Jump to content

Blogs

12 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Brimpton 1200 - 1430 Warm with bright sunshine. AT 17ºC. River very low (of course!) 1 Chub: 1lb 10oz, 1 Dace. 4 Brownies 2 in the 1½-2lb range and two under a lb. I hate trout! Bright conditions and a low, clear, threadbare river were already very sub-optimal conditions for autumn chubbing. And what I really DIDN'T need were acrobatic brownies turning up 'early doors' in ALL my favourite chub hotspots. Alas, that's exactly what happened. Dropped into the weirp

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

12 November (Part 1)

River Kennet - Thatcham 0815 - 1115 Warm (very for November) and mainly overcast (clearing for last ¾hr). AT 15ºC. River very low despite 5 inches of rain in the past 3 weeks! 2 Perch 1lb 12oz & 1lb 7oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb, 1 Dace, 1 Roach , 1 Gudgeon, 5 Trout parr. Started off, with worms for a change, in the weirpool as I've (correctly as it turned out) thought for a while that the place screams "Here be Perch!". However I'd caught the chub first cast and had been bitten off b

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

11.11.22 - Marsh Benham

A third consecutive week trotting on the syndicate, and a similar return from the other two. The warm autumn continues, 13 degrees and overcast making it comfortable to fish, though the water level was considerably lower from last week - maybe down a foot in the weirpool, and the predominantly sandy bottom visible in most of the carrier swims. This didn't put the fish off. I fished maybe 6 swims in all for 36 roach to 14 oz, mainly in the 6-9 oz range, 10 dace, 10 chublets, 8 perch and 2 brownie

8.11.22 - Willows

I was planning to go chub fishing this evening at a syndicate water, but was put off by (1) talk from another member of crayfish, combined with the view of a professional crayfish trapper that they are most active under full moons combined with (2) a second consecutive Tuesday of winds and threatened sharp showers had me thinking it would be slightly less unpleasant under a brolly in relatively sheltered Willows, than roving across open country casting between swaying branches over a narrow rive

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

7.11.22 - Dixons

When my Monday morning gardening customer cancelled at short notice, I was delighted to get a bonus 3-hours fishing in. With no maggots to fish the Lamborne or Hambridge, I pulled out some mackerel I had in the freezer from last winter, grabbed a couple of heavy rods and made for Dixons. Warm for November, dank and with light rain, it seemed perfect and I cast out a leger 20 yards to my left, and a bung a similar distance to my right.  After about half an hour, the buzzer sounded a couple o

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in dixons

6 November

River Kennet (and Carrier),  Marsh Benham 1015 - 1500 Mild and overcast morning, with a torrential downpour at lunchtime giving way to bright sunshine - 4 (well 3) seasons in one day! AT 11º - 13ºC. River still  very low. West Berks has had  116.6mm (over 4½inches in old money!) of rain in the past 2½ weeks - since 20 October - the prayers for a wet autumn are being answered - yet very little is making its way into the water course. Hopefully though the aquifers are being topped up and

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5.11.22- Hambridge River and Canal

A change of circumstances meant I grabbed some roving tackle and pinched 3 hours on a wet and windy afternoon at my nearest venue. I'd bought waders a few months ago and not got them out the box, so a short trip seemed the perfect opportunity to give them a go. Wading out, I realised how uneven the bottom is and what power water has at even at knee height. It opened up the swims behind the clothing warehouse and made me more aware of the comparative water speeds. I trotted along the crease

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Hambridge

4.11.22 - Marsh Benham

Another lovely day on the syndicate. Water level not much higher than last week after all that rain, but flow running quicker. Caught fish from the off, moving swims every half an hour or so. Having lost too high a number of larger fish last week, I landed all that I hooked, except one. In the weir swim, I struck into something unmoving that after a few seconds making up its mind, turned on the afterburners and my 4lb hook length never stood a chance.  I ended up without anything huge, but

01.11.22 - Willows

A strange evening, my first Tuesday evening after the clocks went back. I'd intended to do some evening chub fishing on the river, but with strong winds and yet more heavy rain due, I felt an evening huddled under the brolly would be a slightly less uncomfortable than roving the banks. Naturally, I was the only one on the lake as I was blown down the bank. With the two-rod winter allowance now in place, I cast one to the island, the other along in the margins. I made friends with a mallard

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal (flowing) - Thatcham 1245 - 1500 Mild (15ºC) and overcast, quite breezy. 17 Dace - with around half over ½lb - I weighed two at 11oz & 12oz. 5 Roach - all small. 1 Gudgeon. Unexpectedly had a free afternoon - so thought I'd follow up some recent intelligence of this stretch producing good dace and roach. Information I wasn't entirely surprised by as I had this super dace from here a couple of years ago. Biggest dace first cast started proceedings w

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

28.10.22 - Marsh Benham

After Tuesday afternoon/evening where the only bite came just before 9pm for a 5lb 4 mirror, I've changed my daytime fishing routine from the lakes to predominantly rivers and canals. My trip to the Marsh Benham syndicate on Friday turned out to be great trotting fun after an annoying morning. Fishing by a weir pool, the first bite came after about an hour, a decent fish which bored upstream as I speculated whether it would be a chub or maybe a perch. Turned out it was a 3lb 5 bream, and so

29 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1015 - 1345 Very warm - with hazy sunshine. AT a balmy 21ºC when I packed up. River still very low - we've had over 3 inches of rain in October - though you wouldn't know it looking at the river levels! 2 Chub: 2lber and a 1lber. 1 Barbel: 1lb 14oz, 5 Roach, 4 Dace, 3 Gudgeon & a 1lb+ brownie.  A change from my usual tactics as my 'modus operandi' when I have a morning at Enborne is to transfer over to Speen but decided to drop down to here instea

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

29 October (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0745 - 0930 Warm (for late October), calm and cloudy with 3 brief showers. AT 13/14ºC. Perfect autumn perching weather - pity no one told the fish! 4 Perch: best 1lb 13oz with another 2 around ¾lb and a tiddler. Surprisingly subdued session - lots of activity on the surface and I concluded the perch were more interested in chasing fry than having my lobs for breakfast. The smallest perch I caught which was not much longer than the lob it took

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

Perch - which worked better, lure or worm? 25.10.22

Another 2 hour dusk raid on the Thames, and this time I took a lure rod along. I can't do normal roving lure fishing due to arthritis, but the plan was to fish the one swim alternatively with ledgered real worm and slightly shiny plastic worm on a jig head. I started with the lure rod and caught a couple of perch of about half a pound straight away, but then the bites from the lure rod dried up and the remaining 6 fish (all 4 to 12 oz) were all on real worm. I had hoped the lure (about 2.5 inche

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

22 October

River Kennet - Brimpton 0900 - 1300 Warm (for the time of year), with milky sunshine. AT 11º -> 17ºC. River still very low with a tinge of colour the only hint that we've had over an inch of rain in the previous 36 hours! 3 Chub: 4lb 3oz, 3lb 6oz & a chublet. 7 Roach and 3 Dace - nothing particularly impressive though they weren't tiddlers either! 5 Brownies, 2X2lbers, another of around 1½lb and a couple of parrs. Surprisingly scratchy morning - with both big chub firs

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

18, 21 & 22.10 - Willows and Dobsons

Tuesday - My usual evening session. it took me three rubbish casts to realise I'd wrapped the line round the rod when putting the sections together. An odd evening with many trembles on the rod tip that refused to develop into proper bites.  I swapped baits to try and encourage some positive takes and in the end was happy to settle for mirrors of 5lb 4 and 6lb 4 plus commons of 5lb 10, 4lb 5 and 6lb. I'm delighted to report that the last fish was Blinky, the one-eyed common, who I last caught on

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Dobsons

17 October

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1800 Bright and breezy. AT around 15ºC all day. River low and clear despite overnight rains. 30 Grayling with around two-thirds in the ¾lb - 1¼lb class with the rest not much smaller. Biggest 1lb 6oz. 10 Brownies between 1½ - 3½lb plus dozens and dozens and dozens of parr fish - a real nuisamce in the same way minnows can be! Lovely day - especially as I practically had the whole fishery to myself with only one other angler booked in. A real game o

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

15.10.22 - Enborne

With the rivers running low and the temperatures up and down for the lakes, I stuck to the canals. Last night was warmer than of late, and with it overcast with no wind, I fancied a crack at the perch. I set up in the coloured water below Guyers Bridge for a second session on the recently built platforms. 5 seconds into the first cast of the day, something grabbed the worm and took the pole tip round hard. It was on for 30 seconds or so before the 4lb hooklength snapped. I'd seen a big flash of

Finding the Perch 14.10.22

Last year about this time I came across a small shoal of 2lb perch in a local stretch of River Thames, and caught 3 of them. Then I'm not sure if they moved elsewhere or were less happy to feed with the colder weather, but I didn't have any more. So today I went to see if they were back. Yes, just about! After a dead hour or so on lobworm I put on a couple of maggots to see where the prey fish had gone to, and on my first cast the tip bent round, and I'm sure it was a big perch. But it soon shed

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

11.10.22 - Willows

A not fishing conducive scorching 18 degrees and millpond conditions when I set up at 3:30 in an unusual swim for me, but thinking it was where the last of the evening sun disappeared and the air would chill fast.  Plumbing the depth with my pole, I snagged and brought in a weighing sling in the margin; the one I lost at this swim the evening I caught a 13lb Mirror on 3.3.21. That was the only excitement until dusk having barely had a bite. Just before dark at 6:30 and having switched

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

4, 7, 8 October 2022 - Willows, Bulls lock, knotts

Trip 1 - Tuesday evening. With the evenings closing in, it's lakes only on a Tuesday as I don't like fishing into the dark on rivers. Had some maggots left over from Sunday's match, so started on the pole at Willows. However, one roach in, a gusty wind got up which gave the surface a chop. I felt that a bobbing float wouldn't be conducive to good bait presentation so I switched to the method feeder and aimed for the island. Others seemed to be struggling to catch so I was happy with three carp i

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

8 October

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0830 - 1400 Bright and sunny. AT 6º->16ºC. River low (very!). 10 Perch; 6 over lb, best two 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz. 6 Chub; 3 'pounders' - two not by much. 20+ Roach - most quite small with 3 or 4 in the 6-8oz bracket. 2 Dace - small. 2 Gudgeon & 2 Brownies - both 1½-2lb. Late arrival as I had to go back for my maggots - doh! By the time I got to the canal it was bathed in bright morning sunshine and after a chilly night I deemed it too sub-

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3 October

River Kennet - Hambridge 0845 - 1245 Sunny spells. AT 8º ->17ºC. River still very low (prayer mats are out for a wet autumn!). 7 Chub; biggest 3lb on the nose, 5 between 1½ - 2½lb and a chublet. 1 Barbel; 1lb 13oz, 13 Dace & 9 Roach (all fairly small), 1 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak & a Brownie c¾-1lb. Super morning's trotting - nice to get another baby barbel for the 2nd trip running here and I might have lost a much bigger one though I think the leviathan that snapped my 6lb

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.