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About this blog

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

8 July

River Kennet - Padworth   1930 - 2330   Warm evening with a nice breeze to keep the mossies off. Still 16ºC when I packed up.   1 Barbel; 5lb 11oz   Unusually for me ledgered with two rods (and even more unsually left the trotting gear at home). One rod on boilie and one on halibut pellet. Pellet rod went off within ½ hour of arriving - a great start. Unfortunately it was then down to the crayfish to move in. Bait thieving activity died down for the last 45 mins - but it was false hope..
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

10

26 June

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   0445 - 1045   Warm and overcast with sun breaking through after 0900. 15ºC->24ºC   1 Crucian; 3lb 13oz - new PB! 2 Commons; 11lb 3oz & 8lb 5oz. 2 Perch - 1 just on 1lb and a nice Rudd of 10oz.   Yippee got what I came for - had heard of some big 3's showing and even whispers of a 4lber so thrilled to have snaffled one. Sat right back and float fished under my rod tip about 2 foot from the bank - lots and lots of little l
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

9

5 January

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne   0745 - 1400 (With 1½hrs out to wander round Speen Moors looking at the floods before returning for the final 45 mins)   Dull, mild and overcast 9-10ºC. A lovely, benign winter's day - perfect perching weather. WT 47ºF   13 Perch. 12 over 1lb with 4 X2lbers - biggest 2lb 7oz   Every May Paul and I have what we call - "A Wander". We take a day out to look at a few venues and plan our campaign for the opening week - just an
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

9

18 December

Middle Kennet Estate water.   0800 -1600   Cold, frosty and bright. -1ºC -> 5ºC. River very low   5 Chub; 5lb 15oz, 2lb 3oz & 3 chublets 2 of which were circa 1lb. 47 Roach; Most in the 6-8oz bracket - the 5 I put on the scales were 9oz, 10oz, 12oz, 14oz & 1lb 2oz but an awful lot weren't much smaller than the 9oz fish - probably had nearly 20lb of roach in all! 2 Dace & 6 Brownies biggest circa 2½lb.   Chalk this one up to the river keeper
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

8

16 February (part 2)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   1300 - 1730   Mild, overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. 10ºC. WT bouncing between 44/45ºF when I arrived rising to 46ºF when I packed up.   1 Perch; 4lb 2oz! (New PB ), 1 Chub; 5lb 10oz.   MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! It is a quest that started in 2005 with an eavesdropped conversation in Tony's tackle emporium when a guy at the till was describing in some detail the capture of a 4lb 11oz perch from the canal while
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

8
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

20 February

Middle Kennet Estate   0900 - 1730   Cool, Overcast and Dry. AT around 5-6ºC all day. River at normal levels and carrying a tinge of colour - all in all neigh on perfect winter conditions!   10 Chub. 8 over a pound, biggest 3; 4lb 5oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 5oz. 13 Dace. Most a good size, best 4; 14oz, 11oz 10ozX2. 1 Grayling - 1lb 7oz. 8 Brownies to 2½lb.   Typical day spent wondering the banks with rods in hand. Spent all morning searching out the dace and had c
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7
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

2 January 2012 (A big fat Pike!)

River Kennet - Speen Moors   1230 - 1600   Bright and sunny start followed by a heavy shower. AT 5-7ºC. Forgot to take WT!   1 Pike; 15lb 3oz (!!!). 4 Perch 1lb 9oz and 3 smalluns. 2 Roach. 2 Dace. 8 Gudgeon.   Rather hoped that the weather would have held to what we'd had in recent days (mild and overcast). Bright sunshine and a sudden drop in temperature is not what the angler ordered and I ummed and ahhed all morning about whether or not to go. However
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7

19 February

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0830 - 1730   Cool and Sunny with broken cloud 2ºC->7ºC->2ºC. River very low.   9 Chub; 6lb 7oz (new PB ), 5-2, 3-15, 2-13, 2-10, 1-10 and 3 chublets. 47 Dace, of which less than a dozen were under 8oz!!!! 2 fish of 13oz, 3 fish weighed at 12oz but probably had a load more that were close,10 Roach; 4 of which were over 10oz - best 14oz. 10 Brownies and a Rainbow.   This was supposed to be a club day on this lovely e
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7

28 October

Flowing Canal (Kennet & Avon) Nr Thatcham   1500 - 1715   Bright, VERY breezy, with a very heavy shower to finish - temps cooler than of late at 10ºC   3 Perch; 4lb 5oz (!!!) New PB , 3lb 8oz and a smallun of around 12oz. 1 Chub 3lb 6oz.   Blimey! Autumn perching campaign gets off the mark at last in spectacular fashion. Unexpectedly had the afternoon off so with the St Jude's storm easing away it was off to do some more prospecting on the canal. And y
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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

20 January

River Frome - Wool   0830 - 1645   Overcast, mild and breezey (rather too breezey at times). River clear and quite low.   16 Grayling; best 3 1lb 11oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 9oz. The rest mostly small. 5 Brownies - most small with a couple of pounders.   Ever since my first visit here in November I've been bending Paul's ear to come and join me - and the premise of a belated birthday trip was the perfect excuse. However work (his) threatened to get in the way and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6

9 July

River Kennet, Nr Thatcham   1930 - 2315   Cool, overcast some light drizzle at times - more like October than mid-July!   Blanked!!   Cue another Rusty faux headline!!! Shocked on 2 counts when I arrived. The first was not being able to even get in the car park - full of anglers cars. And the second was the state of the river - really coloured up and tanking through - more like mid-winter condition. I did consider turning around and going elsewhere - a thought that stayed with me all eve
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6

31 August/1 September

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham   2000 - 0700   Warm and overcast night, didn't get below 14ºC. Drizzle until midnight but by dawn our brollies/shelters were dry. Lovely night to be out.   2 Crucians; 3lb 7oz & 2lb 3oz. 1 Carp 10lb 5oz.   Not quite mission accomplished first cast - but certainly 1st bite!! Biggest crucian of the season, my 3rd biggest ever and the first 3lber I've ever had from this water. Plan was to try and avoid attracting the car
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6

19 January

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0900 - 1600   Cold, overcast with snow laying to a depth of around 3-4inches. Temps hovering around 0ºC all day with frequent sporadic light snow flurries. No wind so wrapped up warm I was quite toasty all day - was actually rather a nice day to be out. River at near normal winter levels and quite clear. WT 42ºC   17 Chub(!); all over a pound with only 4 under 2¼lb, Biggest 4lb 2oz. Most fish in the 2½-2¾lb bracket. 10 Perch; Biggest 4, 2
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6

8 August

Middle Kennet Weirpool - Marsh Benham 0600 - 1200 Hot and sultry - 19º -> 27ºC. River a little on the low side but not as bad as it can be in August! 12 Chub: 6 over lb, best 2 both went 4lb 3oz (different fish) - nice to see some small ones. 3 Bream; 2¾ to just under 4lb. 30 Dace. 20+ Roach. 4 Bleak. 1 Brown Trout - 6lb 1oz (!!) & 2 Rainbows of 2½ & 3½lbs. Cracking morning's trotting - though the big brownie was on ledgered meat and had me convinced I was into a b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6
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