Another rather grey start to the day with 100% cloud cover.  It's pretty high stuff so no real threat of rain yet.  The wind is negligible so no problems casting on any reach on the river.  It came out bright and sunny for most of yesterday and that seems to be a pattern that's been true of the past few days.  Gloomy start but brighter later.  It gives quite good fishing conditions in the afternoon with a rise at about 2pm.

The spawning channels at the hatchery are now almost complete.  Just the gravel to put in and some tidying up to do.  Then the pipework and buffer dam need to be installed and it's just about done.  I will post up a couple of pictures later.

The cloudiness in the Tarn is certainly of plant origin.  A quick look under the microscope yesterday confirms this, but it's by no means obvious just what the microphyte is.  I suspect that a barley straw treatment this winter will clear it and set things up for much better water conditions next season.  The cause is probably the very hot and dry weather during June and July.  Once the temperature dropped a bit the stuff started to grow exponentially.  It doesn't seem to worry the fish, but analysis of catch data suggests that may be limiting fishing success as the ratio of catch to visit has dropped significantly since the water became cloudy and there are plenty of fish in there.

The Parish Council have decided to hold a public meeting on 5 October at 7pm in the Village Hall to give people a chance to see the plans submitted for the development at Grey Bridge and to voice concerns.  All are very welcome and it would be good to see one or two MAA members there.

Ian