Well, there we are then.  The end of the 2007 fishing season here at Horton.  There was quite a flurry of activity on both the river and the Tarn, but so far I know not what success was achieved.  Alan M dropped by to show me his new Labrador pup.  This is going to be a BIG dog with an incredible 'wow' factor.  It has already doubled in size from the picture I put up just a few weeks ago when Paul B was looking for a good home for him.  He certainly found one.

I mentioned yesterday the Telegraph review of multi part travelling rods.  The winner is the Orvis Zero Gravity 9'6 which is assessed as having a crisp action, capable of throwing a long line with absolute precision.  It took 20 yards of double-taper line out with one false cast.  With the w/f line it was apparently "mind blowing" and the review team were fighting over this rod by the end of the day.  This is a four piece rod with exceptional balance which fought a fit 2 pounder with ease.  There you are, Christmas sorted.

Also featured in this article were the Sage 2-Axis 10', Grey's Platinum XD 10', Loop Opti Stream 9'3 and Hardy Angel 10'.

Most of these performed well, but cost went against the Sage, the Grey's was judged a little stiff, but good value, the Loop was too whippy and had a poor finish.  The Hardy is an incredible rod at a premium price - judged a good buy for those on an unlimited budget.

The Nature of Britain included some breathtaking photography of salmon and some nice shots of riverfly.  It was good to see our local friends the Heptagenia so well represented even if most of the viewing public will now have the impression that this flat bodied mayfly grows into Ephemera danica more common on southern chalk streams.  The sequence showing the ferrox trout in Loch Ness was very interesting, but I was left wondering why there was no real mention of our native brown trout or the grayling or a short piece on how some brownie make their way to the sea.  I suppose it's about capturing viewers with tales of monsters.  After all, the ferrox is not exactly representative of brown trout although the reason why fish in some waters turn cannibal was well explained.

Given the plight of our native crayfish some mention of these unique creatures and the steps being taken to conserve them could have been included.  But at the end of the day the photography really was stunning.

More on Sunday

Ian