The weeks do pass quickly.  It really seems no time at all since I sat down to write the blog last Sunday yet not a lot has changed here and very little happens of real note.

Four of us gathered here yesterday morning to put together a comprehensive map of the fishery.  After 2 hours of chat, debate and discussion we have come up with a working document that identifies all the key runs and pools from Helwith Bridge up to Lodge Hall, labels those with known names (not always the local ones, but those in common usage within the club), gives names to those pools and runs which had no name, identifies significant hazards and shows access paths and parking places.  The plan is to refine the draft and correct any errors then issue it to all members together with a short covering note.

The hope is that the map will serve as a handy guide and provide a common understanding of the geography of the fishery.  In future it should be possible for members to describe with some precision where they caught that fish of a lifetime rather than simply trying to offer a vague description of the pool or run.  It should prove possible to be much more precise about where fish were caught when completing fishing returns and the record books that Neil Handy is keen for us to keep.

Speaking of Neil, he has plans to try to increase the population of sea trout in the upper Ribble and we will find out more about this in due course.

The Craven Herald this week carried a prominent article about the Lady Vicar of Bentham who it would seem is a keen fly fisher.  She got to thinking about flies and which fly would best represent her local bishop.  Not finding an obvious candidate amongst the myriad of existing patterns she sat down to compose something suitable and came up with a Klinkhammer variation to be known as the 'Bishop David'.  This is a dry fly  dressed using wool and modern materials in colours associated with the bishop and designed to be robust and able to withstand a bit of rough treatment.  There is no record of how successful the pattern has been on the Wenning.

Salmon should be spawning here over the next couple of weeks and I plan to go out fairly often to see how they get on and which parts of the river they are using this year.  There do seem to be a fair few fish in the river this year possibly on account of the wet summer and now the temperature is dropping they should be making for the spawning gravels in good numbers.  More on this as I get something worth recording.

Meanwhile, ore next week.

Ian