Anyone lost this?

We're just recovering from the last heatwave and they're threatening another one, and this time with a hosepipe ban for good measure; no surprise there. Many of you will already be aware, or be starting to realise, that the fishing gets more difficult now. We don't stock the river during the hottest months as the rainbows might not cope as the water temperature creeps up. Because we've got a lot of shady stretches and deep pools, our river is better off than many others, but even so, it can be challenging, so don't be downhearted if you catch fewer than usual; just enjoy the fishing experience, and maybe work a bit harder and smarter.

I'm seeing very few rises now compared with a few weeks ago, but earlier this week, there was one 1 fish consistently rising, but in a spot that's really difficult to get near without chest waders. I tried drifting a fly down, but it was a very long way, and when he went for it, the strike was inevitably too late. I then moved downstream and tried casting up to it but that was a very long way away too, and a difficult horizontal cast through a 3ft gap under a branch just a few yards downstream of the rise. I eventually got close a few times, but no cigar.

Meanwhile, I spotted a rainbow hugging the opposite bank, and tried bow and arrow casts and very gentle flicks with various dries, and got close enough to move him once. He could see me quite clearly just a few yards straight across from him, but after that one movement, he steadily ignored me for nearly an hour while I cast upstream, regularly losing flies in the tree. I eventually got too tired to cast that far any more, so had another go at my audience. Eventually, after landing a sedge almost on his nose, he woke up, turned and took it as it drifted past him. Of course he got off quite quickly, but it was interesting to see that a stubbornly disinterested fish can be tempted with perseverance.

Over on Beat 4, The SERT team were busy disturbing the river, under Nigel's supervision, and they came across this strange object in the river.

Nigel and the SERT team think they know what it is, but do you?

You can add a comment to this Blog item if you can identify it (preferably without the help of AI), and Nigel will post a comment saying what they think it is, in about a week's time.

Enjoy the quizzing, and the river, but don't expect to catch too many fish, and treat them gently if you do (or take them home if they're trout that don't look as if they'll survive otherwise).

Tight Lines.

Peter B