It's a rather nondescript sort of morning with plenty of cloud but little sign of rain.  There is no breeze and it's quite warm so it's pretty midgy.  We got plenty of sunshine yesterday which brought some late fly onto the river in the afternoon.

I have been starting to read and absorb the good advice in the Wild Trout Survival guide and it's sobering to realise how much I either don't know or have made potentially wrong assumptions about.  An example is the installation of weirs.  There has been a generally accepted view that properly placed these are a good thing as they hold back water in times of low flow and create scoured pools below them.  Current wisdom suggests that they must always be regarded with a high degree of caution as the disadvantages they can create often outweigh the advantages. 

A much better way of improving in stream conditions is the use of flow deflectors to move the current around and create pools and riffles without impeding either the flow of the river or the passage of fish.  This is a more complex hydrological exercise and I suspect it's one that will require some controlled experiment on our river to see what works and what does not.  The technique appears to have all sorts of potential for creating a wide variety of habitat including scoured gravel for redds and quieter runs where macrophytes such as rununculus may be encouraged to grow.  It will be interesting to identify one or two places to try these ideas once the redds are empty in the spring.

Lots to think about and plan during the closed season.

Ian