Pooh Sticks

If you've crossed the footbridge at Harpers recently, you may have seen these two Pooh sticks caught up just below it. We thought we'd give them a helping hand so in we went with ropes and waders and chainsaws, and off they floated.

Not wanting to waste anything, we snagged them again just above the Chain Pool, and as we happened to have a handy heap of stakes, staples, wire and tools, we converted them into several excellent deflectors.

If any of you can remember the stretch above the Landslip pool a few years ago, it was a very wide, slow and rather boring glide, with little chance of catching a trout there. Now however, it's a very exciting run and a very reliable venue for decent sized Trout and Grayling, though they can take some skill to catch. We're hoping that the stretch above the Chain Pool will now be similarly transformed, once the deflectors have had a chance to liven up the flow.

It was a very good morning's work, and even though there were only six of us (Paul F, Chris VtH, Keith, Dexter, Nigel and myself), it all went very well. It was helped by a great selection of chilled drinks from Nigel, which in turn helped down a few healthy doughnuts.

The river was a balmy 19.1 degrees today, so even more cause to treat any catches very carefully if you manage to land any fish. It was interesting however that we spotted Rainbows and Grayling in that stretch while we were working, possibly attracted by some of the detritus and invertebrates we were inevitably stirring up.

It was certainly a very pleasant and enjoyable way to pass the morning, and we did such a good job that we were rewarded with a shower of rain! Remember that? It only lasted about 5 minutes, but nonetheless, it was very enjoyable.

Cheers

Peter B