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2.10.22 - Help for Heroes match - Enborne

Despite pouring Sunday morning rain, 31 turned up for the NAA's annual charity match. That was a good turn out, especially as only 30 bacon rolls had been ordered for the pub meet beforehand, and guess who missed out? What's more, I managed to leave the slice of bread pudding baked and wrapped by the lovely Mrs S at home on the kitchen worktop.  No food, unless I fancied worms or casters, at least I'd picked up my bottle of water to enjoy in the rain. I drew one of the new platforms below G

30.9.22 -Enborne/Speen Moors

With temperatures crumbling as autumn starts to get in gear, I started my migration from lakes to the canals and rivers. The morning could have been perfect for perch at first light- misty and still, but overnight it had dropped to four degrees, the coldest since spring, and maybe that turned them off. I managed to get some pole practise in prior to the match at Enborne on Sunday, presenting and jiggling a worm right in front of their reedbed ambush points, but only managed one of about hal

26 & 27.9.22 - Willows & Dobsons

Monday - Day off for my Auntie Jackie's funeral (don't be sad, it was her time) allowing me a bonus 3 hours fishing beforehand. I'd planned a river trip, but with brisk winds and showers forecast, decided instead to huddle under the brolly in the comparative shelter of Willows. As I sat biteless and without a puff of breeze (WHY do i ever follow the forecasts?), a guy set up to my left and had soon caught two carp, while a chap arrived to my right and caught three. I eventually had just the one,

23.9.22 - Bream Day - Dobsons

Arrived in the rain to find my preferred swim was closed for repairs, so with the whole lake to myself, as it was all day, I took myself to a new swim for me on the opposite bank. After a biteless hour I was losing faith and was strongly considering a move to the generally more reliable Willows. I'd packed up one rod when I noticed that the line on the other was not pointing in the direction that I'd cast it. I picked it up to find a fish on the end. Although this dropped off unseen, it encourag

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Dobsons

21 September

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2200 Calm and cloudy to start with clearing skies and dropping temps for the last hour (and a very heavy dew!) AT 17º -> 11ºC (But felt much chillier in the damp conditions...) 1 Bream 5lb 2oz, 1 Tench 1¼lb, 1 Rudd; 11oz (looked bigger!), 1 Roach - hand-sized. 6 Perch all smallish. Nearly all the excitement in the first 90 mins with the tinca pretty much first cast. The only fish to come after it got dark was the lovely rudd and the roach. Had

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

River Thames Lechlade 21.9.22

I was fishing hemp and tares, and hoping for busy action, though it wasn't to be. In fact, after being directed by the tackle shop to a stretch of river which I think they ran, but which I found unfishable, I only had 2 hours on my preferred stretch. Just 4 roach, but the best was 14oz and my Thames pb so I was very pleased. This fish was on caster, the others on tares, 6 feet deep in about 9 feet of river. An angler near me fished maggot on ledger and had a very good bag of roach, maybe I shoul

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

19.9.22 - Willows

I'd intended to try chase the bream at Dobsons again, but parking up, was told by a dog-walker that it was bivvy-city over there given Her Majesty's funeral day, so I defaulted to Willows. Pretty pedestrian session, I landed every bite and after mirrors of 4lb 10 & 8lb 10 plus commons of 3lb 4, 7lb 13 and 7lb 14, a par evening was boosted by a slab of a 14lb 15 common soon after dark. The other highlight: a splash in my swim turned out to be made by a kingfisher which immediately flew up and

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

19 September

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0645 - 1115 Cool, calm & cloudy. AT 9º -> 14ºC. River VERY low. 12 Chub; 2lb 7oz and 11 chublets. 4 Doz Dace and Roach - in roughly equal nos (slightly more dace). Most of the roach were a 'nice' size though the star of the show (and the only fish to actually get weighed) was a cracking dace of 12oz. 5 Perch - all small. 1 Brownie c2lb. Pleasant mornings trotting. The river is teeming with 'silvers' - which makes finding the bigger chub a bi

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

16 & 17.9.22 - Willows and Dobsons

I dug out the first jumper of autumn as we begin the approach the end of the lake season. Friday had 15mph northerly winds forecast at Willows, so I thought I'd be a clever so and so, and fished into the teeth of it, casting at the sheltered side of the island in front of me. At first it worked like a dream. In the only area of calm water on the lake, while others appeared to struggle, in 90 minutes I had mirrors of 5lb, 4lb 10, & 4lb 6 plus commons of 4lb 8 10lb 2 &5lb 2.  I suppose I m

17 September (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0845 - 1300 Bright and sunny - with a cool northerly breeze - though felt very warm in full sun! AT 17ºC when I packed up, River very low. 5 Chub: 2X 2lbers and 3 in the ¾-1lb class. 5 Perch; All over 1lb, with 4 over 1½lb, best three 2lb 3oz, 2lb & 1lb 13oz. 30+ Roach - various sizes with around half a dozen 'netters', I weighed one of these at 13oz and the others were of similar stamp - great to see! 1 Dace: a real good-un of around 10oz. 1 Gudgeon

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

17 September (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0630 - 0815 COLD! 🥶 and clear. 3ºC when I left - ice on the car and grass frost in patches on the bank! 13 Perch: 5 over 1lb - 4 not by much the other went 1lb 14oz. Brrrrr that was a shock to the system - thermals and fleece making an early appearance for my first 'double header' of the autumn. Pretty much all fish in the first ½ hour - then suffered a bit of pike trouble (got bitten off) and by 0800 the swim was bathed in sunshine and bites

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

9.9.22 - Willows

A slightly better than par day at the Willows. With the air as still as can be and at a lower pressure after heavy rain most of yesterday, I had hoped for better. With nothing happening on float, I defaulted to the method feeder and through the day found pulses of fish at different ranges - commons of 4lb 8, 6lb 5, 5lb 15, 6lb 9, 5lb 9 & 6lb 5, with mirrors of 6lb 6, 7lb 12 and two bream, both under a pound. I've caught plenty of feisty carp here in recent times, but no doubles for aaaa

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

10 September

River Kennet - Brimpton 0700 - 1100 Cool (compared to lately) and mainly overcast. AT 11->16ºC. River still low but up a good couple of inches on my last visit here in July. 4 Chub: 5lb0oz, 3lb 6oz, 1lb11oz and one <1lb. 5 Roach & 1 Dace - all a 'nice' size circa 6oz. 4 Brownies; a lber and the others around half that. With 1½inches of rain already this month (nearly as much as the whole of June, July & August!) I was hopeful that the river might have perked up

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6.9.22 - Willows

OK, so the heatwave has definitely gone. This evening the SW wind was blowing grey and black clouds hard and fast overhead making it look more Mordor than Berkshire. The chop on the water meant float fishing was out and pinging the method feeder out towards the island brought only phantom bites as the wind caught the bobbin. I chanced that the carp may be sheltering so came back to a rod length or two out near the cover of the lake's lone overhanging willow. A bite soon ensued. Winding in,

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

2 September

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm and overcast with a few spots of rain at times (the showers missed me whilst I was on the bank, though it had not long stopped raining when I arrived!) AT 22º -> 16ºC 1 Tench: 2lb 3oz. 3 Carp: 9lb 0oz, 8lb 7oz & 7lb 11oz. A very frustrating evening trying to avoid the carp who were very active when I arrived and I'm sure where bullying my taget species (basically anything that wasn't a carp) out of the swim. I didn't actaully ho

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

2.9.22 - Alders & Willows

Ridiculously, I thought that the overnight rain (yes, rain!) and slightly lower air pressure at first light might bring the notoriously plentiful but cagey fish out at Alders. After 2 hours without a touch, I took the hint and crossed the causeway to their noisy neighbours in Willows. A slow start, bumper lunch time then slower afternoon, brought commons of 7lb 12, 4lb 4, 5lb 6, 5lb 15, 5lb 12, mirrors of 6lb 11, 6lb 4, 4lb 11, 7lb 12 and 6lb 5, plus a single 2lb 11 tench. None of the bigge

31 August

River Kennet - Hambridge 1730 - 2145 Warm, clear evening. AT 23º -> 16ºC. River very low. 3 Chub: 4lb 11oz, 2lb 13oz, 1lb 12oz. 1 Barbel (hooray!) 2lb 1oz. 7 Dace, 2 Roach (all small). 5 Bleak. Been a while since I did an evening here - used to be a banker swim for ledgering for a barbel - so much so I've even brought a couple of my 'occasional' angling friends here in the past to (succesfully) catch their first barbel. Those were in pre-otter days (who made an appearance

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

30.8.22 - Willows

A slightly disappointing end to a month which brought almost 400lb of fish - my best month to date. Had 2 Commons and 2 Mirrors, all around the 5-6lb mark, but that was half the story. I had two more snap brand-new 9lb hooklinks  and lost three more on the wind in. I thought I'd appeased the fish gods too, by passing my rod soon after hooking a fish to a nice young  boy who, fishing on his own in the swim next to me, had apparently fished all day for a small bream. Half way through the

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

29.8.22 - Avington

On Sunday I walked along the stretch with Mrs S and friends on the way to a Bank Holiday beer at Hungerford. There were several sets of delicious looking feeding bubbles that had me desperate to return minus wife and plus rod ASAP. That chance came the next day, with a few pinched hours in the afternoon. The feeding bubbles, naturally, weren't there today; but I've rarely found that Avington fishes well in the sunshine. I think maggots or casters would have improved my chances, and certainl

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Avington

26.8.22 - Willows

After last Friday's bumper haul, I'm keen to give it a go in the same swim. There's a slight chill in the air first thing which perhaps explains the lack of the fishy surface movement seen last week. It's fairly quiet on the bottom too, though 'takes' at 6:30 and 7:30 both end with fish dropping off the hook after several minutes of playing. Later in the morning, my luck changes, and in come a 7lb 2 common, tench of 2lb 6 and 21lb 10. Then a mirror of 7lb 10 and more commons of 6lb 10, 6lb 4, 7l

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

27 August

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0630 - 1130 Bright sunny morning. AT 12º -> 23ºC. River very low with a hint of colour. 14 Chub: A 'pounder' and a baker's dozen of small-uns. 30+ Roach & 25 Dace: nothing particularly note-worthy apart from 3 or 4 dace of around 8oz, 5 Perch; all fairly small. 6 Bleak. A trip to my syndicate stretch in the hope that Thursday's rain may have gingered the river up a bit and whilst it was still very low there was a little bit of colour. Loads

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

24 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm and muggy despite clear skies - though there was a few large spots of rain as I left. AT 26->19ºC. 4 Tench; 4lb 15oz & 3 around 1¼lb ± a couple of ounces . 1 Bream 4lb 7oz. 1 Roach; 'half decent' at around 6oz. 2 Perch; small. A game of 2 halfs with all the action coming after 2030 as it got dark and not a hint of movement to the float before then -at least there were no crayfish around! Pleased to see the tench putting on a few

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

20.8.22 - Dobsons - the day after the day of days

Never try to repeat a success, they say, so after my over 150lb haul at Willows yesterday, I thought I'd give the carp a rest and pit my newly discovered angling skills at Dobsons. Patches of feeding bubbles punctuated my swim all morning, but bites were of a premium no matter what method or bait I tried to tempt them with. Ended up with a tench of 3lb 10 and two bream of 1lb 2 and 5lb. Bit of an anticlimax I suppose, though I did get hook something big towards the end that shot for th

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Dobsons

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