We welcomed in the New Year with a couple of dry cold days before the mercury plummeted,
and a bitterly cold spell followed for the next week or so.
The river level remained stable between the three and four foot mark during this time, but it was
all change by the 12th, with some very heavy rain and a river that rose quickly to around the
thirteenth foot mark!
Not what was needed just before the start of the new rod fishing season,
we had been up to the Cargill beat on the 7th to give them a hand to turn a couple of their boats
and let them get them prepped all ready for the start on the 15th.
Luckily the weather cleared up and the river dropped back quickly to just over the five foot mark, making for a good opening
day on the river, apart from some kelts though no fish were caught on the opening day. There
were a lot of the routine jobs done for this January month, splitting logs and kindling,
some painting inside during the poorer weather, and some of our kit for the grass cutting underwent an
annual service to get it ready for another busy season that lies ahead. There were always
bigger bits of driftwood washing up on the foreshore that would get the chainsaw put through
them to split them up, so that they would move on with the next tide, but be less of a hazard to
any smaller boats out on the river.
The birds (and the red squirrels) were very busy around the feed stations during the recent cold
snap, with the seed and peanuts holders needing a regular fill up to keep them going.
There were more frosty days, followed by some more wet stormy weather again!
On the 22nd the river peaked with just over sixteen feet of spate coming down the system, in
Perth the Queens bridge was closed to all traffic, the flood gates were closed, and there was a
lot of localised flooding in the Shire.
There have been a few more seals about some days, working away at the kelts that are coming
back down the system after spawning, and the otter is still putting in the odd appearance. The
Goldeneye duck numbers are up this year, there are good numbers of Teal, Redwing and
Fieldfare to be seen but we have hardly seen a Whooper swan on the estuary!
It is good to see the snowdrops and the aconites pushing through in places about the riverside,
it makes you feel like spring is not far away!
It was a wet and windy end to the month and the river level was back rising again around the
nine feet mark, but the Cargill beat delivered in these conditions with two fish landed to get their
tally up and running for this season.
Dago
