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20 June

Middle Kennet (& carrier), Marsh Benham 0445 - 1145 Unbroken sunshine from the off (good thing I was in the shade, under trees all morning!). AT a chilly 6º to start, 21ºC when I left. River at normal levels with a slight tinge of colour. 11 Chub; 7 over 1lb - best 4, 5lb 7oz, 4lb 6oz, 3lb11oz, 3lb 7oz the others all 2lbers, plus 4 chublets. 4 Bream between 1¾ - 3¾lb. 10 Roach - all small. 6 Dace, ditto bar one super specimen of 11oz. Super morning's chubbing on my syndic
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19 June

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse stretch) 1200 - 1500 Warmish, cloudy with sunny spells. AT 18ºC. River at normal levels with a tinge of colour. 1 Grayling; 1lb 14oz (!). 13 Dace mainly small apart from a couple of netters in the 8-10oz class. 10 Roach; mainly hand-sized. 1 Perch c½lb. Quick trotting sesh whilst Mrs P was getting her hair done! Couldn't fish my fav chub slack due to a barge moored right in it - so went off reccie-ing some new swims and caught in 4 of the 5
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18 June

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1600 - 2200 Bright with sunny spells quite breezy at times. AT 20º-12ºC. 2 Tench: 5lb 14oz & 5lb 9oz. 1 Bream: 6lb 13oz. 2 Carp: 6lb 3oz & 7lb 11oz. 1 Perch - small. Summer tenching campaign gets off to a good start with a brace of 5lbers - eventually! I'd caught both carp (and pulled out of 2 more) and the bream before the tincas showed up. My biggest bream from Willows. All fish caught on the float using the lift method on prawn segments. Mus
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17 June

River Kennet - Brimpton 0445 - 0645 Sunny and cool. AT 7ºC. River still quite full for June and quite pacey. 4 Brownies - all 6-10oz. 2 hours trotting and home for brekkie - gotta love June! Though this was a bit of "After the Lord mayor's Show" following yesterday's extravaganza. Things didn't start well as I was greeted by an otter on arrival in my fav chub swim which then produced a splashy troot first cast. A pattern which was then repeated 3 further times in the next 3 s
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16 June 2024

River Kennet - Hambridge 0430 - 1100 Cool with sunny spells. AT 10º - 15º. River with good flow for June and quite clear. 7 Chub: all over a lb. Best 3; 6lb 10oz (New PB), 4lb 9oz, 4lb 2oz - the others all 1½-2½lb. 2 Perch: 3lb 4oz and a tiddler. 3 Grayling: 1lb 14oz, 1lb 6oz & 1lb 4oz (!!!). 1 Pike 3lb. 4 Roach & 3 Dace - all small. 1 Gudgeon. 7 Brownies - a couple of 'pounders' all the others 6-8oz. Blimey - never had a start to the season quite like that! I usually
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Nothing New

Middle of my usual spring hiatus so I thought I'd post up my latest article for one of my club's (NAA) quarterly newsletter... Nothing New! Walk into any tackle shop or browse any bait catalogue and the variety of baits and flavours for sale can be bewildering to the novice (and the more experienced) angler. The Hinders online store, for example, offers over 500 different choices of pellet, particle, boilie, wafter, flavour or glug with the promise of more 'in store'. What to buy
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Season's Bests 2023-24

Another season comes to a close - my first one since retiring and as a consequence I got out a lot more especially in the autumn/winter though plans were somewhat thwarted by the high water levels in the rivers. Since I left work in June we have had 9 consecutive months of significantly above average rainfall. The springs of the Kennet 'broke' unusually early in mid-October (they typically start flowing late December/early January) and as a consequence many venues have been inaccessible  let alo
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14 March

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1400 Mild with sunny spells - topped and tailed with rain. AT 10º-16ºC. River very high and clear. 2 Chub; 5lb 2oz & 3lb 3oz. 3 Roach - all small. 2 Brownies - both 3lb+. Both chub from my south bank slack on the main river. Rested it after catching the 5lber and caught the smaller one when I returned ¾hr later. Best chub from my syndicate stretch this season - a nice way to end the campaign... A Fat Five
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13 March (Part 2)

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 1330  1500 Mild overcast and breezy. AT 12ºC. River very pacey but surprisingly clear given all the rain yesterday. 1 Bream : 2lb. 3 Perch, 1 Roach (all small). Having fished down the Lambourn twice, a quick bite of lunch was followed by a 90 min session in my new favourite chub slack. Alas, ole rubber lips wasn't in residence - a bream taking my bait at just the spot I expected a chub to be!
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13 March (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1300 Mild, overcast and breezy. AT 11/12ºC. River very high - 1.96m on the Shaw gauge (21cm above top of normal range) but crystal clear despite nearly (yet) another ½ inch of rain yesterday. 13 Grayling: 5 over a lb - best 3; 1lb 13oz and 2 @ 1lb 9oz. 2 Brownies - both around 1¼lb (and might have been the same fish!!). Usual rest and return tactics - most fish from 3 swims and most fish on trotted red corn. Not so much The lady of the Str
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8 March (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0915 - 1300 Bright and breezy with a raw Easterly. AT 5º-9º but felt a lot chillier in the wind! River in full flood, in the fields and over the footpaths - but very clear. 5 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 9oz*, 2lb 4oz* and a chublet of around 8-10oz. 1 Brownie c 2½lb. Surprisingly productive morning given the sub-optimal conditions - all fish on trotted maggot from the one swim which I rested for over an hour and caught 2 more chub* when I returned
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8 March (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0700 - 0900 Cool and mainly cloudy with a raw easterly wind. AT 3º-5ºC - but felt sub-zero with the wind chill! 1 Pike: c2lb. 4 Perch all small. Not the most ideal of conditions for a dawn perching session and a bite off from a pike first cast didn't help either - nor did the duck gangbang that kept kicking off in my swim, 1 poor female mallard was being molested by 4 males at the same time! Bites at a premium when things did settle down and
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5 March

River Lambourn - Shaw 1000 - 1400 Cool and mainly cloudy. AT 7º-9ºC. River VERY high but as clear as gin. 1.96m on the Shaw gauge (21cm above top of normal range) - first time I've ever seen sandbags on the Lambourn! 6 Grayling - a couple of pounders (though not by much). 5 Brownies - biggest 3lb+ with another around half that and the rest all small. Scratchy morning on a very pacey river. No swim gave up more than 2 fish and resting and returning was largely unsuccessful - t
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1 March

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1300 Wind and rain to start followed by a couple of hours of sunshine - though I then packed up in a very heavy shower of sleet and hail - 4 seasons in a morning! AT 4º-7ºC. River VERY high (of course) and with a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 4lb 6oz, 3lb 7oz, 2lb 11oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 4 Brownies - all around 3½lb+ I was meant to be fishing the Itchen yesterday but it was called off due to a flooded river. However I'd preppe
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23 February

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1230 Cool with sunny spells. AT 4º-9ºC. River in flood. 1.95m on the Shaw gauge (20cm above top of normal range). Riverside Lane was under water. Also carrying a bit of colour after it rained all day yesterday - fullest I've ever fished it! 17 Grayling: 9 over a lb, best 4: 1lb 15oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 7oz. 5 brownies all around 4-6oz. The ever reliable Lambourn comes up trumps again. Most fish from 4 swims which, as I had the place to mys
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20 February

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 0900 - 1230 Mild and mainly overcast. AT 8º-12ºC.  River very pacey and VERY coloured up (AGAIN!) after heavy weekend rains. 5 Roach - all fairly small. Bit of a gamble given the state of the river - but my new favourite chub slack has been producing is such conditions this winter. This morning however I fluffed my lines - I was briefly connected to something solid within a few minutes of starting, alas, a maggot folded over the hook point
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16 February

Middle Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham  0930 - 1430 Mild, mainly cloudy with sunny spells. AT 12ºC. River very pacey with a tinge of colour. 2 Chub: 3lb 6oz, 2lb 3oz. 16 Roach - all quite small. 1 Dace (ditto). 4 Bleak. Nice to see some silvers showing again! Usually when the Kennet is in flood this carrier is a mecca for silver fish and one of this season's mysteries was where had they got too - all syndicate members had struggled to find them. Nothing of any size alas
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13 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0930 - 1400 Overcast with constant drizzly rain, with the wind picking up considerably for last hour. AT 7º-9ºC. 11 Perch: 5 over a lb - best two 2lb 11oz & 1lb 14oz. Biggest perch first cast! And they seemed to get progressively smaller as the morning wore on! Had intended to stay until dusk but it was becoming rather unpleasant in the wind and with no bites for an hour and with a biggie already under my belt, the "I'll be glad when I've
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9 February (Part 2)

River Lambourn - Shaw 1115 - 1415 Mild, breezy with some sunny spells and some drizzle. AT 11ºC. River VERY high. 1.95m on the Shaw gauge - 20cm above the top of normal range and 27cm higher than my last visit here. Even had a tinge of colour! 13 Grayling - 7 over 1lb - best 1lb 7oz. 5 Brownies - a pounder and 4 parrs. Never seen the Lambourn so high - took chesties and needed them to stand up to my thighs in water, where I'd normal stand on dry land! Also very rare to see it
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9 February (Part 1)

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse stretch) 0900 - 1100 Mild, breezy and drizzly. AT 11ºC. River very pacey and very coloured up (again!) - after 42mm of rain in the past 48hrs. 1 Chub: 6lb 2oz - SB. 1 Roach - hand-sized. En route to the Lambourn I thought I'd drop in on my 5lber slack for an hour (herein after called my 6lber slack!) With the Kennet the colour of builder's tea I really wasn't at all hopeful but the roach first cast gave me a glimmer of confidence - rewarded
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6 February

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1400 Mild, overcast and very windy! AT 11º-13ºC. River still very pacey with a little colour but well within its banks at last. 1.16m on the E Stoke gauge still higher than I would have liked but lowest since early autumn! 11 Grayling: 7 over 1lb - best: 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 7oz. 1 Trout - small. 6 Salmon parr. 2 trip of the season to Dorset - and looking at the forecast for the next week probably my last - heavy rain will stuff the river up for se
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2 February

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1500 Mild, overcast and quite breezy. AT 11ºC. River continues to fall - now at normal winter levels - clear and pacey and still breaching the banks in places - but passable with wellies. 5 Chub: 4lb 12oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 3oz. 2 Roach - small. 5 Brownies 1½-2½lb. 1 Sea Trout (!) c 2½lb. A full day on my syndicate stretch - a morning on the main river - pleased that I can at last get access to some of the mai
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30 January (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1400 Mild and overcast. AT 7ºC River very high and clear, but down a few inches on last week. 1 Chub 3lb 10oz. Bit of a recce to see if I could actually access the river. Pleased to say I could (just), so it would have been churlish not to have a few minutes with my grayling gear. One bite, one fish - normal service is resumed!!
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