Tiddlers and Pink G&T's

Massive excitement today Reader.... All of a sudden men turned up all over the place and started undressing. 

Now as my husband always seems to be saying to me these days  "Calm down dear"   but that's all to do with my age.  But you must admit this was quite a surprising activity for early in the morning.  

I haven't seen the like, turns out it was a Fish Survey, ever in your life heard of anything like that?  

Guffaws of cynical laughter from someone else around here, then "How much is this costing asking fish if they are happy living here?"  

So they lay nets across the river in a "L" shape after posting floating signs up and down stream saying RIVER CLOSED DUE TO FISH SURVEY, then some of the men get in the river and pull the nets right close to the bank and right down low to the river bed (Or as close as they can to the river bed) and pull the lot in, the fish end up in the end of the net and get pulled out

Playing with nets

River closed to boats

The Boss gets the boat to play with and stays dry. Questionable socks.

So a lot of huffing and puffing, one young chap complained bitterly to no one that water was getting down his leg... By now a crowd of three had stopped to watch, one of these was a dog, TV cameras had been expected, but David thought they probably had their hands full filming paint drying somewhere.

Dragging the nets very close to the boats

Risking my phone filming these shots out of the window

Dragging it in

He looks like he is in the nets, and he was, loads got away here I am sure.

The last knockings get flipped into this floating holding net.  Then someone sensible arrives with a computer, a woman, she presses a bunch of buttons and Hey Presto, the fish are counted.  The chap with the inflatable said that they had got a much better sample than two years ago with bigger Roach.  Now we only saw tiddly widdly things smaller than a Fish Finger, with masses of scope for the sample to have got away from the nets, but you have to admit its way more fun than being at a desk all day?

They enjoyed tea made by the fair Lesley and eventually naffed off again after about five hours of playing.  

You had to laugh, much later when sitting on the bankside enjoying a Pink G&T's and Kettle chips something the size of a small dolphin did a back flip right next to us, he clearly knew the survey was over.

Oh dear, salmon for dinner.