Well, here we are into a new year full of promise and anticipation.  It holds the prospect of being an exiting one here on the Ribble with so many plans and projects in prospect.  I can't help feeling just a little anxious about whether all the work we have planned will really happen, but time will tell. 

I really must stop gloating when we get a dry spell here as I'm sure the weather Gods listen and put the boot in.  It's rained pretty much every day this past week and looks pretty threatening as I write this.  Still, the effect has been to keep the river running high and quite clear rather than sudden, coloured spates so the impact on spawning trout should be positive overall.  Plenty of well oxygenated clean water to wash through the redds without any damaging floods.

The latest MAA Newsletter is about to hit the streets bringing members up to date with all that has happened of note over the past six months.  It's not until you sit down to write a summary of the past that you really appreciate all that has been done but on the whole it's been a positive and pretty active period and I like to think that our founding fathers would have been pleased.

I was searching the Internet for a few fishy quotes to include in the newsletter and came across an anti fishing group I have not heard of before.  Pisces are "dedicated to fish welfare and banning angling".  This particular group of bunny huggers have a comprehensive web site that offers much biased advice claimed as fact and aimed at the general public.  Key amongst this is a page of quotes made by anglers  in various publications which they claim demonstrates that even those who fish consider their sport to be cruel.  Problem is like with all pressure groups the quotes are taken out of context and highly selective.  The hypocrisy here is that their efforts extend to the protection of cormorants which they claim are being slaughtered unmercilesly by angling interests.  Which is the more rapacious and detrimental to the future of our wild fish the cormorant or the angler and who strives to protect and enhance the quality of our native fish and their habitat?  I have yet to see a cormorant nurturing stocks of wild trout or fighting the degradation of our rivers. 

As I have said before we really must be bolder about publicising the beneficial aspects of angling.  So much of what we do to enhance our rivers is done quietly away from public gaze.  That's why publications like Fly-fishers Republic which make known vital work such as that being done on the Wandle are so important, but this must get out to the world at large.  It's no good anglers just circulating this stuff amongst themselves and being self congratulatory.

Enough of this rant.  It now looks as though the sun is coming out and I feel a walk up the river is in order.  I have been invited by the village school to visit them to take a look at how their "Trout in the Classroom" project is progressing.  A chat with one of the teachers on Friday suggests that the eggs are maturing well and are looking healthy.  This is a brilliant way of connecting children with the fascination of wildlife and the interest to be found in our local becks and river and I'm really looking forward to my visit.  More on this next week.

Ian