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2.11.21 - Willows

My first evening session after the clocks went back. With a light frost that morning and the threat of even lower temperatures tonight under still, clear skies, a blank would have been disappointing, but not inconceivable.  Nothing for an hour, before I brought in a very welcome 5lb 10 common, one of those fish that broke the surface as soon as it was hooked and insisted on surfing throughout the fight. With the swim still reeling from the disturbance, my float, not 10ft from my feet, gave

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

Thames Perch 25 Oct to 1 Nov 2021

25th Oct Same approach (lobworms on straight lead and Liquid Worm attractant). 3 nice perch 2lb 6 oz, 2lb 8 oz and a smaller one approx 1lb. 28th Oct and 1st Nov Just when I thought I'd got the perch sussed, 2 blanks. Today it felt very cold to me, I'll have to get the thermals out. I got several bites, though. In two cases they bit off the worm just below the hook!

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

26 29 & 30.10 - Willows

I thought I'd save you yet more of the same thing by condensing the last three trips into one post. My plans to migrate to the rivers/canals for winter were delayed for a further week as (1) my Tuesday afternoon slot takes my only evening slot and I just feel more comfortable fishing lakes than the crayfish-filled rivers in the dark and (2) the forecast for Friday and Saturday were billed as being very wet, and I felt hiding under a brolly was slightly less uncomfortable lakeside. Tues

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

30 October

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1000 - 1530 Bright and mainly sunny after early morning rain. AT around 13ºC all day. River still quite low and clear despite a wet October (109mm and counting!) 6 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 2lb 0oz and 4 in the ½-1lb bracket (of course!). 1 Perch 1lb 11oz. 17 Roach - only one troubled the scales (as I thought it would make a pound!) @ 14oz. 3 Dace. 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies; a 2+lber and a smallun. First hour and a half on Parliament Draft which accounted for both

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

25 October

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1730 Bright and breezy save for a shower when I arrived and another torrential shower around lunchtime. AT 10º-16ºC. River at normal autumn levels though it coloured up noticeably after the lunchtime downpour. 30 Grayling; Most around 8-10oz. Biggest 'just' 1lb 5oz with another half a dozen or so a couple of ounces, shy of that. 7 Chub: All well over 1lb - best 3: 4lb 8oz, 4lb 5oz & 3lb 10oz. 7 Brownies 1½- 3½lb. 2 Roach - small. 4 Salmon parr and a

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

23.10.21 - Willows

A mixed day. I predominantly fished the margins on a virtually deserted lake. Within 5 minutes, I'd hooked a good carp on float fished single corn dipped in my top secret ingredient, that had the centrepin screeching and took me right, left and central before falling off the hook, unseen, after around 10 minutes of fun. If this wasn't annoying enough, I then missed bite after bite after bite, the float dragging under every 5 minutes or so, yet I couldn't hit any of them. I began to suspect crays

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

22.10.21 - Enborne & Speen Moors

The plan was to go for the perch on the canal at first light, then walk to the nearby river for the rest of the session. It turned out a day of three halves:   1st: Having bruised my knuckle opening the stubborn metal gate, the first chilly morning of the year (3 degrees) helped stem the blood flow. The perch were still reasonably active, with six coming in the first hour of daylight ,with two about a pound.   2nd. I made my debut fishing the weirpool, squeezed between two alder

Thames perch - 20 &22 Oct 2021

Attractor groundbait dowsed with liquid worm, hook bait lobworms, straight lead. On Wednesday I found a new swim where I was getting bites from good perch. I would play them for 20 seconds or so and think they were securely hooked, and then they got off. I just landed one of about 1.5 lbs, but lost 4 or 5 good fish. Today, Friday, I tried again with the same approach.  4 small ones and a lovely 2 lb 9oz. It started well, but after the 2 pounder the swim went dead. I assume the fight sp

The Flying Tench

The Flying Tench in general

19.10.21 - Willows

I was reminded that my Tuesday evening sessions are coming to an end as it felt like it was already getting dark when I arrived at 3:30. With a full moon and a lower air pressure, I had hoped that the Willows piscatorial population might be more forthcoming than of late, though the on/off rain strong south wind that was whipping the surface all evening raised more than a doubt. I snatched a 4lb 5 common on method feeder, but with the few anglers telling me of poor returns frim their day, I was a

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

18.10.21 - River Lambourn

A Monday off, and squeezed in a couple of hours fishing, just as the rain started. Fished several swims, loose feeding with red maggots and trotting a 4AAA loafer down the shallow glides. Had a torpedo-shaped 1lb 6 brownie early on, but nothing more. Had a handful of bites that didn't connect for more than a second, and something snatch at one of the six minnows I snagged. Apart from being jeered by some schoolgirls, and a guy insisting that anything good had been caught and eaten by, lets say,

15.10.21 - River Kennet, Aldermaston

So, my first ever session at Aldermaston. I've walked the stretch a few times now, including two days ago when I saw a nice rainbow trout landed. 'I've had a few here,' the man said. 'There's a trout farm downstream.' The river looked beautiful, so despite the NAA website warning that: 'this can be a difficult water to fish and will challenge your skill as a river angler.'  I was very excited as I headed for the water. Through the session, I alternated between a 50 yard perfect-for-trotting

16 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0930 - 1230 Cloud clearing to a bright and sunny morning. AT 14ºC when I packed up. River low. 4 Chub; 2lb 11oz, a couple of around 12-16oz (of course) and a tiddler. 13 Roach, 2 Dace (all apart from one of the dace quite small). 1 Brownie 1¾lb. A couple of hours prospecting for new chub swims which produced nothing but the trout - followed by ¾hr in the ever reliable weirpool which produced everything else!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

16 October (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0715 - 0900 Mild,calm & overcast after a prolonged shower. Lovely, benign autumn's morning. AT 9ºc on arrival. 11 Perch: biggest four: 3lb 2oz, 2lb 12oz, 2lb 9oz, 1lb 12oz - with nearly all the rest in the ¾lb - 1¼lb category. 1 Tench; 3lb 0oz. Splendid start to my autumn perch campaign - 3lber was first fish caught - and all the bigger ones came in the first half an hour - fish (apart from the tinca) got progressively smaller as light le

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

9.10.21 - Brimpton - The Crays!

I was fishing the Kennet at Brimpton recently when a man passed me with a dustbin strapped to his back. You see all sorts on the rivers, so after an exchange of pleasantries I did not challenge him. Half an hour later he was back, and the bin was heaving full of large, grotesque signal crayfish. I was appalled. Turns out I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Leech of the Artisan Fisherman Ltd of Thatcham who is fully licenced to trap and trade in crayfish. A lovely man, he estimated his barrel co

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Brimpton

Willows - 5th, 9th & 10th October 2021

Autumn is here, and while the books will all tell you that the carp are feeding hard, sensing the forthcoming winter, the continued unseasonable warmth has maybe stopped the message getting through. Little to report from 3 sessions frankly, with a mirror and 5 commons cross the piece - or should it be 4? - I caught the photo'd fish an hour after dark in single corn float fished about 2ft from the bank. It didn't give much of a fight, and was particularly well behaved on the unhooking mat. M

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

9 October

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1300 Foggy - eventually clearing to sunny spells - though bites dried up when the sun appeared so was quite happy with the gloomy conditions. AT 14ºC when I left. River quite low and with a little colour. 5 Chub: 3lb 11oz, 2lb 5oz and 3 around 12oz or smaller (This year class appear to be everywhere!) 40+ Roach and Dace (more roach than dace) - a nice stamp with around half of both species in the 8-10oz class. Biggest dace I weighed went 10oz and

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

1 & 2 October 2021 - Willows

A couple of pretty crabby days. Friday was a comparatively cold start from recent days and I suspected it might be slower. It was. Soon after arriving, a strong, cold and to my mind, unforecast southerly wind, It was a struggle and the bait only troubled by a 3lb 6 Mirror.   When times get tough you try anything, and when the sun finally came out and though the wind remained, I gave a black foam zig suspended 2ft from the bottom a go. Result: Ha! a 7lb 1oz bream! Saturday would have se

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

3 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0900 - 1430 Cloud, clearing to bright sunshine - with showers to finish! AT up to 15ºC. River low and clear - despite over ¾inch of rain yesterday! 5 Chub; 3lb 13oz & 4 in the ¾-1lb class (They're everywhere!). 3 doz (!) roach - most quite small with 3 or 4 'netters' - I put a couple on the scales and they both went 12oz. 8 Dace; small save for a couple of clonkers at 10 & 13oz. 3 Brownies; 2, 'pounders' and a 3lb+ brute of a fish (already had a

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3 October (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0700 - 0845 Cool (8ºC) and overcast. 14 Perch; 5 in the 1lb-1¼lb class the rest half that. Quick dawn session on Dog Sh!t Alley as hors d'œuvres for my first trip to Speen this season (see pt 2). Nearly all fish came in a 20min period either side of 0730.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

25.9.21 & 27.9.21 - Willows

Two more trips to my fave lake chasing the carp before they hunker down in the cold and go off their feed. Saturday. Slow. I was told it had dropped off since my Harvest moonlit fun on Tuesday (maybe because of its waning?). Tried a bit of everything, and though I lost a couple, just three carp of 8lb 4, 4lb 8 and 6lb 14 was below par. Tuesday. Unable to do any work for today's employer as their computer system was irrecoverably down. As the job is wholly reliant on access to data base

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

23 September

River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1900 Warm (18ºC) and overcast. River low and a little turbid. 2 Chub: both ¾ - 1lb (had quite a few of this size recently - wonder if they've been stocked?) 12 Dace; 3 in the 6-8oz class. 8 Roach; one 'netter' others all small. 1 Grayling: small. 1 Gudgeon. 3 Bleak & a trout parr. A couple of hours trotting followed by 3 frustrating hours ledgering pellet and getting totally annihilated by the crayfish. They were stripping the bait as soon

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

21 September

River Kennet - Aldermaston 1345 - 1645 Warm with 'milky' sunshine. 19ºC. River low and sluggish. 2 Grayling; 1lb 6oz & 1lb 2oz (!!). 11 Roach; Biggest 12oz (weighed) nothing else even half that. 1 Gudgeon. Well I wasn't expecting that! First trip here in well over a decade and even when I did fish it more regularly it was usually hunched over a couple of quiver tips waiting for a barbel - I rarely got the trotting gear out on this venue. So a bit of a recce and for the fi

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

21.9.21 - Willows

The first feeling of autumn. Despite a near 20-degree 3pm start and a stillness in the air, it was quite chilly and dewy as I packed up an hour after dark as the harvest moon was rising. Anticipating fish on the surface, I aimed to repeat last Saturday's surprise catch with a foam zig rig. The carp weren't on show until I pinged in a few biscuits. Within two minutes I had 4 wheeling terns plus 3 moorhens and 2 coots in my swim waiting for the next ping. The carp were almost as quick on the

Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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