Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
1400 - 1600.
Bright & breezy. AT 7ºC
4 Perch; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 6oz, 1lb 2oz.
So Plan B was to fish the witching hour on the canal hoping for a big stripey - though as so often happens in the winter it's a witching 20 minutes around 4.00pm just as the light is fading. Had all 3 bigger ones in this 20 minute spell culminating in the biggest - which was a very last cast fish as I'd already packed up my bags. A season's best as well.
River Kennet - Speen Moors
0745 - 1345
Overcast start (drizzling when I left home) becoming bright and breezy. AT 7º-9ºC. River at normal levels.
8 Chub: 4lb 7oz, 3lb10oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 11oz & 4 small ones. 7 Roach - most hand sized, 4 Dace, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & a 2lb Brownie.
Pleasant morning playing hunt the chub, started off with the 3lber from a spot that only usually gives you one chance - and so it proved as resting it for an hour produced nothing more. Fished a
River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham
0745 - 1315
Cool, calm & cloudy. AT 1º - 3ºC. River quite full - though somewhat surprisingly (and contradictory!) the carrier was on the low side.
4 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 2oz and a chublet. 18 Roach - few of any size bar one which went 12oz. 4 Dace, 1 Perch, 8 Brownies - 2½ - 3½lb & 2 Rainbows 2½lb & 4+lb.
Pleasant morning's trotting - chub as ever were the target - though most of my 'banker' swims were full of tro
River Kennet - Aldershot Water (Brimpton)
1400 - 1530.
Still misty and overcast. 10°C. River at normal levels.
1 Chub; 3lb 3oz. 1 Dace. 3 Brownies; 2XPounders - (probably same fish!)
So the plan was to end the day as I'd started it - hunting chub, and a return to a spot I last fished back in September. Chub first cast which was an excellent start - alas trout then trashed the swim - had all 3 in quick succession and they all jumped and caused a commotion on the surface - res
River Lambourn - Shaw
1030 - 1300
Still dull and misty. AT 9ºC. River on the low side.
11 Grayling; A real mix of year classes (and hence sizes). Biggest 1lb 13oz (!!) with another 3 an ounce or so either side of 1lb ( the usual maximum size here). 6 Brownies most 6-10oz with one well over 1lb.
Well I wasn't expecting that! Pretty sure that's my biggest grayling from this stretch - I've gone back over 20+ years of diaries and can't find a bigger one! Caught from a very shallo
Northcroft Stream - Newbury
0745 - 1000
Misty & murky 7ºC. River at normal levels and quite clear.
3 Chub; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 5oz. 6 Dace & 2 Roach - all small.
Successful chub hunt - though was hoping for something a little bigger. My usual 'banker' swim here produced not so much as a bite - thankfully they were all in my back up swim!
Kennet & Avon Canal (flowing), Thatcham
1100 - 1330
Dull and breezy. AT 11ºC. River at normal levels and quite clear.
6 Dace; 5 over 8oz - biggest 15oz !! 1 Gudgeon.
Another trip to an infrequently fished (and less than reliable) venue but one which has thrown up decent dace and chub in the past. Nothing quite in this class however - a female almost in full breeding condition (3 months early). My biggest dace for 11 years, since this day.
River Kennet - Arrowhead (Thatcham)
0715 - 1030
Dull and quite breezy, temps around 10ºC. River at normal levels with little colour.
6 Dace, 1 Roach & 2 brownies - all small.
Scratchy session to a venue I only visit every other year or so but which in the past (well 13/14 & 14/15) was a nailed on banker for big chub and perch ( see here as an example). Strange as the place still screams fish but I've caught very little here since those 2 winter campaigns (And not a wh
River Kennet - Speen Moors
0930 - 1415
Bright and breezy, clouding over with the wind dropping. Mild. River in good nick.
4 Chub 4lb 14oz, 3lb 12oz, 2lb 6oz & a chublet. 4 Roach - best c8oz, 2 Dace, 1 Gudgeon & a brownie.
Had planned to do quite a bit of wandering today but ended up refamiliarising myself with a favourite swim of old. Back in 2004 (25th Sep to be precise) I had 4 chub for over 21lb from this spot (fish of 6.05, 6.0, 4.11 & 4.06), plus 2,5lb bream
Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
0700 - 0915
&
1445 - 1630
Squally rain to start, overcast and becalmed to end. Quite mild.
18 Perch; Most 8-12oz with around half a dozen in the 1lb class save the biggest which went 1lb 10oz.
Dawn and dusk session to top and tail a trip to Speen and there appears to be a LOT of perch in the 12oz class this autumn. More fish during my dawn session than dusk - but that may have been due to pike as was bitten off twice.
River Kennet - Hambridge
1045 - 1345
Cool, milky sunshine. River at normal autumn levels - much lower than expected after a really wet month.
4 Chub; 4lb 6oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 1lb 15oz. 7 Dace (4 chunky ones). 1 Grayling, 2 Gudgeon & a Brownie.
Hooray - banker chub swims gives up more than one fish! Had three in the first 20 mins with the 4th one coming after resting it for over an hour whilst I explored elsewhere.
River Lambourn - Newbury
0700 - 1000
Cool and misty. River quite low especially given how wet October was.
8 Grayling; All between 8-10oz with a couple a tad bigger. 6 Brownies - a couple of netters - the rest were parrs.
Scratchy morning's trotting - fish thin on the ground - most of my usual banker swims turned up nothing - think they were just too spooky in the clear shallow water.
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
0615 - 0945
Mild (13ºC) with an increasingly strong breeze (storm Aiden approaching)
9 Perch: All, bar one, over 8oz with a couple pushing a lb. Still searching for the bigger ones!
Quick session before the rains arrived (started pishing down just as I got back to the car!). One of the advantages of the clocks going back is there's a bit longer to fish before the barges start up and whilst the first one came through at 0830 again - there
Kennet & Avon Canal - Widmead
0715 - 1030
Mild, overcast with some light drizzle and an ever increasing breeze. Canal quite full.
4 Perch: 2 'pounders', biggest 1lb 6oz. 3 Chub: again a brace of pounders - to 1lb 9oz.
Dawn perch raid to a favoured swim of old - been 3 years since I last fished here but for a decade from 05-15 this was a nailed on banker venue for big perch - had dozens and dozens of 3lbers in that time plus a couple of 4s. My last 3 from here was Dec 15 a
Lower Itchen Fishery
0800 - 1800
Bright and breezy, clouding over in the afternoon. River quite full (though has clearly been a lot higher recently)
20 Grayling; 9 over lb - best 4, 2lb 2oz, 1lb15oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 10oz. 4 Chub; 3lb 13oz, 3lb 6oz & 2, lbers. A dozen plus (too many!) trout to 4lb+ - mainly browns with a couple of silver tourists! 2 Salmon Parr.
Very slow morning followed by a lively afternoon. My first half a dozen swims produced just one decent grayling (f
River Kennet - Hambridge
0845 - 1045
Cool and overcast. River at normal levels with minimal colour.
2 Chub: 2lb 9oz & 1lb 14oz. 9 Dace & 6 Roach - nothing of noteworthy size. 1 Brownie.
Quick couple of hours as I needed to get some bait for my trip to the Itchen on Monday - not that I need an excuse to fish one of my favourite (and most reliable) swims on the Kennet. As usual biggest chub first cast and I must find a way of winkling out more than one in a session from
River Kennet - Speen Moors
1015 - 1400
Cool, overcast and quite breezy. River in good nick - not as high or coloured as I expected after all the rain last weekend.
5 Chub; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 6oz & 2 chublets. 1 Perch 1lb 7oz. 30(!) Roach with around a 3rd in the 8-12oz bracket. 12 Dace - all, bar 2, a really good size - biggest weighed in at 11oz but nearly everything else was within an ounce or 2 of this - cracking stuff. 2 Bleak & a Gudgeon.
Super trotting sessio
Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
0700 - 1000
Chilly and bright - clouding over. 3º - 8ºC
6 Perch - only 1 below 8oz but only 1 over lb (and not by much!) 1 Roach c10oz (on a whole lob)
A sudden drop in temps and a bright crisp morning are not the ideal conditions to kick off my autumn perch campaign here - so glad to get any interest at all in my float fished lobs. Started in one of my 'banker' swims which produced all the fish before doing a bit of prospecting which produce
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
1245 - 1615
Overcast, cool and drizzly at first (after 2inches of rain in the previous 24 hours). Water up and coloured.
5 Perch; All 'netters' with a couple nudging a pound. 1 Tench; 2lb 6oz.
Quick 'snatched' session to the venue nearest where I live. Had planned to fish upstream of Newbury today but didn't fancy standing out in the pouring rain all day - so made the most of a short break in the weather (the rains returned as I walked ba
River Kennet - Hambridge
0700 - 1330
Cool (5ºC when I started), bright and breezy. River quite low - normal for Sep.
3 Chub; all 1-2lb. 5 Barbel (!!!); all 12oz-1lb. 8 Dace - all chunky ones in the 6-8oz class with a couple a tad bigger. 4 Brown Trout; one close to 3lb the others circa 12oz+.
Another recce session - following up on some recently acquired intelligence (cheers Martin - spot on! 👍). Been a few years since I last exchanged my NAA card for a CSAS one to fish this
River Kennet - Brimpton (Aldershot water)
1030 - 1400
Warm and sunny. 21ºC. River at normal September levels.
13 Chub(!): 7 over 1lb but 'only' 2 over 2 - best 2lb 10oz & 3lb 2oz. 4 Roach - all a nice size - best 13oz. 2 Dace. 5 Brownies - all around 10oz with one a fair bit bigger.
Another swim I've not fished in a while - though I won't be so tardy revisiting it! Nice to see smaller chub coming through - and the roach were a real bonus as well.
River Kennet - Colthrop
0700 - 1015
Bright and sunny. River at normal early autumn levels (i.e. quite low).
2 Chub - both quite small. 5 Roach - handsized or better. 4 Dace. 12 Gudgeon and a bleak.
Bit of a recce trip as I haven't fished here for a while - ran a float through half a dozen swims on the backstream, giving each half an hour or so.
River Wye, Llanthomas
1630 - 1930
Warm,sunny evening.
2 Barbel: 5lb 14oz & 7lb 7oz.
Mission accomplished! I usually make a point of NOT fishing when I'm on holiday with Mrs P - I tend to stay married that way! However when a long weekend in the Brecons became a week's stay in Hay due to our Greek holiday falling victim of Covid it would have been churlish not to drop in on Geoff's! I've known Geoff over 20 years and around 9 years ago he acquired a mile (double bank) of t
