The first eleven days of July over most of northwest England was dominated by two factors. The first was the World Cup, which on match days cleared thousands of people from the roads; the second was the biggest spring drought here since 1929. As I explained last month, the low river flows (the Ribble was down to 23% of its usual summer flow), high concentration of plant nutrients in the water, and the hot sunny weather had resulted in a massive algal bloom in the estuary and inshore waters and all the fish had done a vanishing act ... even the flounders! It was hard fishing both stillwaters and especially the rivers, that were both low and (Ribble) gunged up with the alga blanketweed. But then, on World Cup final day, Geoff and I headed upto the Lune where it had rained, the river was up, and I had three sea trout ... stale fish that had moved up in the small spate. You can read more of this period in my World Cup Diary in the next (September) edition of the magazine.

Then the weather completely changed, from hot and dry to cool, overcast and wet. The 18th was not atypical. I booked myself onto a walk across Morecambe Bay to help raise money for Morecambe Bay Search & Rescue. Four hundred joined the walk, led by Cedric Robinson, the Queen's Guide to the Bay. We walked - or rather marched - in bare feet in rain, hard-driven into our faces, for the entire seven mile, three hour crossing, and because the rivers were up the flow as we waded across their low-water channels up to our thighs was incredible. So the Save & Rescue got their urgently needed cash, we all got soaked, and if my boat gets stuck I will be saved and rescued.

The following evening Pete was by the Ribble. He saw a grilse move in the neck of the pool, and then he watched the river rise by five feet in less than an hour!

Now the good news. The sea trout are in in good numbers. In four sessions on the Hodder I had seven (the biggest about 3lb) - five to a Snake Fly and two to a Night Muddler (Floating Mouse). Salmon have also arrived, though I have yet to get my salmon rod out yet, with news of some fine summer fish from the Derwent, Lune and Ribble. And I have checked the forecast for the next five days: showers or heavier rain. The only sad thing is that the brown trout fishing will continue to be poor, and with its cold, dry spring, 2010 is likely to be my worst trout season since I started my diary in 1959.

• I'd be interested to hear how your season has been going. Leave me a comment below or on the Forum.