River Kennet - Brimpton
0530 - 1130
Hot and sultry. AT 19ºC when I left home at 0445! River still seeing the benefits of a wet spring.
6 Chub: 4lb 3oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 10oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 2oz. 10 Dace - 4 over 8oz - best 10oz. 10 Brownies - mostly small - with 3 over lb.
Lovely morning'c chubbing - the more so as I spent most of it up to my thighs in cool Kennet water. Nice stamp of fish which came from 3 separate swims.As ever, these days the trout were a bit of a pain -
Alders Lake - Thatcham
1800 - 2230
Bright and breezy.
1 Tench - unweighed but around a pound.
Hopeful that the recent rain might have pepped things up a bit - though the opposite looked likely as the water appeared quite lifeless. Thankful for a solitary bite - which I missed - but the tench belied its size by nearly pulling my rod in!
River Kennet - Marsh Benham
0830 - 1430
Warm, bright and breezy with a couple of lumpy showers. River still higher than anticipated and carrying quite a bit of colour.
2 Pike; both 3lbers, 7 Chublets, 1½doz Roach. 1 Doz Dace, 1 Perch, 1 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak and a Trout.
First trip of the season to 'my' syndicate stretch of river - both pike on ledgered meat from the weirpool - had me thinking I hooked small barbel both times!
Alders Lake
1830 - 2230
Hot and sultry - a shirtsleeves and DEET evening!
2 bream both a couple of ounces either side of 2lb, 1 Tench circa 1lb and a roach.
First soirée here of the summer. All fish came in a 45 period from 2100 as it started to get dark.
Willows Lake - Thatcham
2000 - 0500
Warm (min 16ºC), overcast and drizzly most of the night especially early on.
8 Carp; biggest 18lb 5oz - all the rest between 5¾lb - 9¼lb. 1 Tench - circa 1lb and a skimmer.
A night of 2 halves - started float fishing the margins targetting the lake's rare but large crucians - and sure enough had crucians rolling in my swim repeatedly as it got dark - so hopes were high! Alas the carp kept getting to the bait first and when I didn't connect wit
Northcroft Stream - Newbury
0430 - 0815
Warm with cloudless skies. River looked in surprisingly good nick - still reasonable flow.
2 Chub - both circa 1lb (and possibly same one - caught nearly 3 hours apart!), 2 doz dace & 9 Roach.
Pre breakfast trotting session - hopeful for some ( bigger) chub which didn't show up.
3rd Paul Goulbourn Memorial Trophy - Harris Lake - Marsh Farm.
0800 - 0800
Hot, bright and breezy. Breeze never really died down even at night.
19 Tench - biggest 5lb 4oz with nearly all the rest in the 3½-4½lb class. 13 Crucians; 3 over 2lb (just!) - biggest 2lb 3oz. Around half the rest were 'Big 1's' (had 3 @ 1lb 15oz!). 3 Roach, 3 Rudd & 4 Perch.
IAC came out in force to do Pauls' memory proud! Record attendance at this meant £400 being raised for Sue Ryder. Despite chall
Jubilee Lake - Thatcham
1400 - 0500
Clear and breezy - night was cool and clear but not as cool as forecast (kept too busy to get cold!)
10 Carp; 23lb 10oz (!), 11lb 15oz, 10lb 11oz, 10lb 6oz, 10lb 4oz, 9lb 14oz, 9lb 5oz, 8lb 13oz, 8lb 6oz, 7lb 7oz, (Over 110lb of carp!). 2 Tench 3lb 11oz & 3lb.
Last year I made the mistake of fishing here in the school holidays - and got very irritated by the noise from other anglers. No such worries last night - I had the lake to myself on
River Kennet - Thatcham (2 venues)
0900 - 1400
Warm, muggy and overcast.
A dozen + dace, 2 perch (both around 10-12oz), 1 roach, 1 Gudgeon & 2 brownies - 12-16oz.
A visit here is now more by habit than expectation - long gone are the days when you could hope to winkle out a few barbel on the float - though I was still hopeful of chub. However just getting to a swim was a battle - head high nettles meant I just hacked my way into a couple of spots and din't venture downstream
Warwicks Water
1000 - 1400
Overcast and breezy.
A dozen or so perch.
A quick recce to see how the clubs crucian project is coming along (and I'd heard of crucians and tench being caught!). Alas if the micro-perch didn't nail the bait the crayfish did - the lake bed is covered in the critters - I dropped a piece of meat at my feet to see the mayhem that ensued!!! Can't see how the fish get a look-in!
River Kennet
0400 - 0830 Thatcham
0915 - 1300 Newbury
Overcast start with some light drizzle - river very full for the time of year and quite coloured (boat traffic)
Thatcham - 1 chub 2¼lb, 6 dace, 1 roach, 1 Grayling and 4 Brownies to 2lb+
Newbury - 15+ dace, 2 grayling - both over 1lb!! & a couple more troot.
Wasn't going to continue this blog until somone unexpectedly asked if I was continuing and as I said yes I better put something up!!! Very pleasant start to the seas
Local lake 7 - 9.30pm
Aim was to catch some quality roach on float and sweetcorn, feeding hemp. At the first peg I couldn't get past an army of skimmers, so switched peg. Almost immediately I had a nice fish of 1lb 13oz that looked roachy, but I am sure wasn't. The scales weren't bright enough for a silver bream, so I concluded it was a roach bream hybrid. But to be sure I took out my camera that I had put in the bag a year ago when a similar fish identification issue came up, only to find the
3.45-6.30pm Club Lake
Fished 2 rods, one in the middle with feeder and 8mm pellet for bream, one in the margins with sweetcorn for tench. Was pleased to have success on both rods with 2 bream, best 5lb 10oz, and a tench of 3lb 3oz from the margins.
Middle Kennet Estate Water - Kintbury.
0700 - 1800 (!)
Mainly overcast though mild with a strong southerly breeze. River 'full' with a little colour - in great winter nick.
25 Chub(!): Apart from 4 X1lb class fish which turned up in my various 'dace' swims at first and last knockings, all 3lb class fish. 3 over 4lb @ 4lb 14oz, 4lb 6oz & 4lb 1oz. 6 Dace - one decent fish of 10oz. 4 Roach - including one @ 12oz. 1 Gudgeon (possibly my first ever from here!). A dozen brownies to 3lb
Kennet Carrier (& main river!) Marsh Benham
0700 - 1600
Mild and becalmed. River quite high up nearly a foot on my last visit in Jan.
14 Chub; 11 over 1lb - best 3lb 12oz, 30+Roach, 6 Dace, a dozen + Brownies to 3lb.
End of season bash part 1!! Again invited Rusty to join me on my syndicate bit of river - and he actually caught some chub this time! Also got to meet some other members - first time I've met another angler here!
River Kennet - Brimpton
0730 - 1000
Bright and sunny after a foggy start - mild. River quite full with a bit of colour - in lovely winter 'nick'.
3 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 5oz. 1 Brownie.
Breakfast on the river for some fine winter's chub then home to cook the Sunday roast for Mother's Day.
River Lambourn - Newbury
0700 - 1100
Mild and Overcast. 8ºC. River quite 'full' and up a good couple of inches.
25 Grayling; Biggest 1lb 12oz with a lot of fish an ounce or two ±1lb. 2X 2lb+ Brownies !
Default cure for cabin fever after all the snow and ice. Big grayling first fish of the day and biggest lady from the Lambourn in over 5 years (since Dec 2012) - a dark fish that was almost completely jet black - as the big old ladies often are!
Northcroft Stream & River Lambourn, Shaw.
0700 - 0815
&
0830 - 1130
Cold, and sunny. -3ºC -> +3ºC
2 Dace & a 2½lb brownie from Northcroft.
20 Grayling (biggest 20oz) and 3 small brownies from Shaw.
A chilly morning's trotting. Started by trying to coax a chub or 2 from Northcroft - but quickly realised they weren't to be tempted. So it was off to Shaw for some easy grayling. Venue was rather busy with 7 other anglesr!!!
River Kennet - Speen Moors
0700 - 1300
Cool, bright and sunny after a frosty start. River full and clear.
2 Trout - both over 2lb.
A real struggle of a day despite the river looking in good nick. Walked miles to fish all my usual 'banker' swims and hardly had a bite - and when the float did go under it was a pesky trout responsible!
Lower Itchen Fishery
0830 - 1600.
Drizzle all day becoming quite breezy! AT around 8/9ºC after a frosty start. River quite 'full' with a little colour.
18 Grayling - with a dozen or so 1lb or better! Best 4 went 2lb 10oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 12oz X2. 3 Chub 4lb 7oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 6oz. 2 Brownies;3lb+ & 2lb +.
A soggy day on the Itchen with the IAC. 20 of us getting together for the 3rd Paul Goulbourn grayling day. Raising money for Sue Ryder in the process. Despite the conditions
River Kennet - Brimpton
0800 - 1100
Cold and bright after a cloudy start. AT around 1ºC but felt MUCH colder in a biting NE wind - should think the wind chill was sub zero! . River 'full' and quite clear.
2 Chub 3lb 7oz & 2lb 8oz. I Brownie of 2lb.
Chilly morning after the chub - and bites were at a premium - so very happy to winkle a couple out! Fished 3 swims and had both chub from the last one visited.
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
0800 - 1500
Mild, mainly overcast and breezy (too breezy!) AT around 10-11ºC all day.
1 Pike; 4lb 6oz, A doz+ Perch - nothing over 8oz, 2 Chub (small), 3 Bleak.
Another fruitless hunt for big stripeys. Wind was a real PITA blowing straight downstream and making presentation really difficult!
River Kennet - Thatcham
1500 - 1700
Cool and sunny AT around 4ºC. River quite full with most colour dropped out.
2 Doz dace - with over half in the 8-10oz range !! 2 Brownies to circa 1lb.
With a really crappy weather forecast for Saturday AND Sunday - bunking off work early and snatching a couple of hours on the river was the order of the day - though I didn't expect to still be able to see a float at 5pm - spring is just around the corner (maybe!). Was hoping for a chub or 2 bu
