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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

14.9.21 - Willows

I was pleasantly surprised to find I had the lake to myself for most of the evening considering it was still a shirt-sleeves 15 degrees an hour after dark. But there was a stillness and strange atmosphere and the light had an odd yellowish quality. Even the birds seemed quiet. A brown rat swam past my feet several times, a kingfisher flew across the water and the jumping fish regularly crashed through the surface while large patches of bubbles suggested much activity below. There was an intense 
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

10 & 11.9.21 - Willows

Two sessions spent in my favourite swim. With the temperature and air pressure having fallen, and the breeze and chance of rain up, I was hopeful the carp would be obliging. Largely they were. One popular consensus is that the carp shoal and swim round and round the island. This is borne out by the fish often coming in pulses of 15 minutes when the rod tip won't keep still, and more than taking the method feeder 'on the drop', before the rod goes back onto the rest. Then it quietens again and th
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Chris Plumb's Blog

11 September

River Kennet - Hambridge (CSAS) 0645 - 1100 Overcast to start with sun breaking through for last hour or so. AT 19ºC. River low and a little coloured up. 2 Chub: both around 1¼lb. 16 Dace: most quite chunky - I'd already weighed a couple at 7&8oz but last one of the morning was even bigger at a shade over 10oz. 1 Roach. 1 Grayling (circa 8-10oz). 2 Bleak. 3 Trout (8oz - pretty sure it was the same damn fish each time!) Plan was to try and get a barbel for the 3rd weekend
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

7.9.21 - Bellwood

With the road to Willows and Alders being closed for repairs this week, my Tuesday evening fish needed a new location, so I cycled to Bellwood the night before for a recce. I've fished it twice before, once for a blank, and a few small roach, perch and bream on the other. It was a lovely evening and there were just two anglers, both set up for the night ahead. They were lovely guys and very generous with the information and tips for a novice like me. I repaid one by photographing him with the 20
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Bellwood

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Chris Plumb's Blog

8 September

River Kennet - Thatcham 1800 - 1930 Hot and humid - with the crash, bang, wallop of an electric storm to finish! River quite low. 6 Chub: biggest 2lb with another couple of around a lb and 3 tiddlers. 1 Pike; 4lb 3oz (on trotted maggot!). 2 Perch; both around the 1lb mark (nice!). 2 Roach; a 'netter' and a tiddler. 2 Brownies - small. Quick return to the venue I had a barbel from recently with the intention of ledgering into the dark to see if I could get another. As usual I
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

3.9.21 - Willows then Hambridge

Well, if you'd told me I was going to have two personal bests since records resumed last June after my 20-odd year hiatus from angling, I'd be anticipating a fab day, though by anyone else's standards it probably wasn't. After my haul of ten (10) carp on Tuesday evening, they really didn't want to know today. After an hour or two without a sniff on the method feeder, I maggotted and hemped-up a zone about 5ft out from a bankside shrub and swapped for a float. This brought fourteen roach, of
Chris Plumb's Blog

4 September

River Kennet - Hambridge 0700 - 1300 Warm, overcast and quite muggy - though that might just have been all the exertion to hack my way through the undergrowth to my swim - clearly no one has been here since MY last visit back in July! AT 10º - 20ºC. River low with a little colour - typical for this time of year. 7 Chub; 3 over 2lb - the best 2lb 12oz with another an ounce or so under. Other 3 were around the pound mark ± a few ounces. 1 Barbel (!!) 👍 unweighed but probably just sh
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Flying Tench's Blog

2.9.21 Jack-Attack!

I returned to Swift Ditch where the swim had gone dead on maggot feeder, though my first experiment was to try float fishing with hemp'n tares in a slightly different swim. In an hour I had just 3 roach, all no more than 3 inches long. I don't know how the greedy little fish could eat such a large bait as a tare! I wasn't fishing well, partly because I had set up too log a rod for the various trees and bushes. So I switched to a ledger rod, and moved back to where the swim had died the day
The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

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Chris Plumb's Blog

1 September

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2200 Cloudy with a fresh NEly breeze. AT 15/14ºC but felt considerably chillier in the wind. 2 Bream: 5lb 7oz & 2lb 15oz. 2 Tench: 2lb 10oz & a 1lber. 3 Carp: All well over a lb - in fact the one I weighed was over 1½lb (all rehomed in Willows). 10 Perch: most in the 6-8oz class. 1 Rudd: handsized. Busy evening with most of the fish coming in the first 90 mins. Only 2 bites after 8pm - but both resulted in a bream on the bank. My biggest
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

31.8.21 - Willows

Goodness me. I know carp aren't everyone's cup of tea, and some consider the gugle-eyed lake cows a nuisance when fishing for wilier  harder to tempt species; but they are such good fun. In under three hours this evening, I had commons of 6lb 8, 3lb 12, 4lb 9 & 7lb 15 plus mirrors of 5lb 12, 8lb 10, 9lb 9, 9lb 2, 9lb 4 and 4lb 2 - ie 69lbs of fish! If I'd landed the three fish that slipped the hook mid-fight, or snagged some of the many hard takes that seemed impossible to miss, wh
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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The Flying Tench's Blog

Maggot Feeder, what am I doing wrong? 31.8.21

5.15 - 7.45pm weather cool and cloudy I've tended to dismiss maggot feeder for the Thames, particularly in summer, because my past experience has been that it just attracts very small fish. But I have met a couple of anglers recently who have done OK with it, which has made me wonder if I have given it a fair crack. Having joined a club that has a stretch of what is in effect a 'carrier' for the Thames, much narrower than the main river, I decided that I could concentrate the maggots in a l
The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

2021 08 30 - Alders

Summer Bank Holiday? Of course it was: there was a stiff cold north wind right in my face that had me back to the car firstly for my gilet and, half hour later, my thick coat. It was bloomin' cold. There was one other angler sat right opposite me. OK, so he had the wind on his back rather than full-facial, but how he sat there for three hours in his shorts I couldn't tell you. The fish hid as well. I didn't get a touch for three hours, then wondering how I could change my luck, saw that a ruddy
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Alders

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

28.08.21 - Willows

Arrived early to find five cars already parked and the warming sight a whole family fishing from consecutive swims on the western bank. For the second session running, I hooked a carp within thirty seconds of my first cast, a mirror of exactly 10lbs, hard fighting but another candidate for the ugly fish and ugly angler awards. Within a couple of hours, alternating between an orange wafter and a Robon Red pellet, I'd caught commons of 5lb 13, 10lb 8 and 7lb 13 as well as a greedy 8-ounce bream
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

27.8.21 - Hambridge

A sneaky 90 minutes fish on my local canal section. Spent the first 15 minutes loose feeding then in. Trotting braid on the centrepin, holding back a chunky loafer float was great fun, but I wasn't troubled by too many fish. As per normal, I lost more than I banked as they shook so violently to get off - I must get those micro-barb hooks, eh Chris. A couple of roach and a handful of dace (even if one was a clonker of 8 ounces or so), was scant return. But there was final cast excitement when the
Chris Plumb's Blog

29 August

River Kennet - Thatcham 0915 - 1130 Cool (for August) and overcast. AT 14ºC. River low and clear. 1 Barbel(!!) 👏 3lb 15oz. 5 Chub; a 'pounder' with the rest a ¼ of that - nice to see some juvenile fish in the river. 1 each of Perch (¾lb), Roach, Dace & Gudgeon. Well, THAT's put a grin on my face! 😀 A couple of hours trotting to use up some maggot that's on the turn having languished in the back of my bait fridge for weeks! A decade or so ago - this was THE venue to get a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Chris Plumb's Blog

27 August

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford. 1500 - 0000 Cool, calm and clear evening. Lovely evening for star (and planet) gazing - Jupiter is in oppostion at the moment so is particularly bright.  AT a chilly 9ºC when I packed up - felt a little autumnal! 9 Crucians; All bar one over 2lb (and even that one was only 2oz shy). Best 3: 3lb, 2lb 12oz, 2lb 9oz. 2 Tench; 4lb 9oz & 3lb 13oz. 4 Rudd. Five hours without a bite (save for the micro rudd which annoyingly kept attacking a bar
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

24.8.21 - Willows

Willows was busy as ever, and I chatted to a number of anglers on my way to one of the remaining swims. A few had come out, but one guy had been there since 8am and had not caught a thing - and now it was early 4. I chucked in a few balls of breadcrumbs mixed with pellets in the far margin opposite my narrowish swim then set up and cast out. Before I'd even got my seat set up,  the rod was dragged across the bank and I held on for a 7lb 9 mirror - wow! Tonight was going to be the night. I had
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

23.8.21 - Willows

I'm sorry readers, but it's Willows again. A rare Monday morning session, but took the day off for a funeral so sneaked in a 4-hour stint. Dull, overcast (the weather, not me) with a chill northerly breeze that had me running back to the car for a jacket - it could only be summer 2021. Despite the drop in air temp - or perhaps because of the drop in air temp?) the fish were quite active throughout. I had lots of liners, lots of jerky hits that came to nowt, and somehow missed some unmissable
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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The Flying Tench's Blog

Thames lock cut roach 23.8.21

4-5pm. I had two false starts in other swims so only left myself an hour in bright sunlight. Pleasantly surprised, though. About 10 roach up to half a pound up in the water on hemp and tares. To me it's a slight puzzle. My general impression is that the lock cuts are pretty well devoid of fish in the summer. Why is Sandford an exception? Maybe I'm wrong and there are more fish in the others than I suppose. I must give a couple of the ones nearer my home another try. To be fair, the only one I've
The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

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The Flying Tench's Blog

Grove pond 20.8.21

2.30 - 5.15pm I started off 'up in the water' with hemp and tares and casters hoping for some of the quality roach and rudd I've had in the last couple of months here. I had 6 roach in the first hour, but none were over about 5 ounces, so I switched to fishing on the deck practising the lift method. One nice bream about 3lbs, and 3 crucians all about 8 oz. Enjoyable fishing. 
The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

20 & 21.8.21 - Willows

Two long stints at my favourite lake (when it's playing ball) to test my theory that the carp swim round the central island in the morning, move to open waters in the afternoon and slink out to the margins for their tea. Friday: dry and with the lake to myself at 6:30am pinged the method feeder out towards the island. By 9. I'd had visits from commons of 7lb, 4lb 10 and 9lb 12, all on the same orange wafter. It was set to be a fab day and I held my smile even when fourteen Canada geese splash
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Chris Plumb's Blog

20 August

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0000 Warm and overcast with a gentle southerly breeze. 19ºC -> 16ºC. Lovely evening to be out - no dew and no shelter required. 5 Carp; 10lb 13oz, 8lb 14oz, 8lb 10oz, 6lb 5oz (& one of around a pound - unweighed!). 1 Tench 1¼lb. 3 Bream (all skimmers). 1 Perch. 1 Rudd. (Both quite small) This was meant to be an evening fishing the margins for tench (or crucians, roach, bream, perch, rudd - anything but carp!) However the bully boy commons
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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