Autumn reflections....Amadou and floods

Well what a year we are having ,  our weather has been  even more unpredictable than usual for the UK.  At the start of the year I am posting a prayer for rain and the authorities are predicting a drought of biblical proportions and what did we get we got the wettest summer ever , as I sit here in my hilltop house three of the four roads out are flooded and there is water coming up out of all the drains instead of the usual way..
Fishing is something thats best read about at the moment and apart from fly tying none will be done for a few weeks .  Its an opportunity now to do some jobs and work some brownie points for next year.

Yesterday a reasonable day I indulged in one of my other pleasures , namely walks with my lab. We started out in the morning down my local beck which was fining down nicely .  I spent 15 minutes trying to get a shot of the sea trout taking a weir their struggle is fascinating I can sit and watch them for ages.  Anyway in the end took a short video as I couldnt capture a still.   As well as these smaller fish there were some in the 6 or 8 lb class going through.

Later in the day I decided a proper walk in the woods was in order ,  We went to a part I visit only a couple of times a year it is the area that has yielded the fungus for Amadou for me  I found a few poor specimens and some on a tree in a completely different area.

The interest around this amazing fungus is astonishing since posting about it on here a couple of years back the number of views the post gets and the number of emails asking questions is amazing .  I guess mainly driven by the Ray Mears type program and using it for fire lighting . As for drying flies which is the reason I started looking for it 30 years ago buy it.. Plenty available now at low cost.  Certainly its better than any I ever made..

.Mature broad leaf woodland is a special place.  Unlike the sterile conifer plantations around here these woods are a rich diverse place.  

Full of wildlife and a fascinating place to be .However one other thing that occured to me yesterday was how much damage the mountain bikers are doing to the forest tracks especially with this wet weather the erosion and damage is worrying .  There are deep rutted tracks in areas that didnt even have footpaths a few years back.

Last night it rained all night and taking ruby out in the half light this morning this is the state of the local beck.  Sorry about the pics it was very dark.  I couldnt even get to the weir on the video above the bank footpath was under water...

Our new fish pass is under that lot lets hope it survives.  There was nearly a metre of flood water on the gauge this morning if it survives this it should be ok for years...

Pleased but irritated .......

Recently I  posted on here showing the completing of our fish pass. Following its completion there have been many anxious hours waiting to see if fish can use it.   I am now assured by several members that fish have been seen ascending the ladder.  Something that I am very pleased indeed to report but bloody irritated that despite visiting it on a number of occasions I am yet to see anything using it......

What I want now is some pics of fish jumping out of that top box.....