The big freeze has finally loosened its grip this morning and most of the snow and ice that's hung around for the past fortnight has gone.  It will take a while for the Tarn to thaw completely and working up there this morning I saw little open water.
The swans are mooching about on the ice and providing moments which really should be caught on camera.  I threw some bread out for them yesterday across the ice.  This prompted the usual mad dash with wings and legs flailing.  It wasn't until they got to the bread that they both discovered that their brakes don't work on ice and I was treated to an impromptu display of formation ice skating as both birds sailed merrily across the icy surface of the Tarn on their feet.  They returned a lot slower looking a tad sheepish.

Friday evening found me amongst splendid company as a guest of the Settle Anglers at their annual club dinner.  This was hugely enjoyable with great company, excellent food, a very good speaker and much stimulating crack.  It was nice to meet some old contacts and to make some new ones including Phil who will be supplying our Tarn rainbows this year.  I am deeply indebted to Mike H for inviting me.

The hut comes on steadily and three quarters of the laminate is now up.  I have reached the 'jigsaw' stage now which involves cutting the stuff round the windows so progress will be a little slower this week.  The old place is not looking too bad and will certainly be much brighter with the light coloured laminate lining the walls.

Ian

It's pretty damn cold here in the valley.  We have had a bitterly cold east wind for much of the past three days and several local brass monkeys have been hospitalised.

I did manage to do the riverfly check last week and got a very interesting set of results.  I found a real abundance of heptagenia and baetis nymphs with good numbers of caddis and stonefly.  This result compares well with the spike in numbers that we got in the same period last year.  This does suggest that the winter months show markedly more nymphs present than during the summer.  Logic would suggest that this is due to eggs hatching and maturing with few nymphs moving on to imargo and adult stage in cold conditions.

Whatever, there is certainly an abundance of food for hungry trout at just the time they need it having come through the privations of spawning.

Sticking with riverflies I had an email from the local EA ecologist suggesting that we raise the trigger levels because of the good numbers of pollution sensitive invertebrates we are recording.  So already our work is proving useful beyond the immediate needs of our fisheries management.

Finally, I have been invited to talk to the local WI this week about the river and I thought it time that these good ladies got acquainted with some invertebrates.  So I plan a practical session involving lots of water, a large tray and hopefully plenty of riverfly nymphs.

Ian

It's been a wet week and the river has been running bank full so no chance to do the January invertebrate check.  My plan is to do both sites tomorrow provided that we get no more rain today and the river drops to a level at which I can safely wade with the net.  I'm keen to get some data for winter months as none was collected last year due to my being laid up with a broken leg.  This is a crucial time of year for our wild brownies.  Having spawned at the end of the year they need to put on condition quickly to survive the spring spates and go into summer in good fettle.  A good food source is vital for them so I shall be looking for evidence that we have plenty of caddis and shrimp.

The hut is now insulated and lined ready to receive the laminate surface that will provide a bright, durable and easy care surface.  With luck this should be put up over the next week or so and we can then start on fitting out with seating cupboards and work tops.

The cormorants are back.  Only two so far, but this pair have been present most days this week and they are getting bolder, taking wing on my arrival, but merely circling the Tarn until I disappear into the hut when they cautiously return to the water.  I have yet to see them feeding, but they would not be present if not attracted by food.

The winter 2009 MAA Newsletter will shortly be winging its way to members letterboxes.  Do remember that this is published in August and January so if you have an article that you think will be of interest to others do please email it to me.

All the best

Ian

It's not been a bad week and we even got some sun to brighten fell and dale, painting a little colour into a rather drab January.

I have now got about half way with lining the club hut and already it feels warmer with less draught and looks a great deal brighter.  The swans find all this work fascinating and come steaming up when I first arrive to see what's up.  Mind you, they soon get bored with carpentry and sail off to investigate life further down the Tarn.

It's a real pleasure working in the peace and tranquil surroundings at the Tarn.  Just the gentle slap of water against the hut legs, the bleat of sheep and the occasional argument amongst the duck population as some misdemeanour is scolded soundly and the perpetrator given what for.

At least I can work in the warm and dry.  Not so the local waller who is doing a grand job on the lane side wall running up the hill to the Tarn lay by.  He seems to have a job for life here unpicking the tumbled mass that the wall has become and reassembling the stones into a straight, level and tidy structure.  He works swiftly, but has many hundreds of yards to do.  Try as I might I can never get my walling to look as neat and tidy as a professional can achieve.  My walls stay up and do the job, but they often end up looking a little tatty and rather moth eaten.  Still, it's a therapeutic way of spending a few hours and you do get the satisfaction of something tangible at the end especially if the stones happen to fit right first time.  But it's a job I prefer to do in the warmth of summer rather than the hand numbing chill of a dark January afternoon so it's back up to the hut tomorrow.

Ian

The big freeze has finally come to an end and we have rain and grey skies this morning.  It's been about three weeks now since temperatures were this balmy, we have seen snow and freezing fog and the ground has been iron hard.  The Tarn is slowly beginning to thaw out so hopefully the resident waterfowl will return over the next few days.  It's been strange to stand by the hut in absolute silence with no sign of life either on or around the water.  Clearly something has been visiting when I am not there as the ice is criss crossed by a network of tracks and prints.  These are too indistinct for a positive identification, but judging by their size they were probably made by a fox.

You do wonder just how well wild birds and mammals get on during prolonged spells of frost.  Those birds such as snipe that probe feed must have a thin time of it and with the river margins frozen even ducks must feel the pinch.

The crack of dawn found the Hon Sec and me up at the Tarn busy manhandling ply sheets and timber down to the hut.  It was a brisk morning with a sharp frost, fog and a stiff easterly breeze.  After six or seven trips between the lay by and the hut (I lost count) I now know every blade of grass and am intimate with the weight of various thicknesses of 4 by eight plywood sheets.  Still, with all the material needed for lining the hut now in it I can make a start on the job tomorrow.

Ian

So, another year dawns.  It's strange how our acknowledgement of the passing seasons and how we reconcile the passage of time take on almost mystical significance at this time of year.  Why should 1 January be any different to 31 December and why should the passing events of 2009 be any better than those of 2008.  There is no logic to this, but as a story telling chimpanzee rather than 'intelligent man' we weave mysteries and superstition into a cloak of optimistic belief.

I suppose that this optimism keeps us going at difficult times and I sure have had one of those this past few weeks.  Just before Christmas Mrs F fell badly dislocating her shoulder and fracturing her upper arm.  Despite getting the shoulder set the pain was so intense by Christmas day that I had to get her back into hospital. So for the first time ever I spent Christmas Day alone with a turkey.  Fortunately Sheila is now recovering slowly so hence I have time to do this blog.

It's been bitterly cold this past couple of weeks and the Tarn is frozen to a depth of a few inches, a fairly rare occurrence in recent years.  The river is bare bones with frozen margins.  All the ground water is locked up in icy fields.  My back porch got so cold on New Years day that the supply to the back loo froze and the pipe burst just adding to all the recent fun and excitement.

There has been a flurry of publicity recently about Neil H's crayfish breeding programme with items on the BBC news website and in the Telegraph.  This is all part of a strategy to increase public awareness of the plight of our native crayfish and influence the policymakers to consider a total ban on trading in non native crayfish.  The culmination of this locally will be a conference at Malham in early summer which it's hoped will result in a national crayfish conservation strategy.

The hut refurbishment got put back a bit by Sheila's accident, but my plan is to get cracking this week and make a start on lining out the structure.  Gavin P dropped off the rockwool and membrane last week so that can now be put up and I will get the ply lining delivered during the week so that everything can be ready for the fitting out later in the month.  The objective is to get the project finished by 8 March when we have a working party scheduled prior to the start of the 2009 season on 15 March.

The best thing about this cold weather and a frozen Tarn is that the cormorants can't fish so we should go into the new season with some overwintered fish.

Ian

It's been a mixed week weather wise with some bright days and a fair bit of rain on Thursday night.  The steady thaw has continued despite pretty low temperatures and all we have left now of the deep snow covering lies in the gullies and wall edges on the fell sides.  The prolonged thaw has kept the river running clear and fast, just right for the salmon and trout redds that are now well established in the gravel beds all up the river.

And so Christmas and the shortest day are almost upon us with the tuning of yet another year only a few short weeks away.  It's possible to mark the passage of time here by the steady tick of village life.  Perhaps a better metaphor is to regard life here as a fabric with the warp composed of the fixed points of the social calendar that almost never vary.  In the deeps of winter most folk snuggle down by their fires and events are few, but come spring thoughts turn to the Gala at the beginning of June.  Then the village is alive with tourists, the pubs and cafe are busy and the roads are thronged with cars.  Late summer brings the Show which is a chance to compare how your garden has performed against others.  More often it's a case of seeing how well you have overcome the dismal weather to produce a few stunted veg.  Then comes harvest festival and the highlight of the year - the Parish Party!

We had this year's on Friday with the usual seasonal offering from the WI who despite ever dwindling numbers always manage to put on a production guaranteed to kick start the festive season.

Into this warp is woven the weft of an agricultural calendar that is equally predictable.  The cows are in in winter and need daily feeding and watering.  March brings the first flush of lambs which reaches its crescendo in April when the pastures become full of bouncing bundles of wool all busy learning how to be sheep.  July is haytime, so vital for winter feeding.  The shows are held throughout the summer and competition is fierce amongst farmers in the livestock classes.

Summer ends with the sales when the lambs go off to market, old yows are shed and new breeding stock bought in ready for the tupping season in October and November.  The pastures now are full of technicolour sheep all proudly bearing the badge on their backsides which is proof that they have been in season and visited by the tup.

So now we pause and wait just a short while for the evenings to lengthen and life to begin stirring the fabric of the valley once again.

Ian

Yes, I know it's not Sunday, but I thought that you might be interested in listening to the episode of Open Country that was broadcast on 6 December at 6am since I doubt f many of you were above the covers at that time.

The programme was broadcast from Settle and was about the Settle hydro scheme which is causing a fair bit of concern here at present.  Regular readers will recall that I have talked about the scheme before on a number of occasions and in principle I'm not against it.  However there is far to little information in the application currently available to determine whether or not the scheme will have an adverse impact on our migratory salmonids.  So we must continue to press for a thorough Environmental Impact assessment that will show conclusively whether the abstraction of water needed to generate sufficient power to make this scheme viable will prevent our salmon and sea trout from ascending the Settle fish pass when they want to.

As an added bonus there is a long interview with Neil Handy who is well known to many members of the MAA as a passionate guardian of the upper Ribble and its wildlife.

Listen for yourselves at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fr5lb/Open_Country_06_12_2008/

More on Sunday.

Ian

This is the view from my front door that greeted us on Thursday morning.  All very seasonal and it's probably the most snow we have seen here for a good few years.  The fells are still white despite a rise in temperature over Friday and yesterday.  There is quite a bit of snow melt to lift the river which runs very clear and cold, just right for ova incubation as there is very little sediment in the water to starve the ova of oxygen.

The plans for the Pennine Bridleway which will cross the river just below Drain Mires have been submitted to the YDNPA for consideration.  These include detailed drawings of the route, fencing and proposed river crossing.  They are well worth a look at http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/planning_application_search_results?criteria=C/44/243A&parish=Horton-in-Ribblesdale&appCode=&settName=&searchType=0&pageNumber=1.

The bridge looks like a very substantial affair with an eliptical arch held on four piers which are designed to lift the deck well clear of flood level and the boggy ground on the east bank.

Good news reaches me from the Ribble Fisheries Consultative that the efforts to encourage a Europe wide cormorant strategy have taken a significant step forward.  The press release issued includes the following;

It's a very cold start to the morning here in the valley with a deep freeze covering the fells and the ground rock hard under an azure sky.  Like last Sunday the dales look stunning under this winter sun which really lifts the spirits and makes working outdoors a pleasure rather than a pain.  It's also good to come in to warm cold bones by a log fire which fills the house with that faint and evocative aroma of sweet wood smoke.

This cold bright weather will bring the trout on to spawn and their cousins the salmon have been very busy this past week with good numbers of pairs seen down by Studfold, along by the Pipe Pool and up towards Cragghill farm.  There are certainly plenty of spawning fish about now so let's hope for a winter with few damaging spates and a chance to really build good numbers of young fish next year.

In fact next year looks like being a fairly busy one on the river especially for the future success of our native crayfish.  Building on the success of the crayfish handling courses that he runs from Malham Tarn Field Centre, Paul Bradley has now set up a Crayfish Strategy Workshop which will run during July 2009.  This aims to bring together all those who share an interest in the conservation of native crayfish and encourage them to develop a coherent national strategy and action plan to ensure the long term survival of this fascinating crustacean.  I have been asked along to put a fisheries managers perspective on the proceedings based on experience of balancing the needs of both anglers and crayfish at the Tarn.  The programme will include lots of field visits including a chance for delegates to see our own population of austropotamobius.

Turning finally to the hut refurbishment, I plan to get all the material to line out the interior this week so that work can get under way next week end.  The first task to insulate and board out the inside is fairly simple and should be completed before Christmas.  Then we can turn our attention to fitting out to provide a more comfortable and usable space.  I will post up photos as the work progresses.

Ian

A flurry of snow overnight and early this morning has reminded us that winter is just around the corner.  It's only a light coverlet, but the fells look stunning in the emerging sun and they stand out stark and white against a sky that's turning blue as I write this.

The months really seem to fly by now and it seems no time at all since I did the riverfly check for October. However, four weeks have gone by and Thursday morning found me up to my knees in the river at New Inn braving a bitterly cold north west wind to check on the health of our invertebrates yet again. I fought an even colder north wind yesterday to do the same at Turn Dub.  Both checks revealed no problems with very good numbers of Baetidae and all our usual families well represented.  You do live and learn though.  The second kick sample at New Inn threw up three rather puzzled looking bullheads which I retained in the sample tray to take a closer look at.  Big mistake!  I also noticed in the net a few gammarus which seemed to diminish in number as I counted them. I forgot that a bullheads favourite snack is a fat juicy shrimp and my three were making merry with the captive feast I had inadvertently provided.  Lesson, get the bullheads out quickly before they skew the results by eating the samples.

Crayfish Paul came to visit yesterday on his way to survey the site where it's planned next summer  to eradicate the remaining pocket of crayfish plague.  This is going to be a tremendous bonus for the crayfish, the fishery and the general health of the ecosystem of the river.  If all works then there will be little to stop the regeneration of the native crayfish population in the Ribble and we will gradually return to the way things were before plague struck eight years ago.

I sat for quite a while yesterday morning watching the small flock of goldeneye on the Tarn. These dapper little duck really appeal to me and it's a strange coincidence that my famous author namesake named his house in Jamaica Goldeneye. 

I have had one or two offers of fly tying equipment for the hut for which I am very grateful, but all further offers will be very welcome.  We are trying to build a fishing related library also so any books or videos that have ceased to earn their place on your bookshelf will also be welcome.

I have now worked up a detailed budget for the refurbishment and begun ordering materials to begin work on the internal dry lining.  If any member fancies a morning at the Tarn shifting stuff down to the hut do please give me a ring.  My number is on the newsletter.

Ian

Well, here we are again and it's been a mixed week with some fairly mild, sunny days interspersed with a couple of absolutely foul days. The weather cleared up nicely yesterday morning whilst we were ensconced in the Crown busily attending to MAA Council business.  A very effective and efficient meeting I thought that has left me with a real impression of renewed vigour within the club and a determination to make it a vibrant and rewarding body to belong to.

Myself and the Hon Sec then walked the river down to the Tay Bridge really just to appreciate the fine condition of the river.  We saw no fish, but dippers were bobbing and weaving in the swift current and a woodpecker sat looking at us from a vantage point in Parker's wood.

Plans for the hut refurbishment were confirmed yesterday and work will start soon to transform the place into a real club venue properly equipped to enhance members fishing experience at the Tarn.  We have been donated some solar lights as well as a bookcase, wall and floor cupboards and sufficient laminate to line the new ply walls.  The old place will be unrecognisable when finished.

We plan to equip the hut with a fly tying vice and dressing tools so if any member has anything surplus to their own needs that they would like to donate then please do contact me.  As I have said before we will install a book case and spare fishing related works as well as back copies of fishing mags will be welcome.

Conservation work has also not been forgotten, but more on this when those landowners whose consent is needed for our plans have been consulted.

It looks like being a busy closed season.

Ian

It's been a fairly dry, but cold week so by yesterday the river was quite low for this time of year.  All that changed late yesterday and we have had a lot of rain over night lifting the water considerably.  In fact it's rather wintry this morning with the fells standing out white against a clearing sky.  Most of the white stuff is hail rather than snow which has been drifted deeply by a bitterly cold east wind.

Despite the low water salmon are still moving up to Horton and our brown trout are making their way up to the spawning gravels in the upper river and side becks.  With the drop in temperature it will not be long now before they start to breed so let's hope for no sudden spates before the redds have time to compact down.

The goldeneye are back at the Tarn in fair numbers and when I was up there yesterday I saw a pair of dabchick scurrying for the shelter of the reed bed which was already occupied by the swans.  The water quality in the Tarn has been remarkably good this year with no evidence at all of algae and very little colour in the water.  It's crystal clear now and possible to see just how extensive the weed growth has become over the summer.  By my estimate there are about a hundred fish left in from the seasons stocking so it will be interesting to observe how many of these are caught next season as with a change of supplier next season and the guarantee of larger fish it should be possible to identify the 2008 stock.

That's always assuming that the cormorants don't feast on them over the winter.  The Tarn has been surprisingly devoid of cormorants this Autumn, but by past experience it's after Christmas that they seem to arrive in numbers.  Obviously some keepers have more success at obtaining licences to cull these pests as Warren Slaney posted a picture on his blog a couple of days ago showing one cormorant that has eaten its last trout.

Now that the season has ended I can get on with the work to transform the hut and plans for this are now well advanced.  We will begin by lining and insulating the place then move to installing the fittings.  If all goes well then the place should be finished well before the start of next season.

Ian

Well, here we are, the last day of the season and we awake this morning to a covering of white on the fells.  There is a bitterly cold north wind blowing down the valley, but it's now bright and sunny with just a few clouds away over Ribblehead.

Time to think about shutting up for the winter, battening down the hatches to prepare for the winter storms and think about the season to come.

I suppose that this season will go down as the summer that never was, when the river ran full for most weeks and was fishable more often than not.  It will be interesting to see what the returns are like when they come in.  My real concern is the effect that the severe spates may have had on the viability of trout fry early on.  We won't know for some time, but the electro fishing planned for the main river next summer should tell us a little more about the numbers of young fish and give some indication as to the general level of recruitment.  There is certainly enough food to maintain a good population of wild fish over the winter so let's hope for a really successful breeding season and plenty of fry next spring.

As for the Tarn it's now really a case of watching and monitoring, keeping a check on cormorants and generally tidying up.  The main job this winter will be the refurbishment of the hut so that we can start the 2009 season in some style and comfort.

The next post will be on Sunday and each Sunday thereafter until March 2009.

Another bitterly cold morning with a sharp frost and ice on the pond.  It's good to get some seasonally cod weather though rather than the persistent wet, mild and windy stuff that we got last winter.

I managed to get the Turn Dub invertebrate check done yesterday which showed a healthy population of most species and a better than average population of gammarus including some quite large specimens.  Good fodder for hungry trout over the winter.

I sat in the hut for a while chewing the fat with a couple of members.  Fishing was hard (and cold), but some success was had. 

The real reward of the day was the gift of a rabbit from a couple of members who went bunny hunting with ferrets on Monday.  A nice plump well grown rabbit which will casserole nicely.  Ideal grub in this cold weather.

Ian

It's a tad parky this morning with a very sharp frost turning the fields and fells white and sparkly under the morning sun.  My hens are dancing around trying to keep their feet warm, hunting for insects in the leaf litter that is building up in the hollows in the croft.  All in all a perfect autumn day.

I managed at long last to get the October invertebrate check done at New Inn yesterday. No surprises, but it is good to see that both numbers and species compare well with last October.  More gammarus and stonefly this year and slightly fewer heptagenia, but overall the river looks to be healthy.

I will do the check at Turn Dub this morning once things warm up a little.  It's a cold spot at the best of times being tucked down in a fold in the hills that cuts off the sun at this time of year.  This morning it will be particularly cold even though there is no wind.

Only 4 days to go to the end of season and this blog will wind down to a weekly posting until next March.  Plans are already in hand though for 2009 with the refurbishment of the hut scheduled for the closed season and all the fish ordered for the Tarn.  We are using a new supplier next year and I have been invited to visit the farm to see our fish before they start arriving in March.  I am confident that we will get some real quality stock.

Ian

We had a lot of rain yesterday and all the becks and springs are still gushing, putting a lot of water into the river which is very dark and in full spate.  It's a much better day today, plenty of cloud, but also some bright sunshine and a lessening wind so the salmon should be running well now.

It now looks as if the forest managers will begin moving timber out of Greenfield forest down Newhouses lane in the spring of next year.  This is bound to have an impact on parking at the Tarn and access to the lane will become more problematic with heavy timber trucks making 4 outward and 4 return journeys every day.  We have a meeting with the company on 7 November so more on this when I have spoken to their manager.  The impact on our lives here will be quite significant and it's bound to affect the value of all our properties.  Particularly galling at a time of falling prices and general economic decline.

Ian

Oh well into the last week of the 2008 fishing season and the weather this morning seems to have relented at long last and has given us a bright start with the promise of much sun later.  The river has been far too high this week to safely do the invertebrate check, but with the threat of rain receding it may be possible for me to get onto the river later today.

I try to avoid fishing politics as much as possible, but there are two issues currently attracting attention.  Firstly the proposed hydro scheme at Settle weir has now gone before the planning committee at Craven District Council and has been turned down. At present I know not on what grounds although there was much opposition to the scheme from angling and conservation bodies who are concerned about the impact that the scheme will have on river habitat and migratory fish.  The point has been well made that no one is opposed to the scheme in principle.  However, there was far to little in the environmental impact assessment that addressed the impact that the scheme will have on water levels, the antiquated fish pass at Settle and the restrictions that abstraction at this point will have on salmon and sea trout.

Those of you who know Settle weir will appreciate that normal flows over the weir are pretty meagre and the availability of good water above and below the pass is vital for fish making their way up to Horton.  We shall see what transpires here.

The second issue is the long running debate concerning whether to stock the river with triploid or diploid trout.  This debate is fairly sterile and academic for us here at Horton as we no longer stock the river at all, but lower down knickers are getting fairly twisted and the EA who are imposing a ban on diploid stocking are getting quite a bit of stick.  My own simple take on this is that if you have to stock at all it's far better to stock with sterile fish as we know from our own observations that stock fish rarely survive their first winter probably because they lack river awareness possibly genetically induced due to the length of time that the strains have been captive bred.  If diploids in any way contributed to the recruitment of river trout stock we should be able to walk across the river on fish by now given the many thousands of fish that have gone into the Ribble from its source to the sea over the past one hundred years or so.  Far better to ensure that there can be no interbreeding between wild fish and farmed cousins to the genetic detriment of the former (and notice the use of the term 'wild' as opposed to 'native').  Even more to the point is the need for clubs on the river to move progressively away from stocking at all and adopt a strategy of proper river management that aims to encourage the natural recruitment of wild fish.  I fear that we are some way from that goal.

Ian

We had a succession of very heavy hail showers yesterday which put paid to invertebrate sampling.  It looks as if it might be a more settled day today with much less wind and more open blue sky.  So we will try again this morning.

I was stood in the kitchen early yesterday afternoon watching the birds at the feeders on the bird table.  The usual visitors were present; blue tit, great tit, dunnock, sparrow and blackbird.  suddenly from round the substantial wooden post supporting the table a large black and white head with red markings and a long bill appeared closely followed by the rest of a greater spotted woodpecker.  He or she spent some considerable time circling the post working out the best way of getting to the nuts and fat ball suspended from the table.  Clearly a great deal of thought was going into this and a number of strategies were tried.  Clearly these are quite intelligent birds and seem capable of reasoning and assessment.  Eventually it seemed to consider the whole thing not worth the effort and flew off much to the relief of the usual visitors who, throughout this performance were lined up in the clematis shouting disapproval.

As we approach the end of this 2008 season I ave been looking back at records for the past few seasons on the Tarn and comparing them with this seasons results.  I'm pleased to say that it looks to have been a very good one with the number of visits up on last year and the ratio of catch to visits up also.  This despite a dismal summer that made fishing a challenge right through the peak season.

Time to start planning for even greater success in 2009.

Ian

Today has dawned with some blue sky and a little autumn sunshine.  It's a little cold in the stiff westerly breeze, but on the whole a much better day than the washout we had yesterday.  The river is high and fishable with plenty of water to get the salmon running all the way up river.

If the rain keeps off then I plan to do the October riverfly check at New Inn bridge later this morning and perhaps go up to Turn Dub this afternoon.  So look out for the results on the spreadsheet later tomorrow.

Ian

It's a truly foul morning with heavy rain and a brisk south west wind stripping the leaves from the trees and sending them swirling past my office window. 

My hens emerged from the warmth of the hen hut and immediately headed for the shelter of the goat house muttering and complaining about the weather.  Most have now moulted so now look sleek in new plumage and far less tatty than they did a couple of weeks ago. The same can't be said for the cockerel who always seems to moult last and is now minus most of his tail feathers and a fair few on his cape and wings.  This loss makes him a little unsteady and clearly dampens his ardour so that his first thought now is food rather than attempted rape.  The leghorns I bought back in the early summer have been a great success with almost an egg a day from each of them.  Mind you they do have  a down side which is a strong tendency to be somewhere else.  They are a light breed with fairly good flying ability for a hen so clearing a 5ft fence presents little problem.  One in particular has taken to foraging on the village green opposite the house and has made a nest in the front garden which has become the laying place of choice.  I should really clip a few wing feathers to stop the great escape, but at this time of year they do more good than harm in the garden so I will let them wander for the time being.

It's not a day for faint hearted fishermen and the river is rising fast so I will postpone my October invertebrate check until later in the week.

Ian

It's a very dour start to the day here with heavy grey cloud and a light mizzle settling on the hills and fells.  The forecast is for more rain later which will run off the saturated ground quickly bringing the river into spate in short order.  We had a lot of rain yesterday which brought a spate by evening.  The salmon will be running, but in a very high and coloured water.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so what better way to sum up our Ribble salmon than this amazing photo of what looks to be a hen fish on Stainforth Foss on Thursday.  My grateful thanks to Andy Rushforth who took the shot for permission to post it.


Ian

Now here's a subject that I have not mentioned for some time - the Pennine Bridleway.  You will recall that the plan is for this route to come down from Clapham by South House and Borrins Farms, go across Low Moor and cross the river between the Tarn and Drain Mires.  Then it follows Darin Mires lane up to High Birkwith and the Pennine Way.  Of course, a bridge is needed at the river crossing and we have been involved in the consultation about this to ensure that it's design in no way interferes with either the ecology of the river or our legal right of access and fishing rights. 

Things have been quiet for some months now, but this week has seen a flurry of activity on the ground with regular trips by  YDNP rangers and contractors to the river bank at the crossing point.  Apparently they are drilling to discover just how far down the abutments for the bridge will need to go in order to get a firm purchase.  Judging by the amount of drilling that has been going on the answer is - quite deep.  This result is pretty obvious even to a lay observer as the ground here is incredibly boggy even in very dry weather.  Be that as it may it now looks as though plans are moving ahead to construct this bridge and we will watch proceedings with concern and interest.

I had a phone call from (Crayfish) Paul on Thursday who rang to tell me that the results of the crayfish plague tests that he undertaken at the foot of Ling Gill falls were back and that they confirmed the presence of plague at this point.  However, all is not lost as regards the future re introduction of native crayfish to the river as Paul is confident that a way can be found to prevent the continued wash of crayfish over the falls which are feeding the plague spot at the foot.  He is working up ideas which we will discuss again in due course.

It's a rather showery day with bright patches and a fairly brisk westerly breeze.  The river is still quite high, just about enough to get salmon running and they are coming up the Foss in good numbers.  I got an amazing photo of a fish on the Foss from a village photographer yesterday.  This looked to be a hen fish, slightly coloured and about 7 or 8 lb in weight.

I will try to get permission to post this up here tomorrow.

Ian

Members who arrived at the Tarn yesterday for a quiet day contemplating nature and a bit of fluff on the end of a line got rater more nature than they bargained for.  I was up on the fell during the morning and on my return found the lane by the Tarn full of cars with a good few people milling on the verge.  Suspecting either a mass poach or that fly fishing had suddenly become a spectator sport I stopped to find out what was up.  It transpires that for the first time in some years the local beagle pack was out attempting to flush foxes for the guns.  Now as regular readers will know we have a fox issue at the Tarn with regular sightings of a large dog fox which I suspect to be particularly partial to cygnets.

It would seem that despite the efforts of some very enthusiastic beagles which put up a fox below the Tarn he got away so unless they had more success later in the afternoon Reynard is still in residence.

It's  a sure thing that sex will often get you into trouble.  The same clearly applies to animals.  Later yesterday afternoon I got a call from a neighbour who had been told that her bull was astride a gate up by the Tarn. Up we went suspecting the worst and blaming the beagles for spooking said bull.  We found the boy in good shape with no obvious damage, but the cause of his predicament was also obvious for standing in front of him fluttering her eyelashes was a heifer who was clearly bulling.  As we approached contemplating the task of lifting a couple of tons of beef off a gate the boy decided that he was finished with looking stupid in front of his intended amour and vaulted the gate.  Last we saw of the pair was down by the Tarn seemingly walking arm in arm.  Members should be aware that the gate through to Tarn pasture is now fairly well modified, but will open with a bit of brute force!

It's a cracking autumn morning here.  Not too cold and plenty of sunshine for a change with much less wind than yesterday.  The fells above High Birkwith where I was yesterday were constantly in and out of thick mist or low cloud blown to rags by a stiff north west wind.  No sign of the mist this morning so conditions are looking good for a session at the Tarn.

Ian

Well, here we are the last day of the migratory trout season and after the rain that fell all day yesterday the river is high and fish should be on the move.  It's much brighter here at present with just the faintest glimmer of sun amongst some high broken cloud.  There is a lot of low and rather dense mist down in the valley, but this is slowly lifting and between the forecast showers it might not be a bad day.

Up at the Tarn yesterday morning there were a lot of rises to something I could not identify, but some of the takes were quite violent so the fish must have been pretty keen on whatever it was.  My guess is sedge, but I could be wrong.

I have seen no sign of cormorants for some weeks which is all to the good.  It's far too early to tell if they are becoming less of a problem and we need to keep up the effort to record sightings so that we have the evidence to convince Natural England that we need to move to more persuasive tactics if we get the numbers of resident birds that we saw last year.  They do seem to be leaving our stocked fish alone at present.

I met a couple of members of the syndicate who own Cam wood yesterday.  They tell me that the environmental impact assessment they are completing prior to their application to clear fell Cam woodland is almost ready.  I will be interested to see what this contains about impact on the Cam catchment and its implications for the Ribble as a whole.  We agreed to keep in touch so more no doubt on this in due course.  The hope is that once the trees that sit on the Cam feeder becks are gone there will be a noticeable balancing of low and spate water in the upper river.  Time will tell.

Ian

It's a grey and gloomy start this morning with cloud well down on the fells and the promise of rain spreading in from the west later to give a wet day.  The river is still in good nick and well worth a try for the last sea trout of the season or a late salmon.  Tomorrow should be even better if the rain today gets the fish running on higher water.

We seem to have a glut of mushrooms here just now brought to fruit no doubt by the wet summer and relatively mild autumn.  Cow pasture is dotted with big field mushrooms which are wonderful cooked in butter and served with dry cured bacon.  They also make a great soup and my favourite method is to grind them to a paste with a couple of onions, add olive oil to a pan and cook down before adding thyme, tomato puree, stock and a generous amount of pue lentils.  Wonderful on a cold evening with warm crusty bread and butter.

Before we leave the subject of fishing huts for the time being I thought that some of you might welcome a bit more info about Jo Orchard - Lisle's book.  Attached is a flyer and order form that you can leave around the house as a less than subtle hint as we approach Christmas.

Ian

Oops!  I have fallen foul of the little devil of assumption that regularly makes an ass of you and me.  My reference to Jo Orchard - Lisle's book on fishing huts brought a surprise response from the author herself.  I am staggered that these often incoherent jottings which were  intended mainly to keep MAA members in contact with their fishery should find their way into a wider consciousness.  I am duly chastened, but it does perhaps raise an important issue.  Why does the MAA (and many other angling clubs) have so few female members and why do I therefore make the assumption that a book about fishing huts is written by a bloke?  Do we indirectly discourage women from applying for membership through some thoughtless way in which we present ourselves and our sport and should we do something to encourage more women to join?  Something to ponder over your toast and marmalade this morning.

Despite my faux pas Jo has very kindly sent me some extracts from her book which looks to be a work lovingly crafted and beautifully illustrated.  It should have a place on every piscators bookshelf.

Sorry Jo.

Bookshelves.  There's another thought.  As many of you will know the MAA once had one of the finest libraries of fishing books in the north of England.  This was disposed of some years ago and whilst the decision to sell it off was taken for valid reasons, in retrospect this was a sad loss.  Whilst we can't replace what has gone it may well be possible to build up a small library of volumes that members might find of interest.  We could start this off with an appeal for donations of books that have ceased to demand their place on members own bookshelves.  The refurbished hut will be dry and warm enough in season to house these safely in a bookcase and in off season they can be stored away in suitable containers in the storage we plan to build in the hut.  Something else to mull over during the closed season.

Ian

As regular readers will know only too well the fishing hut at the Tarn has been much in my thoughts just lately.  I suppose that there is a time honoured tradition about blokes and sheds (or huts), that quiet often secret place where you can go to escape the hamster wheel of every day life, free from the tyranny of more mundane tasks such as decorating the kitchen.  Free to think loftier thoughts about trout and salmon and put a fractured world to a semblance of rights.

Now, coincidence is a strange phenomenon which, when it offers  favourable portents, gives one a little buzz of exited anticipation. You get to think that just maybe this is meant to be.  Possibly there is a current flowing in the scheme of things that will push aside the detritus of doubt and buggeration and confirms that what you plan is come of its time.

On opening the Weekend section of the Telegraph yesterday and turning to the Country pages imagine my surprise to find an article on fishing huts.  It would seem that Jo Orchard - Lisle has been roaming these isles seeking out those little havens on a bank. tracking down the ancient, modern and often quirky little shelters where anglers retreat to sink a dram or mull over just why the fish are being so uncooperative today.  Jo has compiled a book called simply 'Fishing Huts' which you can have in your Christmas stocking for £25.  He missed our own small haven at the Tarn, but seems to have found hundreds of other huts of all shapes, sizes and ages from Isaak Walton's temple on the Dove to a Nissan hut decked in flowers at Broadlands and an old bus on the Isle of Lewis.

This all leads me to the conclusion that the time is right to give our hut a bit of a lift and make it a place where members can sit out a sudden squall or turn their minds to lofty thoughts in comfort.  In short a place which the ancient institution of the MAA can call home.  Plans are well advanced, I have a budget and this week I will turn my mind to making the plans happen, ready to put to the next Council meeting on 15 November.

Ian

I have been away for the past two days helping Sheila's brother to knock his kitchen apart and reroute the wiring for his central heating.    This turned out to be like rewiring Sizewell B, but everything worked perfectly when we put the power back on so we can claim a success.

Coming back home very late last night I was surprised to see the volume of water going over Settle weir since we had been basking in warm sunshine all day in Halifax.  It seems that it rained steadily at Horton all day and the river had come onto spate by late afternoon.  It has continued raining all night  and still is.  The forecast is for brighter conditions later today so with a high river salmon should be running.  Be warned though, it's pretty windy with quite a stiff breeze blowing from the west.

I still plan to go n search of salmon at the top of the river later today if conditions here pick up a bit so maybe more on this tomorrow.

Finally, a member emailed me with the following:

Ian,  It might be worth reminding members some time that I can carry out machining jobs on my lathe at home for small screws,pins,bushes etc  on their old fishing reels,tackle or whatever.I can not work miracles but I may be  help someone out with a problem.
Regards Brian.

Thanks Brian, this may well help some members to prolong the life of well loved gear. If any member wishes to take up Brian's offer just email or phone me and I will put you in touch.


Ian

Some success was achieved yesterday by those who went in search of Salmo salar.  The President dropped by to tell me that he had a 7 pound hen fish in good condition just below Whit Beck.  This of course was returned to add her eggs and genes to future generations of Ribble salmon, but the Pres did say that despite almost perfect conditions he was surprised that he saw no more migratory fish.  It could be that the very high water we have had recently has encouraged most fish to seek the higher reaches of the Ribble above the Tarn and I plan to take a walk up to Lodge Hall at the weekend to see if I can spot signs of spawning.

It started off very foggy here, but as I write this looking out up the valley I can see that the murk is slowly lifting and we may yet have a decent day.  The river level has fallen sharply since yesterday so conditions now are less than ideal.  Still, what better way to spend a Thursday than wandering the river with a rod in hope rather than expectation?

Ian