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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

14.2.23 Willows & 21.2.23 Marsh Benham

Life is getting in the way of fishing at the moment. Don't get me wrong, it's all good stuff, but it's leaving me just a short ate afternoon/early evening session on Tuesdays at the mo. Last week, given a spell of warmer weather, I risked Willows, checking to see if the shallow water had warmed to bring the carp out. Not really. It was a fun evening, I really enjoyed stargazing at Orion, but with carp of 4lb 3 and 6lb 12 plus a beaten-up bream of 3lb 2 it wasn't a huge success. This ev
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in kennet

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Chris Plumb's Blog

18 February (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1245 - 1515 Mild, overcast and breezy. AT 11ºC. River still very full - clear and in great nick. Would have thought it would have dropped more after only 0.6mm of rain locally since 16 Jan. 2 Perch; 2lb 11oz & 2lb 4oz. 1 Chub; 2lb 8oz. 1 Bream 1lb 10oz. After fishing down the length of the Lambourn it was time for a quick lunch and a pop round the corner for a couple of hours on the Kennet. Usual bait and wait tactics met with a rare failure - was
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Chris Plumb's Blog

18 February (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0845 - 1215 Mild, overcast and breezy. AT 10ºC. River full and gin clear, as always. 13 Grayling; 6 over a lb, 2 not by much, 3 around 1¼lb and one of 1lb 13oz. 1 Roach; small - alas - don't get many roach from here - but they tend to be noteworthy when they do show up. 2 Brownies - both small. Bit of a scratchy morning - redeemed by the last hour on the bottom of the stretch which produced more fish than the previous 2½hrs including the big lady - my
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Chris Plumb's Blog

12 February (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1200 - 1515 Mild and overcast. 8ºC. River full and clear. 3 Chub: 3lb 11oz, 2lb 14oz, 1¼lb. 1 Dace; small, 3 Gudgeon. After getting trouted out on my syndicate stretch in the morning it was nice to run a float through a couple of swims without the expectation that every bite would be from something with an adipose fin. Had planned to explore a bit but ended up just fishing the weirpools.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Chris Plumb's Blog

12 February (Part 1)

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0815 - 1115 Mild, calm and overcast. 6º-8ºC. Lovely benign Winter's day. River quite full - though has clearly dropped several inches in the last fortnight - very clear. 2 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 1½lb. 1 Brownie C.3lb and 3 Rainbow's; a lump of around 4-5lb and 2 half that. If there's anything worse than catching brownies - it's hooking rainbows! A brownie will usually reveal itself straight away - boil on the surface - allowing one to play it hard and hope
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

3 & 4.2.23 - Dobsons & Willows

Friday. Piking at Dobsons. Deadbait out on rod 1, with a feeder and tiny bait/hook out on rod 2 hoping to find the odd roach or bream. Changed swims, baits, depths, but apart from one pike run (missed) at 8:30, had nothing all day. Had hoped that given a week of warmer temperatures that the fish might be waking up hungry, but not today. Then again, it was forecast for 11 degrees this afternoon, but in a stiffish wind it felt far from that. Saturday. Grey and windless. Much better. Had commo
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Chris Plumb's Blog

5 February

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1430 Bright and sunny. Cool 3º-6ºC. River bank high - but not in the fields any more! Still with a slight tinge of colour. 1.27m on the E Stoke river guage (I've only fished the river once before when it's been this high!). 14 Grayling; 9 over a lb. Best 4: 1lb 12oz, 1lb 13oz, 2lb 0oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Brownies; a 3lber, another half that and a couple of smalluns. 1 Sea Trout; 1½lb - a bar of silver - still covered in sea lice! The Frome coarse season is o
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

25.1.23 & 31.1.23 - kennet(2) Kennet & Avon 1

Wednesday - The first non-frosty day for a couple of weeks, but with the ground bone hard, I was postponed from my gardening work. 1.5 hours lure fishing on the Kennet at Widmead. Looked lovely, at one point I did see the long body of a pike swim away from me near the bank, but despite swapping lures, speeds and swims, not a single knock. I could have moved on to the constant water temps of the Lambourn , but me being me I plumped for the canal at Hambridge where last year I found the roach hole
Chris Plumb's Blog

28 January

River Kennet - Hambridge 0900 - 1300 Cool & cloudy. AT 2º-5ºC. River still very high and clear - down a couple of inches on last weekend but not dropped as much as I'd expected after a dry week. 1 Chub; 3lb 7oz, 1 Bream; 2lb 3oz. 2 Grayling. Scratchy morning in my favourite flood swim with bites at a premium. Bream and grayling in the first ¾hr. Chub first cast after resting the swim for nearly an hour, while I had a leisurely lunch on the bank. Had planned to venture ove
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

20 & 24.1.23 - Marsh Benham

Friday - with a week of sub-zero temperatures, the lakes are both frozen and in flood, so I stick with the syndicate water which seems more reliable to my skill level than other parts of the Kennet. This easy option was not rewarded by the fish gods. Finding their prince on Earth, Mr Plumb in the swim I had planned to start in (no prob, CP) I kept walking and trotted the normally prolific carrier swims. Hardly a bite, though I did bump two fish: one small, one larger.The sun was now above the ho
Chris Plumb's Blog

20 January (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1500 Cold and bright. AT 5ºC. River in full flood - barely within its banks - but crystal clear. 2 Chub: 4lb 3oz & 3lb 6oz. Quick detour on the way home to drop into a swim where the chub to trout ratio was likely to be much better than my morning venue. 2 bites in the first 20 mins were both 'converted' into nice chub - but despite resting the spot for a while I didn't get any more interest.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Chris Plumb's Blog

20 January (Part 1)

Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham 0800 - 1200 Cold, bright and sunny. AT -1ºC -> 5ºC. River very full but crystal clear after a cold, dry week. 4 Chub: all between 2lb 13oz - 3lb 11oz. 6 Brownies 2-3½lb. A sparkly day in West Berkshire. All chub from the same spot - with a brace in the first ½hr or so and another two after resting the swim for a couple of hours. All I caught in the intermediate period were nuisance brownies! Frosty Chub
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

18.1.23 - Marsh Benham

Minus 5 last night, so my gardening work was off. Hung about until 9 when it'd warmed to minus 2 and made my way to the beautiful frosty and sunny syndicate. Water level still high with a few unfishable, I prebaited half a dozen with mashed bread. Legered breadflake smeared with my mystery ingredient. I knew it would attract trout, but it was so cold I was happy to keep catching and, who knew, maybe the temperature will keep them subdued and let the chub in. No such luck. I think the low, bright
The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

16.1.23 - Canal, River Kennet and Lakes

The re-arrival of freezing temperatures after a week of stormy winds and rain led to my morning customer cancelling my gardening services giving me a bonus couple of hours fishing. I grabbed my spinning rod and a box of traces and lures then headed for the canal. Lure fishing ain't my favourite style - possibly because I've never really done well with it. To be fair, I've only really tried it on short, deep winter sessions like today when I wouldn't blame any fish for not wanting to chase a piec
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Dobsons

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

15.1.23 - Marsh Benham

Back fro a few days away, I walked around the NAA lakes yesterday at dusk to find the Kennet raging through Bulls Lock and the carparks/banks of the lakes submerged. At risk of typecasting myself, I bought a loaf of bread and headed to the syndicate for a bonus 2.5 hour stint. The bread that I didn't nibble at, or mashed up, I legered in the coloured flow for the usual two trout between 2lb 2 and 3lb 10 plus two spiffing chub of 3lb 6 and 3lb 7. Lovely!
Chris Plumb's Blog

13 January

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1615 Bright and sunny and VERY windy all day. AT 7ºC. River high - barely within its banks and with a tinge of colour - in great winter's nick! 20 Chub: 15 over 1lb with 12 over 3lbs. The biggest 5 went 4lb 4oz, 4lb 10oz, 4lb 15oz, 5lb 2oz & 5lb 8oz. 7 Roach & 4 Dace - all small. 6 Brownies; 2½-4lbs. Birthday treat to myself (twas yesterday) resulted in a splendid days winter chubbing. Wind was challenging to put it mildly - near
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

8 & 10.1.23 - Dixons & Marsh Benham

Sunday. It rained much of yesterday and with showers due I decided against the fast-flowing river or canal so I could sit unmoving under the brolly at the lake. With some maggots left, I'd fish lightly to attract, maybe catch some silvers, while a deadbait on rod 2 may snap up a marauding pike, maybe two. A great plan, but as so often happens, it didn't come off. The 'light showers' forecast turned out to be two hour-long bouts of proper rain, cold too, which doubtless hit the water temps. Resul
Chris Plumb's Blog

7 January

River Kennet - Hambridge 1030 - 1430 Showery and very breezy after heavy morning rain (28mm already this month). AT 10ºC. River up again on Monday's levels and with a lot more colour. 2 Chub: 4lb 11oz & 2lb 8oz. 8 Perch; 7 over 1lb, with 5 over 2lb - best 2lb 10oz. 4 Roach - a netter of around 10oz and 3 small-uns, and the now obligatory gudgeon! Quick return to Monday's swim - though better prepared this time for a stripey campaign! Took lobs, and my keepnet made a rare
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

6.1.23 - Marsh Benham

On a mild and dry winter day I decided to experiment  on the syndicate. taking the usual trotting gear but also a leger rod and, given the number of pike snatches in recent visits, a deadbaiting rod. I kept the pike rod out most of the day and didn't get as much as a nudge while I varied between float and leger as I moved through the swims. On float I had 28 roach including a silver stunner of 1lb from my favourite aquarium swim, equalling my pb. These were augmented by 3 chublets, 3 p
The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

01.01.2023 - NAA New Years Day Match - K&A Canal Enborne

Last Sunday, after the rain crashing against the bedroom window rudely woke me at 8am, I took my hangover and New Years jadedness to the match on the K&A. Remarkably the rain held off for the rest of the day after yesterdays deluge had left the water the colour and texture of mulligatawny soup.  I started on the quivertip but after a biteless first hour, I switched to a 6m pole and fished the middle channel on a light float. I had many bites, missed a lot, bumped many, but landed maybe
Chris Plumb's Blog

2 January (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1500 Bright and sunny. AT 6ºC. River bank high - with a lot less colour than I expected to see after such a wet weekend. 2 Chub: 6lb 5oz & 4lb 13oz. 2 Perch: 3lb 6oz & 2lb 6oz. 4 Roach, 1 Dace - all fairly small. 1 Gudgeon. WOW! Gotta love a good flood swim! Having fished out the Lambourn I thought I'd at least have a look at the Kennet - expecting to see it coloured up and flooded. And whilst it was bank high there was surprisingly lit
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Chris Plumb's Blog

2 January 2023 (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0900 - 1230 Cool, bright and sunny. AT 6ºC. River at normal winter levels - and as clear as gin (of course) despite heavy rain all weekend. 12 Grayling: 4 over 1lb - best 1lb 10oz. 5 Brownies - a lber and 4 parrs. An insurance session as I reckoned 32mm of rain over the weekend would have stuffed up the Kennet too much (I was wrong see part 2!) so opted for a couple of hours on the Lambourn as a cure for cabin fever! Bit of a scratchy morning - not he
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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The Newbury & Port Talbot Blanker

2022 - My Year End Summary

The end of another year, the third  after my 20 year+ hiatus from the sport that has totally recaptured me like a gudgeon to a pinkie. 2022 included my pb bream, brownie, chub, crucian, mirror, pike, rudd and tench. None of them will trouble the records office, but they're all kicking my can down the road and each one was very welcome I'm quite anal in my record keeping, writing a journal, updating a spreadsheet, and then there's been this jolly-old blog since March 21, so I am well-equippe
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