The Broughton show was an enjoyable experience yesterday.  The rain kept away (mostly) and despite a rather grey and cloudy day a vast crowd seemed to enjoy themselves enormously.  One of the highlights of this show is the terrier racing which involves a large number of very small dogs in multiple heats charging down the main ring to exit though a small gap in a straw bale wall.  It's obvious which dogs have done this before and which haven't a clue.  Those with experience are off out of the trap as soon as the gates are released.  Others set of in most directions of the compass except the correct one or stop to socialise with neighbours or settle arguments.  The result is usually mildly organised chaos.  The best bit is when two evenly matched terriers arrive at the bale hole together and either scrap over who goes through first or end up wedged.

The Salmon & Trout Association had a stand there and I picked up an interesting leaflet about their nationwide riverfly survey.  The latest results for 2006 show a dramatic decline in riverfly numbers after a long period of stability.  The cause of this decline is put down to the very dry summer that year and the sporadic thunderstorms that caused short lived spates on many rivers washing away the stone clingers and free swimming invertebrates alike.  The results for 2007 will be important, but again this may not be a typical year (what IS typical now?) because of the very wet summer across most of the UK.  Our own results here at Horton only start from last year so it's too soon to draw any discernible pattern, but what is evident from the long term study that the S&TA are doing is that our riverfly numbers are dangerously low compared to the 1970's with most species at 20% of their former level.  Less food means less trout so it's vital that we try to find ways to help our invertebrates to recruit so it's good to see that the RFCA has written to all and sundry about the pollution threat from the forestry work on the upper Ribble catchment.  Misuse of herbicide or acidification of the water from decaying spruce brash will be devastating for both the Ribble and the Wharfe so our thanks should go to the Secretary of the RFCA for taking up this issue.

Finally, the river is still in good nick this morning and I understand that the Tarn fished very well yesterday so no excuses for not wetting a line this week.

Ian

Those of you who follow this daily drivel regularly will know that I have a passion for books about stuff that's only equalled by my passion for usquebaugh and a couple of days go I came across reference to yet another tome that became a must buy.  A quick check on Amazon revealed that they had it in stock and yesterday it arrived in the post.

The book in question labours under the unlikely title "Ecological Aquaculture - A Sustainable Solution". Sounds dull, but the contents are a veritable goldmine of practical advice, example and information about creating and managing sustainable fisheries.  The author, Laurence Hutchinson, is a former Naval Officer, fishery manager and consultant and he has the rare ability to explain complex scientific principles in plain English.  His book describes how to create aquaculture systems that are not wasteful or polluting and are self sustaining.  It focuses on the design and development of natural food chains as a solution to the problems associated with fish farming.  Just what we are trying to do with the old hatchery site and the development of the fishery here at Horton.

It will be fun experimenting with some of the invertebrate breeding methods described and trying out other practical and simple ways of boosting the ecological health and balance of the Ribble to ultimately increase the population of wild trout.

More rain yesterday means that the river is still in good water.  It's dryer so far today so the flow is consistent with good fishing conditions.

Maybe I will see some of you at Broughton Game Fair tomorrow.

Ian

One of my regular early morning tasks after seeing to livestock is to sit down at this infernal machine and deal with emails.  Now I don't know how it is for you, but for me this always involves wading through a tidal wave of junk mail mostly generated from the mail account which deals with our holiday apartment correspondence and which is posted on our website.  I get all sorts of not to be missed opportunities which seem to come in themes and I suspect tell us a great deal about the Land of the Free where most of it originates.  It would appear that currently Dubya's citizens are obsessed with the size of their wedding tackle, fake designer watches, weight loss and sustaining an erection.  I'm no psychologist, but I really do have serious doubts about whether a nation with such fixations are really fit to run the free world.  The image in my mind is one of gangs of obese Texans with very small flaccid willys weaning junk Rolex watches roaming the world bringing peace and prosperity to all.  No wonder the world is currently going to hell in a hand cart.

What's this got to do with fishing you ask.  Nothing.  I just thought that I would get it off my chest and give you something to worry about on this grey, dank and rather chilly summer morning.

We had a lot of rain here again yesterday which petered out during the night, but at about 9.30 last night I stood by New Inn bridge and watched a very swollen river churning through both arches of the bridge.  It's dropping back and clearing a bit now so unless we get more rain this morning (which is forecast) the river should be fishable this afternoon.

There is some circumstantial evidence that the ejection from the nest of swallow chicks by adults that was shown on Springwatch is relatively common.  I had a call yesterday from one of the regular Thursday fishers to tell me that he had found three dead young chicks in the boat.  These had presumably been ejected from one of the nests above the boathouse door.  This is strange as we seem to have a real upswing in swallow numbers this season probably due to the dry weather during April and May which encouraged an abundance of flies for them to feed on.  Perhaps the recent wet and stormy weather has suppressed the availability of food so encouraging adults to thin out their broods to numbers which they can satisfactorily feed.  Another one to ponder.

Ian

Here's a story that belongs in the "strange but true" or "and finally" category, one of those stories that you wish you had been present to witness and one which will earn you free pints in the Crown if only it had happened to you. 

I had a phone call from a member last evening who recounted how he was fishing the Tarn last Monday and he was reflecting on how easy it was and how quickly he was reaching his 6 fish limit.  Whilst he mused he was retrieving his fly dressed by himself on a size 12 hook and with half a mind he was watching the swallows and rejoicing in just how many of them there are hawking over the Tarn this year.  All of a sudden he got a strike! But not a fish.  It seems that a swallow had taken a fancy to this diminutive fly dancing along the surface of the water and had taken it.  There then followed the most gentle of retrieves as our member endeavoured to bring the swallow in without harming it so that the barbless hook could be released.  As the rather surprised bird reached the sedge along the bank of the Tarn it opened its beak and the hook fell out.  The bird promptly departed and resumed hawking for flies none the worse for its involuntary addition to this members tally.

This begs a few questions.  Was this an amazingly well dressed fly, so good in fact that it deceived the gimlet eyes of a swallow?  Was it a juvenile swallow with more enthusiasm than sense? Or was this just a small bird taking the Michael?

It also raises the question as to whether Council should consider imposing a catch limit on swallows with each members tally entered in the Tarn register under a separate heading.  I leave you to ponder!

It's another overcast, showery and breezy morning with the threat of heavier rain later in the day so the river remains in good water.

Ian

Most surprisingly things went nearly according to plan yesterday and lunchtime found me up to my knees in fast flowing water just above Grey Bridge on Brants Ghyll.  The water was crystal clear and quite cold, flowing over a bed of large boulders so I had my doubts about how much material would be disturbed by a kick around.  The first sample produced some very encouraging results, a lot of Iron Blues which were hatching in the sample tray as I watched them.  There were good numbers of all the key families in the monitoring programme except gammarus.  Their absence is, I suspect, more to do with the lack of in stream herbage and the speed of the current than the quality of the water.

There were a lot of bullhead fry in the net, far more than I usually get a few yards away in the main river, but the real surprise was the number and variety of species of stonefly.  I did 3 or 4 thirty second kicks along a 20 yard stretch and each sample contained ten to fifteen individuals ranging in size from the just visible to real creepers of over an inch.

Here is one of the largest and whilst it's hard to gauge size from the photo the curved line at the bottom is the edge of a standard petri dish.



This beck is clearly vital for fish recrutment and the general health of the river.  It may lack good spawning gravel, but with the hatchery and spawning channel a few hundred yards upstream it will play a crucial role in nurturing fry and young salmonids before they drop out into th emain river.

It's an overcast, cool and breezy start here with the threat of showers lingering in the air.  We had a drop of rain in the night so the water level in the river continues to hold out prospects for decent fishing.

Ian

I have now put all the recent invertebrate monitoring results on to the online spreadsheet so if anyone would like to see these all you need to do is send me your email address and I will send back to you a link that will open them.  I have prepared some trend graphs that help to make clear how both species of fly and numbers within species fluctuate from sample to sample.  By and large these show a fairly steady state with some seasonal fluctuations, but it will take a few years of data before we are able to discern trends that might indicate an improving or deteriorating ecology.  Still, having made a start it should be possible to detect any impacts from pollutants entering the water, but I have a feeling that we ought to bring the Tay Bridge site into a monthly check since it lies below both the main sources of potential pollutants (sewage works and Whit Beck).  It should be possible to do three bankside checks in the same week without this becoming too much of a strain on my time.  I still want to see what's lurking in Brants Ghyll after the intriguing results I got from the confluence last week and as it's a fine but cloudy day today I will try to do this later this morning.

I was talking to the fisheries scientist that the RCCT have recently employed and he tells me that they are planning to start monitoring invertebrates at 40 sites on the Ribble below the MAA waters so our programme of monitoring will be a valuable adjunct to this major work.  He is keen for us to look at a site right at the top end by Gearstones so I may well take the net up there in a few days time and see what I get.

Let's not lose sight of what all this work is for, a better understanding of the distribution and volume of food available for our wild trout - the more food and habitat you have the better able the trout are to naturally recruit.  The next step is to identify ways in which we can encourage invertebrates to breed and I have two ideas.  First is to go back to installing fly boards to increase the preceding success of olives (Baetis) second is to explore ways in which we can breed shrimps (gammarus). The latter just need a protected habitat so I will bend my mind to finding some easily accessible, suitable sites.

There is still good water on the river, so tight lines.

Ian

What a terrible day we had here yesterday.  It blew a gale for most of the hours of daylight and rained on and off well into the evening.  The valley is littered with bits of tree as is my croft, much to the delight of the goats -"all good things around us are sent from Heaven above etc, etc".

I went up to Turn Dub this morning to sample invertebrates.  As I walked along by the tarn squadrons of electric blue damsel flies flitted amongst the sward by the water and the air was full of the sound of skylarks.  The sample produced meagre results from a very high river.  Much too high to risk wading out in the main flow even wearing a life jacket.  Still, the results I did get show all families present except true mayfly so the reduced numbers are most likely due to the very high water, fierce current and more marginal sampling.  I may well sample here again later in the week when the water has dropped a bit and compare the results.

Of course, all this water is good news for those of you planning to fish the river this week.  It will drop quickly today with no appreciable rain forecast and it's already lost the heavy peat colour it was carrying yesterday so conditions should be good all week.

Ian

I've just concluded a meeting with The RFCA and ACA about the impact of the proposed forestry activity at Greenfield on the Ribble catchment.  This was a useful discussion and I am hopeful that the parties involved will now be prevailed upon to take the potential risk to the rivers Ribble and Wharfe much more seriously than they have done up to now.  Fortunately we have begun to gather some valuable data about the current state of the river which will provide a baseline against which to monitor changes as felling and replanting commence.  The really daft thing about this plan is that the forest managers do not need to submit an environmental impact assessment as they intend to replant the forest.  This means that there is no way of assessing the potential risk to the catchments of either Ribble or Wharfe from acidification or other forest based pollution.  Both the RFCA and ACA intend contacting all those involved with the forest scheme to register their interest and to demand that they be included in any consultation about the felling operations and access route planning.  It will be made clear that should there be any detectable deterioration in the rivers which impacts adversely on fishing interests then those responsible will be pursued through the courts using common law. A good outcome.

The river is currently in spate after the heavy rain that we had here throughout most of yesterday so fishing on the river should be good next week as the levels drop and the colour falls out.  Stewart would have us believe that a bit of colour is vital for good trout fishing where the fish are wild and flighty so large bright flies may be the order of the day next week.

The weather prevented me from sampling invertebrates at Turn Dub yesterday so I now plan to do this on Monday when the water is a little safer for wading.  If the results from New Inn are any indicator then the sample may well throw up some nice surprises. Fingers crossed.

Ian

The longest day and it's all downhill from here towards December.  Sobering thought isn't it? Still, the river is in pretty good nick at present.  It's surprising how resilient the eco system is and how well it copes with the extreme fluctuations in flow, temperature and volume.  I did an invertebrate check yesterday down at New Inn and the results are encouraging.  Fewer Heptagenia (March brown & yellow may dun), but this is probably predictable as most larvae will have hatched, mated, laid eggs and died by now.  There were a very large number of caseless caddis, far more than in previous samples and low and behold two true mayfly (Ephemera danica) turned up.  The river below the bridge was swarming with fish fry, mostly minnow, but I could see a good number of salmonid fry in there as well.  I got eight young bullhead in the sample so they are recruiting well. And finally I turned up one massive inch and a half long stonefly at the confluence of Brants Ghyll and the main.

I must do a sample in Brants Ghyll itself as the 30 second kick I did at the confluence suggests that the volume and variety of invertebrates in the Ghyll is much richer than the main river.

I will try to do Turn Dub later today and then post up the results of both surveys on the online spreadsheet.

The Terrier and stick show last evening seemed to be a great success.  A lot of people crowded into the garden at the Crown and slightly fewer midges than normal thanks to the breeze.  It was a beautiful sunny evening and we spent some time later watching fish rising in the pool above New Inn bridge.

I am meeting the Anglers' Conservation Association tomorrow morning to talk to them about the extraction plans for Greenfield forest and its impact on the Ribble catchment.  The ACA are keen to do some campaigning on behalf of the Ribble so the threat posed by the forestry operations right at the top of the catchment seems to be a good place to start.

More tomorrow.

Ian

Water levels are holding up well after the heavy rain we had on Wednesday and the fish are feeding.  I spent a couple of hours yesterday walking the river as far as Selside with a prospective member and whilst we saw little sign of trout moving it was heartening to see all the runs and glides washed clean of the algae that had accumulated over the past couple of months.

Others did see fish later in the day as the water cleared off.  Brian T fished the upper river and reports as follows.


There is still good water today so I plan to do the bankside invertebrate check for June later this morning.  We shall see what effect 2 months of drought have had on the distribution and populations.

Ian

It's time to blow the cobwebs off the river gear, dust down the river flies and get fishing.  For the first time in eight weeks we have some decent water on the river and the fish are moving.  Water levels are a bit high this morning and it's still a little coloured, but with the rain now abated and the forecast set for showers and fairing up later there should be good conditions by this afternoon.

Just right as I am showing a prospective member around at 10 this morning so he will see the fishery in fairly good conditions.  Mind you, it's rather blustery at present with a strong and gusting north westerly breeze that's keeping temperatures on the chilly side.  This will undoubtedly irritate the Thursday boys who are fishing the Tarn.

Now here is something for all those of you untouched so far by the credit crunch and who have the odd few thousand to splash out just to keep the consumer economy nicely ticking over.  News reaches me that Carl Lagerfeld has just launched a range of fishing gear all marked with the famous double C logo of Chanel.  You too can look like a complete prat when you arrive at the river wearing your carefully co-ordinated waders, with fly rod and set of flies each with the logo.  What the trout will think of this, I can't imagine, but I doubt if they will be impressed.  The cost of this flummery? £9,170 to you sir!  Still, I suppose Coco Chanel was an angler at least during the time she spent with the late Duke of Windsor, but judging by the Duke's reputation I doubt if they did much fishing when buried in the bushes.

Ian

The hills are veiled in cloud, the sheep and cows are huddled behind the shelter of the walls, the swallows are hawking flies over the meadows, the lettuce in the garden are looking perky and its RAINING!  A good steady drenching rain that will soak in rather than run straight off, helping to replenish the depleted groundwater and slowly fill the river.  That's of course if it keeps up for the rest of the day which so far it shows every sign of so doing.  It's been at least eight weeks since we last saw rain like this and it's most welcome.

I plan to walk down to Cragghill later to check on the two potential pollution spots at Rowe End and Whit Beck just to see if the rain has brought the sewer to overflow and to see what effect the increased flow is having on the cloudy run off from the quarry.

The forecast is for a return to warm, dry weather towards the weekend so if the river does come up appreciably this will be a good time to do the monthly invertebrate check before the water drops off again.  Hopefully we will get a dry evening on Friday as the annual Terrier and Stick show takes place at the Crown Hotel then.  Kick off is at 6.30pm and this real country event is well worth a visit.  The craftsmanship displayed in the exhibited sticks is incredible, many terrier men and women from all over the north of England will bring their dogs to show and its a good chance for a great crack over a pint catching up on all the latest gossip.

Saturday offers us a slightly more genteel entertainment with the Party in the Park which is an open air blues concert held at the School in aid of school funds. This was a great success last time it was held.  A chance for a pic nic with Pen y Ghent as a backdrop, a licensed bar, live music and no que for the loos.

Ian

It's grey, overcast and quite cool this morning with the promise of some wet weather later in the day and the prospect of an Atlantic storm sweeping the country tomorrow.  We shall see.  The rain can't come soon enough, but we could do without the wind.

I had a phone call yesterday evening from one of my contacts in the village to report a large volume of very cloudy water entering the depleted river at Whit Beck (Monkey Beck).  A trip down there confirmed his observations.  The beck was putting a lot of very murky water into the main presumably from the quarry.  This was making the river cloudy all the way down to the wooden footbridge at the far end of Parker's Wood.  I am assuming that it's lime washing and a pH check shows that the alkalinity is pretty high at 8.8.  I am in two minds whether to report this as a pollution incident or just keep monitoring for the time being as the flow coming out of Whit Beck is pushing the muck downstream fairly quickly and there is no evidence of any detrimental impact on fish in the vicinity.  I will seek advice.

Still no rain.

Ian

Because of the invasion of the house guests last week it's been a few days since I was last up at the Tarn so a wander up first thing this morning to check around, take water readings and the catch and release stats was a real pleasure.  The delight of being by the crystal clear water on this stunning morning was rather tempered by the discovery that the swan's nest has been trashed again.  The eggs from the second clutch are broken and scattered around and the two adults are swimming about rather aimlessly clearly in no mood to try the whole endeavour again. 

The swallows have fared better and there are now large family groups hawking flies over the water and swooping in to roost in the roof of the boathouse.

The catch returns show that despite the low water the Tarn continues to fish well with most visitors getting some success using a variety of flies.  The heavy hatch of damsel flies now seems to have abated.  I was talking to a member who has been around for a good few years and he was enthusing about the quality of the fishing at the Tarn now.  He thinks that it is fast approaching the high quality he remembers from before the pen was put in and the fish were fed.  It's taken a few years to get back to high quality water, but the volumes of fly hatches including olives we have seen especially this year suggests that the Tarn is once again in stonking health.

Still no rain.

Ian

We have just said goodbye to our house guests and the place is now slowly returning to some semblance of sanity.  The lane has been resurfaced between the Crown Inn and High Birkwith.  The 3 Peaks have been walked by over 400 BT employees and it still hasn't rained.

I saw the Hon Sec yesterday.  He was up with a guest fishing the river (stagnant pools) and took a tun round the Tarn in the late afternoon.  Surprisingly there are still plenty of rises to hatching fly from fish in the deeper pools so river fishing is not a complete wast of time.

I also saw Mick L who is a regular visitor to the MAA out-station on South Uist.  He tells me that the fishery manager there is retiring and that South Uist Estates are having problems finding a replacement.  I must brush up on my Gaelic and sort out my CV!

Ian

Those members planning to fish the Tarn today should be aware that Mr Sod's well known law is going to be well and truly  in force.  The village is heaving with over 90 teams taking part in the annual BT 3 Peaks walk starting from the Playing field.  This means that there will be in excess of 400 people on the hills today in addition to the usual mob of walkers who descend on the village each weekend.  Newhouses lane will be busy as it gives access to a key staging point on the walk at High Birkwith.  In their infinite wisdom North Yorkshire Highways have decided that today is the perfect day to top dress the Lane so it will be shut in places at various times during the day.  Good planning or what?

For those of you who are interested in electrofishing there is a very good video of what to expect on Warren Slaney's blog which he posted up yesterday. Just click the link to the left to go to the site.

Still no rain!

Ian

I was reading an article yesterday in the latest journal of the Institute of Fisheries Management about hydro power.  Now some of you will know that there is a proposal to install one of these turbines at the weir in Settle doing the rounds at present.  The whole scheme is presented as being a green alternative to power production by means of fossil fuel, but I have had some doubts about this from the start.  It's interesting to see that this long article raises the same concerns that occurred to me, principally what is the likely impact on the ecology of the river and especially the fish life that are in the river.  Evidence has shown that its virtually impossible to screen out fry and young fish from the turbines if these are used to generate power.  Also there is the issue of abstraction if the plant is off line.  If the distance between the intake and outfall is anything more than a few yards you end up with a depleted flow between them which effectively creates a barrier for both resident and migratory fish.  The promoters make much of the potential power to be obtained, but their calculations are often based on using the full flow unimpeded by screens and when these are included the reduced flow available often results in the project becoming financially unattractive.

It's clear that these schemes demand very careful examination by those of us charged with preserving fish and we should not be afraid to oppose any scheme that has the potential to cause harm to the ecology of the river and especially its fish life.  There is significant Government money available to promote and implement hydro power projects and this always generates a following of carpetbaggers and opportunists. These schemes may not be as "green" as they are presented by their promoters.

Still no rain!

Ian

The received wisdom from the RSPB suggests that the UK population of house sparrows has declined dramatically in recent years.  This seems to be true for London and the south east, but I'm not so sure that it's also true for the Yorkshire Dales.  Each morning I let my hens out to forage in the croft opposite the house and scatter a large scoop of mixed corn for them to find.  This helps to encourage natural foraging behaviour, keeps them occupied and less inclined to aggression with each other and supplements their feed.  The local sparrow population quickly found this free breakfast and prefer the mixed corn to the wild bird feed on the bird table.  As soon as I open the proven house door each square of the goatyard stock wire fence is occupied by its own sparrow bouncing up and down in eager anticipation.

Just now this resident flock is supplemented many times over with fledglings who are clearly being instructed by the adults about the bounty that arrives each morning.  These youngsters are precocious and have yet to develop a real fear of humans as witnessed yesterday morning when one settled on my right boot in its excitement at the arrival of corn.  It sat there looking up at me with one eye then clearly thought better about the suitability of its perch and hopped off.

These tiny birds seem totally oblivious to the hens stomping about amongst them, but they quickly leave when the crows come down to feed.

I was on a path up above Helwith Bridge last evening heading along the parish boundary towards Penyghent.  The weather was chill and overcast with just the occasional glimpse of sunshine.  The air was full though with the sound of birds settling down for the night.  We saw and heard Stonechat, Skylark and the inevitable Curlew.  A wonderful prelude to a well deserved pint in the Helwith Bridge Hotel.

Ian

We had a look at the scaffold poles yesterday and concluded that it might be possible to persuade the clips to come lose without resorting to cutting them.  So we will attempt to do this over the next couple of weeks.  A quick check under the stones along the exposed margins of the tarn revealed a lot of juvenile crayfish.  So no problems with crayfish recruitment at present.

One of my regular correspondents may well have found the answer to Warren Slaney's poaching problems.  He sent me a quote from an 1822 published work "The Art of Angling" by  Thomas Best which reads as follows:

"If any person shall enter into any park or paddock fenced in, and enclosed, or into any garden, orchard, or yard adjoining or belonging to any dwelling house, in or through which park or paddock, garden,  orchard, or yard any river or stream of water, shall run or be, or wherein shall be any river, stream, pond, pool, moat, stew, or other water, and by any ways, means, or device what so ever, shall take, kill, or destroy any fish bred, kept, or preserved therein, without the consent of the owner thereof, or shall be aiding or assisting therein, or shall receive or buy any such fish knowing the same to be so stolen or taken as afore said, and shall be convicted thereof at the assizes within six calendar months after the offence committed he shall be transported for seven years."

Of course, transportation then meant Australia which may well prove too attractive a prospect for modern felons so we will have to find somewhere less attractive.  Afghanistan or Iraq?

I had a long conversation yesterday with the new fisheries scientist engaged by the RCCT whom you may remember is setting up an electrofishing programme on the Ribble.  We concluded that there is much benefit that the MAA might derive from this project including the opportunity for some free training for those interested.  I have one or two members who have expressed their willingness to be trained to undertake electrofishing but any member is very welcome to volunteer for this fascinating exercise.  If you would like to be involved later in the summer just let me know.

We are also proposing to take scale samples from the larger fish that turn up in the nets when we electrofish for later analysis.  I am currently wrestling with the interpretation of scales using the club's stereo microscope and this too is an area that members may well find of interest as it can reveal much about the life history of our wild trout including whether a fish has been to sea and thus can be considered a sea trout.

Lastly, what of the weather here? Well, it's much breezier and cloudier than of late and we may get a shower or two later in the day.  Certainly not enough to make an improvement to the river conditions, but there may be more rain tomorrow.

Ian

I'm meeting Neil H from the EA later this morning at the Tarn.  We plan to dismantle the old fish feeder and use the scaffold poles that supported the feeding bins to form the framework for the net covers on the hatchery pond.  Once this is in place we can consider installing the jacuzzi box in which this years native ova will be put to hatch and grow on to swim up stage.  First, Neil plans to introduce the fry that are now rapidly outgrowing the tank in the School so once we do get some decent water and these little fish get fed up of the tank, we should see  a few hundred young brownies headed for the Ribble at New Inn.

Since we will need to cut the clips off the scaffold with an angle grinder and we will have the machine up at the Tarn I will see how feasible it is to remove the old bent stile at the lay-by.  This is useless and an eyesore.  I have been itching to get shot of it for years.  It makes the place look uncared for.

The long term forecast promises some rain for next week, but all could change between now and then.  So "fingers crossed" that we may be able to see the back of the rather stagnant ditch that is currently the Ribble at least in the short term.

It's breezier this morning, but bright and sunny and mercifully midge free. 

Ian

It's a glorious start to the day here in the valley.  Wall to wall sunshine and not a cloud to be seen.  The midges are less in evidence this morning so I have been spared the privilege of providing them with breakfast.

What are midges for?  With most creatures you can see some point to their existence, but midges seem to share a unique position with Gordon Brown in that they seem to serve no discernible useful purpose.  Their sole reason for being appears to be solely to torment others and spoil an otherwise pleasurable existence.

I well remember a holiday spent camping in the forests of Dumfries and Galloway.  At one forest campsite I went to the gents in the early morning.  The place was very well equipped even down to one of those neat little devices you sometimes see in butchers shops that emits a purple light and zaps flies.  Under this particular device was a pile of dead midges that would take a JCB to remove yet still the air was thick with the damn things.

We devised a strategy to combat them.  Of an evening Sheila and I would go out for a meal then on returning to the tent we would light a midge coil, zip up the fly screen on the tent and break out the malt.

On one occasion we were camped on a bluff overlooking a burn.  It was a fantastic spot,. a site of hundreds of acres of woods and glades that we had completely to ourselves.  On returning from the local Inn we found that some dork had pitched his tent so close to ours that his guy lines overlapped ours.  he was busy setting up a camp stove and had connected a portable TV to the battery of his car!  We retreated as usual then heard the first slap followed by an increasingly frenzied fandango of slaps curses and finally a lot of whimpering.  There then came a crazed cacophony of pots pans and the ripping of canvas followed by the slam of a bonnet, the revving of an engine and a shower of gravel.  Then - silence!

We offered a prayer of thanks to the midge God and watched as the sun set over the magic of a Scottish burn completely alone.

Ian

The Horton gala seemed to be a great success with a few more floats in the procession than last year and significantly more people on the field enjoying the range of entertainments.  Our "Guess the Weight of the Fish" competition attracted nearly 60 entrants and  made almost £30 for the Playing Field funds.  The winner was a prospective member of the MAA who travelled up from Blackpool to meet the Hon Sec for a chat and returned with a 5.5lb rainbow trout which should keep him in fish steaks for a few days.

It was good to see a number of members there and my thanks go to two in particular (and the Bury blond bombshell) who helped out during the afternoon.  I took a small invertebrate sample from a near stagnant river which produced a few minnow and bull head fry as well as a lot of black beetles and a few nymphs.  This attracted quite a bit of interest during the day especially from one precocious little girl who seemed to know a surprising amount about riverfly.  I never did find out how.  Another of life's great unexplained mysteries.

The weather was benign, cloudy at times, but mercifully free of rain.  We awoke this morning to a mix of thick fog and midges and whilst out seeing to my livestock first thing it was difficult to decide whether one was breathing air, fog or wee beasties.  If I don't go down with Blue Tongue it will be a miracle.


The fog (but not the midges) has cleared now to give a bright and sunny morning  with just a smear of high cloud.  The swallows are swooping past my window hoovering up midges, but making little impact on the clouds of the damned things.

I'm off to have a good scratch and a mug of tea.

Ian

We had a light shower at about 4 am.  Just enough to freshen up the lettuce in the garden, but not the prolonged soaking that we so much need.  Despite the drought I continue to get reports that the river is still fishing tolerably from Horton down to Helwith Bridge on the bigger pools.

This low water is ideal for getting to those places that are normally too deep for safe wading and carry out a bit of judicious tree pruning to let a bit more light and air onto some good lies.  Once the Gala is over on Saturday  I will turn my attention to this task.

It's turning into a bright sunny day.  Very midgy  and the y are feeding voraciously now as the females start breeding.  I understand that they are attracted by the CO2 in your breath, but it's hard work holding your breath for hours on end just to avoid their attention.

It would be good to see a few members at the Gala tomorrow (kick off 12 Noon).  So if you are coming up to Horton be sure to drop by the MAA gazebo for a chat.  Who knows, you might even win the fish!

Ian

On Monday I collected 6 Leghorn pullets to augment my hen flock.  These were safely installed in a wired off section of the hen house to enable the established residents and the interlopers to acclimatise to one another.  Yesterday I took down the barrier and all seemed settled until evening when the residents went to bed and the pullets decided that now would be a good time to explore the great outdoors.  Typical chicken brain, rather than head for the wide expanse of the croft they turned sharp left, wriggled through the stock wire and began exploring the fruit garden.  So we then had half an hour of "chase me Charlie" round and through the red currant bushes and raspberries as I attempted to round up the little sods and encourage them back into the hen house.

Having eventually restored calm I went back to the fruit garden as I had noticed that the lid of one of my redundant bee hives had been dislodged.  As I was replacing the lid I noticed a slight movement inside the hive and lifting the lid slightly saw that a blue tit has built a nest on top of the upper frames and is sitting on a clutch of hatchlings.  The lid has been left as it was.

I got hold of some trout scales yesterday and have begun educating myself to be able to interpret and read these so that when we begin electrofishing later in the year I can analyse samples collected from the wild trout that turn up in the net.  One of the old books I bought at Ingleton a couple of weeks ago turns out to contain one of the clearest and most comprehensive guides to trout scale reading I have ever seen.  The knack is to be able to develop sufficient expertise to be able to identify the difference between summer and winter growth patterns.  Winter growth, being generally slower because of temperature and reduced food supply, tends to produce ridges that result from growth rings being set closer together. By counting the number of summer and winter growth patterns it's possible to get a good estimate of the age of the fish and by comparing this with its length and weight you can build up a picture of the speed of growth in any given water course.

The scales reveal much mote to a trained eye such as whether a fish has spawned and the overall general heath of the fish, but this comes with practise and my first efforts with Tarn stockies only tells me so far that the fish have been steadily fed over a maximum of a year which I knew already.  But I can tell so far that there have been no checks in growth for the fish I have studied so It does tell me a bit about the quality of the feeding and management regime at the fish farm which is useful.

Ian

Here is a picture taken this morning looking down the Tarn which will whet the appetite of most members.  It's a glorious, sunny start with a very light westerly breeze.  I can rarely remember the water looking so clear.  Every pebble and weed frond is clearly visible into quite deep water.  The level is at least 4 inches down on normal so I guess that there is very little inflow to disturb the bottom sediment, but despite the warm weather there is no sign of any algae bloom.

The swans are busy building a new nest on the hut side of the reed bed well away from the first nest that was compromised by the fox.  They seem to be further out into the water perhaps hoping that this well deter predators, but I'm not convinced that they are far enough out to prevent a determined fox from getting to the nest.

As I stood watching them build a third swan flew over. Judging by the brown feathers still visible on its flanks this is a juvenile and possibly on of the hatchings from last year so at least one of these cygnets is still in the area.

I have written many times in the past about the goldeneye that overwinter on the Tarn and it was a particular delight to see film on Springwatch last night of them nesting.  I had not realised that  they nest in trees and will use an appropriately sized nest box.  Maybe I should try putting up a box on the hut to see if we can encourage a pair to nest at the Tarn.

We spent a very worthwhile few hours yesterday with the Ribble Trust examining their plans to electrofish the Ribble over the summer.  They have chosen a few sites on our waters which will be done in August water levels permitting.  The aim is to get a reasonable estimate of salmonid fry numbers (brown trout, sea trout and salmon) and repeat the exercise on a yearly basis to monitor changes.  Fortuitously three of their chosen sites correspond closely to our own riverfly monitoring sites so we shall be able to correlate data from both surveys.

That's your lot for today.

Ian

Are you a Blob Yob?  It would seem that the usually sedate world of fly fishing is being rattled by the increasing use of a controversial lure which is being blamed for encouraging "yobbish" behaviour in the sport. 

The Blob is a highly effective ball shaped lure made from various fibres which stocked trout in particular chase aggressively when it is stripped very fast through the water as it closely resembles the pelleted feed used on fish farms.

Traditionalists claim that these blobs are unsporting and tantamount to cheating.  They are permitted to be used in fly fishing competitions and have produced spectacular results.  The problem is that those who use these lures are resorting to ungentlemanly conduct and heckling those who prefer to use traditional flies, spiders and nymphs.  It would seem that as in most other aspects of modern life the lure of the lure is driven by the demand to catch as much in as short a time as possible with the minimum of effort and knowledge.  Hence the use of the blob  by experienced anglers is regarded as completely beyond the pale by many in the sport.

Still, we don't need to worry about its use here at Horton do we?  I have been told many times that the MAA is a gentleman's club and our rules make it clear that fly fishing only for trout is permitted on both the river and the Tarn.  So be warned.  I shall be on the lookout for "yobs with blobs" (and booby's).

It's raining quite hard here this morning which is a blessed relief so long as it keeps it up for a good few hours and raises the ground water level and replenishes the river.  We might just get some decent water at long last.  Mind you, it's sods law.  I am meeting the lads from the Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust here later this morning and our plan was to walk the lengths of the river which we have fenced and planted and look at lengths where we might focus our efforts next.  We will be getting wet.

Ian

It's a moist start to the day here.  No rain to speak of just a dank mist hanging in the valley.  It's warm and good growing weather so I will get the rest of mu beans and brassicas out later.  We really could do with some prolonged rain though so do keep up the rain dance.

The Christening went well yesterday and my young nephew behaved impeccably.  The service was weird though.  I recoil in horror at happy - clappy church services and this was a happy - clappy event in the extreme.  If I want to be entertained I will go to a theatre or concert.  I was brought up in an Anglican high church tradition of bells and smells with the poetic English of the Book of Common Prayer and the King James' Bible and for me as lapsed Christian I still find this the most comfortable form of worship.  All this waving your hands in the air and singing Hallelujah to the accompaniment of a pop band makes me cringe.  Still most of a very large congregation seemed to enjoy it so I must be getting out of synch with this as well as every other aspect of modern life.

Enough of the rant.  I am off now to replenish my flock of hens with six leghorn and three young black rock