fishable tomorrow.

For the past few weeks I have been watching the antics of a pair of coots that have built a nest on the bank of the Tarn just below the cross wall on the south side.  This nest is in full and glorious view of every predator in the area, but much to my surprise has survived.  The rain that fell yesterday has lifted the level of the Tarn so much that not only is the boat now floating free for the first time in months, but so is the nest.  On approaching this morning I thought that both eggs had been washed out of the half submerged nest as there were two in the water close by.  Not so.  As I bent down to retrieve the eggs an irate coot came rushing over scolding and clucking and retrieved a small bundle of black fluff from the sedge by my waders.  So they have one chick and there must have been three eggs in the nest.  One possibly hidden down deep.  The pity is that the third egg was on the point of hatching, but must have rolled out of the nest as the chick struggled to break free.

Don't forget that the crayfish traps will be set on Thursday afternoon ready for the course on Friday so it will be a bit busy at the Tarn at the end of the week.

Ian

It's been raining stair rods most of the afternoon and the river is now in full spate with a dark torrent flowing over Settle weir.  Even as I write this at 7.45 it's raining so levels will stay high for some time yet.  By the way, whilst we work on getting our own webcams up and operational on the fishery you can get some idea of conditions on the upper river by visiting the webcam at Settle weir http://settlehydro.hubexpert.com:8080/shcamweir.php

I forgot to mention yesterday that last week's fishing returns from the Tarn showed the highest ratio of catch to visits for the last two years with an average of 4.5 fish caught per member visit.  Either fishing skills are improving or the Tarn and its resident fish is in cracking form.

All this rain has put paid to any serious work on the bridleway bridge.  At present the foundations are under water so it's unlikely that the bridge will be erected this week as planned.

Whilst on the topic of civil engineering I am aiming to visit the beat where we put in the willow spiling some time tomorrow to see how well it has stood up to the first flood since the withies were planted.  The bend will have taken a real battering over the past few days so it will be a useful test for this experiment.

Ian

It's been raining here almost continuously for about 48 hours now and slowly the Tarn is beginning to fill.  It was up about four inches this morning, still not enough to float the boat in the boat house, but it's getting there.

The river was in full spate yesterday afternoon and is still running very high and coloured.  No sign yet of salmon or sea trout, but as I said yesterday it can only be a matter of time before they arrive at Horton if this rain keeps up.

My ducks look more cheerful than they have done for months and are busy turning their patch of garden into a mud wallow.  Normally white, when I went out last night to lock them away I found four very happy and very khaki ducks wearing what looked like mud wellingtons. The pond looks like a vat of chocolate as they keep rushing to the water to rinse off after yet another plough through the  swamp for worms.  The eggs are good though.

Ian

Another wet morning in prospect here.  It's been raining for some while so the river is nearly bank full with a fair bit of colour.  The strong winds of the past few days have abated so casting will be less of a challenge, but there really is a drop too much water for decent fishing right now.  Looking ahead tomorrow is forecast to be wet, but after that it should settle down again and the end of the week may be fine.

With all this cloud the battery running the tarn camera isn't getting enough sol to fully charge so the transmitter keeps logging off.  That's why the pictures are only coming through in dribs and drabs.  There is a cunning plan to fix this later in the week.

There will be a crayfish handling course running up at the Tarn on Thursday and Friday, so if you are planning to visit later in the week be warned that there will be traps set from Wednesday evening and students milling around on Thursday.  And talking of invertebrates, it should be possible at long last to do a riverfly check this week.  This will be the first since April due to the absence of any river to kick in.  It will be interesting to see if the long drought has had any discernible impact on invertebrate larvae.

Ian

Its been raining cats and dogs here for a good few hours now so the river is in better shape than I have seen it for the past 5 months.  It's carrying some colour at present, but when the rain eases it should begin to lose turbidity and become perfect for fishing.  A quick look shows that it's teeming with young trout and salmon parr and on this current flood I would not be surprised to see a few salmon making a dash for the top end.  We know that both they and a number of sea trout have been mooching around at Lytham so by Sunday they may reach Horton if the flood holds up.

There are continuing problems with the camera at the Tarn caused by a lack of power to the transmitter.  This is being worked on, but it is proving to be an invaluable test which is exactly what the installation was intended to be.  It's now known precisely what's needed to ensure that any river installation can be made to work straight out of the box.

All morning concrete waggons have been trundling through Newhouses taking up material for the footings for the Bridleway bridge.  I was up there yesterday morning before breakfast and I have never seen such a tidy and compact civil engineering site.  They really are making every effort to minimise the impact of the workings on the environment of the river.  The concrete is being carried down to the site in dumpers because of the risk of the big waggons toppling on the gradients so this will minimise even further the potential damage to the river bank.

It's far from ideal weather to be pouring concrete and there is now a real risk that the workings will be inundated by a rising river.  It really is foul outside at present.

Ian

A fair drop of rain fell here last night for a good few hours.  The morning has dawned bright with almost no wind so fishing conditions on the river are better than they have been for some days. 

Those of you who have visited the members site will have noticed that the Tarn webcam has been rather static.  Neil spent most of yesterday afternoon making some adjustments and has now established a very strong connection with the receiver at Selside rather than the reflected signal that we got last week.  Currently the battery is flat, but with sun now breaking through the cloud it should not be long before the panel pushes enough juice into the battery to fire up the camera and it will start broadcasting live images.

Work is steaming ahead with the Pennine Bridleway and the bridge footings should be excavated and concreted over the next couple of days.  Next week the plan is to bring up the bridge sections so if you fancy watching some heavy engineering Tuesday or Wednesday should see the bridge being set in place.  It's any ones guess how much impact this route will have on the river and the fishery.  The hope is that it won't be too much as the whole route down Low Moor across the river and up Drain Mires will be fenced.  If we can find a signal it may be worth putting one of the planned cameras here not just for security, but to keep a check on the spawning gravels on this beat.

Ian

After working on the camera rig at the Tarn for most of yesterday afternoon Neil got it transmitting pictures to the website.  There is still a bit of fiddling to do to get regular updates, but if you log on to the members site now you will see the image broadcast at about  4pm yesterday.  Now that the idea has been tested and proved to work it's now possible to transfer the concept to the river so that you can see what conditions are like at any given time.  Work is in progress!

Another wet night and a damp morning has kept the river just about fishable so any members who fancy wetting a fly over the weekend should find conditions conducive to some reasonable sport.

I took a look at the bridleway works yesterday whilst up at the Tarn.  The temporary track that's needed to bring down the concrete waggons and timber sections for the bridge look like the beginnings of the M62.  I am assured that once all the haulage work is completed the track will be reduced to a 2 meter strip and be far less intrusive, but it's a hell of a project. 

However, every cloud has a silver lining and the presence of so much heavy equipment at the site may prove very useful in solving a problem affecting the new planting.  A bull is getting in to the top end of the fenced area through the water gate that has collapsed.  This massive bovine has flattened quite a swathe of trees, but I have discussed with the bridleway project manager the possibility of getting one of the JCB's to pull tight the chain supporting the water gate and make the fencing secure again.  Then the trees can be set upright.  Another job for the weekend.

Ian

After a very wet night and a damp morning the river is in better form than I have seen it for months.  There are fish rising in the pools and good numbers moving in the glides and riffles so fishing over the next few days should be more rewarding that its been most of the season. 

Visitors to the Tarn will notice that the lodge has sprouted an aerial.  This is intended to transmit pictures from a camera mounted on the boathouse over the Internet to the members website.  The idea is to test the installation here before installing a similar set up on the river so that you can check water conditions online before setting off for Horton.  At present the camera is working brilliantly, but the signal is too weak to get these transmitted to the receiver at Selside.  A new aerial is being installed next week which should overcome the problem.  It's no good gurning at the camera at present as no one will see you.

When the set up was being tested the day before yesterday the pictures were so pin sharp that you could see fish just below the surface.  The camera will take a still image about once a minute so whenever you log on you will see almost live action from the Tarn

Ian

Despite grey skies for much of the morning yesterday the rain that was forecast failed to materialise so the river remains pretty low, but just about fishable.  The forecast for the week ahead suggests that we may be in for a wetter spell so fingers crossed.

The much delayed work on the Pennine Bridleway that will come down across Low Moor, over the river above the Tarn and up Drain Mires Lane began this week and so far several hundred tons of limestone have gone up past me to resurface Drain Mires so that heavy equipment can get down to the river with the new elliptical wooden bridge.  The work is planned to take the next three months so there will be a fair bit of disturbance on the beat above the Tarn for the rest of the season. 

I have been assured by the project manager that the contractors will keep to a minimum removal of the new trees we planted in the winter up to the site of the bridge.  Any that are removed will be replanted further down the beat.

Work should begin next week to replace the old stile above the lodge with a self closing gate and to rebuild the wall down to the water's edge.  This should make progress round the Tarn a great deal easier and safer.  So no more busted gussets or hernias lugging tackle over the stile.

Ian

It rained here a fair bit in the night and the river has lifted a good few inches.  Despite the forecast that promised a wet day the clouds seem to be lifting and breaking to give some sunny spells so we shall have to wait and see if the more prolonged spell of rain that we so desperately need actually materialises.

Despite conditions the river did perform quite well after the last rain on Monday night.  Gavin reports that:

Last night I spent a few hours fishing up into Parker's wood from the bridge on a very pleasant evening with a sluggish and slow flowing river.

The good news is much as last year and that this stretch appears to be full of young fish that will swim very close to your boots if you stand still. this along with a  very large population of minnows  must mean surely that the river is extremely healthy. There were plenty of fish showing and producing aerial displays including some quiet large fish, but any fly presented was instantly attacked by minnows or juvenile trout.

I had 6 fish and at a pinch if I was to stretch the fish the biggest it went around 7”  the smallest which I thought was a big minnow was just over 4 ”, but all were in first class condition and colour.

In the pool below Parker's wood there looks to be good growth on 2 clumps of water crowfoot at the tail of the pool. I could not find any other weed growing in this area which considering I placed around 8 planted groups of weeds into this pool was quite disappointing. The two that are growing appear very firmly anchored to the river bed and now reach the surface so when they flower and seed it might just start other populations. I also walked down the shallow section below the bridge to Cragg Hill farm to see how the weed had fared down there and again found no evidence of any growth or of crowfoot weed in any of the places it was anchored this was difficult though as most of the bed as large amounts of algae. This is a little strange as we have had no high water since planting which makes me wonder if this is being taken by the ducks on the river.

Gavin's thoughts that ducks may be taking the crowfoot seem creditable to me after recent horticultural experience.  I have been cursing rabbits for devastating my lettuce plot, attacking the broccoli and starting to chew through a row of kale.  Yesterday all was revealed when I surprised my ducks under the netting busy snacking on the endive which I thought would be too bitter.  Having kept runner ducks for many years this is the first flock that have even so much as taken a nip at the garden veg. Barriers are being erected.

Ian

A few years ago I came across a reference to a paper delivered to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society by F Faraday about fish breeding at Horton in Ribblesdale.  This was in conjunction with a visit to Horton by the British Association in 1887 so it seemed logical that a copy of the paper might be lodged in the archive of the BAAS.  An enquiry to their librarian produced no joy so I resigned myself to the probability that no copy of the paper remained in existence.

I turned on the infernal machine last evening to check emails and was flabbergasted to find a copy of the paper sitting in the in box.  At nine pages it details the arrangement and operation of the old fish house on Horton Beck and describes its situation.  The paper is complete with a diagram of the layout inside the fish house and tells us that the operation was spring fed via a lead pipe.  I had always assumed that the supply was fed from the beck itself.

So thanks John for filling in yet another gap in our knowledge of the way in which the MAA preserved its waters and encouraged trout recruitment in the early days of the club's long life at Horton.

Turning to more modern considerations it rained heavily during the night accompanied by visuals and a soundtrack courtesy of the first thunder storm of the year.  The eau in the river is up a touch this morning and it looks as if it will be a damp day so we may have more eau by this evening.  Don't hold your breath, but it may at long last be worth cleaning the dust off that light weight river rod that has sulked in the corner all season.  I shall keep you posted.

Ian

There are high hopes that crayfish plague may have been eradicated from the Ribble catchment.  The first draw down of the season up at Ling Ghyll was done on Thursday and just shy of 300 creatures were collected from the three cells. Given that 80% of these were in the top cell and only 20 were found in the bottom cell it's unlikely that sufficient numbers have gone over the bottom dam to keep the plague active.  We drew down again yesterday to collect any creatures that had remained hidden during the first draw down and only collected a total of 70 with just five coming from the bottom cell.

Tests will be carried out over the next few weeks to establish whether the plague has really gone and if so this will be the first time ever in the 130 year history of crayfish plague in Europe that an outbreak has been eliminated.  The next step will then be to start re colonising the catchment so that the Ribble once again can boast a healthy population of Austropotamobius pallipes.

Other than that it's pretty much as usual here with almost no flow in the river and the Tarn nearly 18 inches below normal level.  Although it's cloudy today there is little sign that we shall get any desperately needed rain.  Yet again I can't do the monthly invertebrate check as both the sampling areas are almost devoid of water.  The one bright spot is that the river seems to be full of trout of all sizes and ages with plenty of adolescents approaching breeding age.  All we need is some RAIN!

Broughton Game Fair is tomorrow at its usual site near Skipton,  No problems with a waterlogged site this year so maybe I shall see you there.

Ian

I was up at the Tarn early yesterday checking on the catch returns for last week and having a general look around.  No sign of the swans who were all probably down by the dry ditch that used to be the river, but what was in evidence were hosts of small upwinged flies.  These were proving irresistible to swallows and trout alike.  The swallows were performing high speed aeronautics out over the water, dipping weaving and wheeling about.  The trout were leaping fully out of the water to catch this tasty morsel landing with dolphin like splashes.  I stood transfixed by this display whilst into the midst calmly cruised a family of coots.

After tidying the lodge - how is it that a small group of middle aged men can can leave a place looking like a pig sty - I tried to catch one of the upwings to see if I could identify which family it belonged to.  No chance! the dancers remained just out of reach and even though the Tarn is a good foot below its normal level and the morning was warm.  Sitting in wet breeks in the car back to the house was not an option.

There is a good chance that the Ling Ghyll crayfish project for 2010 will begin tomorrow.  Paul tells me that the pump should arrive ready to set up and begin drawing down on Wednesday.  It will be interesting to see how many creatures have found their way over the dams during the winter.  I doubt if many have done so in the past three months since it stopped raining.  We shall see.

Ian

We finished the habitat survey on Wednesday by walking the length of Gayle beck from Gawber to about 500 yards above Far Gearstones and now have a step by step analysis of both Cam beck and Gayle beck from the confluence to the point on each where a natural barrier prevents trout migration.  In fact on Gayle beck we went far further than the first waterfall since the habitat above was so good and unlike Cam beck we know that it's free of crayfish plague (or so we assume).  The beck up here is stunning set as it is in a natural canyon with falls and pools aplenty.  It is alive with trout and since these are above a three yard fall it's likely that they are as near native as you will get on the Ribble.  Few members fish this far up the beck, but I can imagine far worse ways to spend an afternoon than backwoodsing with light tackle up the canyon winkling out fish that can scarcely have ever seen an artificial fly apart from one of Brian's.  So MAA members should remember, you can fish as far up as the footbridge above Far Gearstones.  But don't all try it at once.

So, we now have the most detailed information ever gathered on the two main feeders for our fishery and plenty to analyse. Nothing we found on Wednesday alters the initial view that with a little judicious habitat work the fish recruitment potential of both becks could be raised significantly and many more trout brought to adult stage.

It's now over to the Trust to compile the data into a report with the aim of securing DEFRA funding for the works needed.  Fingers crossed!

As I write this there is the merest suggestion that we might get some rain later today.  The breeze has picked up and the sky looks dark and threatening.  Quite a contrast to the wall to wall blue we had here yesterday.

It's the annual Terrier and Stick show at the Crown in Horton tonight.  Starts at 6.30 and brings together all the terrier men from the north of England to show off their dogs and have them judged.  There will be displays of crooks and market sticks all beautifully hand crafted .  This is a classic country event and one not to be missed.  So maybe I will see you in the Crown for a pint and a bit of a crack later.  If you do come and this breeze dies down bring your midge repellent!

Ian

I had a fascinating day yesterday working with the Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust and Environment Agency helping to carry out a thorough habitat survey of Cam Beck.  We began at the confluence and during the day worked our way upstream to Nether Lodge.  Given that this is only about a mile you can get some idea of the thoroughness of the survey.  We recorded every riffle, pool and glide with all the in stream and bank side habitats.  Each riffle, pool and glide counts as a single unit and by the time I departed at four thirty we had recorded around 60 units. 

The volume of data is phenomenal and once entered in a database will provide the most accurate description of Cam Beck ever recorded.  Geo referenced photos were taken of every unit so that the written data can be compared to a visual image and plotted on a map or Google earth. 

The purpose of all this hard graft?  Evidence that can be presented to DEFRA to release significant funding for habitat improvement to increase the recruitment potential of our wild brown trout.  It's too early to draw real conclusions, but we found some cracking sites for off line spawning channels, plenty of opportunity for bank side fencing and tree planting and realised that whilst the beck probably has good fry habitat it totally lacks good spawning beds and habitat for mature trout.  If these deficiencies can be addressed through DEFRA funding then the beck should teem with fish as the water quality even in this drought is excellent as is the supply of plentiful invertebrates for food.

More later

Ian

I took a break today to attend to a mountain of Parish Council work after last nights meeting.  The depleted team tackled Gayle Beck, but it's back to Cam Beck above Nether Lodge tomorrow

A much greyer day with a shower overnight that has given my lettuces a bit of a lift, but done nothing for the river or Tarn.  the forecast for the week suggests that we may be in for a wetter spell.  Don't hold your breath.

It looks as though one of the cygnets has gone missing.  There were only three in evidence yesterday along with the two adults.  What were sculling about in numbers were coot chicks.  They move fast and constantly, but I counted at least seven being shepherded around by mum and dad.  They are just little scraps of fluff so how many will survive is any ones guess.

I'm not sure how effective our beck survey will be tomorrow in this drought.  All we can do is record what is there and collect as much data as we can.  At least we shall be able to walk the bed of the becks and take a good look at the substrate.  Water sampling could give some skewed results though as conditions are far from typical.  Talking to some visitors yesterday revealed just how localised this drought is.  Up in Wensleydale and Swaledale there is plenty of water.  It's the Ribble, Wharfe and upper Aire that are suffering.

Ian