It was a truly awful night here last night with a very strong west wind ripping the young leaves from the trees and very heavy rain.  Today the wind has dropped considerably, but we still have the rain.  Fine misty stuff, but persistent and the forecast for the rest of the week holds little promise that things will improve quickly.

It's good to see youngsters coming into the sport.  They are our future, but current child protection legislation really does make it hard for clubs to provide junior membership or supervised fishing events.  I read in the paper that a young girl has just won the national junior casting title.  Congratulations to her for a fine achievement.  The encouragement of young people and especially young women can only be a good thing.  If this goes hand in hand with an appreciation of the value of our wild trout and other fish species then the future health of our waterways can be better assured.

A member has just sent me a web link to a slide show of the most amazing photos I have ever seen of fishing ospreys.  How these shots were captured defies belief.  Not only are they unique studies of this beautiful predator in full cry, but they are technically highly accomplished examples of the photographers art.  Go to the members site and navigate to the "Wildlife" category from the "Web Links" menu item.

Ian