It's a glorious sunny day here in the valley, but we do have a rather stiff east wind that's keeping things on the cool side and making casting a bit of a challenge up at the Tarn.  Things are set to go downhill tonight with rain and strong wind forecast for Wednesday.

The stocked trout at the Tarn seem to have settled well.  They are still rather shoaled up, but should disperse during the course of the week.  One of the party present on Saturday took a host of photographs.  These seem to show that tradition is still alive and well in the MAA as all members present seem to be standing around chatting with their hands in their pockets whist the keeper runs himself ragged netting 180 fish into the Tarn.  It was ever so! Mind you, the keeper had not realise just how much of his Barnet has been lost recently.  All he needs is a monks habit as he already has the tonsure.  A further sign of the onset of old age and senility exacerbated by a further birthday tomorrow.

The water crowfoot transplanting scheme that I mentioned on Saturday seems to be gathering pace.  The received wisdom is that these transplantings survive better if the plants are rooted in hessian bags and well anchored down in the river substrate.  I learn that even as I write this suitable bags are being made up ready for planting using a good supply of crowfoot that's growing in the Turn Dub leat.  This will be an interesting experiment which could teach us a lot about the establishment of water plants in a river subject to severe spates.  But even if the plants survive for only a season or two they will serve their purpose in providing shelter and refuge for mature wild trout.  The planting can always be repeated if the plants are lost during winter spates.

Right, I hear the kettle boiling.  Time for a brew.

Ian