We awake to a rather dark, dank and gloomy morning here in the valley.  No rain and no wind as yet but rain is forecast and will be welcome to raise the river a bit to get the salmon up to Horton.  The quality of the water in the river is very good with pH stabilising at around 7.5 to 8, just right for salmonids of all types and temperatures are thankfully significantly down on the bath water highs of July.

As most members know all the fish that we introduce to these waters we mark so that they can be easily distinguished from the natives.  What I find odd is the reports that I get back from fishermen who have fished the same pools but caught either all stockies or mostly wild fish.  Is this to do with the fly used or time of day or weather conditions or even the pheromones of individual fishermen?  I wish I knew.

But it does tell us that at least some of the fish we put into the river last year survived the predations of a Horton winter.  Whether these fish will breed or survive to next year is a matter for further speculation, but since we didn't stock the river this year it will be interesting to see what the catch returns are like next season.  What is evident so far is that there seems to be anecdotal evidence that there are more young wild trout in the pools than in past years.  Perhaps this is due to the relative absence of large stock fish.  If so then it reinforces the case for our strategy of reducing artificial stocking and replacing it with a more natural stocking policy based on the hatchery.

There is probably a PhD study here for someone.  Any offers?

Since we are coming to the end of the season the thought springs to my mind about the future of this blog.  I started it as an experiment but feedback has been positive so far.  Should I keep it going over the closed season and should it continue as a daily diary or be less frequent?  I would welcome views.

Ian