Jump to content

Blogs

14 September

Alders Lake - Thatcham   0930 - 1330   Bright and Breezy. 17ºC   3 Bream - 3lb 4oz & 2 skimmers. 3 perch & 1doz+ rudd.   A short session to check up on the 'progress' of this lake which suffered a total fish kill 6 years ago. And my verdict would be is that it seems to be thriving on neglect!!! Since 2005 it has been re-modelled and stocked as a non-carp venue (though a few snuck in during the floods of 07). Because of this it is much clearer than

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

A double header

River Kennet, Thursday 8th & Friday 9th September 2011   With the lack of fishing in recent weeks I decided to take a couple of days off work and visit some venues which haven’t received much attention from me in the past. I suppose you’d call them barbel venues, they’re certainly popular with the static bait brigade during late afternoon and evenings but rarely do you see a ‘pin user during daylight hours. With little knowledge of either venue these were definitely recce trips and very w

Rusty

Rusty

10 September

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   0630 - 1100   Overcast, muggy and breezy. 17º -> 20ºC   4 Carp; 7lb & 3 ± 5½lb. 6 roach.   A morning spent mainly watching a stationary float - despite fishing single red maggot on a size 18. Was hoping for a crucian or two to put in an appearance but in the end was happy when a few muscular commons turned up. Thankfully this pond is pretty snag free so was able to wear them out on light tackle....!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

September 4th - Club Match 7 - Frogmore

I missed the last two club matches, the first due to being at the Stoney and Friends Charity Fish-in at Yateley blanking on The Pads lake and the second due to being on holiday in Cornwall with my wife. Whilst in Cornwall we did fish from Newlyn harbour wall on a couple of evenings, first evening Wife caught 3 - a Gar, a Mackerel and a small Pollock and for me - nothing! Second evening I managed a Mackerel.   For Club match 7 we were back at Frogmore and the entry was limited to 24 and "so

Maddog

Maddog

7 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2300   Cool and very breezy. Continuous rain & drizzle from 2000. 12ºC. Autumn has arrived! And to think I even brought a pair of binoculars with me last night hoping to take a peak at the supernova in M101 - fat chance with 100% cloud cover.....   6 Chub; 2 'pounders' and 4 chublets. 3 Dace, 3 Roach (1 over ½lb), 3 gudgeon.   Similar session to last week - though a few hundred yards downstream. Paul had spotted a couple of nice looking swims which

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Swim downgraded to 'has potential'

River Kennet, Saturday 3rd September 2011   Well I had to open my big mouth didn’t I. No sooner had I uttered the words ‘banker swim’ than all barbel vacated that particular stretch of the Kennet in favour of somewhere else.   The day started encouragingly, I got the early start I wanted and arrived just as it was getting light enough to see my way to the swim. Pre-baiting took place while I set up the rod and the first few trots produced a string of nice dace, some chublets and the odd br

Rusty

Rusty

2/3 September

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley Complex   1900 - 0200   Warm, muggy evening - despite clear skies - really lovely night to be out. Temps down to 13ºC when I left but felt MUCH warmer under the trees - this place has its own micro-climate it seems!   1 Bream; 8lb 4oz. 1 Tench; 3lb 0oz.   An evening which started optimistically as there was quite a bit of activity when I arrived - a few fish bubbling and topping and the fry were getting hammered by preds - mainly

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

31 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2315   Chilly evening under clearing skies. Temp plummeted after dark. Down to 10ºC - I felt warmer standing IN the river all evening that Paul who was on the bank!!!   19 Dace, 2 Grayling and 1 each of a chublet, roach, gudgeon and a brownie.   Trotted maggot until it was too dark to see the float - last ½ hour of daylight was bite a chuck - very good to see some 'silvers' in the river. Dace were quite small save for 2

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

30 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1130 - 1500   Cool and overcast. 15ºC. River at near normal summer levels carrying it usual tinge of colour.   1 Barbel; 3lb 13oz, 1 Chub; 3lb 2oz. 4 Grayling, 1 dace, a gudgeon and 3 brownies.   Bit of a recce session with a lot of walking involved - Paul and I are planning an evening trip tomorrow and we're undecided where to go (or even whether to fish a river or a lake!). Fished 6 swims in total so didn't spend long in any

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Back in business

River Kennet, August Bank Holiday Weekend   Friday 26th August 2011   Well I’m mobile again, on doctor’s orders I can drive provided I wear a patch over my left eye, it was very strange at first but I am getting used to it. Great care is needed on roundabouts with filter lanes, I can’t turn my head far enough to look behind me with my right eye (try it) so I rely on my mirrors and having a good look at the other traffic before I enter the roundabout. Anyway all this means I can get to the

Rusty

Rusty

it pays to listen to your gut instinct!

River Kennet nr thatcham 9am-6pm   Not quite the early start I had planned but the lay in was much needed! I arrived and set up, cast just short of the trees on the far bank a few times to build up some bait then sat back watching the tip. It wasn't long before I felt unsettled and kept getting drawn to a riffle that kept appearing on the surface of the water a rod length out and 3 lengths downstream of me. I don't know why but something was telling me to recast to there, minutes later my

viney

viney

24 August

River Kennet - Padworth   1815 - 2345   Mainly cloudy and quite breezy. 15ºC - Though felt chillier in the wind. River up a couple of inches (judging by the grass growing under water!)   4 Barbel; 9lb 7oz, 8lb 0oz, 5lb 6oz, 4lb 11oz.   Smallest one 1st cast - within 10 minutes of arriving! Then followed by 2 hours of crayfish activity - attacking the bait within miuntes of it settling. It stopped at dusk - obviously the fish had gone on the munch, as I qui

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

22 August

Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead   0530 - 1100.   Bright and sunny after a cool, misty start. 10º -> 20ºC   1 Crucian; 2lb 2oz. 8 Carp; best 2 - 12lb 6oz & 11lb 9oz, smallest 6¾lb. 3 rudd & a perch.   A morning's float fishing (lift method as per usual!!). Crucian and 3 of the smaller carp on 6mm S-Pellet. Meat just got nailed by the rudd. Last couple of hours spent freelining bread - which brought 5 more carp including both bigger ones. Smallest

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

19 August

River Kennet - Newbury   0545 - 1015   Cool, bright and sunny. 8ºC -> 13ºC. River up a tad and carrying a bit of colour after yesterdays rains.   50+ Dace - mainly small save for one really goodun of 11oz and 2 or 3 of around 6oz. 20+ Roach, 2 Chublets - both just shy of a pound, 4 Gudgeon and a Brownie.   Pleasant mornings trotting. Hoped a barbel or two would put in an appearance plus a few bigger chub - but as these were the first chub I've heard of from here this season I was glad

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Sunday 14th August, Splash!

Well today saw me heading off after a nice lie in to a really great little river not all that far from my native Preston. The target for the day was dace and chub using the good old trotting gear.   I loaded up the car and made my way down to the river with the hope that it would be at a satisfactory level to send a float down. As I arrived I hopped straight out of the car and made my way to the bridge that runs over it and peered down. Straight away I could see the level was lower than expec

AddictedToScopex

AddictedToScopex

Saturday 23rd July, Puddle in a field

Well today saw a return to the wigan area for a trip to a small river with Tigger once more. We had the intention of doing some tip work for whatever came along just to make a change from the trotting.   We met up at the usual spot and drove down to our destination. As we walked along the bank I couldnt help but admire how nice the river looked but also couldnt help but notice how damn hot I was. The last time I wear the heavy waterproofs on an average day!   We walked a sizeable length of

AddictedToScopex

AddictedToScopex

10/11 August

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1930 - 0130   Overcast and very breezy - this lake is so sheltered it's unusual to feel any wind at all - not last night! Mild - min 15ºC.   1 Bream; 8lb. 1 Tench; 3lb 7oz. 2 rudd & a perch.   Fished a new swim for the first time - at other end of the lake to usual haunts! Both fish caught just as it got completely dark - tench on meat at 2200 and the bream on maggot ½ hour later. No bites at all thereafter - though a few l

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Two Little Ducks

On Friday 29th July I began my River campaign on a club stretch of the Ribble not far from Preston.   I joined the club last Autumn along with my friend Graeme and we managed one trip hoping for a Barbel at the beginning of October, unfortunately that day coincided with the first frost of the winter and killed our chances.   As it happens fellow forumite Rik aka 'Addicted to Scopex' also has a ticket and we spent an enjoyable winters day roving the stretch after Pike but again found a free

Rob Ward

Rob Ward

5/6 August

Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead.   1500 - 0800   Warm and overcast. Mild night, temps didn't go below 14ºC   4½* Carp, biggest 8¼lb, 1 Bream 4¼lb, 20+ Roach & Perch - in roughly equal nos.   Another "Breakfast was the highlight of the trip" trip! Spent the first couple of hours fretting over my swim choice which saw me move swims and immediately get a bite which resulted in the bream - thereafter bites at a premium. Paul had had an identical return whe

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3 August

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham   0500 - 1030   Warm, overcast and sultry. 15ºC -> 25ºC. WT 73ºF (too warm methinks!)   3 Carp; (all between 4-5lb), 4 roach, 3 perch, 1 rudd.   A torpid morning's angling. Yet again failing to catch any crucians - think I used up all this season's 'Crucian Luck' on 26 June! For quite a while I struggled to catch anything - even float fished maggot was ignored. Eventaully had a brief flurry of activity from the carp - just as the swim was bathed in ful

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1 August

Newbury AA stillwater - Widmead   0500 - 1000   Warm, overcast and sultry. 16ºC->21ºC   3 Tench; 3lb 10oz, 3lb 7oz, 1lb 11oz. 2 Carp; 9lb 14oz & 8lb 5oz. 7 Rudd.   Dawn raid in the hope of another monster crucian - and whilst I had a big fish roll shortly after baiting the swim it was a case of nothing doing. Rudd were a nice size - upto 9-10oz, though in truth a bit of a pain as they kept giving crucian like bites on my lift float rigged meat! Carp

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

26/27 July

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   2100 - 0600   Warm, calm, overcast and muggy. 17ºC at Midnight and still 15º+ when I packed up - lovely evening to be out.   2 Tench; 5lb 5oz, 3lb 11oz. A couple of roach & perch.   A very last minute decision to go - based on A, the weather forecast - lovely balmy evening. B, Jaq reminding me she was having a girls night out. And C, Paul having already planned an evening session here. Tuesday is one of my training nights - I coach athletics (stop snigger

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

July 24 - Club Match 4 - Frogmore

Frogmore is another nice club venue and as at Riverside Road it is fairly prolific when pleasure fishing but much tougher in a match. This is not helped at this time of year by the low water levels.   8.30 Draw today, fishing 9.30 to 14.30. I drew a peg which has one of the 3 small islands in front of it, one peg from the end of the lake and the island was easily reachable with the pole. Unfortunately the fish were playing hard to get and even more so at this end of the lake as it turned ou

Maddog

Maddog

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.