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