One or two of the delightful little hatchpools associated with the gates on the Woodside and Ellingham. The margins of the streams were full of fry that for most part looked like minnows but there were also good numbers of dace and chublets, plus pleasing numbers of C1 roach that seem to have survived the winter floods. Unfortunatey it doesn't look like the large ash tree in the middle shot will be with us for much longer. I can't say I was overly upset at the prospect of a days heavy rain preventing further clearing. After three days swinging a chainsaw my aches and pains were beginning to tell and besides, we always need rain for the river. With my planned day cancelled I took the opportunity to visit some of the areas I have been neglecting of late. The problem with such a day is that I always end up adding to an already lengthy job list as I find tasks in need of urgent attention. A weather update for readers wondering about the conditions in the valley. I am writing this between the two edges of the low pressure, mid morning, so we will shortly have the following front adding to the situation. We have got away with only minor tree damage. Odd large tree but the majority are minor branches. We do however have a rapidly rising river. Its currently reading at 21.75m on the height gauge at Ibsley Bridge. At that height it has ust begun to flow over the Harbridge road and the bund between the bridge and the hatches. At that height the meadows are flooded and the Avon Valley Path is unusable. You have to also bear in mind that there is more yet to reach us from higher in the valley and a rise of a further foot in the levels is possible, certainly if we see further heavy rain. I could put up a shot of another flooded field but I'm sure you'll see plenty of them over the next few days. This is the water height gauge at Ibsley Bridge showing 21.75, a small rise on yesterday and its still rising. It still has a long way to go if we are to see levels of previous years when the Harbridge road, which is currently dry, was impassible for six weeks. To reach those record levels we need a further 300ml rise. I hope we don't see a repeat of these super high levels this year as it will certainly make the start of the salmon season difficult and for a poor end to the river coarse. Hooray! At long last Roger has got her. One of at least four ghosts that are in the lake, this one had been ignoring all attempts to get her for weeks; this season and last. No idea how they got in the lake, they've been in here for years, probably as long as that bloody terrapin that Karl landed the other day, its first capture of the season! What I can say for certain about Roger's carp is that she weighed twenty two pounds and is most definitely yellow. Well fished Roger, perseverance rewarded.

Paul has kindly sent through a video clip showing the release of his fish. Many thanks Paul and congratulations on a super fish. The extreme nature of the flooded ground this Summer has concentrated the minds of several groups on the issues they see as contributing to this soggy, sorry state. The fact the Hampshire Avon is classified as a heavily modified river has added a further complication. The artificial nature of the Avon has in many instances created the environment and habitat that safeguard many of the rivers most desirable assets. Assetts such as the water meadows themselves that provide habitat for breeding waders. The braided channels that flood and drain the meadows, provide homes to vast numbers of cyprinid and salmonid juveniles. The biodiversity this has given rise to makes the Hampshire Avon one of, if not the most important fishery in the country. Certainly aspects of the fishery are deemed the very pinnacle of the sport. Now there's an odd thing? The other day, at the height of the flood water, I received a phone call asking if I had the hatches at Ibsley open on flood settings as the caller was getting flooded at Fordingbridge. I have to admit to being a little surprised to be asked such a question when considering that Ibsley is at least five thousand meters downstream of Fordingbridge town centre. Added to which there is an extremely large set of hatches between Ibsley and Fordingbridge! Given the average gradient of the Avon is about 1:1000, I would have had to have a head of water at over five meters at Ibsley to overwhelm and impound the intervening hatches and impact on the town. The NFU repeatedly tell us we can trust the farmers to look after our rivers. So how come we still see arable in the flood plain with Defra's support?

Feeding on teasels as no buddlia is available. It does seem odd that the food supply most saught after we cannot plant on the lakes. I can't quite get my head around that. Change is coming, in more ways than the arrival of one or two buddlia bushes and any help we can provide for the struggling butterfly population. When counting butterflies, do those that are feeding on buddlia get included on the count sheet? The Ibsley weirpool, Ibsley and Tizard's salmon pools and the view of the bridge from the hatches. Showing the water flowing over the bund. Pete has also landed three or four kelt, which added to the numbers recorded throughout the beats it hopefully indicates the redds were well occupied this year. I have included this photo as it is a really good example of how bright and well mended Avon Kelt can appear. Thanks again for sending through the photos and the report Pete, it is very much appreciated. The last year or two has seen my disillusion grow to the point of disgust, reinforced by the shenanigans of our political elite. You don't need me to list the goings on that have been so depressing. You all know, or have experience of the self interest and greed that has made headlines in recent years. To tar all at Westminster with the same brush may be a little unfair but the picture that such goings on paint contains little positive news to dispel the image.

They're still at it. Another otter has fallen victim to the traffic. I'm not sure whether thats the fifth or sixth in the last few months, on that deadly couple of miles of the A338.

The river coarse season is underway, the Meadow complex is open and the salmon season remains closed. I'll try and put some meat on those bare bones over the weekend, as I discover what has been landed. I imagine the start on both lakes and river has been slow today, with the blazing sun sending everything and everybody in search of shade. A spot of advice, should you ever find yourself with occasion to be wading about out in the middle of a flooded valley. Importantly, always, always, have a wading staff with you. Two or three hundred meters from the nearest feature, that is above the surface, it is very easy to become disorientated. A stout staff allows you the opportunity to take a rest and get your bearings. The water may only be a couple of feet deep but it is flowing rapidly so keep an eye upstream to avoid being swept off your feet by passing flotsam. Out in that vast sweep of water there are many ditches and channels that have to be avoided, which is were your staff once more becomes vital. Don't take a step unless you have tested the ground where you intend to put your foot.

The fly responsible, classic Avon colours, barbless, straight eyed circle. David also had the fish he landed last season on the same set-up. We all know of his writings, in both books and articles, that were so painstakingly researched and allowed us a glimpse of the development of the sport as we know it today. Out of his writing grew the historical archive that he so carefully created. He was custom made for the role of Carp Society President. His understanding of carp and carp anglers, based on many decades of experience, allied with his historical archive made him unique.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

If you look closely just above the front shoulder of the cow you will see a fox that has upset the breeding waders. A late Great Crested Grebe brood, on Meadow Lake. This year has seen grebe nesting and rearing young out in the middle of the meadow shown above. At this point I should say and I'm sure it won't come as much of a surprise to most regular readers, I was very much against the privatisation of the water companies. Once market forces and the over riding concern becomes the pursuit of profit, the environment goes out the window. Plenty of sound bites and lip service yet the top priority remains the share dividend. The saving grace, in my personal case, is that during my fifty plus years of association with this river I must have ingested or absorbed gallons of Avon Water. I can only hope my gut has developed the self preservation measures that are comparable to a reversed osmosis system with an in-line nano-filter! Still with us but he's changed lakes. He's now crunching crays and rudd over the bank in Kings-Vincent.

The wildfowl were also enjoying the late flood with four visiting Garganey joining with the Gadwall on the South Marsh. Alternatively the government cough up millions in the “Making Space for Water” scheme and we let the valley revert to a swamp. On what is recognised as a heavily modified river system and one of the most biologically diverse rivers and river valleys in the land that would quite simply be negligent. Where cattle do keep the margins clear, or where we have fords, allowing light to penetrate encouraging desirable aquatic weed, we see shoals of juvenile coarse fish. With the current dropping flow many of the juveniles remain out in the main channel, where anglers are finding good bags of dace and pleasingly roach. Once the winter floods arrive many of these main channel shoals will migrate to the carriers in large numbers to find sanctuary in the protected carriers. The tail of Ciaran had a little more sting with several large oaks unable to stand the battering. The one in the photo also took out the electricity supply to parts of the Estate. As it was the first day of spinning, with us, I thought I better clip out the Bridge Pool and the weirpool. I always leave them until this time as they are not recognised fly water and it also discourages the idiots that think its a public footpath. Thank you Hants CC. From the bridge it still looks as if the weirpool isn't accessible, which is deliberate for the reason above. The areas of the weirpool that are worth spinning have been clipped out. I didn't wade the small outlet stream and clear the other side as I didn't have waders on. Anyone wishing to fish the tail of the weirpool would do better to wade that small section anyway. Don't ignore the last few feet of the retrieve alongside the Water Dropwort that is shading the first four or five feet of the water. In bright conditions fish love to lay up under this margin covering, only showing on the final seconds of the retrieve.

Archives

If we take the natural gradient of the Avon in the lower valley is, for sake of argument, one in a thousand, the upstream impact is easy to work out. The complication arises when perched channels, with much shallower gradients are involved. Perched channels are a fact of life on the Avon. The nature of water meadows and mills requires an artificial head of water to achieve the objective of controlled flooding and water energy. With us on the Estate there are several KMs of perched channels. Each channel if not maintained will attempt to revert to the natural course of the river in the lowest point in the valley. Usually across someone’s hay field! We spent a very productive morning removing the wind blown willow that had fallen across the main channel above the hatch gates at Ibsley. The first photo I put up the other day, when I said I hoped to get them cleared in the near future. Pleasingly, with the aid of our winch, JCB and a couple of chainsaws, Kevin, Phil, Adam and I managed to get them out. They had been acting as screens for all the floating debris and weed over recent months so as well as the large trees we had several tons of rubbish to clear in an effort to prevent it heading off downstream. Today we only removed the major obstructions, leaving over fifty meters of woody debris, where it only came less than half way across the channel, to ensure plenty of cover remained for the fish that had become accustomed to its presence. With the fish safely in the net David is resting it for ten minutes before removing the single barbless that could be seen sitting perfectly in the scissors. On the far bank another sixteen pounder being returned. In Terry's case it was a sixteen pound pike making for an unusual brace from the pool. Well fished Terry, it makes a good photo. Another shot of a delighted David with his perfect Avon Springer. Finally, after a further ten minutes, almost ready for the release. Congratulations David, a great result under the most testing of circumstances. Personally, I think I might be having a conversation with the rod manufacturer seeing that break.