Those of you who wish to pay their respects to Les Stretton will wish to know that his funeral will take place on Monday 4 October at 12.45 in the Parish church at Upholland near Wigan.

Of course, it's the last day of the trout season and the river is in good nick following a fair drop of rain yesterday.  It's turning bright now and with almost no breeze conditions are good.  Mind you the weather has really b*****d up the webcam.  With no sun and no wind all week the battery went flat around midnight and all you will see is a blank page until either sun or wind puts some juice back in. The forecast is for more rain tomorrow so we should see some salmon running on Saturday

We are expecting a stunning turn out at the supper tomorrow with over 50 members' guests and land owners now booked in.  This event continues to go from strength to strength thanks in no small part to a brilliant hot pot and the hospitality of Sandra and Thomas at the Crown.

See you tomorrow.

Ian

After much effort on Neil's behalf the Tarn webcam is now up and running well streaming live pictures to the member's website.  These images update automatically every minute so you don't need to keep reloading the browser page.  At present the camera is set to show the majority of the water from the lodge looking towards the duck wall.  The resolution is sufficiently good to reveal rises and as the end of the cross wall is just in picture we should be able to monitor cormorant activity.  Now that the power is mainly coming from a wind generator the camera will continue broadcasting pictures irrespective of the light so on very bright nights it may just be possible to pick up nocturnal activity.  Neil has done a brilliant job on this and deserves much thanks.

No chance of nocturnal pictures this week as the forecast is a very mixed bag of rain, wind and much gloom.  It's particularly dark this morning, but quite warm and almost windless.  There is still enough flow on the river to provide some reasonable end of season  trout fishing and with a veritable deluge promised for tomorrow and again on Friday there may well be good salmon fishing to be had for those staying on after the Hot Pot on Friday evening.

This promises to be quite an event with nearly 50 members, landowners and guests expected to fill the Crown Hotel. 

The invert check at New Inn  gave no surprises (to me at least, the minnow I caught in one sample looked a bit shocked).  Plenty of olives and a reasonable number of small May dun and caddis, but no gammarus and very few stone fly.  Looking back this is pretty much the pattern for last September at this spot.  This is now the fourth year that we have been monitoring the inverts in the river and I must get down to compiling a profile to see whether all the data we have gathered shows any changes year on year.

Ian

It's my very sad duty to report that long standing club and Council member Les Stretton passed away last night after a short illness.  Les will be fondly remembered as a larger than life character whose wicked humour, kindness and warm companionship at many club events will be very sorely missed.  For many years he was a regular on the annual pilgrimage to South Uist and his passing will leave a great void for those who make the journey in future years.

Our heartfelt condolences go to his many friends and to his family.

Ian

The sun put in a rare appearance today and bathed the Tarn in a glow that really accentuated its beauty as Sammy's family gathered to scatter his ashes.  Despite the chill wind that made the water decidedly choppy Peter gave a masterful demonstration  of oarsmanship to enable Sammy's nephew to scatter the ashes on the water.  A fitting resting place for someone who spent so many happy hours fishing from the boat.  The only real regret was that so few members were present.  Just two of us were witness with the family.  I had hoped for a more generous send off.

We may soon be able to restore the service of live pictures from the Tarn.  If all goes to plan tomorrow an improved power supply should ensure that the camera works without interruption.  If so then watch for synchronised flying practise from the swan family.  I had an email yesterday from one of the Tuesday boys which I will put on the Club website.  It records the boy's delight in seeing for the first time the three cygnets being taken through their flying lessons.  We witnessed the same performance today as seemingly on a nod from dad two of the three youngsters began to accelerate down the Tarn until they reached take off speed whereupon they throttled back amid much wing flapping and came to rest.  Their sibling was much too busy stuffing its gullet to take part.

The river despite having fallen since the rain we had on Thursday is still in good fishing nick.  So there is still time and opportunity for brown trout before the season ends next Thursday.  Watch out for the bitter north east wind.  It's cold enough to worry a brass monkey.

Ian   

 

 

A rather nice morning has gradually deteriorated to a wet afternoon with a veil of cloud drawn across the fells.  It's still mild and I have seen a good few sedge on the wing so despite the damp fishing remains good.  It may well be wet tomorrow and Friday so conditions on a drier Saturday should be good for those planning to wet a line after seeing Sammy off at the Tarn.

Fingers crossed that we may have a fisheries minister in post who actually listens to reason and is opposed to one size fits all policies.  The S&TA and AST met Richard Benyon recently primarily to discuss the Trout and Grayling Strategy.  Opportunity was taken at this meeting to raise issues of a more fundamental nature such as funding for fisheries work in the EA and the structural changes needed within the EA to ensure that he Water Framework Directive actually leads to improved catchment conditions.  It's clear from this meeting that Benyon is not a fan of legislation that offers no scope for local management based on local knowledge and conditions.  Watch this space.

Ian 

I was up at the Tarn early this morning celebrating the fact that at long last its stopped raining.  A warm and rather muggy start to the day had encouraged a good hatch of sedge and our Tarn fish were making merry with more rises than I have seen for some days.

The cygnets are getting big and bold now, confident enough to stand their ground as I approach and give me a good hissing.  Their flight feathers look well developed so it won't be long before they try out a few tentative glides.

No sign of dead fish so our occasional mustelid visitor cannot have been about since the weekend.  Mind you, with so much water in the river he is probably far too engrossed chasing salmon.

I went over to take a look at the new bridge.  This seems to be making glacial progress and looks little different from early last week.  It really is a monster structure with a massive ellipse spanning the river.  I have serious doubts as to whether the job will be finished by the end of the month when their licence runs out. 

Those of you who knew Sammy Wood may wish to know that his ashes are being scattered at the Tarn on Saturday 25th September at about 11.30.  I know that many of his friends will be there to witness and pay their respects so do come along if you can.  I thought of Sammy last week.  I was up a ladder pruning the climbing dog rose that covers the gable wall of the house when I heard a distant rumble from up by Ribblehead.  This grew in volume and I almost fell off the ladder as a Lancaster bomber came sedately down the valley at almost roof top height.  I thought, if only that could have happened on 25th it would have been a remarkable send off for the venerable member.

Ian

 

It's been raining since late afternoon and so far 3 inches have been deposited in the bucket outside the back door.  As you can guess the river is in full spate and carrying a dark colour.  Not an ideal day for fishing unless you like a really wild salmon battle.

The forecast gives a showery day tomorrow and then dryer and brighter conditions.  Let's see.

I was planning on doing the September invert check today, but no chance.  One slip and you're in Settle.  Talking of invert checks, I now have records for the upper Ribble from Cam Beck right down to Long Preston thanks to all the hard work that PBA's interns did over the late summer.  It's interesting to see how the populations differ along the river mainly due to habitat and substrate changes. No real surprises except on one beck below Settle where gammarus seem to have taken over the universe.  Mostly it's caddis and the usual emphemera.

Ian

The arrival of better weather combined with decent water in the river brought a plethora of members and guests up to Horton to fish on Thursday and Friday.  I have yet to learn how they got on so fingers crossed for now.

We have a repeat of the predation that cursed the Tarn a couple of months ago.  Five dead fish were found at the margin.  Most were headless, but one had been stripped bare to the bone.  It's unlike mink to leave good food to waste so the culprit is, I think, a rather larger mustelid that pays us a visit from time to time. 

Water levels are falling back quickly now and the river is past its best for salmon fishing.  Still good for trout though and with rain forecast for the weekend and Monday before a return to dryer settled weather fishing should be OK early next week.

Ian

It's finally stopped raining, the wind is decreasing and the river is just beginning to fall back and lose a bit of colour.  The forecast for the next 48 hours looks promising so if we don't get more rain overnight fishing conditions here tomorrow and Friday should be first rate.

Pack a salmon rod!

Ian

Ye Gods what a night.  It blew a gale and deposited half a monsoon in the valley until late this morning when the cloud lifted and some sunshine broke through.  It's still very windy, but the sun is valiantly maintaining a presence glinting on the full spate that's turned the river brown and angry.  As this lot drops the salmon should be running in good numbers.

Here is one from the dark side.  I got an email yesterday forwarding a poster from the Non Native Species Secretariat (no, I hadn't heard of them either, but assumed they must exist given the proliferation of non native species in the wild).  This poster asks all fishermen to be on the outlook for a "killer shrimp"  which rather than running amok in the High Street targets young fish and inverts seriously altering ecosystems.  Currently it's only found in Grafham water, but given the propensity of non natives to migrate across catchments with unwary human help it may only be a matter of time before it's on your doorstep.

I have put a copy of the poster in the lodge so keep your eyes open.

Don't forget the Hot Pot supper on 1 October.  Invites are landing on doormats now and the Crown still has some rooms available for those who would rather not drive home in a replete state.

Ian

River and weather conditions this morning are near perfect for fishing.  After a damp night the cloud has lifted to let through bright sunshine and with a very light breeze from the west it's a cracking day.

The Tarn looked serene in early morning mist with the swans floating majestically on a near mirror surface and it was hard to drag oneself away to more mundane tasks at home.  The cormorants that were busy honing their fishing skills a few weeks ago have been absent for some days now certainly not moved on by human presence as the Tarn has only had two visits with a total of four people this last week. 

The large frog population around the tarn margins has caught the eye of a heron which has been standing morosely just beyond the cross wall.  He is very wary and takes off towards the river as soon as I get half way down Tarn pasture.

A couple of days ago I took a look at the trees we planted up from Turn Dub.  Most have survived the drought in spring and the occasional attention of invading sheep.  A few of the stakes need replacing or re fixing, a task I shall attend to before winter sets in.

Ian

Despite a forecast that promised sunshine and showers its been raining her now for the best part of 36 hours.  The river is in full spate and thundering down the valley.  Its beginning to look a little brighter over to the west so the rain may well stop shortly and as the river falls off the flood expect good numbers of salmon to start running up through Horton.  Fishing could be very rewarding tomorrow.

I have not yet been up to the Tarn so have no idea how the scaffold supporting the new bridge has fared in the flood.  There is no sign of ironmongery down here so hopefully all is still in place.

Ian

I really should give up making weather predictions.  After confidently assuring you that there was no chance of significant rain over the weekend we have just had a very wet night and with rain still falling the river is high and coloured.  There is next to no breeze, a fair bit of fly on the wing judging by the antics of the remaining swallows so when the rain desists and the flood begins to fall back fishing on the river should be excellent.

Ian

Yesterday was spent in the delightful surroundings of Malham tarn House attending a first aid course courtesy of PBA - Applied Ecology.  This was a very intensive seven hours which found 12 of us exploring the practicalities of Cardio pulmonary resuscitation following heart attack or drowning, wound dressing, river rescue and a host more.  It's the first time I have ever been passionate with a rubber doll! I passed the final exam and so am now qualified to administer first aid should any member require assistance whilst at Horton.  Thanks to Paul at PBA for so generously paying for this.

Most of the timber for the new bridge went up over the past couple of days.  I gather that the load yesterday got wedged at Newhouses prompting a fair bit of flapping around.  The transport company seemed to learn from this and sent a much smaller load up this morning that negotiated the narrows with no problem.  The scaffold support is now an amazing structure and well worth a wander up from the Tarn for a look.  I guess that the next few days will see the timbers being put in place so it should not be long before the bridge is in use.

Its been dry for a few a day or two now so the river level is falling off quickly and well below good salmon level.  There is no really significant rain forecast before the weekend so expect low levels to persist into next week.

Ian

I spent all day yesterday at Ling Ghyll where we drew down the lower two ponds to thoroughly cleanse them of resident crayfish.  Far fewer numbers were in residence compared to Friday and most of these were females who do have a tendency to hide away in any available substrate.  We got a total of fifty creatures from the two ponds and then turned attention to an idea that one of our interns had on Friday.  Just below the built dams is a fall into a natural pool which drains via a short underground passage to a lower pool.  We lowered a pump down to the gravel bank between the pools and drained the upper pool.

As the water dropped there was a bit of a commotion and an eight inch trout went steaming up the pool.  This was duly captured and deposited safely down stream whereupon a second, smaller trout emerged from under a boulder and was dealt with in like fashion.  In total we removed five trout from a pool no more that eight feet long by four feet wide together with around forty crayfish.  The assumption is that these will be carrying plague so they are now in a secure holding facility where they can be observed to see if they do indeed carry plague.  If not then we will know that the highest plague spot is lower down Ling Ghyll.

The trout were all lovely little wild brownies with very vibrant spots and butter yellow bellies.  Two were slightly deformed, one having what looked to be a hare lip and the other a large growth at the right corner of its mouth.  Both these fish seemed none the worse for their condition and looked fat and healthy.

After a stormy night with an easterly blast that ravaged the trees and brought a fair bit of rain its turned into a fine warm and sunny day.  The river is now in good water although this won't last too long as not enough rain fell last night to keep levels up beyond a day or two.

Ian

We put a hundred bonny rainbows into the Tarn this morning with a few blues to keep them company.  They all shot off like rockets heading for the reed bed at the north of the water and could soon be seen heading and tailing.  This is the last stocking of a season that has proved challenging for breeding trout.  The long dry spell through the spring and early summer reduced the water flow at the farm to such an extent that keeping the fish growing proved almost impossible.  This has had a knock on effect all season and fish are still below the 2lb weight we usually stock at.  Still, the quality of the fish in my view more that makes up for their lack of size and hopefully conditions will be rather better next year.

The cygnets are now showing flight feathers on their wings so they may well depart from the Tarn in the autumn rather than next spring.  It's been one of the more successful years for our resident swans as it's unusual for them to bring the first brood to maturity.

The new river bridge is beginning to resemble the Humber bridge.  It's going to be far bigger than I visualised with a massive central arch and two smaller arches on either bank.  It's a good fifteen feet above the water at the centre of the arch so it will make a good trout and salmon  spotting vantage point.

Ian

It's another bright and sunny start with almost no cloud and a very light breeze.  The river is fairly low now, but still worth a try on the deeper glides and pools as there is an abundance of fly on the wing and fish are surface feeding.

You may recall that a number of cages containing crayfish were put into Ling Ghyll a few weeks ago to try to determine whether plague had died out in the pools below the weirs.  A thorough check yesterday showed that plague is still rampant so plans are afoot to draw down the weir pools tomorrow and also try to dewater the natural pool below the first fall in Ling Ghyll.  Then it will be all hands to clearing the area of any resident crayfish to try once and for all to prevent the further propagation of plague.  If you are coming up to Horton tomorrow why not take a trip up to Ling Ghyll bridge and take a look at what's going on.  Who knows, you might even get roped in to help search the pools for crayfish.

It's always deeply satisfying when a member brings a guest to fish our waters and they enjoy themselves so much that they can't wait to come back.  The main reason for issuing guest tickets is to try to encourage potential new members so I have high hopes that one particular guest who was a member some years ago will have found his past two visits so enjoyable that he can't resist the temptation to rejoin.  There is still time to introduce a guest to the delights of Horton before the end of this month and with the weather set fairer than it has been all summer what's stopping you?

Ian

All the signs are that summer is almost over.  For the past few mornings the local swallows have been arranged on the power and phone lines near the house like notes on a music stave.  It won't be long now before a morning dawns and they are missing, set off on their long journey to Africa and the skies fall silent from the squeaks and chitters that have provided a sound track to the summer months around the house.

The dry weather of the past few days has prompted much late season grass cutting as farmers along the valley try to get a second cut from meadows that lay parched in spring and boggy for much of July and August.  The river is lower now and whilst still fishable for trout salmon will have to wait for the next flush of water.  Only four weeks of the trout season left now, but we shall keep the Tarn open until the end of October so that days when the salmon are uncooperative can still offer a rainbow or two.

It looks as though all the scaffolding for the bridleway bridge is now in place so the main structure should go up over the next few days.  They will have to hurry as the arrangement is that all work should be finished by the end of September so that salmon and trout making for spawning gravels at the head of the river are not impeded.

Ian