Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on and off with our local crayfish expert helping him to establish a business in Settle.  This will be an extension of the work that Paul has been doing for the past ten years supporting utility companies, construction companies, the Environment Agency and others who undertake works adjacent to water courses and who need to comply with the stringent regulations that govern their activities in these fragile environments.

PBA Applied Ecology has recently taken on two interns who will be working on the upper Ribble over the next two months carrying out a thorough crayfish survey to winkle out any residual populations that previous surveys may not have picked up.  Since we don't expect to find much and spending two months turning stones may get a bit tedious for active scientific minds I have arranged with Paul for the interns to do a number of invertebrate checks on our waters.  This should give us much more detailed data on what is living where at a number of sites between Helwith Bridge and Far Gearstones and complement the monthly checks that I do at New Inn and Turn Dub.

A base for the business has been found and No 11 Commercial Yard Settle will begin to hum with activity from the end of next week.

A fair drop of rain fell here yesterday afternoon so the river has lifted a touch and with just a light westerly breeze crossing the valley fishing should be OK this weekend.

Ian

The saga of the bridleway bridge is becoming almost Icelandic in epic terms as a result of the unfairness of the weather here.  The latest estimate is that the bridge sections will arrive and be put in place next week.  The foundations have just about surfaced above the river which is now back to usual summer levels so concreting should resume shortly.

It's unusual to awaken to the sound of traffic on this lane at six thirty.  Not much travels up from Horton at that time of day and the sight of a car or waggon on the road is rare enough to be noticeable.  But since the bridleway work started it's been like Piccadilly Circus with vans and 4x4's providing a base line to the normal treble of the dawn chorus.

Now here is a treat.  A new Blog has appeared on the interweb that should appeal mightily to all you fishers of surface feeding fish.  Take a look at http://www.dryflyexpert.blogspot.com/ and give yourself a treat.

They say that angling is a quiet commune with nature that strips away the cares of a troubled world and sends the angler back to his or her business refreshed and of tranquil mind.  Yeah, right! that's fine if all goes well but three incidents over the past couple of days have shown that the baleful attention of Mr Sod and his well known law can turn to angling equally as to any other activity.

Take one (very) small boy, his grandfather and a three pound rainbow with attitude.  Add a sedge on a light hook and the thrill of hooking the fish of his young life then cap it all with a broken hook just as the fish comes to the net.  You can visualise the rest.

Then consider the scene last evening.  Two members fresh from the river arrive at the Tarn, tackle up and begin fishing.  Member number one eventually gets caught in weed and gives the rod a flick.  A sickening crack and a rather expensive rod has a joint where a joint don't belong.  Not to be outdone member number two does precisely the same thing about half an hour later.  They do say that one of the key reasons why Homo sapiens dominate the earth is that the upright ape is able to learn from experience and adjust behaviour and actions accordingly.  Perhaps evolution has some way to go yet when it comes to the pursuit of fish with a string on a stick.

It may just be that the extensive river survey work that was done a few weeks ago is about to lead to the first real improvement.  Plans are being hatched that will see some modest habitat improvement taking place near Lodge Hall.  This will take the form of in-stream works that should provide better cover for fish on this open beat. As ever the availability of money will be the factor that determines whether this goes ahead.

The river is low now, but just about fishable.  We have a gloomy, overcast day with almost no breeze and the threat of some rain later so conditions are far from impossible.

Ian

For the first time since April there was enough water in the river to do an invertebrate sample at New Inn and Turn Dub.  The results from Turn Dub showed that the prolonged drought seems to have had little or no impact on the populations of the seven invertebrate families that we regularly monitor.  In fact I was staggered to find two E. danica in one kick sample.  This "true" mayfly is not a common sight on the upper Ribble as the bouldery bed and spate nature of the river is far from their preferred habitat of muddy bedded sluggish chalk streams, but they do turn up very occasionally. I have never found more than one in a sample before though.

New Inn was slightly more disappointing.  Plenty of stone flies and cadddis with good numbers of olives.  What was lacking was a big population of flat bodied mayflies which normally turn up in high numbers.  What was noticeable here is how cobbley the bed has become over the summer.  Almost all the smaller stones and gravel has gone leaving a substrate that is almost impossible to kick in without breaking toes.

Friday's crayfish course went well and the students seemed mightily impressed with both the habitat at the Tarn and the chance to handle good numbers of native crayfish.  All seems healthy and females have released young now so the population will be many times what it was a few weeks ago.

We had some rain yesterday afternoon and last night that has refreshed the river a bit.  With the promise of more rain today conditions for fishing should remain good into the early part of the new week.

Ian

At long last it has stopped raining.  It's not what you might call bright and sunny, but at least the monsoon that plagued us yesterday has abated.  The river is very high and carrying quite a colour, but it is now beginning to fall back and if we get no more rain today it should be fishable tomorrow.

For the past few weeks I have been watching the antics of a pair of coots that have built a nest on the bank of the Tarn just below the cross wall on the south side.  This nest is in full and glorious view of every predator in the area, but much to my surprise has survived.  The rain that fell yesterday has lifted the level of the Tarn so much that not only is the boat now floating free for the first time in months, but so is the nest.  On approaching this morning I thought that both eggs had been washed out of the half submerged nest as there were two in the water close by.  Not so.  As I bent down to retrieve the eggs an irate coot came rushing over scolding and clucking and retrieved a small bundle of black fluff from the sedge by my waders.  So they have one chick and there must have been three eggs in the nest.  One possibly hidden down deep.  The pity is that the third egg was on the point of hatching, but must have rolled out of the nest as the chick struggled to break free.

Don't forget that the crayfish traps will be set on Thursday afternoon ready for the course on Friday so it will be a bit busy at the Tarn at the end of the week.

Ian

It's been raining stair rods most of the afternoon and the river is now in full spate with a dark torrent flowing over Settle weir.  Even as I write this at 7.45 it's raining so levels will stay high for some time yet.  By the way, whilst we work on getting our own webcams up and operational on the fishery you can get some idea of conditions on the upper river by visiting the webcam at Settle weir http://settlehydro.hubexpert.com:8080/shcamweir.php

I forgot to mention yesterday that last week's fishing returns from the Tarn showed the highest ratio of catch to visits for the last two years with an average of 4.5 fish caught per member visit.  Either fishing skills are improving or the Tarn and its resident fish is in cracking form.

All this rain has put paid to any serious work on the bridleway bridge.  At present the foundations are under water so it's unlikely that the bridge will be erected this week as planned.

Whilst on the topic of civil engineering I am aiming to visit the beat where we put in the willow spiling some time tomorrow to see how well it has stood up to the first flood since the withies were planted.  The bend will have taken a real battering over the past few days so it will be a useful test for this experiment.

Ian

It's been raining here almost continuously for about 48 hours now and slowly the Tarn is beginning to fill.  It was up about four inches this morning, still not enough to float the boat in the boat house, but it's getting there.

The river was in full spate yesterday afternoon and is still running very high and coloured.  No sign yet of salmon or sea trout, but as I said yesterday it can only be a matter of time before they arrive at Horton if this rain keeps up.

My ducks look more cheerful than they have done for months and are busy turning their patch of garden into a mud wallow.  Normally white, when I went out last night to lock them away I found four very happy and very khaki ducks wearing what looked like mud wellingtons. The pond looks like a vat of chocolate as they keep rushing to the water to rinse off after yet another plough through the  swamp for worms.  The eggs are good though.

Ian

Another wet morning in prospect here.  It's been raining for some while so the river is nearly bank full with a fair bit of colour.  The strong winds of the past few days have abated so casting will be less of a challenge, but there really is a drop too much water for decent fishing right now.  Looking ahead tomorrow is forecast to be wet, but after that it should settle down again and the end of the week may be fine.

With all this cloud the battery running the tarn camera isn't getting enough sol to fully charge so the transmitter keeps logging off.  That's why the pictures are only coming through in dribs and drabs.  There is a cunning plan to fix this later in the week.

There will be a crayfish handling course running up at the Tarn on Thursday and Friday, so if you are planning to visit later in the week be warned that there will be traps set from Wednesday evening and students milling around on Thursday.  And talking of invertebrates, it should be possible at long last to do a riverfly check this week.  This will be the first since April due to the absence of any river to kick in.  It will be interesting to see if the long drought has had any discernible impact on invertebrate larvae.

Ian

Its been raining cats and dogs here for a good few hours now so the river is in better shape than I have seen it for the past 5 months.  It's carrying some colour at present, but when the rain eases it should begin to lose turbidity and become perfect for fishing.  A quick look shows that it's teeming with young trout and salmon parr and on this current flood I would not be surprised to see a few salmon making a dash for the top end.  We know that both they and a number of sea trout have been mooching around at Lytham so by Sunday they may reach Horton if the flood holds up.

There are continuing problems with the camera at the Tarn caused by a lack of power to the transmitter.  This is being worked on, but it is proving to be an invaluable test which is exactly what the installation was intended to be.  It's now known precisely what's needed to ensure that any river installation can be made to work straight out of the box.

All morning concrete waggons have been trundling through Newhouses taking up material for the footings for the Bridleway bridge.  I was up there yesterday morning before breakfast and I have never seen such a tidy and compact civil engineering site.  They really are making every effort to minimise the impact of the workings on the environment of the river.  The concrete is being carried down to the site in dumpers because of the risk of the big waggons toppling on the gradients so this will minimise even further the potential damage to the river bank.

It's far from ideal weather to be pouring concrete and there is now a real risk that the workings will be inundated by a rising river.  It really is foul outside at present.

Ian

A fair drop of rain fell here last night for a good few hours.  The morning has dawned bright with almost no wind so fishing conditions on the river are better than they have been for some days. 

Those of you who have visited the members site will have noticed that the Tarn webcam has been rather static.  Neil spent most of yesterday afternoon making some adjustments and has now established a very strong connection with the receiver at Selside rather than the reflected signal that we got last week.  Currently the battery is flat, but with sun now breaking through the cloud it should not be long before the panel pushes enough juice into the battery to fire up the camera and it will start broadcasting live images.

Work is steaming ahead with the Pennine Bridleway and the bridge footings should be excavated and concreted over the next couple of days.  Next week the plan is to bring up the bridge sections so if you fancy watching some heavy engineering Tuesday or Wednesday should see the bridge being set in place.  It's any ones guess how much impact this route will have on the river and the fishery.  The hope is that it won't be too much as the whole route down Low Moor across the river and up Drain Mires will be fenced.  If we can find a signal it may be worth putting one of the planned cameras here not just for security, but to keep a check on the spawning gravels on this beat.

Ian

After working on the camera rig at the Tarn for most of yesterday afternoon Neil got it transmitting pictures to the website.  There is still a bit of fiddling to do to get regular updates, but if you log on to the members site now you will see the image broadcast at about  4pm yesterday.  Now that the idea has been tested and proved to work it's now possible to transfer the concept to the river so that you can see what conditions are like at any given time.  Work is in progress!

Another wet night and a damp morning has kept the river just about fishable so any members who fancy wetting a fly over the weekend should find conditions conducive to some reasonable sport.

I took a look at the bridleway works yesterday whilst up at the Tarn.  The temporary track that's needed to bring down the concrete waggons and timber sections for the bridge look like the beginnings of the M62.  I am assured that once all the haulage work is completed the track will be reduced to a 2 meter strip and be far less intrusive, but it's a hell of a project. 

However, every cloud has a silver lining and the presence of so much heavy equipment at the site may prove very useful in solving a problem affecting the new planting.  A bull is getting in to the top end of the fenced area through the water gate that has collapsed.  This massive bovine has flattened quite a swathe of trees, but I have discussed with the bridleway project manager the possibility of getting one of the JCB's to pull tight the chain supporting the water gate and make the fencing secure again.  Then the trees can be set upright.  Another job for the weekend.

Ian

After a very wet night and a damp morning the river is in better form than I have seen it for months.  There are fish rising in the pools and good numbers moving in the glides and riffles so fishing over the next few days should be more rewarding that its been most of the season. 

Visitors to the Tarn will notice that the lodge has sprouted an aerial.  This is intended to transmit pictures from a camera mounted on the boathouse over the Internet to the members website.  The idea is to test the installation here before installing a similar set up on the river so that you can check water conditions online before setting off for Horton.  At present the camera is working brilliantly, but the signal is too weak to get these transmitted to the receiver at Selside.  A new aerial is being installed next week which should overcome the problem.  It's no good gurning at the camera at present as no one will see you.

When the set up was being tested the day before yesterday the pictures were so pin sharp that you could see fish just below the surface.  The camera will take a still image about once a minute so whenever you log on you will see almost live action from the Tarn

Ian

Despite grey skies for much of the morning yesterday the rain that was forecast failed to materialise so the river remains pretty low, but just about fishable.  The forecast for the week ahead suggests that we may be in for a wetter spell so fingers crossed.

The much delayed work on the Pennine Bridleway that will come down across Low Moor, over the river above the Tarn and up Drain Mires Lane began this week and so far several hundred tons of limestone have gone up past me to resurface Drain Mires so that heavy equipment can get down to the river with the new elliptical wooden bridge.  The work is planned to take the next three months so there will be a fair bit of disturbance on the beat above the Tarn for the rest of the season. 

I have been assured by the project manager that the contractors will keep to a minimum removal of the new trees we planted in the winter up to the site of the bridge.  Any that are removed will be replanted further down the beat.

Work should begin next week to replace the old stile above the lodge with a self closing gate and to rebuild the wall down to the water's edge.  This should make progress round the Tarn a great deal easier and safer.  So no more busted gussets or hernias lugging tackle over the stile.

Ian

It rained here a fair bit in the night and the river has lifted a good few inches.  Despite the forecast that promised a wet day the clouds seem to be lifting and breaking to give some sunny spells so we shall have to wait and see if the more prolonged spell of rain that we so desperately need actually materialises.

Despite conditions the river did perform quite well after the last rain on Monday night.  Gavin reports that:

Last night I spent a few hours fishing up into Parker's wood from the bridge on a very pleasant evening with a sluggish and slow flowing river.

The good news is much as last year and that this stretch appears to be full of young fish that will swim very close to your boots if you stand still. this along with a  very large population of minnows  must mean surely that the river is extremely healthy. There were plenty of fish showing and producing aerial displays including some quiet large fish, but any fly presented was instantly attacked by minnows or juvenile trout.

I had 6 fish and at a pinch if I was to stretch the fish the biggest it went around 7”  the smallest which I thought was a big minnow was just over 4 ”, but all were in first class condition and colour.

In the pool below Parker's wood there looks to be good growth on 2 clumps of water crowfoot at the tail of the pool. I could not find any other weed growing in this area which considering I placed around 8 planted groups of weeds into this pool was quite disappointing. The two that are growing appear very firmly anchored to the river bed and now reach the surface so when they flower and seed it might just start other populations. I also walked down the shallow section below the bridge to Cragg Hill farm to see how the weed had fared down there and again found no evidence of any growth or of crowfoot weed in any of the places it was anchored this was difficult though as most of the bed as large amounts of algae. This is a little strange as we have had no high water since planting which makes me wonder if this is being taken by the ducks on the river.

Gavin's thoughts that ducks may be taking the crowfoot seem creditable to me after recent horticultural experience.  I have been cursing rabbits for devastating my lettuce plot, attacking the broccoli and starting to chew through a row of kale.  Yesterday all was revealed when I surprised my ducks under the netting busy snacking on the endive which I thought would be too bitter.  Having kept runner ducks for many years this is the first flock that have even so much as taken a nip at the garden veg. Barriers are being erected.

Ian