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About this blog

I started this blog in March 2021, having blanked in over half of my fifteen winter trips to various waters of Newbury Angling Association. The rivers, canals and lakes are fine, I'm just not very good at catching the fish in them. Oddly, i seemed to get a bit better for a while, but 2023 has undone all that. In July I moved to South Wales, not entirely for the weather, but to enforce a change in my fishing luck.

Entries in this blog

Alders

22.4.22 - Alders

A day for tench, I decided, and reached the lakeside to make the worst of all possible discoveries. That's right: I'd left my lunch at home. Bravely, I watched my quivertip while ignoring my quivering lip and fished. For six hours I sat without a bite from a fish, or, obviously, on a succulent ham sandwich, or crispy bag of crisps. With four hours still to go, I'd eaten much of the sweetcorn and was now eyeing up the maggots when the rod leapt from the rest and in came a 4lb 8 tench. Another fol
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Alders

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Willows

19.4.22 - Willows

I was going to spend the evening at Alders, but when I arrived there was quite a breeze rattling from the west causing quite a chop. With showers planned, I defaulted for the sheltered north corner of adjacent Willows. For the second consecutive week, I watched the carp mouthing at the surface just yards from my feet. With no biscuits/bread/pellets, I suspended a pop-up on the surface from a bomb, but they weren't interested. While the pop-up bobbed on the surface, even the terns ignoring it,  I
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Willows

18.04.21 - Willows

It's a funny old world. Last Tuesday evening there was such a strong wind blowing through that I had to pop back to the car for gloves. But through the chop, I could see the silhouettes of the carp, dozens of them, swimming in packs under the surface. I fished a zig rig on the bouncy surface and just under it, then tried the bottom, 6-inches and 2ft off it. I've rarely seen as many fish as I saw that evening, but left with a blank. Saturday - A Spring scorcher. Lovely to sit in the sun. Bit
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Willows

9.4.22 - Willows

Another frosty start, and having had a 'meh' day at Dobsons yesterday, I made for my default lake of Willows. Here the water temp at 11 degrees was down a degree, and I wondered if it would have any effect. Maybe it did, because after fish at 9:20am (a pretty Mirror of 6lb 6, 10:20am (a Common of 8lb 9) and 11:20am (a 1lb 3oz tench), the old '20-minutes-past-the-hour' trick evaporated and so did any more catches. The surprisingly few anglers around the bank also struggled. The morning
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Dobsons

8.4.22 - Dobsons

I turned up bright and early after yesterdays winds to find a chap fishing in my chosen swim. Turned out it was celebrity commentor from this parish, PeterJG, who said he recognised me from this blog. What a top gent he turned out to be. Very quick to play down his undoubted angling abilities, I didn't believe a word of it, as he out-breamed me 4-3 and threw in a few of his beloved roach on top. A total pleasure to meet you, PJG. My estimations that the air pressure being sub-1000 woul
Willows

5.4.22 - Willows

A good evening, even if it was pretty chilly in the strong S-SW breeze. But it went to plan. I set up in my swim at 3:15, anticipating fish arriving in it about 6 (though hoping they might be there already, of course) 6:00 - The first bite came on-the-dot. It was a slow bite and a long lethargic fight, but it eventually came in as a perfect 13lb 8 Mirror.  6:15 - A personal best 8lb 3oz Bream 7:00, 7:35, 7:55 and 8:10 -  Commons of 8lb 2, 6lb 6, 9lb 9 and 4lb Not sure if
Willows

30.3 - 2.4.22 -Willows

Wednesday - A last short afternoon of the season as the gardening season has properly kicked off, and I have to pay for the maggots some how. Arrived at Willows at 2:30 to two surprises: There was only one other chap fishing, and the carp were up on the top everywhere. It was a still afternoon, certainly not the warmest, but there they were, sucking at the surface, some only 3ft from the bank, with groups of 3 or 4 fish seemingly liable to pop their heads up at any point. I fancied I’d either ca
Willows

26 & 29.3.22 - Willows

Ok, so my experiment didn't work. 3 small roach in three other venues had me cross at my lack pf skill and back at the shallows of Willows until the water warms up. But then Saturday only saw my bad run continue. A day spent in the sun was pleasant enough, but only one bite and a face-saving 5lb 8 Common was a disappointment. Tuesday brought the first cloudy day in a fortnight and temperatures half of last weeks 16 degrees, My first evening stint since the clock change had me changing
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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numerous

22 -25.3.22 - More dilemmas

Tuesday - 3 hours available after work and went to Warwicks, given intelligence of large perch being caught there . Dilemma: given it was a bright sunny day, did I pick a swim already in shade knowing perch prefer low light levels to ambush, or, a sunny swim where the sweltering sun would stay til sunset, attracting roach to the surface so drawing the perch in. Hmm, what would you choose? I chose the latter, and though it was very pleasant sitting in the warmth, I alternated between caster, work
numerous

15 - 19.3.22 - Bellwood, Dobsons, Alders, Willows - the paltry sessions

OK, so its the close season, and I fully understand the reasons for it. My personal opinion with fishing NAA stillwaters is that without human presence, the cormorants will be straight on them, predating. Certainly, I regularly saw them  this week and think my presence may have contributed to them flying over the lakes rather than in them. I also wonder if a 3-month stop in bait going into the lakes which would certainly be a good thing in regards to build up of nutrients etc, would leave the fi
Alders/Willows

12.3.22 - Dobsons/Alders/Willows - The Dilemma

Well, today summed up quite nicely the dilemma I'm at with my fishing. Regular readers will see that I generally choose to fish at Willows. Well, it's easy to park, sheltered from most winds, otter-proofed and there are no crays. It's also pretty easy to catch good fish. Since re-finding fishing in June 2020, the vast majority of the 149 Commons and 101 Mirrors (between 1lb and 18lb) I've caught have come from Willows (not including the many tench, bream and crucians) I have 12 written
Willows

11.3.22 - Willows

Hmm, though the end of the running-water season approacheth, I could not resist a last chance at Willows before the planned transfer of 50 of its larger carp to other lakes the next day. What's more, with rain is due, I always feel it will be easier to huddle under a brolly on a lakeside rather than a river bank.  It started off dry and still, and with two fish in the first three casts, I anticipated a fine haul. Then the first of two, two-hour rain stints kicked in and the strong S/SE wind
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

2
Willows

8 & 9.3.22 - Willows

With just a week left of the moving water season, I probably should have spent my 3-hours in a river or canal, but given the blanks lure fishing on my last two Tuesdays and the pretty strong winds, I pitched for the  comparative shelter of my tree-lined default location, Willows. Sorry guys. But it was a good move. The fish turned out to be where I suspected they might and in that short session came 7 carp: Mirrors of 6lb, 10lb then 6lb 10 and Commons of 5lb, 6lb 8, 2lb 12 and 7lb 10. Four
dixons

6.3.22 - Dixons

A rare opportunity to fish on a Sunday, so thought I'd do something different and went for a last piking session of the season. I'm very drawn to Dixon's Mere; it's quiet, underfished, and has no crays or (on the few occasions I've fished it) any nuisance waterfowl. On the other hand, there's no otter fencing or much in the way of recent catch reports, so I'm not sure what's in there. Fished the east bank, spending half an hour in each of 8 swims, reading that if pike are present, they
Willows/K&A Canal

1 - 4.3.22 - Enborne and Willows

(1) Tuesday pm, had another 2 hours to waste my time tossing a lure around, despite the persistent rain throughout. You can't say I'm not keen. The water below the bridge was thick with run-off from the fields, whereas above the lock it is gin-clear through lack of boat traffic, but neither proved conducive, as I didn't get a touch (again). Lure fishing always looks so easy on YouTube. The occasional explosion of bleak suggested the perch were about, but I couldn't tempt them no matter how many
Kennet & Avon Canal

16 - 23.2 - Willows & the Kennet

My last couple of weeks of Feb were blown off-track by the storm winds of Eunice and her pals, and by a trip to Wales that usurped a booked trip to the famed river Itchen. (hope it went well for you, fellers). Pre-storm, I'd had a weekday afternoon where threatened rain had me at Willows, where a brolly is better suited than my planned trip back to Speen. The weather kept others away, apart from a very friendly fully-kitted out chap just along from me who with bait boat assistance, already
Speen Moors

11.2.22 - Speen Moors & 12.2 - Speen Moors and Dixons

Friday. Got to Speen in the frost at first light with some cheese paste and link legers. Threw a few freebies in half a dozen swims, then fished them in turn. Had a 3lb 6 chub early doors (I'm only 97 behind you now, Chris!). No more chub action was to ensue,  just three swim-thrashing trout each around the two and a half pound mark. Sitting watching the quivertip not move very much, I switched to a trot for just a roach and a dace, but thought how 'pikey' (the fish kind, not the scrote) and ple
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Speen Moors

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Willows

9.2.22 - Willows

I had planned to fish the Kennet at Brimpton, but the sun was so bright and with the low water level after weeks of no rain, I felt the fish might be too spooky, so risked repeating my error of last Wednesday afternoon and went to Willows. On arrival, I was told a good number of carp had come out that morning, so I set up expectantly in 12 degrees of warmth. Tried a few things, but nothing. Brought out the float rod for a blank-buster and had 15 small roach before the bites dried up. At 3:30 a c
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Speen Moors

04 02 22 - Speen Moors

OK, OK, let's get Wednesday out of the way, then. After several warmer days, I was seduced by reports of fish coming out at Willows. I arrived to the sight of two topping fish which settled my swim choice, and heard  of further catches that morning which elevated my anticipation so high that for a while, I wasn't bothered that I'd forgotten my seat and had 4-hours ahead of me sat on a plastic bag on a hard damp bank. By the time the buttock-ache really started kicking in, I'd had no bites on swi
Marsh Benham

29.1.22 - Marsh Benham

A joy to be the guest of such a legend as Mr Plumb. So much learned, nothing more than the location of the carpark which I may only have overshot by 100 yards, yet enough to render us completely out of sight of each other. My faux pas had me keeping the great man from his chub by half-an-hour while waiting for me. Damn you, S-bend. Finally on the river, CP generously gave me first choice of the delicious looking weir pool-swim. A 3-oz perch had me delighted to have survived January without
kennet

19, 21, 22.1.22 - Hambridge, Speen, Hambridge

A week of hard, cold weather meaning not much gardening on, but more chances to fish. Wednesday pm - a few hours at the canal. Much quieter than of late, with 17 roach (compared to the recent 50's) albeit the largest a pleasing 4 ounces. Oh, and 3 bleak and a minnow, if you're counting. Spent the last hour on lures hoping for repeats of last weeks perch, but with another frosty night imminent, I think it was just too cold for them. Friday - Minus four at kick-off, with the canal at Ebo
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in kennet

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Speen Moors

14.1.22 - Speen Moors

Well, it finally happened. Thank you CP. A size 14 hook, a kernel of red sweetcorn and after 20 minutes at the weir, a beautiful 2lb 4oz chub finally, finally came in to my net, rubber lips, bronzed scales and everything. I almost declared there and then and went home. Fishing way over depth, the bulk shot may have dragged, but the fishing didn't, although the fish to follow were both trout in the 1.5lb bracket. Planning to spend some of the day piking, I went to the canal but found it
Kennet & Avon Canal

12.1.22 - K&A Canal - Hambridge

Well, that was a fun afternoon. The plan always was to spend the first half of it with stick float and single maggot on the canal. Despite the morning frost, it was beautiful in the sun, and with no wind or boat traffic, it was like a millpond. Once the fish picked up on the gentle loose feeding and occasional conker of groundbait, the roach came in thick and fast. I stopped when I got to 50 (in less than 2½ hours) , supplemented by six bleak (not dace). Curiously, the roach started small,
NAA Archive

8.1.22 - Newbury Library

The forecast was dreadful today, and with my Michelin-man wet weather gear still dripping from yesterday, I thought I'd spend the time at the library (within eyesight if the K&A Canal) working on my project researching the history of the Newbury Angling Association. Seeing that the NAA badge showed it was founded in 1878, I was intrigued by what the history might be. I found an on-line newspaper archive which holds over 100 Newbury Weekly News and other publication articles from the 180
Speen Moors

7.1.22 - Speen Moors

My Speen Moors misery continues. No bites in the first couple of hours alternating floated maggot with legered bread flake. The low sun was bright, and perhaps that's what put the fish off, combined, perhaps with yesterdays below-zero temperatures. So, on to Parliament Draft, and fished very swim, having pepped each with 15 mins of loose feed first. Zip. I'd burned most of them on my swim-crawl back towards the entry gate, when a fellow committee member, whose angling skills I revere, turned up
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