Where has all the weed gone?

I visited the local chalk stream at the weekend, I wanted to see what the river was like prior to the season opening in a few days time, I had the biggest surprise of my life.

The normal weed that grows all year round has disappeared, and the gravel and silt beds can been seen clearly on the river bottom,

its a real mystery, and has left several of us scratching our heads.

In summer the weed is never cut as it should be on chalk streams. Everyone knows it should be cut, local land owners have an obligation to do it, but its not enforced? The local Fishing Federation that has the responsibility to cut weed is totally impotent, being tied up in red tape all the time!

During the summer without any cutting the river gets bank to bank with weed. Its impossible to fish a dry fly after mid-June in many places, so up close nymph fishing is the only method you can realistically use! This can be good, as you can get really close to your target fish, but its not ideal for the purist's?

So what has happened to the river, is there an answer? Well I think I may know!

Over the past few seasons, I have noticed how the river colours up quicker after rain than it use to do. In the past even very large amounts of winter rain would not effect it, and the river would remain clear, and the flow constant. But in the last few years, this has not been the case, as the river remains coloured after even small amount of rain. As a consequence the weed dies off through lack of sunlight, its that simple!?

So here we have a once great chalk stream river under going a fundamental change, and I don't believe its for the better? Now the fish are totally exposed to the spin fishermen during the early months. The young trout will find it more difficult to hide from predators until the weed returns, and there will be less fish in a river that only has, a small stock of fish to start with.

I will let you know how I see the season, as it progresses!