The heavy rain that we were promised today failed to put in an appearance so the river is now well past its best.  Instead we have had lowering cloud and a very grey day.

I spent a relaxing few hours yesterday watching fish rise and cricket being played by two talented youth teams.  Despite living close to the Settle - Carlisle railway for a good few years we have never been to Appleby.  So on a whim we went yesterday and what a pleasant little place it is.  Completely unspoilt and nestled in a bend of the river Eden it's what a country town should be like.  After wandering around and taking tea overlooking the river bridge we ended up by the river.  There was a massive hatch of fly on the water much to the delight of the resident brown trout who were gulping them down with great enthusiasm.  Some of the rises seemed to have been made by some hefty fish.  It just goes to show how important bank side cover is for large populations of river fly.  Most of the banks have been left uncut and dense tree cover lines the water on the opposite side to the main town.  Only a small area right by the bridge has been municipalised with close cropped grass to provide a place for sitting and relaxing.  This was patrolled by a large gang of ducks intent on mugging anyone careless enough to leave a sandwich unattended for a few moments.

Whist walking up the river bank we spotted a small furry face with a reed stalk in its mouth.  It sat and watched us for a moment then ran down the bank and entered the water with a distinct "plop".  I know that much effort has been expended in recent years to encourage water voles to populate the Eden and to see one of these elusive creatures in the centre of the town was a rare treat.

The backdrop to the rising trout was an absorbing cricket match on the delightful riverside ground.  Some excellent stroke play, plenty of runs, demon bowling and a steady fall of wickets all contributed to a quintessentially English scene.  Thank you Appleby for a fine day out.

Finally, following my comments the other day about whether the abundance of small fish this year are salmon parr Gavin P has put a couple of excellent photos on the website gallery that clearly show the difference between salmon and trout parr.  The difference is pretty obvious and my own observations when electro fishing last autumn suggest that  Ribble juvenile brown trout are equally distinct from salmon parr as these photos show.

Ian