7^th July 2008

Sitting here watching the rain bucketing down makes me wonder where the summer has gone – or perhaps we have returned to a more traditional pattern of weather! These conditions do have the major benefit of refreshing the water and encouraging vital flow (especially important through the brownie lake which of late seems to have become somewhat brackish) never the less the constant change does not encourage any consistency, which in itself is a disincentive to some to keep trying. As ever, in a group, there are those who succeed with apparent ease and others who, employing similar tactics, fail unhappily.

During the summery days we are experiencing some better than usual hatches especially of damsels and dragon flies but also of buzzers – much to the delight of those of a more traditional persuasion. Weed clearance reveals good quantities of insect life especially snails. After years of damage caused by a terrapin, its demise (now some years ago) has allowed the repopulation of common newts and also a resurgence in the frog and toad populations. This can only be of benefit to the angling environment and to the pleasure of our customers.