River Kennet - Hambridge
0945 - 1245
Bright sunshine, calm and quite mild (9ºC). River FULL! Bank high and up another 6 inches or so on my last visit here at the begining of the month - little colour though.
2 Perch; 2lb 11oz & 2lb 8oz. 8 Grayling - (all 6-10oz), 2 Roach, 1 Dace & 3 Brownies to circa 1lb.
So, the plan for today was to start on a favourite flood water swim - hoping to snaffle a big chub and then switch to the canal for the witching hour for some perch.
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
1345 - 1615
Dull, calm and cool. AT 7ºC despite forecasts promising double figures!
7 Perch; 1lb 8oz, 1lb 5oz & 5 smalluns.
Lovely benign afternoon on the canal - near perfect winter weather for perching - though would have preferred it to be a bit milder. Biggest 2 on the dinner bell time of 4 o'clock!
River Lambourn - Shaw
1000 - 1300
Cool (7ºC) and drizzly - river very full and with a merest hint of colour.
5 Grayling - all smallish & 5 Brownies (ditto apart from one 'netter')
As Sam was in Newbury for the NAC Boxing Day run and Jaq was hitting the sales - I had the perfect excuse for a quick session (not that I need an excuse!). Picked here as I wanted to see what the river was like now they've removed the gauge weir plus I wanted to try out my new wading boots. Fish
River Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham
0845 - 1245
Mild with bright sunshine. River very full - up at least a foot on normal levels and quite coloured (for here!)
3 Chub; 2 over 1lb (but not by much!), 20 Dace and Roach in equal nos - some quite chunky ones too - best roach was 14oz and had 3 dace over 8oz. 4 Brownies from 2lb to over 4lb & a Rainbow of nearly 5lb!
Winter chub hunt thwarted by troot turning up in all my banker swims, some really chunky ones too, which didn't
River Lambourn - Newbury
1130 - 1430
Cool (3º->6ºC), bright and very blowy! River well up and with just a hint of colour.
25 Grayling; With half over 10oz. Best 1lb 4oz with quite a few more an ounce or two shy of that. 3 Brownies, a lber and a couple of parr fish.
Default venue when the Kennet has burst it's banks (It's flowing into on of our club lakes atm!). Usual catch a couple and move on tactics, though I did get 8 or 9 from one spot including the biggest one.
K&A Canal - Woolhampton
1330 - 1615
Bright & breezy - with one very lumpy shower. AT 10º ->6ºC
7 Perch; 5 over 1lb, best 3, 1lb 9oz, 1lb 11oz & 2lb 2oz.
Similar conditions to Friday's session though slightly LESS windy. Fished a different swim and had all 3 bigger ones in the last half an hour - getting progressively bigger. All 3 had damaged flanks, seems they've all escaped the attentions of the local pike!
K&A Canal - Woolhampton
1515 - 1615
Mild and breezy with heavy, squally showers. 11ºC
5 Perch; 4, lbers - though not by much - best 1lb 7oz.
Left work early for a last minute decision to make the most of the mild snap and have a last hour of daylight on the canal. All the bites came a few minutes either side of 4 o'clock - and resulted in fish of a remarkably similar stamp - here's hoping there are still some bigger ones to be found!
River Kennet - Hambridge
0945 - 1330
Cold (2 - 5ºC) and quite sunny. River high (well over a foot up on my last visit here in Sep) but with very little colour.
3 Chub; 5lb 7oz, 4lb 10oz &1¾lb, 2 Grayling, 1 Dace & 3 Brownies to circa 1lb.
Cracking brace of chub from one of my favourite flood water pools. Fish in splendid winter condition. Wished I'd brought a spinning rod with me - a pike kept attacking my float as I reeled in (but not any of the fish!)
K&A Canal - Enborne
0730 - 1230
Dull, mild and calm. Ideal weather for perch. Canal however was very coloured up which was less than ideal.
1 Perch - small - barely longer than the lob it gorged on! 2 Roach.
Bit of an epic fail. Had high hopes for today - milder weather and reports of big stripeys had me setting off full of expectation. Hadn't planned on the canal being so coloured however - and somewhat strangely above Guyers Lock it was clear - enough to see the bottom.
River Kennet Carrier & Weirpool - Marsh Benham
0900 - 1400
Cool 6ºC, overcast and still - a lovely benign autumn's day! River 'full' with little colour more like late winter levels than late autumn - augurs well for the rest of the season!
6 Chub 5 over 2½lb - best 3lb 8oz. 20 Roach - all a 'nice size' best 13oz with many not far shy of that. 7 Dace. 3 Brownies all 2lb+ and 2 Rainbows - both around 3lb (could have been the same fish!)
Very pleasant morning's trotting - gr
River Lambourn - Newbury
0745 - 1130
Bright and sunny - river quite full after recent rains - but gin clear as always!
21 Grayling - nearly all over 8oz with quite a few over 12oz biggest 2 weighed in at 1lb 13oz & 1lb 9oz. A doz Brownies - most quite small with a couple of pounders.
Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - chasing the maggots downstream! Session was bookended by the two biggest fish - biggest of the morning was on my second trot through and finished of
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
0645 - 1230
Mild, overcast with light drizzle for the first couple of hours.
5 Perch; a couple of pounders but not by much - best 1lb 4oz. 1 Chub circa 12oz, 3 Roach - one of 12oz - on a whole lob and 2 smalluns, 4 Bleak.
Had the day off to fish the Frome on the first day of the season (it's open for 4 months from 1st Nov) but rain in Dorset this week put paid to that idea - so it was back to my autumn stripey
River Lambourn - Shaw
1000 - 1230
Bright and sunny.
11 Grayling; 5 in the 12-16oz bracket. 7 Brownies.
Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - most fish from the church stretch.
Northcroft Stream - Newbury
0645 - 0945
Cool, bright and sunny. River up a touch and with a hint of colour.
1 Chub; 1¾lb, 11 Roach - best 14oz. 9 Dace, 1 Perch & a Gudgeon.
Trotted maggot. Most fish from the weirpool.
River Kennet - Brimpton
0800 - 1115
Bright and sunny. river up a couple of inches and carrying a bit of colour - looked perfect!
5 Chub: 5lb 11oz, 4lb 14oz, 3lb 5oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 0oz. 3 brownies - 2 over 1lb...
Cracking morning's trotting - all the chub from the same swim - took it nice and slow - fed well before my first cast then rested & fed between each fish - certainly paid off as I don't usually get more than a couple at any one time....
Lower Itchen Fishery
0800 - 1800
Rain, rain and more rain - yes pretty much non-stop all day - though thankfully not particularly heavy apart from a few brief 'pulses'! River carrying a tinge of colour but otherwise looked in fine fettle!
3 Doz Grayling with half of these 1lb+. Best, 1lb 15oz with another half dozen in the 1lb10oz - 1lb12oz class. 3 Chub; 3lb 11oz and a brace of 2lbers. 9 Brownies - all between 2½-3½lb. 3 Salmon; 2 parr and a grilse of 5lb - o
This was a special fishing holiday near Pontivy in Brittany to fish the River Blavet and the Nantes-Brest Canal which it flows in and out of. I had heard from blogs on-line, and also a reliable report on Anglers Net, that the roach (to 1lb 8 oz) and bream (to 6lbs) fishing here was prolific, with nets of around 50lbs regularly available in a session. Also the locals mainly fish for predators, to be taken away and eaten, so I assumed the roach and bream wouldn't be too 'hook shy.'
Alas, that
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
0700 - 1430
Mild, overcast and becalmed - perfect perching weather - pity no one told the perch!
5 Chub to 2lb 2oz. 1 Perch - small, 8 Roach - with a couple needing the net - both just shy of 12oz. 4 Gudgeon & 2 Bleak.
Another frustrating day on the canal - this time I had incessant boat traffic to contend with - had hoped to get at least a couple of hours peace but the first boat came through at 0710 when
Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington
0700 - 1400
Mild and VERY gusty with drizzle for the first couple of hours or so (lovely - not!)
1 doz+ perch - most around to 10-12oz mark but couldn't find anything bigger (which what I was after primarily). 2 doz+ roach nothing big), 1 Gudgeon (1st of the season), 1 Dace, 1 Chublet and a Skimmer.
'Orrible session! Wind was a nightmare for casting and presentation (and nearly knocked me off my feet twice). Fishe
River Kennet - Newbury
0930 - 1400
Overcast, breezy with some light drizzle at times. River up a couple of inches and quite coloured after yesterday's inch of rain.
4 Chub; all between 10oz - 1½lb. 2 Perch; 1lb 6oz and a tiddler. 7 Dace. 4 Roach. 1 Bream c1½lb. 2 Grayling & a brownie.
Was meant to be up on the Trent today at an IAC fish-in - but Jaq and I abandoned our plans for the week (exploring the Lincolnshire Wolds) due to the inclement weather so had to make do with on
River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham
0900 - 1430
Overcast and fairly warm (18ºC). River low and clear.
6 Chub: Biggest 3lb 15oz the rest all less than half that! 3 Doz Dace and Roach in roughly equal nos. A couple of really nice dace of 10 & 11oz and quite a few roach in the 6-8oz class with a couple bigger ones (best went 12oz). 3 Perch - best nearly 1lb, 1 Bleak.
Lovely day's trotting. Did try a couple of hours ledgering - with no return
Willows Lake - Thatcham
1900 - 0600
Warm night, quite breezy at times - temps no lower than 14ºC
4 Carp - biggest 8lb 11oz.
Slow, fruitless night after this lake's big, elusive crucians. Float fished, so when the float did go under there was some 'interesting action' on light-ish tackle - but not really what I came here for!
Bucklebury Ponds
1500 - 1730
Bright, warm and sunny.
A doz roach tp ¾lb. 5 Perch. 4 Skimmers.
No fishing this weekend - upto Birmingham to watch the athletics - so a snatched couple of hours at my nearest venue to home - most of the roach were a 'nice' size.
