Lower Itchen Fishery
0830 - 1700
Bright and breezy (very at times), River well up and coloured from yesterday's heavy rain - though conditions gradually improved throughout the day.
9 Grayling; best 1lb 8oz. 2 Brownies - 2½lber and a parr.
4th IAC Paul Goulbourn memorial grayling day - so it was nice to catch up with some old friends. Fishing was a challenge for all though as the river fined down I think most caught a few. Gary, who I fished with all day, was the star of the show
River Kennet - Newbury
1100 - 1330
Cold, bright and sunny with snow on the ground AT -2ºC -> 3ºC. River up a couple of inches but running gin clear.
2 Chub: 2lb 9oz, 2lb 2oz. 3 Grayling - all 8-10oz. 3 Brownies to crica 1lb.
Lovely crisp winter's day (though I got stuck in snow in the car park and some kind souls dug me out and gave me a push!) Chub and grayling are reliable quarry when the thermometer is close to zero and I wasn't disappointed despite the very bright conditio
K&A Canal - Woolhampton
1400 - 1615
Mild, overcast and breezy with drizzly showers turning to rain. AT 10ºC. WT 9.1ºC
3 Perch; 1lb 9oz, 1lb 4oz, 13oz. 1 Pike 2lb 4oz. 2 Chub(lets)
Mild snap had me heading for the canal in pursuit of stripeys. Didn't get a bite until 1530 then a flurry of fish around 4 o'clock - usual pattern for winter perching on the canal!
River Lambourn - Newbury
0830 - 1045
Mild and overcast. River low.
19 Grayling. Over half a couple of ounces either side of 1lb with the biggest, a lovely jet black fish of 1lb 10oz. 2 brownies - both small.
Usual catch a couple and move on trotting tactics.....
River Kennet - Brimpton
1015 - 1515
Cold, bright and sunny. River low - very low for mid Jan
2 Chub; 3lb 1oz & 1½lb. 1 Brownie 2½lb
A bright sparkly day though not ideal conditions - perseverance paid off - didn't get a bite until 1430 then 3 fish in half an hour from swims that appeared devoid of fish a couple of hours earlier (sun was off the water!)
River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham
0930 - 1530
Overcast, mild and quite breezy. River down on a fortnight ago (well we have had zero rainfall in that time).
3 Chub; 4lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz & 2lb 11oz. 1 Pike 2lb 10oz, 4 doz Roach & Dace (roughly 2 -1 ratio). Biggest roach 12oz with a lot more circa 8oz. 2 Brownies 4lb 14oz & a pounder, 2 Rainbows - both 3lbers (possibly same one!)
Chilled out birthday trip! Carrier was very low so fish w
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
1300 - 1600
Mild, cloudy and benign - perfect perching weather. AT 10ºC
9 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz - the others all around 8-10oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb and a Rudd(!)
The CRT have made it very difficult to locate big stripeys on the canal - by removing pretty much every bit of over hanging vegetation from miles of bank - however conditions were ideal for winter perch so a roving approach - travelling light and giving sw
River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham
0930 - 1430
Cool and misty morning with bright sunshine after 1200. River lower than I expected and quite clear.
8 Chub; Biggest 3lb most of the rest 1¾ - 2¾lb. 1 Bream 2lb 15oz, 3 Doz Roach - all quite chunky but nothing over ½lb. 2 Dace, 1 Rainbow 2½lb and a Brownie of 3lb +
Lovely winter's day in West Berkshire. Chub were very obliging even if my biggest of the day was caught first cast. Bream fought harder than any bream I've ever hooke
River Kennet - Thatcham
0945 - 1145
Cool and bright. River up a touch with some colour.
1 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 1 Grayling; 1lb 9oz. 2 Dace, 1 Perch
Quick session while Mrs P hit the sales. Super grayling for this part of the river - my biggest from here.
River Lambourn - Newbury
0830 - 1100
Mild and overcast - river still quite low and gin clear as always....
22 Grayling; Biggest 1lb 8oz with around half the rest a couple of ounces either side of a pound. 1 Roach: 1lb 2oz. 2 Brownies - a 2lber and a parr.
Quick trotting session usual catch a couple and move on tactics - nice to get another decent roach from here.
River Kennet - Newbury
1015 - 1315
Cool, cloudy and calm. River up a couple of inches after yesterday's rain but not carrying much colour.
8 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 10oz & 3 X 1-2lbers. 1 Grayling 1lb 1oz, 1 Dace, 1 Roach & 5 Brownies - to 2¼lb.
Another super winter's chubbing - first 3 trot throughs all produced fish (after spending 10 mins feeding) and thereafter the fish came in 'bursts' 20-30 mins without a bite followed by another 2 or 3 fish i
River Kennet - Brimpton
1045 - 1415
Bright and sunny after a brief but torrential shower. River lower than I expected after a wet week and carrying a tinge of colour.
6 Chub: 6lb 4oz, 5lb 6oz, 4lb 7oz, 3X 1-2lbers. 1 brownie circa 1lb.
I've fished Brimpton regularly since I joined NAA in 1982 and whilst I catch 5lb+ chub most seasons I've never had a 6 until today! Thing is I didn't even plan to fish here today but I turned up at Hambridge to find
K&A Canal Thatcham & River Kennet - Arrowhead
0730 - 1315
Mild, breezy with light drizzly showers.
8 dace - all a 'nice' size (6-8oz class), 1 chublet & a gudgeon.
Another fruitless perch hunt, not a bite (at least from something that didn't have claws!) on the canal so finished off with an hour on the river.
K&A Canal Enborne (& Speen Moors)
0715 - 1230 (with an hour at Speen in the middle)
Cool, overcast with drizzly rain for a couple of hours.
1 Chub; 2lb 9oz.
Fruitless search for a perch - not a single bite on the canal - and not a lot of interest on the river after the first cast chub!!
River Frome - Wool
0730 - 1330
Overcast with a cool easterly breeze - brightening up as I packed up. River low with (dropped over 40cm since last weekend) 67cm on the East Stoke River Gauge.
7 Grayling; 3 over 1lb went 2lb 5oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 8oz. 1 Bream 7lb 14oz (!), 1 Roach 8oz, 6 Brownies - all quite small.
I ummed and ahhhed about renewing my DDAS card this winter - the last 2 seasons have been very scratchy and its a long way to travel to catch
I've always wanted to fish the middle Stour since someone told me it was a place where you could reasonably rely on a good bag of roach with a good chance of a fish over 1lb. I was able to combine it with visiting a family member. Would the fishing come up to expectation?
15 Nov 1.30-4.30pm. The fishing shop steered me in the direction of a 'mill pond', weir pool really. But this immediately raised a question. Where on earth in a weir pool do you find roach? Such experience as I have of weir
Northcroft Stream
0730 - 0915
River Lambourn - Shaw
0930 - 1145
Bright and sunny after early morning rain (just stopping as I started to fish) Rivers (especially the Lambourn) surprisingly unaffected by recent rains (unlike the Dorset Frome which was Plan A for today!
Northcroft: 2 Chub, 3lb 8oz & 2lb 11oz. 4 Dace and 3 Roach.
Shaw: 11 Grayling to 1lb 3oz & 2 small brownies.
Both chub from weir pool at Northcroft - pretty much my only bites from there. Shaw was
River Lambourn - Newbury
0700 - 0930
Bright and sunny - milder than recently (no frost). River very low.
21 Grayling; Nearly all fish in the 10-14oz bracket - with quite a few just over 1lb too. Biggest 1lb 5oz. 2 Brownies.
Catcha couple and move on downstream tactics - though in the low water it was often sight fishing - watching the fish take the bait - and trying to get the biggest in each shoal!
River Kennet - Newbury
0930 - 1345
Bright and cold start, clouding over. AT no higher than 5ºC all day. River at normal autumn levels (actually slightly up on some previous autumns) and carrying a LOT of leaf litter.
4 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz. 5 Grayling; Best 1lb 3oz. 13 Dace (quite a few in the 6-8oz bracket), 5 Roach and 5 small brownies.
A morning's trotting in the cold - this venue is starting to return to it's old productiv
River Kennet - Padworth
1800 - 2200
Cool and clear (down to 5ºC when I packed up - but came better prepared this time!)
Blanked
Not enough daylight for a blank saving trotting session so it was straight out with the ledgering rods for 4 hours at staring at static isotopes. Again no crayfish activity and YET AGAIN saw an otter come through just after setting up. Also had a barn owl swoop between the trees not far above my head!
Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
0700 - 1100
Cool, bright and sunny.
5 Perch - all around 6-10oz.
The CRT really are a bunch of ****s! I rocked up at first light and made my way to a spot I knew held good perch - a nice bush and fallen branch on the far bank which produced 1lb+ perch (and some nice chub) for me last season - but which also produced a 3lb stripey last year (I've seen the pics!). This feature is on the widest part of the canal
River Kennet - Brimpton
1730 - 2230
Cool, clear evening, lovely for spotting the conjunction of the moon and Mars but not great for sitting on the riverbank with insufficient clothing! River at normal autumn levels.
4 Roach & 2 Dace.
Another fruitless attempt at a Kennet barbel without the hoped for trotted chub as hors d'oeuvres! No crayfish activity at all (there's been extensive trapping here recently) but an otter came through my swim just
Lower Itchen Fishery
0830 - 1830
Warm (still 19ºC when I got home at 2030!), overcast and very windy - rainy for the first hour or so. River very low and weedy with lots of leaf litter and detached weed coming down.
50+ Grayling - nearly every fish in the 12oz-1lb class with a lot just over 1lb too. Nothing substantially bigger - alas - best went 1lb 7oz. 2 Chub; 3lb 5oz & 2lb 14oz. 1 Roach (13oz) & 10 brownies to 2½lb.
A very blowy day in
