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Blimey, bread does work!

River Kennet, Newbury, Friday 21st January 2011   One of the benefits of working for the same employer for 33 years is that you tend to accrue a fair amount of annual leave, 33 days in my case. I’ve only had one holiday this year so I’ve got some days to use before the end of March, today was one of them.   A complete change for me with a new bait and an unfamiliar method. I’ve not had much success with bread but it’s such a cheap and convenient bait to use I was determined to give it ano

Rusty

Rusty

Signing back on again (if that's ok)

Firstly apologies for the interruption in service, I was trying to be too ambitious with writing things up at a time when I’d been out on a number of occasions, I should’ve kept it simple. Secondly I reckon that everything’s getting a bit intense on the main board so I thought I’d retreat to this sleepy backwater again where normal anglers can report on their successes or failures. I like the fact that it’s also a place where some very good anglers report their catches with no fuss so it’s the b

Rusty

Rusty

River Kennet - 28/11/2010

A very cold day on the middle Kennet trying for the Grayling on the fly. Very cold conditions combined with low and clear river made the fishing tricky and by lunch I had only had 4 small Grayling and one of season BT. After a hearty lunch I decided to adopt a more mobile approach to the morning and walk along the river/carriers until I either spotted fish or came to a particularly good looking spot. The approach allowed me to explore the remainder of the fishery (it was my first time here) and

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

16 January 2011

Middle Kennet Estate.   0800 - 1615   Overcast and breezy - drizzle for last hour, 10ºC. River still quite low - up maybe a couple of inches on our last visit here in November. Carrying quite a bit of colour - more than I expected to see!   6 Chub; 5 over 1lb, best 3:- 5lb 6oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz. 6 Perch; biggest 2lb 2oz, rest all small. 1½doz dace, 2doz+ roach - all small though a few of the dace were circa 6oz and one roach warranted the scales though it 'only' reg

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

River Irfon - 09-10/10/2010

After another wash-off on the Wye I decided to go through with my planned fishing weekend in Wales and instead fish one of the Wye’s main tributaries, the Irfon, well noted for the quality of its Grayling. With that in mind I set off slightly later than intended on Saturday morning. It took a while to get to the river and by the time I had gone through the formalities of purchasing a ticket and tackling up I only had a few hours left to fish. The conditions looked good but the clear water, gusti

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

River Thames - 02-03/10/2010

A great weekend spent fishing the Thames with Alan and his dad Trevor. Saturday was spent at Trevor’s secret location, a beautiful spot that gave us an appetiser for the sort of fish it can turn up on my last visit (see 29-30/08/2010) but sadly that time we were left empty handed. This time we had decided to adopt a more relaxed approach and feeder fish through the day hoping to build the swim up for Bream and possibly Chub and Barbel later in the day/night. The feeder fishing was excellent with

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

River Alness - 23-25/09/2010

Three days Salmon fishing with family on the River Alness in the Scottish Highlands. Salmon have proved to be a bit of an enigma for me. Unfortunately I don’t get the opportunity to fish for them very often but when I do it seems like I have been beset by bad lack with only tales of lost fish to take away with me. Usually the fishing is very hard due to low water and on a spate river like the Alness having enough water on the gauge is everything. This year however was different, for the first ti

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

31 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0745 - 1200   Dull, overcast and calm. AT & WT at 44ºF.   1 Perch 1lb 13oz   A real struggle in seemingly ideal conditions - though maybe the WT still a little on the cool side. First 2 hours spent in 2 new swims (an hour in each) without a bite. A switch to one on my 'banker' swims produced the only bite (and fish) of the day.... oh hum can't win them all!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

28 December

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0815 - 1600   Misty and drizzly all day - temp up to a balmy 7ºC. River low with just a hint of colour after over-night rain and snow melt. WT a chilly 41ºF   1 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 14 Dace; 3 gooduns - best of which went 12oz. 6 Brownies - biggest 3lb 11oz.   Satisfying days angling all things considered. Due to low water we were restricted to a short section of river and with a low WT, salt and snow melt in the river we expected spo

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Monnow & Honddu - 18-19/09/2010

After getting a taster for fishing in Wales the previous weekend (See September 12) I decided to make a weekend of it and invite my friend Alan over to join me on a trip that I had been excitedly looking forward to all week. Early Saturday morning I picked up Alan from the train station and before long we were making our way to the river. I decided that we should try a stretch upstream of where I had fished the week before and one that I had heard was particularly nice. The river here is especia

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

24 December

River Lambourn - Newbury   0930 - 1315   Cold, overcast and quite breezy. AT hovering around 0ºC all day. Just warm enough not to suffer iced up rod rings. River low and clear.   17 Grayling. 9 over 1lb (!), best 3, 2lb oz (!!!), 1lb 13oz & 1lb 10oz.   Cracking morning's trotting - until I got married I always went fishning on Christmas Eve! Catch a couple and move on tactics. Fish were hungry - in a couple of swims they were boiling on the surface wh

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Wellow - 16/09/2010

A pleasant but all too short evening session back on the Wellow. Haven’t fished the stretch since July so it was nice to be back. Managed to winkle out a couple of lovely small WBT and lost a few more. Sadly the nights are definitely drawing in and after work fishing sessions are particularly limited.

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

Monnow - 12/09/2010

The following day I made a slightly mad and last minute decision to drive over to Wales and fish the Monnow for the day. I had been mulling over a trip across the border to sample Wale’s delightful river fishing for a while and finally decided that today was the day. Two hours of driving later (it should have been considerably less but I took a ridiculous countryside ‘short-cut’ which turned out to be a huge mistake) and I had arrived at the Monnow and boy was I excited!     The river lo

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

11 December

River Kennet - Newbury   0745 - 1000   Cool and overcast AT 5ºC. WT a cold 40ºF. River very low and very clear!   6 Chub; 4lb 7oz, 3lb 12oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb12oz, 2lb 3oz & a chublet. 2 Dace.   Quick trotting session. First 45 minutes fished with red corn accounting for the 4lber and the 2 bigger 2's. Others all on trotted red maggot.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

9/12/10

Another crack at the chub on a stretch of the kennet, another blank. i know this may sound like another anglers excuse but i largely put it down to the swans, clever creatures in all fairness, every spot we had baited they headed straight for even if they hadnt seen us bait it, makes me think they have learnt the exact spots that are normally baited and fished as they ignored every area but obvious places to put a bait for barbel or chub! they worked up and down the stretch all afternoon so a

viney

viney

LRA - 11/09/2010

A short afternoon trip to the LRA. Despite fishing the same stretch that has been so successful on my previous trip (see September 04), the fishing on this occasion was noticeably harder. I ended up with only 1 WBT, 10 Grayling to around 1lb, 1 Roach and 1 Minnow, still an enjoyable day but certainly more challenging that my previous trip.

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

River Test - 09/09/2010

This was a day I had been looking forward to for a while...a chance to fish the River Test in season and on one of the most famous Estates that line its illustrious and manicured banks. On this occasion I would be restricted to fishing the main carrier but just getting the opportunity to fish an arm of the Test was very special and after a sleepless night I woke up at the crack of dawn aiming to get down there for first light and take advantage of the prime fishing time.   Upon arrival I exc

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

5 December

Middle Kennet   0930 - 1600   Cold, bright and sunny after a foggy start. River low - waiting for those springs on the downs to burst - not long now (hopefully)!   9 Chub; 6 over 1lb biggest 4lb 4oz - all the others between 2-3lb. 19 dace; best 2 went 13 & 12oz - with quite a few others circa 8-10oz. 5 Brownies - biggest circa 2lb but unweighed.   Day didn't get off to the best of starts - as on arrival I discovered that I'd left my landing net at home

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

Blagdon - 05/09/2010

The following day after my bumper session on the LRA I had a relaxed days fishing on Blagdon Reservoir with my flatmate and fishing partner James. It was my first time on a still water for a while but I was looking forward to a change of scenery. We had agreed that we would have a friendly match between the two of us but the day started slowly with neither of us registering so much as a pull for the first hour or so. However a change of location reaped instant rewards with both of us into a fish

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

mmmmm bacon roll

Spent the morning chubbing with steve and chris this morning, even after getting slightly lost and stuck on ice i arrived first and walked the stretch dropping my horrible smelling cheese garlic and crab paste into every likely looking hole. Steve and robby arrived as i was getting my kit out of the car, after a quick chat we set about the business of trying to catch some chub! rusty arrived shortly after and we worked our way up the stretch to no avail. Swans where a major problem for me for a

viney

viney

LRA - 04/09/2010

An afternoons fishing on the LRA turned out to be my best ever session there and one of the best days fly fishing that I have ever had. It was just one of those days when everything seemed to click into place and to help matters the fish seemed more than willing to cooperate! I ended up with 22 Grayling, 10 WBT, 1 Roach and a Minnow.     The Grayling were noticeably feeding harder now the Summer was coming to an end. I usually struggle in the slower sections of the river but I found that

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

Wellow - 02/09/2010

A short evening session after work with Vince on his syndicated stretch of the Wellow. It was a new stretch for me but Vince had fished it a few times before and as time was short, guided us both towards the more productive pools. The fishing turned out to be pretty tough with no rising fish spotted. As such we stuck to nymphs but after catching a small WBT in the first pool we came to, it was hard going thereafter. However, as the light drew in Vince suggested we make our way to a particularly

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

Box Brook - 01/09/2010

A very pleasant evening spent on the Box Brook. This was my first visit to the BB for a few months but after the recent rain I decided that now was the perfect time to reacquaint myself with the place. I decided initially to explore slightly further downstream from where I usually fish but despite some lovely looking runs and pools I only managed one small WBT. As the light began to fade I ventured back up to fish the stretch I am familiar with and managed three more lovely WBT with a few more n

Nicholas S

Nicholas S

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