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Entries in this blog

The desire is well and truly back..

7th Feb 13, canalised stretch of the Kennet.   I finally managed to get back out with the lure rod. Spare time is at a real premium with my new job and juggling my social life and fishing is proving pretty difficult.   I ventured back to the same stretch once again, largely because most other stretches are all but un-fishable due to the flow and water levels. I walked the entire stretch without finding a swim that I could properly work my baits in until coming to the end of the beat wher
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

5

Catch up

I've been so busy recently I haven't been able to update my entries. What with 5 mental days at Glastonbury and constant work I've had no time to fish so my only updates are from a couple of quick 20 hour sessions that I've managed to squeeze in.   23rd May - Berkshire club lake.   I'd planned this session to try out my new 11' 2 1/4lb small water rods. After lure fishing with 7ft rods for the whole winter my 12fters felt stupidly unwieldy so I decided to get myself a pair of these little
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

5

Free panda.

29th March - K&A Canal   First entry for a while, it's all been a bit bleak lately. The couple of half-hearted/hungover sessions I've managed have both drawn blanks, so when I turned up today to find a bloody canoe race in full flow I wasn't exactly hopeful.   It's not really worth fishing when there's 200 competitive, would be sailors bumbling about so I went to the local lakes to waste some time, planning a return in the evening. That didn't exactly go smoothly either... I lost a jac
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

4

Finally done it :).

I've finally bettered my perch pb. After a few close shaves recently, and a lot of effort over the past 2 winters I popped out for a couple of hours tonight and managed 6 perch - 3.03, 2.14, 2.07, 1.8 and a couple of small ones. I also lost a decent pike.   Both the 2 bigger fish where caught from the first area I tried. I had the 1.8 first so persevered and had the 3.03 shortly afterwards before moving15 yards down the bank and casting to the same area, hoping the different angle of retr
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

3

Please sir, can I have some more.

So leading on from that guest session I had the carp bug back, good and proper. It had been a good start to the season and I obviously wanted to try and continue that run for as long as possible.   21st April - Berkshire Water   Another day session, this time on the quietest of the "specimen" waters after a baiting up recce a couple of nights previous. I got down nice and early for once, just after first light and amazingly got the rods onto the prebaited spots with only one cast each. Th
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

3

Scuppered the opportunity I've been waiting for.,

19th Feb, K&A canal:   I got off work at a decent enough time today so decided to stop off at a new stretch for the witching hour (well, half an hour by the time I arrived). I had a tiny perch after a couple of minutes so at least I knew there where some fish about.   I worked my way up the canal, stopping for a few casts in between the many moored barges, willingly staring at my shad every time it came into my own margin. Then it happened, just as I was about to lift the lure out, r
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

2

Back with a bang.

24th-25th April - Berkshire Lake   As I've mentioned previously I'd become disillusioned with the carp scene towards the back end of last year and thus hadn't been since early December. I hadn't really missed it much at all, but I did notice the carp at work becoming far more active every day. Add to that a few catch reports that my mates had kept me updated on and I thought I'd get out for a night after work.   I was understandably "rusty", and after putting 2 rigs up trees, getting m
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

2

Back to the target water.

3rd July - Berkshire Stillwater   Yet another after work session that leaves me rushing around to find some fish and get everything sorted before darkness. This particular session I'd walked almost the whole way around when a really good fish crashed out close to the island in quite an unpopular peg. That was all I had to go on so I set about getting a rod on the money which only took a couple of casts before I was happy. Then the now almost guaranteed drama started.. I couldn't reach the
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

2

What a difference 10 minutes can make.

Sat 16th Feb 13 - Various stretches of the K&A canal:   Well what a days lure fishing I've had. I had planned to fish somewhere around Newbury for the late morning/afternoon before meeting the old man for the evening on a different stretch of the canal.   I actually ended up spending an hour in the tackle shop nattering, which only gave me an hour or so to explore a few bits around the town. I wandered about, having a flick here and there without anything happening before hooking a b
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

Fairly quiet today.

17th Feb Berkshire lake and various stretches of the K&A   Back out with the lure rod following yesterdays success. I started off in the shop once again, spending more money on lures. I thought lure fishing would cost me a lot less money than carping, but so far it's cost me a fortune.. it's certainly addictive. I'm even thinking of buying a new rod already... I've only used the other one 3 times .   I'd intended on fishing the stretch of canalised river again, but was met with an a
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

Big stripeys all round :).

23rd Feb - K&A Canal   Had a call from my Dad around midday to say he was going down the canal and did I want to meet him after work. No way was I refusing so after hurrying the last few anglers off the fishery 10 minutes after closing time I put my foot down and got to the canal with about half an hour of light left.   He'd not had any luck when I arrived, and after we'd walked most of the stretch I've been doing well from, the only action came from me catching a jack and missing a p
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

Cracking end to the season :).

Well, that's it, another seasons over but I'm glad to say I've seen it in with a couple of really good sessions. This close is going to be one of the most difficult for me I think. I've really enjoyed being away from the lakes in the past few months and although I can still fish a few bits of canal it's going to be a long 3 months.   13th March - Hamps. River   I arranged to pop down to a local stretch of river with a mate after work to see how the pike stocks were looking. To be honest i
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

That's more like it

17th October - Berkshire Lake   After last weeks complete and utter fail I had a bee in my bonnet and a score to settle so I popped back to the lake that I'd fished the evening on during my previous outing. I'd been down a couple of evenings previously to prep the spots and hopefully get the fish used to finding my bait in those areas. I'd bought a kilo or two of pellet along in the hope of keeping the fish grubbing around after they'd finished all the boilies off but quickly realised that a
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

A couple more productive trips

19th Feb - Shh.   Following last weeks success I had been back down to the little lake to bait the spots. They're only getting 50 or so baits at a time but it seems to be doing the job... keeping the fish regularly visiting the areas and expecting to find food there. I think this is being accentuated by there being no other anglers fishing at this time of the year and thus no other bait going in. It's quite a bit of effort what with taking a detour on my already 40 mile commute to or from w
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

Totally unexpected.

5th December - Berkshire Stillwater   So, when I got in the car this morning the temperature gauge read 0.5 degrees... hardly conducive to catching carp but that was what I planned to try my hand at, for a few hours anyway. The plan really, was to lob out a couple of rods while I waited for the light to drop so I could go perching late afternoon - dusk. Never did I actually expect to get a bite on the lake, it was just a better place to waste the day than home.   I arrived just after the d
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

Crashing back to reality

8th December - Berkshire Stillwater   As I mentioned in the last installment, the rest of my bait had been spread around the productive area ready for a return as soon as possible. After managing to wangle the day off I planned my return, obviously full of expectation. They'd had a free meal and a few days to get themselves comfortable.   I'd already arranged to meet a mate on the canal for the afternoon so only had a few hours to play with.   For some reason I thought I'd be clever an
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

1

An introduction

Hello all,   I've only recently joined the forum but after becoming encompassed by Chris Plumb and Rusty's blogs I've decided that it would be nice to set up one of my own.   I guess to get the ball rolling I should set the scene a little.. I'm 23 years old, living in Wiltshire but doing most of my fishing in Berkshire, both on the Kennet and the surrounding lakes. I've been an angler around 15 years on and off, with the last 10 years or so seeing me on the bank at every opportunity.  
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

Just another day in my life..

18th Jan - Speen Moors and the K&A canal.   After rekindling my interest in fishing the rivers and fishing a few sessions on a stretch that I'm familiar with I decided to give Speen a shot. Having read a fair bit about it in Chris and Rusty's respective blogs I decided to take a loaf of bread and wander around to get an idea of the swims etc.   Things didn't start ideally... I'd loaded up with tackle after baiting a few swims and just two steps from the car I slipped and ended up with
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

A chub on the bank, but a loss that will haunt me.

20th Jan - Canalised section of the Kennet   So after exploring new beats ended in disaster a couple of days ago, I thought it best to stick to a stretch of river that I knew for today.   Visited a canalised section that I used to fish a good few years ago, albeit from the opposite bank. Baited a number of swims with mashed bread and fished them in rotation for 15 minutes each. By the time I reached my final baited swim I hadn't had so much as a touch, and had rather lost confidence, i
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

Another surprise

22nd Jan - Kennet and K&A canal.   Got back out for a short stint on the river before going home via the canal for a couple of hours perching at dusk.   Visited another new stretch to me, just upstream of one that I'd fished previously, with the boundaries separated by a busy road bridge.   I walked the short stretch with the intention of fishing as I have been recently... baiting a number of swims with mashed bread and fishing for 15mins with either a feeder or light link-ledger ov
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

Should have stayed at home.

Jan 30th - Speen Moors   Decided to have a days piking, and chose Speen as the location due to its fairly good reputation as a pike water and as I wanted to explore a bit more of the stretch.   Fished a number of swims throughout the day but didn't receive any action other than a crayfish that had obviously forgotten how cold it was and decided to come out of his slumber. Ashamed to say I also left early due to the biting wind.. I don't normally feel the cold but this was beyond ridiculou
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

Biggest of the season so far

Feb 3rd - Canalised section of the Kennet   Thought I'd have another go at the chub on this stretch of the Kennet, hoping to achieve my target of a 6lb'er before the end of the season.   Once again I walked to the fishery limit and baited a number of swims with mash before fishing them in rotation. I was slightly disapointed to find someone fishing one of my preferred swims from the opposite bank, but a quick chat revealed he hadn't had anything as yet. The weather was seriously cold,
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

3 in a day

Feb 15th - Canalised section of the Kennet.   Another trip to the same stretch today, although I'd got an exchange ticket and fished it from the opposite bank.   Followed the same routine of walking to the boundary and baiting swims with mash, but this time I fancied giving it a go on the float. I decided against using my pin as the lack of flow would make things difficult, so I set up with a small fixed spool and a loafer to fish a large chunk of flake, just tripping bottom.   As
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

They're playing hard to get today..

16th Feb - Canalised stretch of the Kennet and K&A canal   Back to the same stretch again, this time for a day with my Dad as we don't get the chance to fish together as much as we used to. Still fishing on the exchange permit as he's a member of the club controlling the opposite bank to the one I normally fish.   Same routine once again, bait a number of swims and fish them in rotation. Fished all of the swims that have produced up until now without so much as a sniff between us. R
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

0

A slow day

21st Feb - Speen Moors and K&A canal   After hearing that Speen had done 3 5lb+ chub in the weekend match I decided to have a rove around for a few hours. Baited and fished a number of swims without a bite.   Gave up at about 2pm and decided to have a wander along a bit of the K&A I'd been told had done a few good weights of perch. Found the going swims but unfortunately they were occupied so I ended up at my usual stretch for the last couple of hours. Managed a handful of perch
tomhaggett

tomhaggett

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