Just back from Horton station after restoring broadband Internet service to the village so hence this posting is late this morning.

We had a lot of rain in the night so the river is in flood this morning and carrying a lot of colour.  However, it's no longer raining and the sun is breaking through so any member planning on fishing the river later this afternoon or tomorrow should find good conditions.

I mentioned yesterday Salmo Trutta, the WTT journal and I see that this includes a very comprehensive position statement about stocking with farmed brown trout.  I know that it's unscientific and disingenuous to quote out of context, but two paragraphs really struck me in this long article and convinced me that we are doing the right thing for both our wild fish and our less wild fishermen by no longer introducing farmed fish at Horton. Firstly, I had long wondered whether our long history of restocking with, firstly, Loch Leven ova and latterly diploid farmed trout had so diminished the genetic make up of the native Ribble trout that they were unlikely to be able to naturally recruit.  I quote "There is no evidence of a widespread decline (in genetic diversity) and stocking with farmed brown trout has a lesser genetic impact on wild populations than might be expected for many reasons, mostly associated with the domesticated nature and poor survival of farmed fish."  In a nutshell they tend not to interbreed because farmed fish tend to breed at different times to wild fish and they do not survive long enough to breed.  There is some evidence that interbreeding does take place so (I quote again) "stocking can result in a reduction in fitness of a wild population due to the low fitness of hybrids but without causing significant detectable genetic changes.

The most compelling  reason for not stocking is that farmed fish tend to occupy space that would otherwise be taken by wild fish and since they tend not to survive their first winter this space is effectively wasted since subsequent restocking again makes the space unavailable to wild fish.

The solution to providing a sustainable and highly attractive fishery from an angling perspective seems to lie in the actions we are already taking.  Improve habitat for both fish and their food, keep sheep off the river margins, monitor conditions to detect any change from the norm and pick up early indications of pollutants and if necessary carry out supportive breeding using wild stock.

If we get all this right and all other things being equal we should provide members with a fishery that's the envy of our neighbours.  we press on.

Ian

I have been unobservant.  As many of you will know it's been a few years now since we stocked the Tarn with brown trout.  Experience showed that these fish did less well than their rainbow cousins and actually reduced the catch rate for a good few days after they were put in.  Yet it seems that some continue to thrive in the deeper parts of the Tarn and are growing to quite respectable proportions.  It's always nice to see persistence rewarded and I am delighted to see (rather belatedly) that Quin K, one of the real regulars on both river and Tarn caught a 2lb 8oz brownie at the Tarn last Tuesday.  Congratulations Quin your success is well earned.

More good news.  The annual journal of the Wild Trout Trust thudded onto my doormat yesterday morning.  This is packed full of goodies which I will come back to over the next few days as I get to grips with reading them.  Of particular note is a series of articles and scientific papers on the effect of stocking on wild trout populations.  There is much anecdotal evidence about the impact of stocking, but so far little real research has been done.  That's changed with the results of a study funded by the WTT and it delivers some helpful conclusions.  More on this later. 

Also included is an article on riverfly monitoring which is timely given that we will be doing our 6 monthly intensive check in a couple of weeks time.  There is also a lot of lighter reading with stories about fishing for trout in unlikely and exotic parts of the world.

Finally,  It's even stopped raining and we have a sunny, warm and windless morning with the river in good water, just dropping back off a moderate flood.  So the fishing prospects for the Tuesday boys should be good.  Let's see if you can repeat last Tuesday's performance Quin.

Ian

Weather wise it's a repeat performance of yesterday morning with light rain and very little wind.  It's warm and the sky seems to be lightening up a bit so maybe it will clear later in the day.  I hope so as I really want to get a new roof on the hen house which is currently sitting on the roof rack of the Nissan.  It does nothing for the aerodynamics of what is already a mobile house brick and the diesel consumption on the way back from collecting it in Halifax yesterday was not good.

Here is a reminder to members that Thursday sees the start of the guest fishing season and it would be good to see a few more prospective members being given an intro to the fishery this year.  In particular the club is keen to encourage youngsters to take up fly fishing so do try to winkle out the younger members of your family, get them away from the computer and out into the fresh air at Horton.

It's always best if you phone me the evening before you plan to bring a guest as then I can have a ticket made out and ready for you.  It saves you hanging about and ensures that I am around to issue the ticket.  Remember also that I now have the salmon tags you will need if you plan to fish for salmon this season.  You may not intend to take any fish, but the tag in your pocket may prove useful if you have to kill a badly hooked fish.

Ian

As I stood on New Inn bridge yesterday watching the olives hatching and the trout snatching them I got to pondering the changing seasons here that bring these marvels and I thought how much our rural lives are marked out by the natural calendar.  There is the call of the first curlew and plover in late winter, the arrival of the swallows in spring, the hatching of the duck and swans and the myriad of other natural events that mark out the turning of the years. 

But above all here spring is determined by the arrival of new lambs.  It's always a source of wonder to me that a creature that spends so much of it's life quietly contemplating life, the universe and everything can have such capacity for energetic play in the first few weeks of its life.  Sheep are great thinkers.  They don't do much with the thoughts mind you, but they spend so long just sitting thinking that most world problems could be solved by sheep if they could summon up the energy to be bothered.

Lambs are a different matter entirely.  They act rather than think and there is a pattern to their actions that seems to be repeated down the generations even though there is no apparent contact between the lambs of one generation and another.

Below my kitchen window are two large pastures running down to the river.  These fields are divided by a wall at right angles to the river and early each April David brings his ewes and twin lambs down to these fields.  Within a few days, year after year, the lambs begin the same game.  We call it the Lamb Derby since it involves virtually every lamb in the field forming a gang and charging en mass along the wall towards the river.  At the bend in the wall the mob screeches to a halt, turns and charges back up towards the house. Each event is celebrated by a great deal of jumping about, almost like teenagers punching the air in celebration. Eventually the smarter characters work out that if you hang back a bit just before the turn you can be in front on the charge back and win the race.

It's the same game every year without fail, but the ewes are not involved so it must be some natural instinct that encourages crop after crop of lambs to play the same game.

It's good fishing weather this morning, warm and cloudy with very light spring rain and no wind at all.  If you don't mind a bit of damp the results should be rewarding on both tarn and river.

Ian

Well, despite the dire forecast that threatened heavy rain it's been a dry and partly sunny day here for the International Mountain race.  I have just got back home at 4.30pm after spending since 8am this morning parking nigh on a thousand cars on New Inn flats and I'm knackered!

I took a break at about 11am and spent half an hour watching a steady hatch of olives just above New Inn bridge.  This brought on a good rise of trout all nervously feeding on the hatching fly.  The takes were snatched, no casual, lazy sipping.  This is a busy spot by the bridge and the fish are always very wary.

The swallows were out in force hawking flies over the water, but the kingfisher who often fishes here in the evening did not show.

The race itself seems to have been a great success with some good if not record times set in ideal conditions by a field of some of the best mountain runners in the world.  I have never heard so many varied languages in Horton; Russian, Slovak, German, French as well as north American accents.  Everything seems to have gone like clockwork which just goes to show if you want something done properly get a team of Tykes to do it!

Ian

I was up at the Tarn late yesterday afternoon and the peace was perfect.  The swans were tucked down on their nest and the cob only bothered to raise his head to see who it was.  I stood for some time watching a curlew circling Tarn pasture, wheeling in the still air and emitting the call that's so evocative of the Dales.  A flight of oystercatchers went over piping as they went towards the river and there were trout heading and tailing out by the north bank.

I replaced the old sign by the bent metal stile with something that looks as if the place is cared for and we mean business and I put a new bottle of gas in the hut since the days are still cold enough to warrant the stove being lit.

The register suggests that fishing yesterday was not easy with most takes happening in the last hour before the Thursday mob left.  But the fish that were taken were worth the wait.  I suspect that the heavy rain that fell during the morning delayed the fish coming on to feed.

Do remember that unless you are coming up to watch the fell race tomorrow Horton village is a place best avoided.  The roads between Ribblehead and Birkwith will be busy with folk going to or from the race and there will be in excess of 2000 people invading the village during the day.  The Tarn will be peaceful as usual as will the river north of Newhouses, but fishing between Horton and Helwith Bridge is likely to be a spectator sport.

I am on car parking duty from dawn  tomorrow morning and by the river just keeping an eye on things so no posting until tomorrow afternoon.

Do take a look at Warren Slaney's blog entry for yesterday.  It just shows that the law when effectively applied can be used to deter poachers although I doubt if Settle police would be as co-operative as their counterparts in Buxton.

Ian

The rain that fell yesterday morning didn't amount to much and by mid day the sun was out giving us a very pleasant afternoon. So, the river is still pretty low, but should rise as we have another wet start this morning with plenty of rain forecast for the next few days.

I took the opportunity of the fine weather to put up the new signs down at the football field.  There is now a notice by the metal stile over the upstream wall which tells all and sundry that this is not a public footpath.  I also fixed a Private fishing notice just downstream from New Inn bridge.  This is invisible from the road, but in full view to anyone on the river bank itself.

Making these signs I thought would be the task of a few moments.  Wrong!  There is clearly an art to effective stencilling and it took me umpteen attempts to get something that looked in any way presentable and not a like a dogs breakfast.  I now have it cracked.  Clearly the trick is to stipple on the paint using an almost dry brush.  Too much paint results in most of it creeping under the stencil so you just end up with an amorphous blob.  Fortunately aluminium is a very forgiving medium and it's very easy to wipe off the results of incompetence.

I had a very interesting note from a regular correspondent in response to the fishery maps I posted up a couple of days ago.  Here is the gist of some of it.

"You must be aware that in the 50s the river was diverted considerably at Studfold. There were two or three really big deep pools with a good potential for salmon. The diversion started about where you have put the name Hunt and finished where you call it the pipe pool. From then on to what was called Crag Hill Pool was called East Wind Reach for obvious reasons. Before it was dredged out the bottom was mainly of slates and very dangerous to wade on the other hand the built up wall to the north and the slates gave good cover for many large fish. There was another huge deep pool about where the bridge went over the river at Crag Hill. The dredging continued until just below the tay bridge. It levelled out the river bed all the way from just above the Penny Bridge right up to the Tay Bridge with the exception of the pool at the bottom of East Wind Reach which we managed to plead for. The rivers board used a caterpillar dredger and it could run along this length of river bed which it levelled. In these works nearly all the fish were killed and their habitats were destroyed. For several years it was a waste of time fishing that length. Nature of course heals and now I expect very few people remember the devastation caused years ago."

Fascinating stuff.  I had not realised that the river was dredged to quite this extent.  I know that it was diverted away from the main road to alleviate flooding problems, but the extent of the engineering work is a surprise.

Ian

Welcome to a grey and gloomy St George's Day.  The wind, what little there is of it, is now in the west and its just started to rain which is a good thing as the river could do with a lift.

I think I have regained my stamina after a marathon RFCA meeting at Clitheroe last night (3 hours!). I won't go into detail about all the issues that were raised and debated as you will lose the will to live, but there were a few decisions taken that are of interest to us up here at the top of the river. 

Neil Handy's presentation on the assisted recruitment of sea trout won unanimous backing once we got over a diversion into the issues surrounding stocking the river with diploid or triploid trout.  It seems that the EA have adopted a policy that will mean the end of restocking with diploids after 2015.  This generated a lot of heat with some members of the view that the absence of stocked sexually entire fish will impact adversely on future sea trout stocks. 

Let's face it, the MAA has been stocking the river with farm bred diploid trout for 60 years and in that time must have put in well over 60,000 fish.  If these were migrating to sea we would be up to our ears in sea trout by now.  We know from experiments with fish marking that few if any stocked fish survive winter floods.  They don't seem to disperse downstream in large numbers they just vanish. So for me the argument about diploid or triploid is sterile.  The real debate should be about whether clubs should stock at all with imported fish.

The catch returns we produce show that without stocking for the past two seasons we are nearly back to catch numbers similar to when we were putting in 6 or 7 hundred fish annually.  And all these fish are now wild fish.

Neil now plans to go ahead with his sea trout breeding scheme which will involve setting up a hatching tank at the old hatchery later this year.

We have an opportunity!  An opportunity to discover more about the distribution of our wild trout.  The RCCT have a pot of money to undertake electrofishing training for clubs on the Ribble and they are very keen that some sampling be done on the upper river.  I am writing to Council about setting this in place so watch this space.

The good news for all members who fish for salmon is that I now have a supply of salmon tags and the authorisation from the EA to issue these to members.  You will recall that there is now a voluntary scheme which the club has signed up to which limits each member to take only two salmon in any one season.  Any fish taken MUST be tagged.  Any member requiring their two tags should contact me.

We also spent quite a while discussing the problem of poaching on the lower river around Clitheroe and we now have a simplified system for reporting all such incidents to the police and EA.  There may well be a credit card sized information sheet for fishermen available soon.  Again, watch this space.

Finally, a move away from the meeting and back to the river where Brian T had a good day yesterday with two fine fish caught at Parker's Wood and a 1.5 lb brownie landed near Horton.

Ian

I spent an absorbing hour or so up at Turn Dub yesterday doing an invertebrate check at this site for the first time since December.  You may recall that my plan was to sample here in mid January the day after I bust my leg so I haven't managed to get to this site since.

The good news is that all is healthy.  I got a very good haul of BWO as well as the usual big catch of heptagenia.  I was really pleased to see the abundance of other species less common at New Inn.  Gammerids were well represented and stonefy turned up in all the samples.  In fact the overall results probably under represent the true picture of the food species available to our trout here as I sampled right across the river including the unpromising back eddys and almost dry margins.  If the samples had all been taken from the fast flowing runs where the fish are feeding then the results can be multiplied at least four times and results for stoneflies, gammerids and caddis possibly more as they were plentiful in the fast flowing deep water.

The full results are attached in an excel file.  As usual, just click on the paperclip below.

The Tarn seems to be fishing well now and a check of the returns posted in the hut shows a ratio of visits to catches well up to normal despite the difficult weather. 

Speaking of which it's a rather cloudy morning with a light easterly breeze which again feels a little warmer than it did last week. Given the number of BWO nymphs in the river at present there should be a good hatch later today in sheltered spots.

I took the opportunity to have  a quick look at the trees we put in last year at Turn Dub and am pleased to say that most if not all seem to have survived the winter floods and are now beginning to break into bud.  It will not be too many years before we have some good shelter and cover on this run.

I am planning on attending the RFCA meeting at Clitheroe tonight so more on this tomorrow.

Ian

It's really not too bad a morning here in the valley.  The wind is still in the east (what a surprise), but it has moderated somewhat and it feels appreciably warmer.  There is a fair bit of cloud cover giving a rather diffused light that should be good for fishing.  The river is quite low now, but still in good water and running clear and clean.

Some hardy souls did brave the rather arctic winds at the Tarn over the weekend and the fish responded quite well so it looks as if the dire experience of the first couple of weeks is now behind us (touch wood).

The good news this morning is that I had an email yesterday telling me to release the map of the fishery that we have spent some weeks in preparing.  I have incorporated all the amendments received and tidied up both maps a bit.  It now goes to the Hon Sec for eventual distribution, but I will leave a few copies in the hut and I have posted a copy on the secure area of this  blog for members to download.  If you can't access the secure area just email me and I will set up access.

There are three files, a word document which is the covering notice which contains a few handy hints and 2 jpeg files which are the maps covering the fishery above and below Horton.  You can of course blow up the jpegs to whatever size best suits your eyesight and print them off in sections.

Do tell me if you find the maps useful or not and what additional info we should include in future issues.

By the way, Warren Slaney has restarted his excellent blog which includes some super video recordings of feeding trout on the Wye and Lathkill rivers as well as osprey and much else.  Just click on the 'Waterlines' link to the right.

Ian

Guess what?  It's still cold and windy her this morning.  There seems to be no respite from the east wind that has been blowing now for nigh on a week.  It's most unusual to get such a persistent wind against the normal prevailing conditions and whilst it's remained fairly dry the constant cold is beginning to sap ones sense of humour.  Still, a little humour was restored last night by the school quiz which was very well supported and enjoyable.  The Newhouses team finished joint fourth and should have been higher but for a few stupid lapses of memory.  There were two MAA members present apart from me and I spent a good while talking to one about spreading the gospel of sustainable wild fisheries to other waters that he fishes a little lower on the Ribble.

It was also a chance to see the fish tank in the school for the first time this year and it now contains a good number of health looking brown trout fry about half an inch long with yolk sack fully absorbed so they should now all survive ready to go into the beck and hatchery pond later in the spring.

I received yesterday all the papers for the next Ribble Fisheries Consultative meeting which takes place at Clitheroe on 22 April.  It looks like a very full agenda with a number of important issues to be debated.  Neil Handy is making a presentation to the meeting about his sea trout project which he has already discussed with us.  I will report back on anything of general interest arising from the meeting later in the week.

The plan for the day is to prepare and put up the new signs around the fishery by New Inn and the football field ready for the invasion that takes place next Saturday.  Already there have been large numbers of runners practising this gruelling mountain marathon.  The forecast for next weekend is not promising (rain) so conditions may well prevent record times.

Ian

I picked up the Craven Herald yesterday and a headline on the back page reads "Angling hit by some unsettled weather"  You don't say!  John Preston, correspondent, tells us that fishing throughout Craven has not been at its best this past four weeks and many anglers have been kept away by the bitter east winds and snow.  Despite this some success has been had and the Secretary of the Skipton AA caught a fine 18 inch, 2lb brownie (but he was using ledgered lob-worm, beyond the pale on MAA waters!).

Compared to this, catches on the upper Ribble have been pretty good, perhaps nothing to compare with the big fish at Skipton on the Aire, but some fine brownies nonetheless that have overwintered well.

All the kit to make up the new signs for the fishery has now arrived so I will get busy preparing these ready to put them up later today or tomorrow.  If this wind moderates a bit I will also try to get the riverfly check done at Turn Dub as the river is just about perfect for this just now.

The weather this morning is as per usual, bright and sunny, but a bitterly cold and blustery north east wind that makes working outside far from pleasant.  Standing still fishing for any time today will be a test of stamina and constitution.  I wish you well.

Ian

It's a grey and gloomy start to the day after a pretty wet evening yesterday.  The east wind is still blowing strongly and the river is full, but not in flood.  Not a great day so far for fishing either the Tarn or the river, but things may pick up later.

I wrote a few days ago about the pheasant that has taken up residence in my garden.  He still puts in an occasional appearance and has migrated to the small area at the back of the house where he ferrets around under the bird table clearing up spilt grain and peanuts.  I managed to get him to pose for a picture the other day just before a hail shower sent him scurrying for cover.



He does brighten up a dismal day.

I will see how the weather goes this morning before deciding whether or not to do a riverfly check at Turn Dub.  The river will need to drop a bit to make this safe and I don't much fancy messing around in cold water with this east wind wicking all the body warmth away.  We will see.

Ian

I'm a little late with this today because of a broadband glitch first thing this morning.  All seems to be flying along now, but it's amazing how frustrating it is to be thrown out of routine by something so inconsequential and something we didn't even know we needed 15 years ago.

I decided to test the leg yesterday and did a riverfly check at New Inn.  This is the first check I have done since January and I was keen to keep some semblance of continuity going to provide  a bench mark for future years.  No surprises turned up.  A disappointing number of gammerid (none), but I never get many at this location.  The good gammerid location is Turn Dub which I will sample tomorrow weather permitting.  What did turn up this time was a large number of very small snail shells both flat and turret together with a number of tiny bivalve shells.  Otherwise it was the usual haul of Heptagenia and BWO.  Under the mud bank upstream from the bridge I got three very large dragon fly larvae, nasty looking brutes with fearsome mandibles.  I have posted up the excel file with all the results so that you can read for yourself online or download the file to your own hard drive.  Just click on the paperclip below.

Its quite a nice day so far with broken cloud and a touch of sun.  It's rather spoilt by a bitterly cold east wind though which will upset the Thursday brigade on the Tarn.

Fred B called by yesterday afternoon after a good morning on both Tarn and river.  He seemed very pleased with two beautiful rainbows that looked almost wild with clean, white piped fins and a smooth sleek profile.  I suspect that these are overwintered fish as they are slightly smaller than the March stockies.  He also got a very pretty wild brownie on the river above Parker's Wood so there is now evidence of wild fish throughout the lower beats.  Good news.

Ian

It's another brightish start with less frost than yesterday and little or no wind. Mind you, it could all go pear shaped later as it has done most of the past week.  We had some pretty hefty hail showers yesterday afternoon and quite a lot of rain fell towards evening which has lifted the river somewhat.

I had n email from Ian W following up his conversation with me on Monday. 

"Ian
Further to yesterday:- The digestive tracts of two of the tarn fish I retained contained a lot of snails plus an equal amount of small stones. I can't make up my mind as to whether the stones were swallowed by accident or purposely to grind up the said crustaceans thereby making the digestion of somewhat easier.

   Also I had about an hour and a half on the river where I hooked and lost two fish, the first of which (location to remain secret, I'm coming back for this one! ) would  probably have been my best "brownie" from the fishery since we stopped stocking.A guesstimate of around one and a half pounds would do it justice methinks."

So, it does seem as though the benefits of not stocking are now beginning to show in larger wild brownies as well as a a progressively improving recruitment.

I came across an article in a caving magazine yesterday which illustrates the precociousness of mink.  It would seem that a cave diver was exploring a system in the upper Nidd valley and had completed the traverse of a flooded passage and emerged into air space in a chamber.  Whist he sat collecting his thoughts and prepared for the next flooded section he heard a sharp hiss from the corner of the chamber.  He turned his diving light towards it and was rewarded with a pretty ferocious hiss so decided that discretion was the better part of valour and quickly began his dive.  On his return to the chamber later he saw and heard nothing so assumed that whatever it was that he had disturbed had departed.,

He talked about this to a friend who happened to be a naturalist and he played him recordings of the sounds made by the most likely culprit.  They concluded that this was probably a dog mink which are known to actively explore any dark places and interesting holes.  It also shows just how long these creatures can hold their breath and how well adapted they are to a life by water.

So next time you see or hear a mink by the river just think yourself lucky that you're not incarcerated in a confined space with one with only 4mil of neoprene  for protection.

Ian

It's another bright, frosty and cold morning here in the valley with virtually no wind and a bit of sunshine breaking through.

It was a bit changeable yesterday.  A few sunny spells mixed with plenty of blustery hail showers and a stiffening wind in the early afternoon.  Then towards evening the sky cleared and we had a real taste of spring.

Despite the weather at least one intrepid member came up to fish.  Ian W dropped by late morning to tell me about a scene he had just witnessed at the Tarn. He struggled a bit to get his first fish then switched to the boat and fished in towards the north shore where he suddenly got into a shoal and landed 5 fish in quick order.  Whilst so engaged he saw what he thinks was a peregrine being mobbed by a gang of crows.  What was unusual about this was the tactic adopted by this gang which Ian describes as like a Zulu impey where one individual chases hard after the prey whilst his fellows conserve their energy waiting to take up the chase when the leader tires.  This went on for some while until the peregrine got fed up and left.

What's also clear from Ian's experience yesterday is that the fish are still shoaled up and until they regain confidence and disperse it's going to be a case of finding the shoal to get the best of the fishing.  Still, Simon does seem to be doing a good job as there has been no sighting of the cormorants for some days now and by all accounts fishing at the Tarn is improving immeasurably.

Geoff B rang last evening to confirm this and to congratulate Simon on such a good job.  He and Graham B were up on Sunday and their assessment is that the Tarn is now a completely different experience compared to the lack of action a couple of weeks ago.  They also had some success on the river with Graham getting a good bag around Cragghill and Geoff a very big fish out of what we now call Sutcliffes, the reach between Kingfisher Pool and the Pipe Pool.

So things are on the up and i am a happy bunny!

Ian

In defiance of the forecast we had a reasonable spring like day yesterday with some sun, little wind and a general warmth to the air.  The first chance for weeks to get out into the garden and begin the task of clearing up after the winter and set some veg seeds ready for the summer.  I spent a long time raking up the vast quantity of discarded nest material dropped by the crows.  I ended up with enough to build nests for the entire crow population of Horton and warmed proceedings still further with a nice bonfire.  This performance was watched with great interest by my new best friend.  For the past few days a male pheasant has been living in and around my goat croft, occasionally venturing into the bottom garden and the garden at the back of the house.  He seems to like the company of my hens and usually appears first thing when I let out the hens to forage.  He's a bright, perky chap and seems relatively unafraid of people so perhaps he is an escaped pet rather than a wild bird.

We had a sharp frost overnight and it's pretty cold here this morning with just occasional sunny breaks in the cloud.  The river looks in fine form, running strongly and clear.  The spate we had the day before yesterday has saved me a task.  Some bright spark obviously thought it a good idea to build a substantial dam just above New Inn bridge.  It must have taken hours of work and looked quite impressive, but it only served to deflect water away from the west arch of the bridge which lacks water at the best of times so I had planned to play the misery and dismantle it.  The flood has now done most of the job, but I see that the turbulence caused by the obstruction has gouged out a step in the bed below where the dam was situated.  It will be interesting to see how this develops in successive floods.

A few days ago I did a quick survey of all the signs the club has posted along the river and drew the conclusion that a lot of potential irritation can be saved by the judicious replacement of the lost and broken signs as well as the placement of one or two more at key access points.  These need to be subtle as there are already far too many intrusive notices posted in the countryside, but it's not always obvious to visitors just which stiles are private and that the river is a private fishery.  We will be inundated with visitors on 26 April when Horton plays host to the World Mountain Running Challenge and over 900 runners together with their supporters will be at Horton.  Our stiles leading out of the football field where the race begins look to offer an inviting walk up river for the hangers on, but this is all private farmland.  A couple of notices discouraging exploration will be put here before the day in question. I have now got some very professionally produced stencils that will do the job admirably.  If anyone is looking for bespoke stencils then I can highly recommend Laser Cutting Services who are based in Scotland.  They offer a fast, economic and very attentive service.

Members would be well advised to steer clear of Horton on 26 April if they are looking for a spot of quiet fishing.

Ian

The combination of snow melt and the rain that fell during the day brought the river to near spate conditions by yesterday afternoon.  It was a pretty foul day until evening, but despite this I did see one intrepid (foolhardy) member returning from an assault on the Tarn.  I can't imagine that conditions were easy given the bitterly cold squally showers and biting north west wind.

It's a lot dryer and calmer this morning.  We have a lot of cloud cover, but it does not look like much rain will fall and the river is dropping back to give very fishable water.

Time marches on and it's time to begin planning the spring riverfly check which we will do at New Inn, Selside and Tay Bridge.  I have written to the main riverfly group to suggest that we set aside the morning of Saturday 17 May to do the check and with sufficient volunteers we should be through by lunch time.  All members of the MAA are very welcome to join in and learn more about this fascinating exercise.  What we usually do is to run a refresher to remind ourselves about sampling techniques, safety, identification, etc at New Inn before two groups depart for the further flung sites to collect samples.  Whist these two groups are away a third group sets up shop in the pavilion, sorts and records the catch from New Inn and awaits the return of the samples from the two other sites.  Sorting and identifying usually generates a lot of discussion and activity.  This time we have the benefit of a stereo microscope so we should be able to classify even the smallest individuals in the samples.

If you want to join in please ring or email me and I will add you to the list and remember that you can borrow from me a first rate DVD which explains in detail (with video clips) how the sampling and recording is done.

Ian

We awoke this morning to a world turned white by overnight snow.  It's thawing fast, but the sky to the north looks as if it holds more to dump on us during the day.  Not good for all the young lambs now out in the pastures around the village and as I was milking this morning there was the constant buzz of quad bike activity as neighbours checked and fed their flocks.

There are now 4 eggs in the swan's nest up at the Tarn and the pen is sitting tight.  Let's hope this brood fare better than the first clutch laid last year.  Perhaps the presence of Simon will deter not only the cormorants, but whatever it is that takes the eggs and young cygnets.  Whilst he does not move (much) he must exude a human smell since he is wearing my old clothes and wellingtons.

I mentioned some time ago that the trout hatching box had been set up again at the school.  All has gone well over the winter and the fry have now reached swim up stage and are beginning to feed. If all continues to go this well there will be a further 200 or so young native fish to add to the river stock come the summer.

Ian

It's not a great start to the day since I have come in from milking wet and a tad chilly since we have a strong south west wind blowing along frequent showers.  As I write this I can see patches of brighter weather to the north over Wernside so the day may not be a complete washout.  We had a fair bit of rain last evening so the river has risen a bit  and there should be good water on all the beats.

I was up at the Tarn yesterday morning checking around and chatting to the usual Thursday gang.  The fishing seemed to be going well with two good sized rainbows landed by 9am.  Simon seems to be doing the trick as there are no reports of the flock of pterodactyls that were plaguing the Tarn up to last week.  Of course, this may be nothing to do with Simon's presence, but more to do with the fact that the cormorants are now nesting and have naturally moved away to the coast.

I am grateful to Mike H for sending me an article written by Kevin Thornton and which appeared on the Fishing Magic website.  This presents a strong argument for all anglers to take a stand in combating the menace posed by red signal crayfish and is far more eloquent than my own scribblings.  I have attached the article as a Word file so that you can read it for yourself (Just click on the paperclip icon below this blog and you can either read the article on line or save it to your own hard disc).  It does support the findings of the species survey on Buckill Gill Beck - red signals will eventually wipe out even trout populations and leave a river sterile.  As Kevin says 'we have been warned'

Ian

I spent a thoroughly enjoyable morning yesterday walking the lower river with a newly elected member, showing him the best pools and all the main access points.  Before we started at Helwith Bridge we went down to the weir at Langcliffe to take a look at a beat he has fished with Settle Anglers for a good few years.  This is a beautiful stretch of the river with high banks, plenty of trees, lots of in stream cover and good deep pools, but we saw no fish.  Not a rise, not a movement nothing.  A quick sweep of the kick net produced very few invertebrates, just a big heptagenia and a few olives.  The suspicion is that intensive restocking on this fishery has depleted the wild population of brown trout and few fish are present until first stocking in May.

Contrast this with what we saw a few miles upstream at Penny Bridge by Studfold.  Here there were fish rising and an approach to the bank usually resulted in the swift departure of a trout.  The pattern was repeated wherever we visited the water.  Not vast numbers of fish, but sufficient evidence to satisfy me that fish were present where they should be.

I really enjoy these 'Cooks Tours'  not only are they a chance for really satisfying conversation and good company, but they provide a stimulus to look again at the river with fresh eyes and appreciate the value of all the work the Club has done recently to preserve it's asset.  It's also a chance to again appreciate just how attractive the Ribble is up here and the diversity of wildlife it supports.

It's a bright, but overcast day here.  There are some bright spells when the sun breaks through and we have lost the stiff breeze that made fishing the Tarn a challenge yesterday.

Ian

There was a good gathering of about 18 at Grassington yesterday who spent an absorbing day considering the fate of native crayfish in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  We were a mixed bunch of ecologists, naturalists and assortments such as me whose prime interest lies in preserving populations of natives and keeping at bay the ever encroaching tide of red signals and plague.

We began with David Rogers of the Crayfish Steering Group who put the Dales situation in the context of the UK wide situation and outlined the work being done elsewhere to preserve remaining native stock.  He painted a rather gloomy picture only briefly lightened by the considerable interest now being shown by local groups and funding bodies to tackle the complex issues that affect the survival of our British white claws.

Next up was Paul Bradley who spoke with his usual calm authority about the current population spread across the National Park and the North of England in general.  This was the first time I have seen the full position and it illustrated for me the absolutely crucial position of the Ribble catchment as a buffer between the predominant signal populations to the east and the almost undiluted native populations to the west particularly in the Lake District.  This area is the battle ground.  If we lose the Ribble to non nave species then we lose not only our remaining natives, but very much else besides.  Read on it's frightening.

Tim Thom the YDNPA ecologist gave a presentation on the conservation efforts being made to preserve some residual populations on the river Wharfe and previewed the field trip for the afternoon.  The key here is the establishment of 'Ark' sites in places that stand some chance of surviving the impact of both plague and non native species.

I talked last year about the only non native population so far discovered in the Ribble catchment at Buckill Gill a tributary of Long Preston Beck and Neil Guthrie of the EA provided the group with an update on the work done so far to eradicate this population. This was a very lucid and highly informative presentation which I won't repeat in detail because some of it is sensitive, but in essence the work planned last year to eradicate the red signals was down graded to a pilot due to the very wet weather throughout most of the summer.  This did give an opportunity to trial some of the techniques in the original plan and revisions have now been made as a result of these trials. Much additional survey work was done to establish the full spread and impact of the red signals.  It's intended to proceed with an eradication programme this summer.

Then came the, for me, real 'sit up and listen' moment when Stephanie Peay gave us the results of her survey work on Buckill Gill Beck in the context of its implications for restocking and the impact on fisheries.  Again, I will skimp on details of a very full presentation, but the key message was where you have a high density population of red signals you have nothing else.  No fish, no white claws - nothing.  We are talking here about big crustaceans that take a lot of provender. They will eat anything including fish eggs and small fish. It had been assumed that larger fish would co-exist with red signals, but the evidence here is that they do not and besides, there can be no recruitment of fish populations as no eggs or fry survive the predation.  Her survey showed a gradual decline in the mix of species as the population density of red signals rose, an inclination of non natives to move downstream of their own volition (not driven by flood action), but also a marked upstream movement as well.

The message is clear.  If red signals ever get into the Ribble from Long Preston Beck then we can kiss good by to all angling on the river and its tributaries.  Not overnight maybe and since the upstream spread is slower than that downstream then our water here at Horton will remain fishable for longer than those down river, but in time (about 5 to 10 years we will have no fish unless we move to intensive and extensive restocking without prospect of natural recruitment.  We must keep non native crayfish out of the Ribble.  It's as simple as that.

I came away to lunch more convinced than ever that not stocking our fishery makes sense.  I cannot for the life of me see why any club would wish to risk inadvertently  introducing red signals via trout stocking.  The outcome of such an accident  is truly frightening. 

I have gone on for rather too long so just to round up the day we spent the afternoon looking at the proposed site of a crayfish 'Ark' in the Wharfe catchment and discussed various issues about its establishment, publicity, public access and long term survival prospects.  The conclusion was - get on ad do it and Don't worry about making it perfect or pretty. The crayfish won't mind a bit of mess and a rather lunar landscape.

For those of you planning to fish today it's cold, but the sun is occasionally showing through the cloud.  We have no wind and just a few scattered showers.

Ian

It's a bright, but cloudy start here in the valley.  All the snow has gone apart from in the gullies on the fell tops, the river is in good water and we have no wind,  It's a bit parky, but the temperature should climb as the sun gets up during the morning.  So, the prospects for the day are fairly good.

I'm off in a short while to Grassington with Neil H to attend something billed as a 'Crayfish workshop' which conjures up visions of a gang of small crustaceans in overall in a shed wielding little hammers.  The truth is rather more prosaic and it would seem that we are to hear from the Lead Partner in the Crayfish Steering Group  (again visions, but don't go there - where the hell do they get these titles from?), an overview of Crayfish issues in north west England, Crayfish conservation on the river Wharfe, Buckill Gill eradication project and restocking and impact on fisheries.  So despite the committee speak it looks like an interesting and informative day.  One of the speakers is well known to us and it will be good to see Paul Bradley again.

I will report back tomorrow.

Ian

A bit late again this morning due to Internet problems probably caused by the snow we had last night.  It's only a light covering, but the cold does seem to play havoc with my wireless connection to the outside world.

As I say, It's fairly white across the valley this morning and since there are only occasional glimpses of sun it may take a while to thaw.  The river is in good water, not too high nor too low so fishing should be reasonable.  We are promised more cold snowy weather 'till about mid-week so spring is on hold at present.

I have seen no sign of the cormorants since we installed Simon so may be he is proving effective.  Of course, eventually he will lose his deterrent effect as the birds get used to him so I will have to devise some way of animating him to prolong his effectiveness.

Looking at the returns from the Tarn register for the first two weeks of the season it's clear that fishing has been a real struggle with few visits producing anything like a maximum catch.  However, the fish that have been caught are all good size and comments indicate that they seem healthy and very fit fish.  It will be interesting to see if returns pick up now that Simon is in place, but perhaps we will have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit before real improvement is evident.

Do please continue to keep me informed about cormorant sightings.  If this years pattern of their presence in late winter is repeated next year we need to be ready with strong evidence that we can present to DEFRA.

Ian

We had a small flurry of snow in the night, but mostly on the fell tops and higher pastures.  It's dawned bright, sunny and quite cold with a sharp frost.  There is almost no breeze so all in all not a bad start to the day and one which may well reward a visit to the Tarn or river.

One of my longest standing foibles is Dr Who.  I saw the first episode and have been a follower almost constantly since then apart from the dire period in the late 80's when the whole thing became a joke.  The resurgence of this iconic programme pioneered by Verity Lambert and now given fresh impetus by Russell T Davies is one of the few reasons I can think of to stay around a TV set on a Saturday evening.

What the hell has this got to do with fishing I hear you ask.  Well, last night's episode featured an alien organisation called the Adipose Corporation.  This company is a front for a group of aliens attempting to reseed their population using fat extracted from humans via a small red and white pill taken as a slimming aid.  The result is small fatty creatures that look like the Pillsbury doughboy.  Quite disturbing.

So be warned, If the next trout you catch complete with adipose fin offers you a small red and white capsule it's best to decline the offer and stay robust.

Enough of this nonsense.  A return to sanity tomorrow.

Ian

The Hon Sec came up very early this morning to frighten off the pterodactyls, but despite arriving at 4am and sitting around in the hut until after day break the black poachers failed to show up.  Casting disappointment aside he came down to see what I was up to and found me busy wrestling with Simon who we subdued, stuffed in the pickup by breaking both his legs then accompanied him to the Tarn, tied him to a post on the cross wall in the Tarn to the left of the hut and left him.  Hopefully he will prove more successful at deterring the pterodactyls than our early morning scaring tactics have proved.  For those of you with short memories 'Simon' is the scarecrow not the local poacher so don't go referring this blog to the local constabulary.  He looks quite realistic from the lane and he is already generating a bit of a stir in Newhouses as the wife of the farmer who owns Tarn Pasture called by to collect goats milk for her lambs and commented on the rather static fisherman at the Tarn.

Whilst we were working by the water there was a constant rise to hatching fly so I am confident that there are still plenty of trout from the last stocking despite the predation and once the weather warms up a bit the fishing should return to a satisfactory level.

I see that the cygnets have been driven off in the last couple of days and the pen is now busy building a new nest in the same spot as last year.  Let's see how the pair get on this year.

It came on to rain last evening so the river has risen a touch over night.  It's a cloudy start, but too not windy and we are promised snow before the day is out.

Ian

I spent a thoroughly enjoyable morning yesterday showing a new member around the lower river.  First we went down to Helwih Bridge, parked up by the railway arch and walked up river to the Kingfisher pool.  The footpath here is very boggy after such a wet winter and I was not surprised to see the brash hanging a couple of feet up the bankside fences after the massive flood we had back in January.  It's remarkable how well the fences and stiles have stood up to such a battering.  The fence alongside the Dayton water is now looking a bit fragile and will need some work to stabilise it before next winters floods, but on the whole there is less work here than I had feared.  The water was looking perfect, just a slight touch of colour and a good strong flow.

We then drove up to New Inn Flats and I showed Chris M where to access the far bank to fish down to Rowe End.  Then back across the road to check out the pools up through Austins towards Newhouses.

Finally, we drove down to Cragghill, parked at the Tay Bridge and walked down river to the Pipe Pool.  I could see Chris getting exited at the prospect of fishing this classic pool.  The trees that were planted in February have done well, a little on the slant after taking the full force of recent spates, but all are still firmly planted and showing signs of growing away.  The big 10ft saplings that were put in have not shifted at all and will soon begin to have an impact on shade and cover here.  We even saw a few rises in the Marker Pool (Parson's Pool), but by the time that Chris had dropped me off and returned to try his luck on this pool the temperature had dropped, the wind had come up and the rises had tailed off.  A pity.

My leg held up well with just a few aches after the first real exercise I have given it since January.  So it's back to nearly normal from this weekend with regular visits to the Tarn and the river and begin to get a few jobs done.

The breeze that came up yesterday afternoon has dropped off again this morning to give a fairly warm morning with high thin cloud and a few blue breaks.  The forecast is none too promising as we are supposed to get some snow over the weekend with cold nights.  Winter is not finished with us yet.

Ian

I sat down last evening to begin reading Stewart and so far have found him rather an agreeable companion especially when entertained with a glass of Highland Park at one elbow.

He is clearly passionate, not only about fly fishing for trout, but also about the importance of preserving trout and their habitat.  He laments the impact of commerce on the waters of Scotland and England and is resigned to the fact that little can be done to control the decline of good trout waters because of industrial pollution.  He lived on the cusp of the creation of the Alkaline Inspectorate, the first public body set up to monitor and control pollution and the direct fore runner of the current Environment Agency.  It's reassuring to observe just how far we have come in 150 years.  We do now have quite robust legislation that should prevent the worst excesses of river pollution  and our rivers and streams are probably cleaner now than at any time since before Stewart cast his flies on the Tweed.  We have other issues to address not least excessive water extraction that is turning the classic chalk streams of the south into ghosts of their former selves.  I do wonder if we shall be so successful at tackling this threat as there seems to be little political will to address the underlying cause of the problem - too much concrete, too many houses and too high a population in the southern half of the country.  The prospect of 3m extra homes in the UK in the next ten years is a frightening prospect for anyone who loves and fishes the streams of the south.

Returning to Stewart, I was struck by his delight in dark water as a distinct advantage to successful fishing.  Received wisdom now seems to be to avoid coloured water.  I wonder who is right?

It continues to warm up a bit, but the weather today shows little sign of the spring that is with us.  It's overcast with occasional bright patches and very little breeze so it may not be a bad day to try the river.

I'm off shortly to show a new member around the lower beats.  This will be my fist attempt at walking the banks since I broke my leg in January and I'm rather looking forward to getting back to the river again.

Ian

How many of you got caught by April fool scams yesterday.  I nearly fell into the trap set by the Telegraph when Mrs F pointed out an article with pictures about a colony of penguins that have been observed by British researchers flying to the Amazon to escape harsh Antarctic winters.  I was only half listening (a lethal pastime as any married man will testify) and it took a couple of minutes for the penny to drop when I remembered what day it was.  The fact that Terry Jones (ex Monty Python) was to be involved in a BBC documentary on the topic jolted the grey matter into gear.

Talking of grey matter, its pretty murky this morning with some threat of rain.  The good news is that it's considerably warmer and the stiff breeze of the past few days has died away.  With a falling river there should be good fishing later today and tomorrow.

Ian

Here we are, winter is over, it's All Fools day and spring has arrived.  The pity is that no one seems to have told the Horton weather God so it's wet and windy this morning!  The forecast is promising tho' and it should clear up later and be fine for the rest of the week.

The Hon Sec was here at about 6.30 yesterday morning intent on scaring the pterodactyls on the Tarn.  His report is interesting since it sheds some light on why fishing has been so difficult this past week.  On arrival at Tarn Pasture he saw 7 cormorants fishing in unison with one or two acting as lookout whist the remainder fished away merrily.  The evidence is that, in a flock, these birds act collaboratively and it would seem that they work to shoal up the fish which then become easier to catch.  When he was spotted the whole flock left the Tarn PDQ including the birds that were under water so they evidently have some means of communicating alarm to their diving colleagues.

Once they had resettled a few shots into the air sent them scurrying off and kept them off for some while.  However, members who fished later in the day report that at least one bird was back on the water by mid afternoon.

It would seem from this that the most opportune time to disrupt the feeding pattern is at day break when they are all on the water.  I am going to have to start getting up early and pay a regular daily visit to the Tarn.  Let's hope that Simon the scarecrow does his bit as well when he is installed tomorrow.

Mrs F did have other ideas about the invertebrate check yesterday so I will sneak out tomorrow to do this as it's too wet and windy to do it either safely or in comfort today.

Ian