I have just had a call from Paul B (Crayfish Paul).  His yellow Labrador bitch had pups back in July and he has two remaining (one dog & one bitch) who need good homes.  Paul tells me that these are really solid chunky pups who already have a good retriever instinct and would make super sporting dogs.    If anyone is interested or knows someone who is interested in acquiring the perfect country dog then either phone or email me (0172 860394).

Here is  what Paul has to say about his pups.

Yesterday was a classic example of why one should always be cautious when offering a weather prediction. Yes, it stayed bright for most of the day but what was not evident at 8 am was just how strong and bitterly cold the wind would get by mid day.  We had a stiff north wind that seemed to wick away any warmth as soon as you stepped outside.  Not good for fishing or for feeding trout.  We still have a very cod north breeze this morning mixed with showers and a fairly leaden sky so fishing on either the river or the Tarn will be a challenge.

I carried on trying to identify the host of invertebrates that were observed here back around 1900 and I think I've got about 90% of them with a few question marks.  The few that I can't find in any of the old books are:

Juniper Beetle, Plover Dun, Dotteral Dun, Black Dun, Orange Brown, Spotted Drake, White legged Dun, Coral eyed Drake, Grey Dun, Fringed Dun, Black Spinner, White Starling, Golden Legged Beetle, Light Pied Dun, Little Brown Dun And Blue Drake.

If you can identify these naturals and offer a Latin name please do email me.

The latest Spiders Plus newsletter landed in my email box this morning.  It's been some time since I mentioned Phil Holding's site which offers both tied spider patterns and the materials to tie your own.  Do take a look at his latest offers.  Now is the time to stock up ready for next season and replace those ragged scraps that have served so well these past few months.

Remember that there will be nothing from me now until next Tuesday morning as I'm off to take a look at the River Dart where I saw my first ever salmon 50 years ago.

Ian

It's a super early autumn morning here in the valley with plenty of sun, high broken clod and a nip in the air to keep things feeling fresh.  To cap it all there is still good water in the river and just a light breeze to spin the leaves off the trees.

My mention of the Burnsall club has sparked quite a flurry of correspondence by email about early contacts between our two clubs which stemmed it seems from a meeting in Leeds organised to draw up a few guidelines for northern rivers and which was attended by Abel Heywood Jnr of the MAA and T E Pritt who was a member of the Yorkshire Anglers, The Burnsall club and who wrote about fishing for the Yorkshire post.  Contact was maintained for a number of years and a large number of fish were exchanged between the Ribble and the Wharfe.  Comment was made at the time about the differences between the native stock in the two rivers with the Wharfe trout being darker on the back with a pronounced pointed snout.  The Ribble fish tended to be lighter and more rounded at the front end.

One email from David M enclosed a synopsis of the invertebrates observed on the river between March and September 1903 together with the artificials used to represent the naturals.  I spent an absorbing afternoon yesterday drawing up a spreadsheet which attempts to identify the naturals, compare these to the results of our recent survey work and link the old artificials with modern equivalents.  This is still a "work in progress", but if anyone would like a copy I will gladly email it to them in either Excel or PDF format.  It would be nice if those who do want a copy can help to fill in the blanks.

The Tarn looked wonderful yesterday with water over 3" deep on the bottom step by the hut, a few rises and plenty of bird life - some of it unwelcome as I put up a solitary cormorant as I approached the hut.  There was a sizable beck flowing away from the duck wall towards the river and Turn Dub was in full spate.  The trees we planted at the confluence of the Turn Dub inlet and the main river have survived and flourished despite evidence that those closest to the river are swept by flood when the river is in spate.  These were big saplings when we put them in and the wet summer has encouraged good growth this season so it won't be too long before they begin to have an impact on both the visual quality of the landscape here and the habitat both in and around the river.

Finally, the cygnets are growing very fast and seem to be making up well for their late start.  This in a way is testament to the health and quality of the Tarn.  There is clearly plenty of sustenance there for them.

Ian

We had a lot of rain again in the night to add to the torrent that fell yesterday so it's pretty soggy here at Horton this morning.  However, it has stopped now, the clouds are lifting, the wind has dropped and we have a falling river so by afternoon conditions should be quite good.

My planned trip to St He lens tomorrow has been postponed so there will be an update in the morning.

The reference yesterday to my meeting with Rob from Burns all prompted an email from David M who reminded me about the collaboration that existed between the MAIA and The Burns all club at the beginning of the last century.  On at least one occasion eyed ova were exchanged between the clubs respective hatcheries to mix the blood lines and try to improve stock quality.  So there may yet be Wharf genes in our wild trout and Rubble genes in the fish on the Wharf.  I sent a copy of David's email to Rob and he tells me that there are a number of references to the MAIA in their club archive, copies of which he will arrange to get sent to me.  It will be interesting to see the other side of the correspondence and what Burns all thought of their Rubble ova.

I plan to stop off at Stain forth later today to see if the salmon are moving up the Foss.  This is always an absorbing way of spending time and it still amazes me quite how these big fish manage to breast the flood and surmount what seems to be an impassable barrier.  The sheer persistence and determination displayed is a salutary lesson and shows how, with single minded determination, insurmountable barriers can be overcome. 

Ian

I had a thoroughly enjoyable and, I hope, useful meeting with Rob from Burnsall yesterday lunchtime.  We spent about 2 hours talking about what drove the MAA to move to a sustainable way of managing its fishery, how we got members to support this move, how we developed the strategy and what we have done to implement it.  What struck most was the strong parallel between our respective clubs, the issues we face, the nature of our fisheries and the mix of members.  Both cubs are of virtually the same age (Burnsall was founded in 1873) and are organised on similar lines.  Both run farmers suppers and have still water fishing as well as a classic spate river fishery.  There are marked differences though.  There is a long waiting list at Burnsall despite very high joining, membership and other fees.  They have the services of a full time keeper and lease much of their water from the Bolton Abbey estate.  These expenses account for the hefty fees.  The MAA is uniquely fortunate that, through the foresight of past members, it owns virtually all of its fishing waters.

We agreed to keep in touch and I will be fascinated to see how far and fast Burnsall move to a more sustainable management policy.

I had a stroke of pure luck yesterday.  Just as we were winding up our conversation into the pub walked a fairly new member to book a room for the supper on 12 October.  I asked him if he had been fishing as the water was perfect.  He replied that he was just on his way to do so, but had fished on Saturday and had a superb day with 8 fish landed and a host of others that had escaped.  I could not have asked for a better testimonial to round off the virtues of a sustainable wild fishery if I had deliberately planned it (I didn't, honest!!). 

It's raining hard here at present and has been doing so for the past few hours so we have a rising river which is colouring up.  It's quite windy and looks set to be a miserable day so not ideal conditions. 

I'm in St Helens on Wednesday so there will be no blog on Wednesday morning nor will there be postings on Friday to Monday as I am in Brixham for a family reunion.

Ian

I'll try and get this finished before we lose power for the rest of today!  The bankside check I did at New Inn was very revealing and just shows to what extent prevailing conditions can influence results.  My notebook shows that in a 3 minute check from just downstream of the bridge to a point about 10 yards upstream the following were found.
Stonefly 0
Ephemereridae 1
Cased caddis 10+
Caseless caddis 1
Ephemerellidae 5+
Baetis 20+
Heptagenia 50+
Gammerid 2
water snail 2
Bullhead 1
Worms 10+
Small water beetle 10+

This was a much better haul than we got from the same spot a fortnight ago and has left me feeling much more cheerful about the health of the river at New Inn.  I think that in future we should time our main checks to coincide with a fall from flood.  The volume of water clearly has an influence on how well kick sampling works and a good flow is obviously needed to get the beasties out of the substrate and into the net.

I noticed a couple of fishing related stories in the paper yesterday.  The first is that women recovering from mastectomy are increasingly being encouraged by their oncologists to take up fly fishing.  Apparently the actions involved in casting encourage speedy recovery by increasing the flow of blood to the muscles around the breast area. 

The second is a story recounted by Chris Yeats about a favourite rod.  Apparently Chris prefers to fish using a split cane rod and his favourite is a an old chubb rod which he calls the bishop.  He was recently invited to fish in Norway and took this particular rod with him as it serves well as a light salmon rod.  On arrival at the main airport in Norway he was dismayed to find that his rod was no longer with his baggage.  After some intervention by his Norweigan host the rod was found to be on its way to Sweden, unaccompanied.  At this point he had to rush to get an internal flight but shortly before takeoff the pilot informed passengers that they would be delayed for a short while whilst an urgent package was delivered.  Imagine his surprise when this turned out to be his wayward rod.

Can you see BA responding in the same way?  I think not.

Phew!  Just made it.

Ian

I am delighted to say that we have near perfect fishing conditions here this morning.  It's bright with about 50% cloud cover, no wind and plenty of clear water in the river.  We know from from the evidence of the fish counters further down the Ribble that there are plenty of salmon in the river so it's a fair chance that they will run up to Horton on this high water.  Do bear in mind that the village is without power all day tomorrow.  This should not in any way affect those fishing, but since the Crown will be running on a standby generator lunch menu choice may be a little limited.

I think it would be a good opportunity to do a further riverfly sample this morning in the exposed gravels down by New Inn Bridge.  You will recall that the river was far too low on 8 September when we did the last sample to get a good return from these gravels so it will be worth while, I think, to see just what is living here at this time of year and compare it to the results we got in similar water conditions back in May.  More on this tomorrow before the power goes off.

Ian

The fish arrived safely yesterday and all went into the Tarn without mishap.  Again these were nice plump, healthy fish all around the 2lb mark with a few at 3lb or more.  I did notice that one brownie had got into the mix so it will be interesting to see how long it is before it reappears in the catch returns.  That's it now for the 2007 season and thoughts will soon be turning to 2008.  It won't be long before the cycle starts again next March.

It remained dry for much of yesterday although a stiff westerly wind came up by mid morning which made itself a pest for those fishing the Tarn.  The river had dropped back by late afternoon and was fishable with care, but we had a lot of rain in the night which has just given over so the water is once again coloured and running quite high.  Tomorrow promises to be a better day so conditions then should be ideal for a spot of salmon fishing.

I now get regular phone calls from locals asking when the salmon can be seen on Stainforth Foss.  Quite how I have become the local guru on this topic I'm not sure, but it's good to see so many people taking a keen interest in the wildlife that inhabits the river. 

Ian

It rained pretty well all day yesterday so by mid morning the river was in full spate which lasted until late evening.  It's now sopped raining and the river is falling back off spate and losing colour so it should be perfect for salmon late this afternoon if we get no more rain.

The forecast is unsettled with showers predicted for much of the day.  Friday looks a little brighter, but remaining showery.  We had a very stiff south westerly breeze in the night which is abating a bit now so casting will be a little easier on the Tarn for the usual Thursday contingent.  They will have to put up with a bit of disruption this morning as I plan to do the last stocking there at 10.30 today.  This should have been done on 8 September, but has been delayed whilst the supplier got his pick up back on the road.  He tells me that it's still rather temperamental and prone to not start once stopped so we could have fun if the wick goes out whist down by the Tarn.

I had a phone call from Nick Everall who ran the riverfly course for us back in May.  Nick wanted to know how we were getting on and if we had been using the skills he taught us.  It was good to be able to report that we had not only done a further survey which went very well but had been able to involve other members and broaden the spread of knowledge within the club about monitoring techniques.  He seemed pleased that we were making progress and plans to pass on my contact details to Dr Cyril Bennett, one of the leading figures in riverfly monitoring, who is now back in the UK after working in Australia.  This will give us access to some considerable expert advice as and when we need it.

Right, lets go and get these fish in.

Ian

It started raining here at about 8.30 last evening and is still going strong so we now have a very high, rising and coloured river which bodes well for salmon fishing when the rain finally stops and the river begins to fall.  The forecast is for more rain over the next two days so conditions should (in theory) be just right at the weekend.  That's a bonus for me as I am meeting a chap from Burnsall fly fishers on Sunday to talk about creating a wild fishery and it would be nice for him to see the river in her best form.

I spent much of yesterday morning searching out all the papers and documents I either wrote or accumulated in the process of setting out a management plan and strategy for the fishery.  When you pull it all together it comes to a tidy bundle.  It was quite a rewarding exercise as it showed just how far we have come and how much has been achieved by the club in the past 3 years.  It represents a fundamental shift in the way in which the fishery is managed.  The change is not without its critics, some have very valid points, but there are now signs that the faith that so many had in the proposed changes has not been misplaced.  Evidence shows that there are good stocks of native brown trout and that these seem to be recruiting well since catches include fish whose sizes range from fingerlings to well over a pound.

There is emerging evidence that food is available for these fish throughout the fishery, but we also know that things can still be improved both in terms of habitat and encouraging increased numbers of invertebrates.  The latter is vital especially for our larger fish as the absence of crayfish which must have made up a sizable portion of the diet of our adult brown trout are missing and big trout are big feeders.

Weed I think is part of the answer (we have too much in the Tarn and too little in the river).  I need to explore ways of getting more weed (or an artificial equivalent) into suitable places where fish are known to lie.  It's too late this year to do much as we are entering the spate season, but there is certainly time to plan and organise ready for next spring.  I must get cracking on this.

Ian

I'm a little late with this today as it  was such a crisp and sunny start that I went up to the Tarn first thing.  The cygnets are now quite independent and feeding well away from the parents.  It's at this time that they are most vulnerable so we can only hope that the removal of the resident fox a few weeks ago will secure their survival.  They have grown well over the summer, but remain small due to their late start in life.  It still looks as though they are male and female, but it's difficult to tell.  The dabchick were calling strongly from the reeds, such an eerie sound when the world is quiet and still as it was this morning.  No sign of the cormorants which have been present recently.  It's too much to hope that they have moved on permanently and they really are becoming a persistent pest.

There were no rises as I watched the water and no sign of fish moving in the shallows.  Rather too cold I suspect for early feeding as the water temperature was only 10c.

It's now clouding up a bit and starting to warm on a rising barometer so rain is unlikely.

Finally,  be warned that the power in much of Horton will be off all day on Sunday as United Utilities are carrying out major work on the power lines in the valley.  The Crown Hotel has secured a generator so the beer should still flow and simple meals will be available.

Ian

Just a quick update this morning as I'm off to Bradford shortly for an eye check up.  It is truly remarkable what modern medicine can do with just a quick and almost painless procedure.  Since having the lenses in both my eyes replaced earlier in the year the world has taken on a whole new palette of colours.  Images that have been blurred now stand in sharp focus and textures that once were a uniform matte now show amazing detail.  Anyone contemplating cataract surgery should grasp the opportunity eagerly.  You won't believe the difference it can make to the way you appreciate the world around you.  The only problem I now have is that I need reading glasses and keep forgetting where I left them!  A small price to pay for virtual normality.

We got nothing like the volume of rain promised for yesterday so the river is still very low.  The week looks unsettled, but is unlikely to be particularly wet so salmon fishing will have to wait a wee bit longer.  What we did get yesterday will have freshened up the pools a bit so the pursuit of brown trout should not be in vain.

We will stock the Tarn this week once the pick up is back on the road.  More on this when I hear from the supplier.

Ian

It's very grey and gloomy here this morning and we are promised a considerable amount of rain before the day is out.  The river could certainly do with it  as for the first time since about May it's almost unfishable apart from the deeper pools below New Inn.  When the level does come up I intend doing another kick sample in the gravel which was exposed when ewe did the survey last Saturday. 

Looking again at the material that Truro fly fishers sent me I see that they have asked the EA to set trigger levels for their sample sites.  The idea of these is to provide a point at which they would initiate an investigation by the EA.  The idea is that there should be a broadly predictable range of species and population within species for any given river in any given month.  If a survey throws up a result which is markedly different from this predicted norm then the cause would be investigated by an EA biologist.  This is likely to offer a far more immediate indicator of potential problems as the invertebrate population is highly sensitive to variations in water quality and will often show early stages of the development of a problem before the fish show any sign of distress.

When I send our latest batch of results to our EA biologist I will encourage him to consider setting a trigger level for the upper Ribble.  At present we don't have a clear idea just what the norm should be for this river.  I suspect the truth is that, because no one has ever done a systematic invertebrate sample here, no one does and we will need a few years of data to reach a conclusion about a typical monthly pattern.

Ian

A few days ago I was searching the Internet for some simple ephemeroptera identification charts and came across the website of the Truro fly fishers.  This contained information about their riverfly monitoring programmes on the Axe and Tone which are very similar to the programme we have begun here on the Ribble.  I emailed the secretary of the club suggesting that we share info about our observations and our experiences or riverfly monitoring.  Yesterday I got a very friendly and full reply back together with the records that they have assembled so far.  This is great stuff and offers a very helpful model for how we should record and display our data.  I'm immensely grateful to John for taking such time and trouble to reply and for all the interesting data he sent.  They are involved with the Riverfly partnership run by the Natural History Museum and pass on their findings not only to the partnership but to their local EA biologist.  The Truro club do a monthly check on the Tone and a bimonthly sample on the Axe.  This is giving them a very detailed picture of the development of invertebrates through the seasons and offers not only an essential indicator of water quality but also gives their members guidance on what the dominant invertebrate species is month by month.  I have yet to study their data in detail, but the range of species seems at first glance rather different to ours which is hardly surprising given the difference in geography of our respective rivers. We do appear to be getting more heptagenia compared to their large numbers of ephemerids and baetis.

Their experience has convinced me that I need to do a monthly bankside check as I had planned which will complement the more thorough 6 monthly survey.

It's pretty cold here this morning but fairly bright so far and quite still. The forecast is very unsettled with the promise of rain over the next week or so. 

Ian

We had quite a drop of rain in the night which has lifted the river slightly.  The forecast is for more rain over the next 48 hours so we might get sufficient flow early next week to make river fishing a better proposition than it's been for the past couple of weeks.

I have been looking at the latest papers about the new bridle way that will run from Low Moor (opposite Borrins) cross the river above the Tarn and run up river to join the track at Dale Mire.  The new route that has been submitted to the Secretary of State for approval runs beyond the field wall on the east bank of the river well away from the river margin.  The plan is to begin detailed design work at the end of this year on the bridge which will carry the bridleway across the river with construction scheduled for summer 2009.  The MAA will be consulted about both the bridge design and the construction of the route to ensure that there is no interference with our legal right to access and fish the river and that  the environmental impact is kept to an absolute minimum.  I think that we should encourage Natural England who are the sponsors of the scheme to include habitat measures that will benefit the ecology of the river corridor.  We  should encourage them to include a few native trees in the scheme and perhaps put up an information board to inform users why the fencing is in place, what wildlife may be seen here, how wild fish are being encouraged and what we do to provide effective stewardship of the river.

There will be a sore temptation to get to the river at the crossing point, but if the reasons why exclusion is necessary are explained (not just rural bloody mindedness) I think most will understand and comply.

Ian

Well, I'm back from London and the atmosphere here at Horton is pretty depressing with the news of another Pirbright related outbreak of FMD in Surrey.  This comes at the worst possible time for hill farmers as the main autumn sales of gimmers is just about to start and over the next couple of weeks over 40,000 gimmer lambs should have gone to market. It's the time of years when most incomes are realised after all the hard graft of the preceding year.  It just goes to show the truth in the maxim that "pride cometh before a fall" with DEFRA preening itself on how clever it had been in containing the August outbreak - conveniently forgetting that the source was it's own research facility and the most likely cause its parsimony in addressing known infrastructure maintenance issues. 

I'm more than ever convinced that the time is well overdue to restore to Parliament proper sanction where the Executive fails in its duty of care to the electorate.  It's no good fining DEFRA, this simply impacts on future programmes and services as has been well evidenced by the single farm payments fiasco.  What's needed is the authority vested in Parliamentary committees not only to examine public administration but to exercise powers of sanction including to remove from office ministers and officials who have demonstrably failed in their duty.

It would be good to see as many members as possible at the Hot Pot supper on 12 October to offer a bit of moral support to our friends in the Horton farming community.

Having got that off my chest let's turn to something more positive.  On Tuesday before I left for London I had a quick check on the invertebrate population in the new spawning beck at the hatchery. The good news is that it's thriving with a vast increase in both species and numbers within species since I last tested back in July.  The gravel is teeming with Baetis nymphs (olives) and in a 40 second kick sample I found well over 50 specimens.  There are a good few midge larvae as well as small water beetle and a few worms.  Plenty of sustenance for hungry trout fry.

I am meeting a member of Burnsall fly fishers on Sunday 23 September to talk about our conservation and wild trout programme and hope to convince them of the benefits of moving to a non- stocking policy allied to conservation and encouragement of wild brown trout.  Of course, they also have grayling on their waters so the their needs must be kept in mind also, but evidence from Haddon Hall shows just how effective good habitat management can be in promoting the health of both species.

I also understand that someone moderately famous wishes to talk to me about the river and our conservation work.  More on this when I know more myself.

Ian

I am suspicious.  Perhaps it's my natural paranoia, but maybe others can see something that I can't.  Following our riverfly monitoring session on Saturday I got a phone call from the secretary (who was present on Saturday) suggesting that the club invest in a life jacket for me.  I can't recall staggering around the in river or emulating the Venerable Member and taking a dunking, but maybe I give the impression now of verging on the suicidal.  Seriously though the jacket is a good idea for the occasions when it's unavoidable to be in the river in high water.  This is a river whose nature can change quickly and in spate it's pretty lethal.  The volume of water this far up the catchment has to be seen to be believed and we are coming up to the spate season.

I took a troll round the fishery yesterday.  The Tarn early on was a picture under a bright blue sky with a fair bit of turbulence stirred up by a stiff north west wind.  This picked up quite quickly after I wrote up the diary yesterday.  Down at the Tay bridge there was some evidence of the campers who were on the field over the weekend.  A small weir has appeared just down from the marker pool (Parson's pool) which will be gone on the next flood.  A member emailed me to say that he had a run in with this group on Saturday when he found them worm fishing in Parker's wood.  Heated words were exchanged especially about the dead trout they had with them.  I will talk to the farmer here about reminding his visitors that fishing is off limits.

The hatchery is coming on a treat.  It has naturalised far quicker than I had imagined possible.  Not only is there luxuriant growth within the perimeter fence but the bare concrete of the ponds and channel is gaining a good covering of algae and weed.  The channel was flowing very strongly yesterday despite the recent dry weather and the water in the ponds looks clear and healthy.  Before I set off for London today I may well take the net down to the hatchery and see how the invertebrate population in the channel is getting on.

It's another cracking morning with a cloudless blue sky, no wind and a distinct autumn nip in the air.  Far too nice to be cooped up indoors staring at a computer screen.  So work will be polished off quickly this morning!

Ian

This has to be the longest spell of decent weather we have had since May.  Once again it's dawned bright and sunny with high fluffy cloud and a decent temperature.  We had a fairly strong wind with showers in the night, but that has abated to just a light westerly breeze. 

The water temperature at 19c at the Tarn yesterday was the highest it's been all summer and this seemed to have an impact on the fish as the group who fished all day yesterday reported hard graft both from the bank and the boat.  Most success seems to be had with dry fly.  Not only does this avoid the worst of the weed, but the trout seem to be surface feeding in the warmer conditions.

I think a quick scout for mushrooms would be in order this morning after last night's rain.  We have had sporadic crops on Cow Pasture all summer in the wet conditions, but this combination of warm temperatures and morning damp should produce a decent crop.

I have been thinking about the results we got from Saturday's riverfly monitoring exercise and come to the conclusion that it's far too soon to draw any conclusions.  We really need a few years of data to be able to draw up a profile of both seasonal changes to species numbers and variety at each location, but it's reassuring to see that at all three site we have a decent spread of invertebrate species with very few that would normally indicate low water quality and most of what we do have present associated with high quality conditions.  My plan is to sample at New Inn again after we get the next flood to see what can be flushed out of the gravel bank below the bridge.  This is where we got the most abundant sample back in May, but on Saturday the water was far too low to sample here.

What surprised me was the presence of bullhead and stone loach in the sample we took at Selside together with the bullhead from New Inn.  We found a large bullhead at New Inn back in May so the implication is that there may be quite a good population of these handsome little fish in the river.

I'm off to London for a couple of days so there will be no post here on Wednesday.  Back to normal on Thursday.

Ian

I thought that the autumn riverfly monitoring exercise we undertook yesterday went very well.  Eight of us gathered in the pavilion and very quickly agreed a plan of action for the morning.  This saw all of us down at New Inn bridge collecting the first (rather meagre) sample much to the fascination of a group of walkers who asked if we were killing crayfish.  Our explanation seemed to mystify them and they wandered off muttering about mad old men.  This initial sample exercise gave everyone a good idea of what is involved and whilst the material collected was washed and sorted a team went up to Selside and played in the river just below Cam Beck.  This was a much better sample with a high proportion of heptagenia and some stone fly larvae.  Finally, whilst the team sorted this catch a third party took the net down to the Tay bridge.

I will post up the detailed findings from the exercise tomorrow, but first indications are that there seems to be much less larvae present in autumn compared to spring, the creatures are smaller, but we did find a couple of ephemerids or true may fly and a larger number of stone flies especially at Selside.  There seems to be a variation in the range and number of species present at each site which if confirmed by future sampling will give members some useful info regarding the most suitable artificial to use on specific beats and season by season.

Yet again this proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable and absorbing exercise which served well to bring members together and stimulated discussion about fishing and the fishery.  We now have an expanded group of 12 members who have done the work so this should make future exercises far easier to set up.  What would also help we discovered yesterday is another sampling net, a clear key describing each of the 9 main species we are monitoring and a second hand microscope.

For those members who enjoy the pursuit of the salmon I have some data courtesy of David H which comes from the EA fish counter at Waddow.  This gives the number of fish that have passed up and down the counter and will include sea trout as well as salmon.  This is as follows:

	2006		2005		2007
Month	UP	DOWN	UP	DOWN	UP	DOWN
Jan	13	14	1	0	5	13
Feb	9	8	0	0	6	3
March	7	13	0	0	10	0
April	58	7	0	0	56	8
May	98	9	0	0	80	3
June	222	31	780	54	642	36
July	102	2	349	65	628	52
Aug	733	74	85	44	867	50
Sept	712	48	72	29
Oct.	1566	29	949	31
Nov.	172	6	144	14
Dec.	25	20	90	14
TOTALS	3717	261	2471	251

You can see clearly the impact of this wet summer in terms of fish numbers passing upstream.  This suggests that there are a significant number of salmon and sea trout already in the Ribble system.  All we need now is a drop more water!

Ian

The  recent postings about weed in the Tarn have prompted the sort of open debate that I hoped this blog would help to stimulate when I started it 18 months ago.  One of the advantages of electronic communication (one of the few!) is its immediacy and the way in which anyone can share information with a large number of people and invite comment.  I had a phone call from Peter M yesterday which centred on his experience in the past with a weed cutter on the Tarn and I promised to investigate this further.  Hot on the heels of this conversation came the email below from Mike H which adds some really helpful new info to Gavin's advice.  The Horn Wort issue is not one I had considered and clearly caution is essential if we are to avoid making the situation worse.  The idea of camouflaged mooring buoys is an interesting one. Of course, the original buoys were placed to provide suitable anchors for the barley straw sausages we use to treat the occasional algae blooms so mooring buoys could be placed as convenient for fishing.  Again views would be welcome.

Remember that you can always post a comment direct onto the blog by clicking the appropriate button at the bottom of the post.  I can then approve the comment for publication so that everyone can see it.

I'm off now to set up ready for the river fly exercise so more on this tomorrow.  Meanwhile here is Mike's email.

My recent musings about weed seem to have sparked a bit of thought amongst readers.  I had an email from Gavin P yesterday which helps to identify the species we are dealing with and recounts his own experience in trying to keep the stuff under control.


I am becoming ever more convinced that a bit of judicious raking to create clear "bays" is the most practical and environmentally acceptable answer.  If the weather holds then I may well do a small trial area on Sunday and see how easy this proves to be and what the effect is.  My thought is to clear  a patch up near the hut where the water is wade able and the result is unlikely to have any lasting effect on the rest of the Tarn.  We shall see.

We have a day pretty much like yesterday with a fair bit of high cloud, little wind and a reasonable temperature.  If this lasts till tomorrow then we should have ideal conditions for the riverfly exercise.

Ian

It's good to see that the spirit of humanity is alive and only shallowly buried at Horton.  Over 40 villagers plus TV, Police etc gathered in the church yesterday to witness the committal of the remains of the lady found in Sell Gill.  Hopefully it will be a comfort to her family if she is ever identified that she has a marked resting place and her interment was witnessed by so many who although they never knew her felt sufficiently concerned to attend her funeral. I'm not particularly religious and have no strong beliefs other than a personal moral code (do as you would be done by), but I thought that the the vicar did an admirable job and whatever her beliefs may have been she would have wished for little different.

Weed continues to be a subject never far from my mind.  Apart from the tenacious and persistent growth that seems to have thrived in the garden in this damp summer the volume of weed in the Tarn haunts me.  My regular correspondent has sent me further evidence of the perennial nature of this problem in the form of a drawing showing a fishing party enmeshed in weed at the Tarn in the 1950's.  This is a delightful pencil sketch which also shows one of the old fishing stillages that were placed at strategic points round the perimeter.  David also tells me that at one time a chain scythe hung in the hut which was pulled through the water by attaching a horse to one end and either a boat or a second horse to the other.  He ruminates on whether the latter info is apocryphal or fact.  Unfortunately we lack two vital ingredients to replicate this cocktail, we have neither chain scythe or horse although Alfie has recently moved in to Low Birkwith and is trained to pull a cart as Liz keeps reminding me.

It's almost ideal fishing weather today with plenty of high cloud, very little breeze, almost balmy temperatures and some patchy sun.  A little more water in the river and conditions would be perfect.  The forecast is for this high pressure to last through to the weekend so with some luck we should have good conditions on Saturday for the riverfly exercise.

Ian

Contra to the forecast we had some rain in the night.  Not enough to make any real difference to the river level, but enough to wet the ground.  It seems to be clearing now to a fairly cloudy but bright day with a very light westerly breeze.  It's good to see that the cygnets on the Tarn are still thriving and growing well.  My arrival at the hut yesterday prompted them to come scurrying across the water to see what I was up to and if I had anything for them (unfortunately not).  They seem now to be getting a bit more independent and it's at this stage that they become more vulnerable so fingers crossed that they survive.

The fishing returns for last week show a very good ratio between visits and catch and since we are due to stock again this week end there should be good fishing at the Tarn through to the end of the season which this year will be at the end of October.  The bad news from the Tarn is that the cormorants are back.  There were three perched on the wall below the boat house when I arrived at Tarn Pasture and they only took off as I approached the hut.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to hand, but will be back later today to see if I can record there presence.  Can members please record all sightings in the wildlife book in the hut so that we can maintain a record of the presence of these pests should we need to get permission to deter them (permanently) from stealing fish.

Firstly today I have a funeral to attend.  Many of you will recall that about 18 months ago the body of a young indo-chinese woman was found in Sell Gill above Newhouses.  She has never been identified and how her body got to that remote spot has never been established.  The Horton community has now donated a burial plot in the graveyard at Horton church and we are holding a short non-denominational service in the church today to lay her body to rest.  It's sad that someone can pass from this life without it registering with family or friends, but at least we at Horton can show that we care and give her a marked grave which can be visited should her identity ever be established.

Alan M emailed me to say that he now has details of the route to be taken by the new bridleway that will cross the river just below Drain Mires.  I will look at these on Saturday and report back.

Ian

    I'm back from doing a Jeremy Clarkson at Elvington raceway yesterday.  This was a really impressive set up.  The organisation was low key but efficient and very effective with plenty of staff who all seemed to know exactly how to make us feel relaxed and informed.  The range of cars available was enough to make a boy racer drool with two Ferraris, two Astons, a Porsch, two Lamborghinis, and a Mitsubishi. Mrs F had a whale of a time thundering round the track in a Porsch 911 then switched to a Ferrari 360.  I am now informed that for her next birthday she wants a Porsch.  Dream on Sheila!  The weather was perfect, sunny and dry, but a little on the chill side.

It's pretty much the same here this morning with just a little more cloud, perfectly still and rather cold.  The river came up well after all the rain we had on Sunday and has held up fairly well to this morning so there should be some good trout fishing during the day.  It's still too low for salmon though.

It's very wet here this morning and looks set in to rain for some time so with any luck the river will rise a bit and give some reasonable fishing by tomorrow.  In fact it's pretty grim at present with a stiff westerly breeze and a lot of heavy cloud right down in the valley.  The swallows are having a fine time hawking flies and grouping on the phone wires preparing for the great migration that can only be a matter of days away now.  There do seem to be a lot of youngsters this year.  Most nests were active with at least two crops of young presumably triggered by the abundance of food in the damp conditions that have prevailed all summer.

I see from reports of fishing on the river Aire that they have had a record year for brown trout with both big catches and big fish being the norm throughout the season.  It will be interesting to see how this compares with reports from the Ribble clubs including our own club returns.  Anecdotal evidence from conversations I have had with members suggests that there have been mixed fortunes, but overall experience has been pretty good.

There is no posting tomorrow as I am at York with Mrs F who is being treated to a day playing with a Ferrari on Elvington race track as a birthday surprise.  See you on Tuesday if I survive the experience.

Ian

Well, here we are into the last couple of months of the season and autumn is not too far away.  It seems no time at all since I was last writing about my favourite time of year and looking back on a dry, hot summer.  Not so this year.  I was staggering around up on Greenfield Knot yesterday looking for a suitable site to put a wireless repeater so that the communities at High and Low Greenfield can benefit from our wireless Internet network.  After about half an hour of pacing the fells we found a spot where you can see both communities as well as the site where the signal will feed from at Selside.  Not only that, but this spot is only 50 yards from a substantial electric fence which we can tap into for a power supply.  All part of ensuring that our remote rural communities can join the interconnected world and remain economically viable.

The weather did brighten during the late morning and that improvement has lasted through to today with a few sunny spells breaking through some heavy cloud.  The mizzle that fell early yesterday did nothing to lift the river so fishing conditions are still not good.

I got a very interesting response to my musings about weed on the Tarn which would indicate that this is a perennial problem and my initial thoughts that sensitive and judicious hand clearance of selected areas may be the best course of action.  Here is David's reminiscence.

Ian

I wish I knew the answer!!!!!  In the late 1940s to the late 1960s (when they killed off all the weed) it was considered that if there was weed then it was healthy wild fishery, members were complaining all the time when the weed appeared.
The compromise was to to cut certain areas along the weed beds so that when casting from the bank there were inlets of clear water where casting could be done without entanglement in the weed. These were always good places to fish (for those that knew) since fish would come browsing the edge of the weed in the clear water looking for food. The fun (and the complaints) started when you hooked a fish for the fish usually dived into the weed and it took a skilled fisherman to persuade it to come out  (there were techniques that worked the first being to fish only one fly)  Many less skilled anglers would complain more about losing hooked fish in the weed than about the actual weed.
I used to weed these clear bays from the boat using a long handled rake which seemed to pull the weeds up by the roots (or nearly so) the weed was then put in the shallows or just on the bank in the hope that the wild life would somehow get back into the water.
I can not recall the weed growing too severely after it had been removed; although the next season it was all back. to me that was a good thing!!
In general there were three main types of weeds a flat leafed thing whose leaves lay on top of the water and in season had nice flowers. The main bed of this was near the duck wall, and there were small patches near the SE corner. The area south of the wall going under the tarn was mainly Canadian Pond weed. This was cut from time time to time. The main weed grew in banks at each side of the tarn and extended into the water, aggravatingly, just further than a cast could be made in those days.
From a tender age I used to row the boat for aged members so that they could fish the other side of these weed banks and even on a "slow" day they always managed some sport as they cast along the edge of these banks of weeds from the boat.   It was not all bad!!!

I never found a solution to weed, I suppose compromise is the best remedy. In the end a "healthy" water must come first although if you have no members then the exercise becomes a bit futile.
David

Thanks David for some typically thoughtful and sensible reflections.  The main problem these days is Canadian pond weed and raking out bays to provide some clear water would seem a good way of tackling the problem.

Ian