……. 48 days to the start of the new season!

At times in the last week it has almost felt like April (though to be fair it has on some days felt like January too, all on the same day).

The regular bouts of heavy rain have unleashed a series of significant spates (the likes of which the Salmon anglers were dreaming of in September and October) last week continuing the pattern of the winter.

Time will tell what impact these spates have on the both the Salmon and Trout spawning success?

The one positive is that groundwater in the Ochils is being recharged and the reservoirs mostly recharged, which hopefully will give us another great start to the trout season. The saturation of the ground can be evidenced by the Devon’s current response to rainfall events in the upper catchment compared to lower end of the river.

Impact of rain 26/01/16 at downstream of Castlehill Reservoir:

when compared to the SEPA gauge in Glenochil over the same period (note how the Devon rises a metre in just over 3 hours at Castlhill, but how much smother the rise is away downstream at Glenochil)

That all said there clear signs of Spring on the river bank such as these Snowdrops photographed by Alan Graham earlier in the week!

Mean time the boys from the work party have been back up Glenquey, bushwhacking along the north bank opening up more opportunities for access to that side of the reservoir. By the time they reached there, Spring had disappeared and Winter had returned with a new dusting of snow

Not long now 🙂