Fishing's a funny old game as someone once observed and events at the Tarn yesterday certainly proved the truth of this old adage.  I went up to Tarn Pasture at about lunchtime yesterday to fix the high stile and found a member peering morosely down the length of his rod at a fly that was clearly not much to our rainbows liking.  I asked him what luck he had and it was clear that this was not the best of days he has had here.  I left him to his misery to attend to the stile which now has two new top treads so is safer than when I found it.  On returning to the hut our disgruntled member was ensconced within reconciling himself with an early lunch.  Whilst I had been busy he had touched a fish and lost a fish and seemed resigned to a blank day.  We chewed the fat for an hour during which time it began to rain heavily just to cheer things up a bit.

When I left him said member thought that he would try once more then pack it in as we had barely seen a fish rise and had begun to wonder if the Tarn was empty of piscine life.  I walked back to Newhouses getting soaked in the process mulling over whether I should have brought the May stocking forward a week.

Later that evening a knock summoned me to my back door where I found another member fresh from the Tarn seeking a dozen eggs.  I enquired of him what luck he had.  "Wonderful" he said.  "I have been fishing for just over an hour and got five fish"  It seems that as the rain gave over the fish came on to feed and what had been a day almost bereft of fish activity became one alive with feeding trout.

So there you go David, you should have been here when you weren't.  If you had fished yesterday evening you will no doubt have had great sport rather than a long drive, the doubtful pleasure of my company, a soaking and damn all else.  Still, look on the bright side, you did get the flask back that you left in the hut last visit.

It's been a glorious afternoon here today with wall to wall sunshine.  The river is in fairly good water after the rain on Friday.  More rain is forecast tonight so there is every excuse to abandon Bank Holiday plans and head for Horton.

Ian