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Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

Coarse Fishing

13/14 August

Dobsons Lake - Thatcham 1900 - 0200 Warm and overcast with clearing skies after 2330 - which allowed for some good Perseid spotting! AT 20º - 15ºC. 1 Tench; 4lb 3oz. 2 Roach & a Perch - nothing particularly big! Well that was a VERY disappointing night - especially after such a promising start. Swim choice was dictated by a nice patch of bubbles around a rod length and a half out and casting into the area, I had the tench on the bank within 30 mins of starting (with the 2
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

15
Coarse Fishing

7 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1045 - 1345 Cool, milky sunshine. River at normal autumn levels - much lower than expected after a really wet month. 4 Chub; 4lb 6oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 1lb 15oz. 7 Dace (4 chunky ones). 1 Grayling, 2 Gudgeon & a Brownie. Hooray - banker chub swims gives up more than one fish! Had three in the first 20 mins with the 4th one coming after resting it for over an hour whilst I explored elsewhere.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

12
Coarse Fishing

12 December

River Lambourn - Newbury 1045 - 1445 Cold and cloudy. AT around -1ºC all day. River low 14 Grayling; 8 over a lb and as they got progressively bigger throughout the session I ended up weighing 5 of them - at 1-06, 1-07, 1-09, 1-10 & 1lb 12oz. 1 Brownie - small. I love days like this - wrapped up warm against an iron hard frost - which froze my landing net between each fish landed! As ever the Lambourn Ladies were very obliging despite the cold - fished the length of the v
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

11
Coarse Fishing

12 December (Part 1)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0745 - 1345 Overcast start (drizzling when I left home) becoming bright and breezy. AT 7º-9ºC. River at normal levels. 8 Chub: 4lb 7oz, 3lb10oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 11oz & 4 small ones. 7 Roach - most hand sized, 4 Dace, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & a 2lb Brownie. Pleasant morning playing hunt the chub, started off with the 3lber from a spot that only usually gives you one chance - and so it proved as resting it for an hour produced nothing more. Fished a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8
Coarse Fishing

8 March

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1800 Bright and sunny morning - clouding over after lunch (thankfully!). AT around 10ºC all day after a frosty start. River slightly on the low side. 22 Chub: Only 3 under 2lb and 8 over 4lb. Best 3 went 5lb 6oz, 5lb 2oz & 4lb 15oz. 7 Roach; 1lb 5oz, 12oz and 5 tiddlers. 7 Dace: 1lb 😀, 12 oz 2@ 10oz and the other 3 weren't much smaller! 1 doz+ Brownies 2½lb - 4lb. 2 Rainbows both around 2½lb. My now annual end of season 'chubfest', t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8
Coarse Fishing

9 September

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm evening (though temps were starting to plummet when I left) 21º->12ºC. 2 Carp: 13lb 14oz, 7lb 2oz. 2 Tench - both quite small but pushing a lb. 3 Crucians - handsized. A session topped and tailed by the 2 carp. The biggie snaffled my float fished maggot within 20mins of starting and with a 16 to a 4lb bottom I was grateful for the help of a fellow angler for its netting! In truth the carp were a pain - especially until it got dark a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7
Coarse Fishing

21 June

River Kennet - Hambridge 1000 - 1300 Rain (again!?) steady and persistent but never particularly heavy - thankfully, as I was standing out in it for 3 hours. Cool (only 11ºC), quite calm. River was in great nick - higher than normal for June and with a little less colour than last Thursday. 2 Chub; 5lb 2oz and one of around a pound (unweighed). 18 Dace & 9 Roach - nothing to warrant weighing. 1 Grayling c10oz, 2 Gudgeon (hooray!) & 2 Brownies both over 1lb but under 2lb.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7
Coarse Fishing

25 June

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm and sunny evening - with cloud cover coming in at dusk which: a) kept temps up at around 14ºC and, b) kept the dew off which was nice! 3 Tench; 4lb 7oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 12oz. 1 Bream 3lb 8oz. 3 Carp (!) one 'handsized' the other 2 slightly bigger at around a lb a piece. 5 Perch. Very pleasant evening on the float - though the carp were an unwelcome sight - this was meant to be a carp free lake when it was restocked after the fish kill of 2
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7
Coarse Fishing

4 September

River Kennet - Hambridge 0700 - 1300 Warm, overcast and quite muggy - though that might just have been all the exertion to hack my way through the undergrowth to my swim - clearly no one has been here since MY last visit back in July! AT 10º - 20ºC. River low with a little colour - typical for this time of year. 7 Chub; 3 over 2lb - the best 2lb 12oz with another an ounce or so under. Other 3 were around the pound mark ± a few ounces. 1 Barbel (!!) 👍 unweighed but probably just sh
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7
Coarse Fishing

21 September

River Kennet - Aldermaston 1345 - 1645 Warm with 'milky' sunshine. 19ºC. River low and sluggish. 2 Grayling; 1lb 6oz & 1lb 2oz (!!). 11 Roach; Biggest 12oz (weighed) nothing else even half that. 1 Gudgeon. Well I wasn't expecting that! First trip here in well over a decade and even when I did fish it more regularly it was usually hunched over a couple of quiver tips waiting for a barbel - I rarely got the trotting gear out on this venue. So a bit of a recce and for the fi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7
Coarse Fishing

30 October

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1000 - 1530 Bright and mainly sunny after early morning rain. AT around 13ºC all day. River still quite low and clear despite a wet October (109mm and counting!) 6 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 2lb 0oz and 4 in the ½-1lb bracket (of course!). 1 Perch 1lb 11oz. 17 Roach - only one troubled the scales (as I thought it would make a pound!) @ 14oz. 3 Dace. 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies; a 2+lber and a smallun. First hour and a half on Parliament Draft which accounted for both
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7
Coarse Fishing

6 March

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1330 Cool, calm and mainly overcast with milky sunshine at times. AT 1º - 6ºC. River still quite full but down a few inches on my last visit 4 weeks ago. 4 Chub; 5lb 2oz, 4lb 7oz, 3lb 13oz and a pounder. A doz Roach - mainly quite small with a couple of 'netters' of around 10oz. 1 Brownie; 1½lb. Surprisingly scratchy start to the morning - fished the carrier down and only had fish from 2 swims (the smaller chub & trout and the roach). Th
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6
Coarse Fishing

18 June (6th Paul Goulbourn Memorial Fish-in)

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford. 0645 - 2345. RAIN, Rain, continuous, unrelenting, nonstop RAIN! Heavy at times, slight, moderate, torrential, tropical, cloud bursts at other times. Over a month's worth in a day! Drove over in the rain, set up in the rain, fished all day in the rain. Rain eventually stopped as it got dark - so escaped packing up in the rain - though everything was pretty sodden. Thankfully my day shelter was up to the task - alas the banks weren't, so during the heav
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6
Coarse Fishing

8 August

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0630 - 1230 Torrential rain for first 90 mins or so followed by showers (some quite lumpy!). Cool for August (13ºC) and quite breezy - sun eventually appeared for the last hour or so. 2 Chub: 3lb 13oz & a smallun. 1 Bream; 3lb 14oz. 4 Doz Roach & Dace (mainly roach - nothing of any size). 3 Bleak. 1 Rainbow Trout - 3½lb. I read 3 weather forecasts on Friday evening and whilst all predicted a showery weekend they all also said that Sunday wo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6
Coarse Fishing

29 December (Part 1)

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 0900 - 1300 Bright and breezy with heavy showers. AT 8ºC. River very pacey with a tinge of colour. 1 Chub: 5lb 14oz. 9 Roach - all a 'nice' size - the one I deemed worthy of the scales went 14oz - with all the others around half that! 2 Dace - small. A quick return to my pre-Christmas venue. When I walked back to my car last week I spied a slack which simply screamed 'here be chub' and I wasn't wrong! First trot through the float buried at
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6
Coarse Fishing

24 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Widmead 0715 - 1030 Mild, overcast with some light drizzle and an ever increasing breeze. Canal quite full. 4 Perch: 2 'pounders', biggest 1lb 6oz. 3 Chub: again a brace of pounders - to 1lb 9oz. Dawn perch raid to a favoured swim of old - been 3 years since I last fished here but for a decade from 05-15 this was a nailed on banker venue for big perch - had dozens and dozens of 3lbers in that time plus a couple of 4s. My last 3 from here was Dec 15 a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

20 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0700 - 0915* 1000 - 1715˜ Mild, mainly overcast, quite breezy (some milky sunshine at times) - light showers on and off all day with rain for last hour and a half. AT around 12/13ºC all day. *27Perch - with 13 (!) over 1lb - and 3 over 2 - best 2lb 7oz. ˜(½mile upstream!) 7 Perch - all over 1lb (3 over 2) best 2; 3lb 10oz? & 2lb 11oz. A doz roach and a dace - all small.   What a Red Letter day! Make hay while the sun s
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

27 February

River Kennet - Thatcham 0900 - 1245 Bright and sunny after a frosty start. AT was 11ºC when I packed up. River very full - but quite clear. 2 Chub: 3lb 13oz & 2lb 5oz. A dace and a brownie - both around 6oz. Bit of a gamble which nearly backfired - very few floodwater swims at this venue - though there is a nice near bank eddy which usually produces a nice chub. Alas if it was in residence it wasn't hungry as all I extracted from the swim were minnows (yes, Martin - there
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

8 September

River Kennet - Thatcham 1800 - 1930 Hot and humid - with the crash, bang, wallop of an electric storm to finish! River quite low. 6 Chub: biggest 2lb with another couple of around a lb and 3 tiddlers. 1 Pike; 4lb 3oz (on trotted maggot!). 2 Perch; both around the 1lb mark (nice!). 2 Roach; a 'netter' and a tiddler. 2 Brownies - small. Quick return to the venue I had a barbel from recently with the intention of ledgering into the dark to see if I could get another. As usual I
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

12 February

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1430 Overcast morning, brightening up after lunch (to the detriment of the fishing!)  and quite breezy. AT 5º -> 9ºC. River low and clear (at normal summer levels!). 3 Chub; 4lb 0oz, 3lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz. 1 Bream; 3lb 10oz. 17 Roach; most around 6-8oz with a couple of biggers ones. 1 Bleak. Whole session on the main river of my syndicate stretch. Had a first cast trout - which got eventually off but only after totally trashing my first swim!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

26 February - 5th Paul Goulbourn Memorial Grayling Day

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1730 Bright and sunny all day - quite breezy at times. AT -2º -> 10ºC. River looked in good nick. 16 Grayling: most around 8-10oz with 4 bigger. Best went 1lb 5oz. 1 Chub 3lb 10oz. 6 Brownies; 1½ - 2½lb. 2doz+ Salmon Parr! Since Paul's passing in 2015 I've organised (or tried to) a couple of fish-ins a year to a couple of our favourite venues - and places where Paul himself used to organise get togethers of the Internet Angling Club. This was th
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

25 July

River Kennet - Padworth 1715 - 2145 Warm, overcast and very breezy. AT 22º -> 16ºC. River low and threadbare! 13 Roach and 7 Dace. Nothing particularly noteworthy - though all the roach were a handsized or slightly bigger. A lively hour catching 'silvers' followed by 3 hours sat behind a couple of stationary quiver tips for the inevitable blank targetting a barbel (and to think this place used to be called 'Barbel Alley'). Had intended to stay a bit longer - but an early p
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

6 August

River Kennet - Hambridge 0530 - 0730 Cool and clear. AT 7º (!) -> 13ºC (Was thankful for my fleece!). River VERY low - can't remember when I last saw it this threadbare. 2 Chub; 1lb 10oz & 1lb 7oz. 11 Dace - all small. 5 Roach - ditto apart from one of around ½lb. 2 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak A couple of hours trotting and home for breakfast! Doesn't look like anyone's been here since I came in June, place was a jungle! Banker chub swim was full of bleak & and small dace - s
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

1 December

River Lambourn - Newbury 0845 - 1415 Cold and cloudy. AT -2º -> +1ºC. (Proper Grayling weather!). River very full and clear. 23 Grayling. 8 over a lb - best 4 went 1lb 14oz, 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz (X2 - different fish). 5 Brownies: all small/parrs. I do love cold days like this - wrapped up warm and staying mobile. Had the rare luxury of not seeing another angler so fished the length of the stretch twice with a break for lunch in between. Took corn but forgot it in the mo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

26 September

River Kennet - Hambridge 0700 - 1330 Cool (5ºC when I started), bright and breezy. River quite low - normal for Sep. 3 Chub; all 1-2lb. 5 Barbel (!!!); all 12oz-1lb. 8 Dace - all chunky ones in the 6-8oz class with a couple a tad bigger. 4 Brown Trout; one close to 3lb the others circa 12oz+. Another recce session - following up on some recently acquired intelligence (cheers Martin - spot on! ?). Been a few years since I last exchanged my NAA card for a CSAS one to fish this
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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