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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/Willows

28.05.21 - Alders & Willows

My close-season concentration on these two adjacent lakes continues and went with a plan. I followed perceived wisdom and  fished 6 - 8am at Alders. I had line bites and knocks every cast, but nothing took it properly. So as per schedule, I crossed the causeway to Willows and alternated between 2 hours method feeder then 2 hours float-fished corn. The feeder accounted for three hard-fighting carp - maybe the warming water has pumped them up, as they all put up a show worth more than th
Hambridge

11.7.21 - River Kennet - Hambridge

A bonus hour-and-a-half session to use up some baits. A 15 foot rod, centrepin, 2SSG loafer float and a size 16 hook was great fun on the fast running water, and resulted in 4 chub (all between 8 and 12oz), 3 dace to 4oz, 6 small roach, my first fabulous gudgeon of the season and a minnow.  Home with a smile on my face and ready for the England v Italy final later.
Willows

21-25.6.22 - Willows, Marsh Benham, Dobsons

Three very different sessions. Tuesday evening, I spent longest evening in the heat of Willows, float fishing where in recent visits I'd seen good feeding bubbles a rod-length out, but had been too windy to float fish. It's always fab to watch that quarter-of-an-inch tip of orange, but admittedly it would have been even better if I'd had a few more bites. Shallowed up for 3 small roach in as many minutes which broke the blank, but wasn't what I was after, so I switched to the trusted method
Willows

11.10.22 - Willows

A not fishing conducive scorching 18 degrees and millpond conditions when I set up at 3:30 in an unusual swim for me, but thinking it was where the last of the evening sun disappeared and the air would chill fast.  Plumbing the depth with my pole, I snagged and brought in a weighing sling in the margin; the one I lost at this swim the evening I caught a 13lb Mirror on 3.3.21. That was the only excitement until dusk having barely had a bite. Just before dark at 6:30 and having switched
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Dobsons

23.3.21 - Dobsons

Arrived for my short session to be told by an angler on the car park bank that he'd had nothing all day, so walked round to my usual spot on the south bank. Though a warmish, bright day, and conditions still, virtually no fish activity on the surface apart from the occasional tiddler. With nothing happening on leger, I set up a light float rod and missed several bites before landing two roach, one as big as three ounces. Ah well, at least it wasn't a blank. The only other highlight was the
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Dobsons

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Willows

16.8.22 Willows

A good fun evening started with two missed bites and a 7lb 15 common within the first 10 minutes. I'd half an idea that it might be good going as the afternoon had brought the first rain in weeks and weeks following the lower air pressures and temperatures of the heat wave that has been threatening hose bans and our sanity. A lovely fat 12lb mirror soon followed before the deluge came. I huddled under the brolly for a good 45 mins while the rain crashed down. It was beautiful. It also meant
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Dobsons

12 & 15.7.22 - Dobsons

An evening session and an all-dayer, both in high heat. I thought the ease in temperature on Tuesday evening would bring the little darlings out for their tea, but just had the two bream of 1lb 4 and 5lb 6. Did lose a largish-carp which might have made it a less disappointing session. For the first tow hours of light on Friday morning, I watched delicious feeding bubbles all over my baited areas, but neither a method fed wafter to my left, or cage fed corn to the right were on their br
Hambridge

1.3.23 - River Kennet - Hambridge

So, life continues to get in the way of my fishing, It's been over a week now and cold turkey is not pleasant. Managed to squeeze in a couple of hours legering cheese paste on the Kennet for chub. No bites, except from one decent branch that I trawled from the depths in the first three swims. No cheese paste made it back on the hook from any cast making me suspect it wasn't sticking, or else the dreaded crays had woken up. On the fourth swim, on the edge of the mid-channel current, the
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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Dobsons

16.03.21 - Dobsons

Managed to squeeze in three hours before sunset. Two very polite and courteous young chaps were carp fishing from my favourite swim that produced the tench last weekend. They were casting further than I can drive my car, which is fair enough, whereas I would have plopped my bait less than two rod lengths out. There's room for all methods. So I went round to swim 44, into which the surprisingly strong wind was blowing. The books say that the fish follow the wind in readiness for all the foo
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Dobsons

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Hambridge

5.11.22- Hambridge River and Canal

A change of circumstances meant I grabbed some roving tackle and pinched 3 hours on a wet and windy afternoon at my nearest venue. I'd bought waders a few months ago and not got them out the box, so a short trip seemed the perfect opportunity to give them a go. Wading out, I realised how uneven the bottom is and what power water has at even at knee height. It opened up the swims behind the clothing warehouse and made me more aware of the comparative water speeds. I trotted along the crease
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Hambridge

4
Willows

5.3.21 - Willows

Well, after three fish in the final hour on Wednesday, it was no surprise I chose to go to Willows again today. Eben better, I was the only angler there all day but I soon began to cotton on why. It might have been four degrees in the car, and the efforts of morning gardening had been exhilarating, but there was a cold northeasterly breeze, enough to create a chop on the surface and have me pulling a second coat on. I tossed out the method feeder with a pink pop-up that scored the other day and
Willows

01.11.22 - Willows

A strange evening, my first Tuesday evening after the clocks went back. I'd intended to do some evening chub fishing on the river, but with strong winds and yet more heavy rain due, I felt an evening huddled under the brolly would be a slightly less uncomfortable than roving the banks. Naturally, I was the only one on the lake as I was blown down the bank. With the two-rod winter allowance now in place, I cast one to the island, the other along in the margins. I made friends with a mallard
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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Hambridge

18.7.21 - River Kennet - Hambridge

A bonus 2 hours on a stinking hot Sunday.  Totalled 9 dace to 8oz, 6 roach to 4 oz, 5 minnows and a beautiful gudgeon (aren't they all?) Fun, but last as many again were hooked but shook themselves off such was their determination to get free, abetted by the flow of the river. Frustrating, as this included several bigger ones. Keep trying, Martin.
Willows/Warwick's Water

17.4.21 - Willows/Warwicks

Never try to repeat a success, they say. Quite right too. Within fifteen hours of leaving Willows, head fuzzy with carpy joy, I was back in the same swim at first light despite the frost for a second helping. Presuming it would be too cold for the carp to be on the feed until the sun hit the water, I started with a light float and maggot for some less fussy roach and bream. Over the next hour I had no bites at all and had seen four carp come out to anglers unaware of my excellent fishy thinki
Willows

01.06.21 - Willows

It started off as one of those evenings. Firstly, the thread seems to have worn on my landing net meaning it wouldn't attach to the pole without lashings of gaffer tape. Though gloriously warm,  a strong easterly wind soon got up, causing a strong undertow which carried vast amounts of floating debris through my swim and dragging the float. It's blowing in my face also contributed to two birdnests around my reel in the first half hour, both unsolvable and requiring breaking and tackling up ag
Willows

4.6.21 - Willows

After recent excesses, today was pretty quiet for me and the four other anglers on the lake. one who spent more time spodding than fishing. I scaled down to a single grain of corn after initial inaction to stimulate  a 2oz and then a a spunky 6oz roach. There was no future in this tiddler-bashing so I switched swims to throw a method feeder at the reliability of the island.  With still nothing more than the very occasional  indistinct line bite, I chopped and changed 'twixt float and feeder tryi
Willows

19.9.22 - Willows

I'd intended to try chase the bream at Dobsons again, but parking up, was told by a dog-walker that it was bivvy-city over there given Her Majesty's funeral day, so I defaulted to Willows. Pretty pedestrian session, I landed every bite and after mirrors of 4lb 10 & 8lb 10 plus commons of 3lb 4, 7lb 13 and 7lb 14, a par evening was boosted by a slab of a 14lb 15 common soon after dark. The other highlight: a splash in my swim turned out to be made by a kingfisher which immediately flew up and
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in Willows

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kennet

20.12.22 - River Kennet - Newbury

I've been threatening to go evening chubbing for a number of Tuesdays now, and tonight was the night. With heavy rain on Sunday/Monday, the river was travelling faster than last when I came and scouted swims last week, and with no weights over 3/4 oz I could only fish with those with near bank slacks and eddies. I travelled up and down them in turn, spending about half an hour in each, prebaiting the next swim to come with balls of mashed bread as I went before walking back and settling down. 
Bayleaf the Gardener

Bayleaf the Gardener in kennet

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Marsh Benham

7, 10 & 11.3.23 - Marsh Benham

With the river close season rapidly approaching, I managed three sessions at the syndicate. Tuesday evening - Took the cheesepaste to a number of swims. Caught a 1lb 12 chub early on followed by two angry brownies in the 2lb bracket. As it darkened the temperature dropped faster than a 4-oz Arsley bomb as a kingfisher flew low and fast past my rod tip, a barn owl landed in the trees opposite and an orangey full moon rose behind me. It was all breathtaking, but I only managed one more browni
Speen Moors/Enborne

22.10.21 - Enborne & Speen Moors

The plan was to go for the perch on the canal at first light, then walk to the nearby river for the rest of the session. It turned out a day of three halves:   1st: Having bruised my knuckle opening the stubborn metal gate, the first chilly morning of the year (3 degrees) helped stem the blood flow. The perch were still reasonably active, with six coming in the first hour of daylight ,with two about a pound.   2nd. I made my debut fishing the weirpool, squeezed between two alder
Dobsons

2.7.22 - Dobsons

Right, a fresh approach was required after such a slack June. Those fish have been laughing at me. A new tactic at my favourite Dobson's swim. Rather than the float one rod length out, I put on a cage fighter, I mean feeder, and clipped up my line, despite my concern that anything decent could swim away to destruction. I stuffed the feeder with corn and a plug of groundbait and aimed it into the distance where I'd seen feeding bubbles in recent weeks. Here, in line with various You Tube vid
Willows/Dobsons

16 & 17.9.22 - Willows and Dobsons

I dug out the first jumper of autumn as we begin the approach the end of the lake season. Friday had 15mph northerly winds forecast at Willows, so I thought I'd be a clever so and so, and fished into the teeth of it, casting at the sheltered side of the island in front of me. At first it worked like a dream. In the only area of calm water on the lake, while others appeared to struggle, in 90 minutes I had mirrors of 5lb, 4lb 10, & 4lb 6 plus commons of 4lb 8 10lb 2 &5lb 2.  I suppose I m
Willows

02.07.21 - Willows

Perhaps I should have expected it. After a week of vets bills, repeated hitting of my funny bone on the elbow with tendonitis, breakdown of my newly serviced hedge trimmers mid job, followed by multiple bee stings when disturbing a subterranean bee hive while clearing up the few leaves I'd severed, a second consecutive quiet session at Willows was almost inevitably on the cards. Knowing the carp would be in the upper levels, I experimented with a zig-based rig  once the morning winds had ea
Willows

2021 07 27 - Willows

Lovely to sit in the southerly breeze after last weeks heatwave, and even better to completely miss all of the threatened showers that scudded by. I tackled up where I thought the wind would be blowing the fish towards me under the surface chop, but nobody sent them the memo. Nothing for over two hours, then in a millisecond, the world went from silence to chaos as the rod reared into the air and the tip bent round like an Allen key as the alarm screamed out in, erm, alarm. Whatever had tak
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