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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0630 - 0930   Mild, murky and calm. WT 54ºC. (AT same.) Perfect perching weather!   7 Perch; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 14oz and 3 small ones - one close to 1lb the others no where near! 1 Chublet.   Really paid to get here at first light - bites from the off and had 3 of the bigger perch including the 3lber on the bank by 7 o'clock. Bites dried up after an hour and only 2 fish after 0800 and one of those was the ch
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
Coarse Fishing

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 0615 - 0945 Mild (13ºC) with an increasingly strong breeze (storm Aiden approaching) 9 Perch: All, bar one, over 8oz with a couple pushing a lb. Still searching for the bigger ones! Quick session before the rains arrived (started pishing down just as I got back to the car!). One of the advantages of the clocks going back is there's a bit longer to fish before the barges start up and whilst the first one came through at 0830 again - there
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3
Coarse Fishing

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal (flowing) - Thatcham 1245 - 1500 Mild (15ºC) and overcast, quite breezy. 17 Dace - with around half over ½lb - I weighed two at 11oz & 12oz. 5 Roach - all small. 1 Gudgeon. Unexpectedly had a free afternoon - so thought I'd follow up some recent intelligence of this stretch producing good dace and roach. Information I wasn't entirely surprised by as I had this super dace from here a couple of years ago. Biggest dace first cast started proceedings w
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

31 July/1 August

Marsh Farm, Milford.   1730 - 2300 Johnsons 2330 - 0530 Harris   Cool clear night - down to a chilly 9ºC when I packed up.   5 Crucians: Best 2lb 15oz, all others sub 2lb. 5 Tench - a brace of 3lbers and 3 in the 1-1½lb bracket. 2 TINY carp!   Just back from a week in Norfolk (took Paul's travel rod and caught 'A' mackerel off the beach at Weybourne where we were staying!) Plan for tonight was to try and get a decent tench - so even set up a feeder ro
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 July/1 Aug

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0200 Hot and sultry. 28ºC and still 18ºC when I packed up at 2am. Bit of a breeze at times but not enough to keep off a veritable plague of mossies - plenty of Jungle Formula was called for! 4 Tench; 3lb 4oz, 3lb, 2lb 13oz, 2lb11oz. 1 Carp; 6lb 11oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 4 Perch.(and another 3lb of blackberries!) Steady evening's sport on one of the warmest nights I've ever fished. Rotated between maggot and prawn - all the small stuff on mag -
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 0100   Warm overcast night - light drizzle from 2200 - temps never below 15ºC. River up a bit and carrying a bit more colour than of late.   1 Barbel 9lb 11oz   A very pleasant and 'educational' evening on the river in the company of Paul. The plan was for both of us to fish a couple of new swims which neither of us had ever fished before on one of our favourite club stretches. I struggled with both my choices - struggle
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 July

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0500 - 0800   Overcast with heavy drizzle for most of the session. 17ºC - river quite low.   2 Chub; 2¼lb & 1½lb. 18 dace, 14 roach and a dozen gudgeon.   Pre-breakfast trotting session in the rain - most notable for my very first sighting of an otter on the Kennet. Paul had just arrived - ½hour after I'd started fishing and had waded out to join me mid-stream. I'd just announced that my bites had dried up and we quickly saw why! The animal wallowed in my
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 July

​Alders Lake - Thatcham   ​1800-2300   ​Coolish - with a heavy shower.   ​4 Bream; all between 2lb 12oz & 3lb 8oz, 1 Roach 1lb 2oz (!!), 2 Perch.   Still no tench from here this summer - but the bream as ever were very obliging and the roach was a real surprise - first redfin I've had from here in ages and it was a real beauty!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 July

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2230   Bright and breezy evening - temps down to 15ºC   1 Tench 1½lb, 2 roach.   Strange little session - lake seemed pretty lifeless and spent the first 3 hours or so looking at a stationary float - then had a 10 minute flurry of activity at around 2115 half a dozen bites and all 3 fish followed by another hour of nothing! Still, managed to pick nearly 3lb of blackberries which Mrs P has already converted into bramble jelly - yum!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

31 July

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Overcast and very breezy all evening after rain all afternoon - clearing to reveal a very bright full moon for last hour. AT 17ºC - 14ºC. 5 Tench: 6lb 0oz, 5lb 9oz, 5lb 5oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 6oz. 1 Carp 9lb 4oz. 1 Perch; small. Very lively evening - with bites from the off - started with maggot while my prawns defrosted but that only took a few minutes and there after it was chopped prawn - float fished lift method, all evening. Gotta love the
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

31 January

River Kennet - Newbury   0800 - 1200   Cold and overcast - easterly breeze. AT & WT both 42ºF. River up at 'normal' winter levels - little colour.   5 Chub - 4lb 6oz, 3lb11oz, 3lb 10oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 3oz, 5 Dace, 3 Grayling, 1 Brown Trout (c¾lb) & dozen Gudgeon.   All fish on trotted maggot though started with worm for first ½hour or so to see if any perch were in residence - not a sniff yet strangely had the 4-6 chub first trot when I switched to maggots (and three more soon afte
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

4
Coarse Fishing

31 January

River Lambourn - Shaw 0930 - 1200 Cold and cloudy. AT 0º-2ºC. River very full but, as always, crystal clear. 10 Grayling - all small with a couple around 8-10oz. 11 Trout - a netter (probably close on a lb) with the rest parrs - bit of a nuisance - in the same way minnows are! Repeat of last weekend with the Kennet completely out of sorts after 1¾ inches of rain since Weds. A couple of hours on the bank to cure cabin fever - after being stuck at home yesterday with no electri
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3

31 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0745 - 1015   Cool, cloudy and calm. AT 41ºF -> 47.5ºF. WT 44ºF   7 Perch - 2lb 15oz, 2lb 3oz, 2lb, 1lb 8oz, 3<1lb.   Dawn raid on a perfect perch morning. 6 fish in the first hour - only 1 bite after 0900! All fish to float fished lobs.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0745 - 1200   Dull, overcast and calm. AT & WT at 44ºF.   1 Perch 1lb 13oz   A real struggle in seemingly ideal conditions - though maybe the WT still a little on the cool side. First 2 hours spent in 2 new swims (an hour in each) without a bite. A switch to one on my 'banker' swims produced the only bite (and fish) of the day.... oh hum can't win them all!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 December

Middle Kennet - Kintbury   0745 - 1530   Bright and very breezy with a couple of very brief but very lumpy showers. Torrential rain curtailed proceedings half an hour early. River quite coloured and milky (much more than is normal for here) - the product of the springs breaking on the downs and not yesterday's rain. Middle and upper river has been like this for the past week according one of the keepers I was chatting to.   12 Chub; 9 over 3lb, but only 2 over 4 - b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton   1300 - 1600   Mild, cloudy and benign - perfect perching weather. AT 10ºC   9 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz - the others all around 8-10oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb and a Rudd(!)   The CRT have made it very difficult to locate big stripeys on the canal - by removing pretty much every bit of over hanging vegetation from miles of bank - however conditions were ideal for winter perch so a roving approach - travelling light and giving sw
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 December

Northcroft Stream - Newbury 1030 - 1130 Overcast with a chilly breeze - AT 6ºC. 1 Chub 2lb 3oz. Quick, impromptu session as Jaq hit the sales (again!). In truth, I didn't expect to catch as the stream was somewhat turbulent so rather surprised to see my float disappear on my first put in. It proved to be my only bite!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

31 December

River Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1400 VERY mild (14ºC) and cloudy morning - brightening up for last couple of hours. River still on the low side but up a couple of inches on 3 weeks ago and carrying a bit of colour. 4 Chub: 4lb 1oz, 2lb 2oz and a couple of chublets - one of around a pound the other half that. 1 Bream; 5lb 2oz. 40+ Roach and Dace - mainly roach in an approx ratio of 2-1. Nothing particularly newsworthy - though they weren't tiddlers either - a cou
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

31 August/1 September

Knotts Lake   1900 - 0800   Warm and overcast - some breeze - no dew.   2 Tench (6lb 4oz, 5lb 7oz), 9 rudd, 2 doz perch - biggest 1½lb   A VERY quiet night rescued by two nice tench either side of midnight. Biggest on pellet out by the island, 5lber on float fished meat in the near margins. Rudd and perch on maggot - some quite nice sized ones too. Lost a substantial perch (+2lber) at the net when the hook pulled - it lay motionless on the surface for second - just out of net range - bug
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

31 August/1 September

Willows Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 0600   Cool clear night down to 7ºC at dawn and very misty and damp with dew.   9 Tench: All over a pound with 3 fish over 2lb. 7 Carp biggest 2, 12lb 2oz & 8lb 15oz all the others between 3½ - 6½lb. 1 Crucian 2lb 2oz. 4 perch.   A return to the swim of a fortnight ago hoping for - and getting - a similar return for what will probably be my last overnighter of the summer. As before, started off float fishing maggot but the micro perch were in residen
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 August

Bucklebury Ponds   0930 - 1300   Overcast and breezey, 17-21ºC.   1 Crucian, 1lb, 1 Bream 2¼lb, 1 Goldfish (!) 1lb 14oz. 4 roach, 1doz perch.   Pleasant morning float fishing the margins with maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2315   Chilly evening under clearing skies. Temp plummeted after dark. Down to 10ºC - I felt warmer standing IN the river all evening that Paul who was on the bank!!!   19 Dace, 2 Grayling and 1 each of a chublet, roach, gudgeon and a brownie.   Trotted maggot until it was too dark to see the float - last ½ hour of daylight was bite a chuck - very good to see some 'silvers' in the river. Dace were quite small save for 2
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
Coarse Fishing

31 August

River Kennet - Hambridge 1730 - 2145 Warm, clear evening. AT 23º -> 16ºC. River very low. 3 Chub: 4lb 11oz, 2lb 13oz, 1lb 12oz. 1 Barbel (hooray!) 2lb 1oz. 7 Dace, 2 Roach (all small). 5 Bleak. Been a while since I did an evening here - used to be a banker swim for ledgering for a barbel - so much so I've even brought a couple of my 'occasional' angling friends here in the past to (succesfully) catch their first barbel. Those were in pre-otter days (who made an appearance
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

30/31 August

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham.   1930 - 0600   Mild night, quite breezy at times - temp didn't really get below 15ºC   2 Crucians, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 10oz. 3 Carp; a Common of 10lb 1oz and 2 Mirrors of 9-10 & 9-06, 1 Bream 2½lb.   Paul set the bar rather high for this trip as he visited this swim on Tuesday night and caught 6 crucians of similar stamp to my 2, a fan-tailled goldfish (an old friend, we've both caught it before!) and 3 carp to 14+lb.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
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