There is a very good short article in yesterday's Telegraph about Geoffrey Trotman who is keeper on the Craven club waters on the river Kennet.  This is a relatively small club water on one of the finest chalk streams in the south of England and members pay a shocking amount for the privilege of fishing for the brown trout which inhabit its pristine water.  Like many southern streams the Kennet has plenty of weed which needs to be kept under control if the fish are to find room to live and the fishermen space to fish for them.  But unlike many keepers down there Geoffrey has kept to very labour intensive and traditional ways of cutting the weed.  He uses a scythe to clear runs and gaps in the weed rather than more aggressive  means of control and he believes that this coupled with the encouragement he gives to lush bankside cover has created a habitat that not only encourages his trout to thrive, but also results in an abundance of native creatures such as water vole and a wide variety of bird life including raptors.

He also conserves the coarse fish that inhabit the river believing that these add to the rich diversity of the wildlife and play an important part in helping to keep the river healthy.  Many of these fish are bottom feeders and they contribute significantly to the natural processes of keeping the spawning gravels clean and mud free by constantly churning over the river substrate.  What is really interesting is that the trout here spawn in September whereas our Ribble trout are at their spawning peak about three months later.  The Craven do stock the river, but do so with fingerlings which they hold in stew ponds until they are two years old.  All in all an intriguing article about a river and its care which is very different from this turbulent and rocky upland beck, but shows clear parallels in terms of its conservation.

Looking a little closer to home I had an email from a member of the Burnsall club who own 7 miles of the Wharfe from Bolton Abbey to Grassington.  It seems that they are considering a move to a non stocking policy and are very interested in talking to us about how we made the decision not to stock, what we have done to encourage our wild trout and our plans for the future.  I have invited Rob who wrote to me over to Horton to see what we have done so far and to chat over a pint about how we went about doing it.  It's good to see other northern clubs beginning to think about more natural and sustainable ways of managing their waters which will help the survival of our wild brown trout.

Finally, the weather looks to be taking a turn for the better.  Yesterday was miserable.  We had a very heavy drizzle all day that got you soaked within seconds of venturing out doors.  The river is quite high, but falling and the colour is dropping out so fishing later this morning should be very good.

Ian