The Broughton show was an enjoyable experience yesterday. The rain kept away (mostly) and despite a rather grey and cloudy day a vast crowd seemed to enjoy themselves enormously. One of the highlights of this show is the terrier racing which involves a large number of very small dogs in multiple heats charging down the main ring to exit though a small gap in a straw bale wall. It's obvious which dogs have done this before and which haven't a clue. Those with experience are off out of the trap as soon as the gates are released. Others set of in most directions of the compass except the correct one or stop to socialise with neighbours or settle arguments. The result is usually mildly organised chaos. The best bit is when two evenly matched terriers arrive at the bale hole together and either scrap over who goes through first or end up wedged.
The Salmon & Trout Association had a stand there and I picked up an interesting leaflet about their nationwide riverfly survey. The latest results for 2006 show a dramatic decline in riverfly numbers after a long period of stability. The cause of this decline is put down to the very dry summer that year and the sporadic thunderstorms that caused short lived spates on many rivers washing away the stone clingers and free swimming invertebrates alike. The results for 2007 will be important, but again this may not be a typical year (what IS typical now?) because of the very wet summer across most of the UK. Our own results here at Horton only start from last year so it's too soon to draw any discernible pattern, but what is evident from the long term study that the S&TA are doing is that our riverfly numbers are dangerously low compared to the 1970's with most species at 20% of their former level. Less food means less trout so it's vital that we try to find ways to help our invertebrates to recruit so it's good to see that the RFCA has written to all and sundry about the pollution threat from the forestry work on the upper Ribble catchment. Misuse of herbicide or acidification of the water from decaying spruce brash will be devastating for both the Ribble and the Wharfe so our thanks should go to the Secretary of the RFCA for taking up this issue.
Finally, the river is still in good nick this morning and I understand that the Tarn fished very well yesterday so no excuses for not wetting a line this week.
Ian