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Season's Bests 2023-24

Another season comes to a close - my first one since retiring and as a consequence I got out a lot more especially in the autumn/winter though plans were somewhat thwarted by the high water levels in the rivers. Since I left work in June we have had 9 consecutive months of significantly above average rainfall. The springs of the Kennet 'broke' unusually early in mid-October (they typically start flowing late December/early January) and as a consequence many venues have been inaccessible  let alo

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

14 March

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1400 Mild with sunny spells - topped and tailed with rain. AT 10º-16ºC. River very high and clear. 2 Chub; 5lb 2oz & 3lb 3oz. 3 Roach - all small. 2 Brownies - both 3lb+. Both chub from my south bank slack on the main river. Rested it after catching the 5lber and caught the smaller one when I returned ¾hr later. Best chub from my syndicate stretch this season - a nice way to end the campaign... A Fat Five

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

13 March (Part 2)

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 1330  1500 Mild overcast and breezy. AT 12ºC. River very pacey but surprisingly clear given all the rain yesterday. 1 Bream : 2lb. 3 Perch, 1 Roach (all small). Having fished down the Lambourn twice, a quick bite of lunch was followed by a 90 min session in my new favourite chub slack. Alas, ole rubber lips wasn't in residence - a bream taking my bait at just the spot I expected a chub to be!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

13 March (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1300 Mild, overcast and breezy. AT 11/12ºC. River very high - 1.96m on the Shaw gauge (21cm above top of normal range) but crystal clear despite nearly (yet) another ½ inch of rain yesterday. 13 Grayling: 5 over a lb - best 3; 1lb 13oz and 2 @ 1lb 9oz. 2 Brownies - both around 1¼lb (and might have been the same fish!!). Usual rest and return tactics - most fish from 3 swims and most fish on trotted red corn. Not so much The lady of the Str

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8 March (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0915 - 1300 Bright and breezy with a raw Easterly. AT 5º-9º but felt a lot chillier in the wind! River in full flood, in the fields and over the footpaths - but very clear. 5 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 9oz*, 2lb 4oz* and a chublet of around 8-10oz. 1 Brownie c 2½lb. Surprisingly productive morning given the sub-optimal conditions - all fish on trotted maggot from the one swim which I rested for over an hour and caught 2 more chub* when I returned

8 March (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0700 - 0900 Cool and mainly cloudy with a raw easterly wind. AT 3º-5ºC - but felt sub-zero with the wind chill! 1 Pike: c2lb. 4 Perch all small. Not the most ideal of conditions for a dawn perching session and a bite off from a pike first cast didn't help either - nor did the duck gangbang that kept kicking off in my swim, 1 poor female mallard was being molested by 4 males at the same time! Bites at a premium when things did settle down and

5 March

River Lambourn - Shaw 1000 - 1400 Cool and mainly cloudy. AT 7º-9ºC. River VERY high but as clear as gin. 1.96m on the Shaw gauge (21cm above top of normal range) - first time I've ever seen sandbags on the Lambourn! 6 Grayling - a couple of pounders (though not by much). 5 Brownies - biggest 3lb+ with another around half that and the rest all small. Scratchy morning on a very pacey river. No swim gave up more than 2 fish and resting and returning was largely unsuccessful - t

1 March

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1300 Wind and rain to start followed by a couple of hours of sunshine - though I then packed up in a very heavy shower of sleet and hail - 4 seasons in a morning! AT 4º-7ºC. River VERY high (of course) and with a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 4lb 6oz, 3lb 7oz, 2lb 11oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 4 Brownies - all around 3½lb+ I was meant to be fishing the Itchen yesterday but it was called off due to a flooded river. However I'd preppe

23 February

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1230 Cool with sunny spells. AT 4º-9ºC. River in flood. 1.95m on the Shaw gauge (20cm above top of normal range). Riverside Lane was under water. Also carrying a bit of colour after it rained all day yesterday - fullest I've ever fished it! 17 Grayling: 9 over a lb, best 4: 1lb 15oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 7oz. 5 brownies all around 4-6oz. The ever reliable Lambourn comes up trumps again. Most fish from 4 swims which, as I had the place to mys

20 February

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 0900 - 1230 Mild and mainly overcast. AT 8º-12ºC.  River very pacey and VERY coloured up (AGAIN!) after heavy weekend rains. 5 Roach - all fairly small. Bit of a gamble given the state of the river - but my new favourite chub slack has been producing is such conditions this winter. This morning however I fluffed my lines - I was briefly connected to something solid within a few minutes of starting, alas, a maggot folded over the hook point

16 February

Middle Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham  0930 - 1430 Mild, mainly cloudy with sunny spells. AT 12ºC. River very pacey with a tinge of colour. 2 Chub: 3lb 6oz, 2lb 3oz. 16 Roach - all quite small. 1 Dace (ditto). 4 Bleak. Nice to see some silvers showing again! Usually when the Kennet is in flood this carrier is a mecca for silver fish and one of this season's mysteries was where had they got too - all syndicate members had struggled to find them. Nothing of any size alas

13 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0930 - 1400 Overcast with constant drizzly rain, with the wind picking up considerably for last hour. AT 7º-9ºC. 11 Perch: 5 over a lb - best two 2lb 11oz & 1lb 14oz. Biggest perch first cast! And they seemed to get progressively smaller as the morning wore on! Had intended to stay until dusk but it was becoming rather unpleasant in the wind and with no bites for an hour and with a biggie already under my belt, the "I'll be glad when I've

9 February (Part 2)

River Lambourn - Shaw 1115 - 1415 Mild, breezy with some sunny spells and some drizzle. AT 11ºC. River VERY high. 1.95m on the Shaw gauge - 20cm above the top of normal range and 27cm higher than my last visit here. Even had a tinge of colour! 13 Grayling - 7 over 1lb - best 1lb 7oz. 5 Brownies - a pounder and 4 parrs. Never seen the Lambourn so high - took chesties and needed them to stand up to my thighs in water, where I'd normal stand on dry land! Also very rare to see it

9 February (Part 1)

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse stretch) 0900 - 1100 Mild, breezy and drizzly. AT 11ºC. River very pacey and very coloured up (again!) - after 42mm of rain in the past 48hrs. 1 Chub: 6lb 2oz - SB. 1 Roach - hand-sized. En route to the Lambourn I thought I'd drop in on my 5lber slack for an hour (herein after called my 6lber slack!) With the Kennet the colour of builder's tea I really wasn't at all hopeful but the roach first cast gave me a glimmer of confidence - rewarded

6 February

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1400 Mild, overcast and very windy! AT 11º-13ºC. River still very pacey with a little colour but well within its banks at last. 1.16m on the E Stoke gauge still higher than I would have liked but lowest since early autumn! 11 Grayling: 7 over 1lb - best: 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 7oz. 1 Trout - small. 6 Salmon parr. 2 trip of the season to Dorset - and looking at the forecast for the next week probably my last - heavy rain will stuff the river up for se

2 February

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1500 Mild, overcast and quite breezy. AT 11ºC. River continues to fall - now at normal winter levels - clear and pacey and still breaching the banks in places - but passable with wellies. 5 Chub: 4lb 12oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 3oz. 2 Roach - small. 5 Brownies 1½-2½lb. 1 Sea Trout (!) c 2½lb. A full day on my syndicate stretch - a morning on the main river - pleased that I can at last get access to some of the mai

30 January (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1400 Mild and overcast. AT 7ºC River very high and clear, but down a few inches on last week. 1 Chub 3lb 10oz. Bit of a recce to see if I could actually access the river. Pleased to say I could (just), so it would have been churlish not to have a few minutes with my grayling gear. One bite, one fish - normal service is resumed!!

30 January (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0900 - 1200 Mild and overcast. 7ºC. River very high. 1.85 on the Shaw gauge upstream. Clear as always though. 12 Grayling with half over a lb. Biggest two 1lb 10oz & 1lb 6oz.. 4 Brownies a 'pounder' and 3 parrs. Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - waders needed to get access to most swims. The Lambourn has been very slow to run off after hitting record levels at the beginning of the month it has 'only' dropped 20cm (the Kennet has dropped 4

26 January

River Kennet -Speen Moors 0900 -1200 Bright and sunny and quite breezy. At 6º-9ºC. River gin clear but still in the fields here and breaching the banks at multiple points -  highest I've seen it this winter but it has still dropped considerably looking at the state of the fields surrounding. Found some dead, stranded fish in the field between the two weirs ☹️. They were quite decomposed, but looked like trout parr.  1 Roach (small). 1 Brownie - 4lb 14oz (yes I actually weighed a t

24 January

Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham 1000 - 1400 Mild with milky sunshine and very windy (remnants of Storm Jocelyn). AT 9-12ºC. River very high with a hint of colour after recent rains. 3 Chub: 2lb 11oz, 3lb 10oz, 4lb 5oz. 1 Roach - c6-8oz. Long walk to fish the south bank of the main river of my syndicate stretch paid off with 3 nice chub. Started with the roach with the 4lber next cast. Resting and returning resulted in winkling out another two - with the added bonus of no trout s

22.1.24 - Treoes

My first trip out since consecutive blanks a week ago. After a few nights of freezing temperatures, storm Isha piled through yesterday, strewing my recycling all round the garden, but melting the ice on the lake top.  It was still pretty windy, so I sat in the west corner and let it blow over my head. Knowing the water temperature to be pretty chilly, I kept it light and small, float fishing a single piece of corn on a size 18 1.5 rod lengths out. I slobbed in a walnut-sized lump of groundb

19 January

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1400 Cold with  unbroken bright sunshine. AT when I started was -6ºC warming to a balmy 5ºC when I packed up. River high - barely within its banks, VERY pacey and quite clear (though not as clear as the Kennet ATM!). 1.36m on the East Stoke river gauge (highest I've ever fished the Frome). 7 Grayling: the two that went on the scales went 1lb 13oz & 1lb 6oz the others all around 12oz. 1 Sea trout - circa 2lb +. The river gauges on the Frome have b

17 January

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse stretch) 0900 - 1200 Cold, calm & cloudy. AT -2º - +1ºC. River very pacey and crystal clear. 2 chub: 4lb 1oz & 3lb 7oz. 1 Brownie: 2lb+. This is rapidly becoming my new favourite winter venue! Started in my '5lber swim' but couldn't get a bite which was repeated in my next 2 swims which produced the silvers on previous trips. So more in hope than expectation I went exploring further swims. The river is fairly featureless so I was loo
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