This morning we have a rather grey and misty start with high cloud and a hint of brightness in the west that may herald sunshine later.  It's almost windless and hence pretty midgy.  The river is now fairly low, but with rain and strong winds forecast for Wednesday levels may be up again by the end of the week.

I spent a very interesting couple of hours yesterday with Dave White up at Low Birkwith looking at all the work he has done along Coppy Gyll.  This is really impressive.  Basically the steep sided gyll has been fenced and the banks planted up with native species of trees.  The whole project has been carried out in a highly professional manner and sets a real benchmark for other work along the river.  We then went down to Nanny Carr's where Camm Beck meets Gayle Beck and the Ribble proper begins.  The whole of this flood prone are a would benefit from fencing and planting to  stabilise the banks and we agreed  that this should be done provided that grant funding can be got from YDMT.

The eventual effect will be to link up two stretches of tree lined bank and create better cover for fish around the deep pool at Nanny Carr.

I waxed lyrical last week about a new book by Chris Yates - How to Fish.  The latest extract in Saturday's Telegraph is another inspiring and evocative piece on fishing by moonlight that really summons up the sights, sounds and smells of a river at night.  You really have to buy this book if you are passionate about fishing, but be warned reading it will make the closed season seem even longer as it will make the feet itch even more intensely to be back on the river bank again.

Finally, my piece for the Parish News on sea trout may be of interest to some sot it's attached.

Ian