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2 September

River Kennet - Brimpton 1330 - 2200 Warm, overcast and quite breezy. AT 20ºC - 17ºC (though felt chillier when sat down, fully exposed to the breeze!) River at normal, late summer levels, i.e. quite low. 1 Chub 2lb 11oz. 7 Dace; all quite chunky with a couple of real good-uns at around ½lb a piece. 10 Brownies; 4 between ¾ - 1¼lb, the others all around 6-8oz. 4 hours trotting down the length of the stretch - for the expected 'trout-fest', followed by 4 hours watching a couple

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

28 August

Warwick's Water - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm, overcast and muggy. AT 24ºC - 16ºC. 4 Tench: 7lb 14oz, 4lb 12oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 6oz. Another super evening on my 'new' favourite tench water. That's now 12 tench in 4 evening trips here - on what people keep telling me is a hard water! All the action between 8:15pm and 9:15pm as darkness set in - no bites before or after. All caught on float fished lobs. The biggie was the same fish I had out at the end of July when she was 4oz heavi

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

27 August

Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham  0600 - 1200 Warm, overcast with sunny spells. AT 15ºC - 21ºC. River low and looking a little 'threadbare'! 8 Chub: 4 between ½ - 1½lb and 4 even smaller! 20 Dace - all quite chunky. A doz Roach - all small. 1 Brownie: ¾lb & 1 Rainbow: 2lb. Usual morning's trotting - lots of silvers, as per usual, but hard to find the bigger chub. Loads of crayfish traps have appeared since my last visit earlier in the month, briefly met the trapper and he was

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

23 August

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0700 - 1200 Bright and blustery with Storm Lillian slowly abating. AT 16ºC - 20ºC. River at usual (low) summer levels. 3 Perch: all ¾-1lb. 3 Chub; all small. 29 Roach; mainly small. 1 Dace: - a good-un of around 8oz. 7 Gudgeon. 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies - a 'pounder' and one of around 10oz. For the second Friday running  I find the river stuffed with small roach - lets hope they grow on to be big roach in a few years time ! Started out with lobs - hoping

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

20 August

Marshall's Mere (aka Willows) - Thatcham 1800 - 2230 Bright and very breezy to start. Clear evening becoming quite cool. AT 20ºC - 12ºC 1 Carp 12lb 6oz. 2 Bream - one circa a lb, one way smaller, 4 perch - all small. An evening's fishing by the light of the Sturgeon super-moon - though the angling itself was a tad on the frustrating side. Loads of knocks and liners - which I took to be carp as I bumped a couple - but no sign of my hoped for tench. The swim was briefly fizzing

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

16 August

River Kennet - Hambridge 0600 - 1300 Bright and sunny. AT a cool 11ºC to start, 21ºC when I packed up. River at normal summer levels and with a tinge of colour. 4 Chub: a couple of 2lbers (best 2lb 10oz), one of around 1¼lb and one half that. 4 Perch: 1lb 1oz, 14oz and a couple of tiddlers. 40+ (!!) Roach - most quite small with just a couple needing the net. 14 Dace - all quite chunky but nothing especially noteworthy. 2 Gudgeon. 2 Brownies both c½lb. Super morning's trottin

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

13 August

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm, Milford. 1500 - 2315 Warm and mainly sunny. AT 23ºC - 18ºC. 6 Tench: various sizes, from bars of soap up to a biggest of 4lb 6oz. 3 Crucians - all over a lb, best 1lb 11oz. 8 Roach, 7 Rudd and 3 Perch - 2 tiddlers and one of nearly a lb. A 'sporadic' kind of session with little action during daylight - apart from the roach and rudd snaffling my float fished prawn sections on the drop and a single small tench on the feeder rod. Then had a manic 45 mins

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

9 August

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 1300 - 1500 Warm, bright and breezy. AT 21ºC. River at normal summer levels. 1 Perch 1lb 13oz. 17 Roach - all small. 9 Dace - most quite chunky. Pleasant couple of hours trotting for silvers. I dropped one of the roach back in and realised I had a shoal of perch by my feet - some good-uns too by the glimpses I got! Dropped a bait in and it was snaffled immediately - and not by the biggest of the shoal by any means! Alas, it was my only chan

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8 August

Warwick's Water - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm, overcast very breezy with some light drizzle at times. Perfect conditions, pity no one told the fish! AT 18ºC 1 Tench 3lb 5oz. 2 perch - small. Another crepuscular session - though this was a bit of a struggle compared to my previous two trips here this summer. Bites at a premium despite the swim absolutely fizzing at times. The tench eventually took my bait just as it got dark at a little after 2130 and being a male punched way ab

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6 August

Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham 0530 - 1230 Warm and overcast with rain at times. AT 19ºC. River at normal summer levels. 9 Chub: 4 over a lb, best 2, 3lb 7oz & 3lb. 1 Bream: 1lb 15oz. 4 Doz Roach and Dace (more dace), roach were all small around half the dace were quite chunky. 2 Brownies c2-2½lb. Pleasant morning's trotting with all the fish from just 2 swims on the main river - which I fished in rotation - giving each an hour while I rested the other.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

2 August

River Kennet - Brimpton 1300 - 1500 Warm and sunny. AT 25ºC. River quite low but coloured up somewhat after yesterday's thunderstorms. 2 Chub: 4lb 5oz & 2lb 3oz. 3 Dace - all quite chunky with one good-un in the 8-10oz class. 9 Brownies; 1 'pounder' most of the others 6-10oz. Makes a change for a first cast trout NOT to put the kibosh on my chub chances. Fortunately the fish - which would be my biggest spottie of the afternoon kept deep and didn't thrash the surface to a

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

30 July

Warwick's Water 1830 - 2245 Hot and sultry. AT 29ºC when I arrived and still 23ºC when I left. 4 Tench: 8lb 2oz (new PB), 6lb 0oz, 4lb 7oz, 4lb 3oz. 4 Perch - all small. Wow - second PB of the summer (after my opening day chub) and after a rather unpromising start too. As earlier in the month I began by float fishing worm - but the small perch started depleting my meagre stock of lobs at an alarming rate so I switched to the prawn that I'd put in my bait bucket as a last minu

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

24 July

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1100 - 1500 Warm and mainly overcast with some sunny spells - quite muggy. AT 21ºC. River quite low - normal summer levels. 8 Perch: 5 over a lb - best 3, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 15oz & 2lb 3oz. 4 Chub: 4lb 12oz, 3lb 4oz, a 'pounder' and a chublet. 7 Roach; all fairly small save one that needed the net and was circa 10-12oz. 3 Dace - all good-uns in the 6-8oz class. 6 Gudgeon. Super afternoon's sport, my first trip to Speen this season - all fish from one

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

22 July

Marshall's Mere (aka Willows) - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm, mainly overcast with quite a stiff southerly breeze wafting in the vinegary aromas of the English Provender Company's (makers of Paul Newman salad dressings) factory at Greenham. Kept the mossies and dew at bay. AT 23º - and still 18ºC when I packed up. 2 Tench; 5lb 10oz (a male too) & 5lb 6oz. 3 Carp: 10lb 4oz, 8lb 13oz, 6lb 0oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 1 perch - small. An evening playing (and largely failing) at 'A

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

19 July

Middle Kennet weir-pool - Marsh Benham 1230 - 1500 Hot and sunny. AT 27º - 30ºC. River at normal summer levels. 1 Bream: 2lb 3oz. 8 Dace: all quite chunky with 4 in the 8-10oz class. 2 Roach; small. 1 Bleak. 1 Brownie c1¼lb. Surprisingly decent session given the bright and hot conditions. Fished the south bank, pillbox swim which allows me to cover pretty much the whole weir-pool. All fish caught trotting (of course).

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

16 July

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2300 Warm(ish) and mainly overcast - clouds clearing as it got dark. AT 19º - 15ºC 2 Bream: 4lb 0oz, 3lb 5oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 1 Perch: small. It's that time of year again! The blackberries around these lakes must be an early fruiting variety - the brambles nearer home are still in flower yet I picked nearly 3 pounds in no time at all. Last summer we made over 40lb of jam - this first batch is already on the stove for the start of our 2024 br

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

12 July

River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1530 Warm(ish), mainly overcast with sunny spells. AT 18ºC. River at normal summer levels. 2 Chub: 2lb 7oz & 2lb 2oz. 25 Dace - most quite chunky. 10 Roach: all small apart from one 'netter' of around 10oz. Pleasant afternoon's trotting. All fish (including the chub) from the faster water. Was getting buzzed by a family of Kingfishers (2 parents and 2 juveniles) all session!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

11 July

Warwick's Water - Thatcham 1900 - 2300 Warm and sunny. 21º - 15ºC. 3 Tench: 4lb 11oz, 4lb 8oz, 3lb 11oz. An evening float fishing worm - hoping for a tench but hedging my bets for one of the pond's fabled big perch. What I hadn't reckoned on was one of the water's rogue carp. They are not meant to be in this venue but one grabbed my bait within ½hr of starting and pulled my rod off the rests - a desperate lunge saved the day as I just about grabbed the butt in time before my

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8 July

Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham 0500 - 1100 Cool and overcast after a bright clear start. AT, a decidedly chilly 6ºC to start rising to 15ºC. River at normal levels with a bit of colour after the weekend's downpours. 8 Chub: 3lb 3oz, 3lb 0oz & 6 chublets. 1 Bream 2lb 7oz. 18 Dace - nothing especially noteworthy. 11 roach - small. 1 Perch, c6-8oz. 2 Brownies 2½lb & 3lb. Scratchy start - not helped by my first ever sighting of an otter on this stretch - in the swim I had a

5 July

River Kennet - Brimpton 0930 - 1330 Warm, overcast with drizzle AND sunny spells. AT 17º-20ºC. River at normal summer levels. 2 Chub: 3lb 10oz & 2lb 13oz. 5 Brownies - one of around a lb the others 6-12oz. 'Banker' chub swim produces a brace - the second and bigger one after resting it for 90 mins. The interim was spent exploring new swims and failing to catch anything else without an adipose fin.

1 July - 9th Paul Goulbourn memorial trophy

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fisheries, Milford. 0600 - 2315 Warm(ish) and mainly overcast with showers after dark. AT around 17º/18ºC all day. 5 Tench: best 4lb 9oz & 4lb 6oz. 5 Crucians: best 2lb 10oz - others barely a lb or under. 40+ roach and rudd (slightly more roach) some of the rudd were quite chunky - up to 12oz. 2 Perch - small. Now an annual fixture in the IAC calendar - the Marsh Farm fish-in. And this was a day when, surprise, surprise, everyone caught - with n

28 June

River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1530 Warm and overcast. AT 20ºC. River at normal levels with a slight tinge of colour. 14 Dace & 7 Roach - nothing particularly noteworthy though some of the dace were quite chunky. 2 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies c1½lb and one half that. An acrobatic first cast brownie is never a good start so not surprised that no chub put in an appearance. Had to make do with some lively dace instead. Pic of one of the Gonk's - for Martin!  

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

26 June

Johnsons Lake - Milford 1600 - 2300 Hot and sultry. AT 28ºC - and still 20ºC when I packed up. 2 Tench: 3lb 5oz and a 'pounder'. 12 Perch - all small. Bit of a grueller in the heat. No bites at all with the sun on the water (apart from the nuisance perch). Dusk brought a little more activity - but not from, the hoped for, monster crucians, though I was thankful for anything by the end!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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