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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

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29 June

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2330   Warm and overcast evening - still 18ºC when I packed up. Lovely shirtsleeves evening - though the mossies were a pain!   5 Tench; 4lb 11oz, 4lb 6oz, 3lb 13oz, 3lb 12oz, 3lb 3oz. 1 Crucian 1lb 15oz (and a bit!)   Very pleasant evening's float fishing. Quite a bit of activity and loads of bubbling. 3 Tench and the Crucian caught tight (ie less than 1 metre) to the margins. All fish on meat over pellet. 1st Crucian from here for a couple of years!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 June

River Kennet - Padworth.   1700 - 0000   Bright and breezey start with clouds clearing and temps dropping. 20ºC->12ºC when I packed up. River at near normal summer levels (perhaps a tad on the low side) and carrying its usual summer colour...   1 Chub; 6lb 6oz (Equals my PB! ). 2 Barbel; 9lb 7oz & 4lb 4oz.   Well, well, well! For the 2nd year running my first 'static' barbel session of the summer throws up a 6lb+ chub. From the same venue as last
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 June

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   0500 - 0930   Overcast and cool - with sunny spells for last hour.   1 fantailed goldfish (!) 2lb 3oz. 6 Rudd (4 really chunky ones in the 8-10oz bracket), 4 perch, 1 roach.   Breakfast session after crucians - so somewhat disappointed with a goldfish - think its the 3rd time I've caught it (last time was Oct 2010 when it was a couple of ounces heavier!). Some nice rudd were a bonus however - wasn't too aware of them even being IN this lake!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 June

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham   1830 - 2300   Warm, still evening. River low and looking rather threadbare after a dry spring (and a dry June)   2 Dace; 1 chunky one of 8oz, 1 Grayling (13oz) & 2 brownies - both circa 10oz - and possibly the same fish!   Start of what will probably a familiar pattern over the summer. A couple of hours trotting - ostensibly to try and get a float caught barbel - but in truth Rusty will spot the blank avoidance ruse, follo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1630 - 1900   Heavy thundery showers. River looked in good nick, reasonable flow with some colour.   1 Barbel; 4lb 9oz. 2 Chub; 4lb 5oz & 1lb 13oz. 7 brownies including one of nearly 3lb!   Curtailed trotting session. Had planned to stay all evening and have a couple of hours of darkness on the lead. However I really don't like being out in a thunderstorm and having watched one storm skirt north of me and another south I co
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 July

River Kennet - Newbury   0500 - 1200   Cool(ish) and cloudy with drizzly rain for last 30 mins.   2 Chub; both circa 1¼lb. 3doz+ Dace, 1½doz Roach, 1 Gudgeon and 5 Brownies - 3 over 1lb.   Morning trotting session on 2 venues a couple of miles apart before the rains came. Chub from each (was hoping for better on that front) and plenty of silver fish.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 July

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 (by the time I started fishing) - 2300 Warm, slightly overcast evening. AT 23ºC  down to 16ºC when I packed up. 1 Tench (small), 2 Rudd (very small!) This evening's venue choice was dictated by the quality of the blackberries rather than the fishing! Another 3lbs picked which Mrs P will be converting into her rather lovely bramble jelly! Fishing was pretty dire - my worst return from Alders this summer. All fish around 2130 when I had half an hour
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

29 January

K & A canal, flowing canal & River Kennet - Thatcham   0700 - 1700   Mild, overcast and VERY blowy for most of the day. AT 54ºF, WT 48ºF. River quite 'full' though with surprisingly little colour.   8 Perch: 3lb 12oz (SB ), 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 14oz. (Nearly 22lb of perch ) 2 Chub; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Dace & 2 Roach.   After last week's chub fest I wanted to take advantage of the return to mild weather and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

4
Coarse Fishing

29 January

River Kennet (& Carrier) Marsh Benham 1000 - 1530 Mild and very breezy (too breezy for good float control). AT 9ºC. River low and looking a little threadbare after 3 consecutive months with below average rainfall. 5 Chub: 4lb 10oz, 2lb and 3 between ½-1lb. 16 Roach - various sizes but nothing to warrant the scales. 11 Dace; most small with a couple of clonkers - best weighing in at 12oz. 1 Rainbow; 3lb & a Brownie c2lb. A trip to my syndicate stretch with Martin (Bayl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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29 February

River Itchen - Gaters Mill (Lower Itchen Fishery)   0830 - 1730   Mild and overcast all day 2ºC -> 10ºC. Calm, becoming very breezy by mid-afternoon. Heavy drizzle for last 2 hours.   24 Grayling (15 over 1lb - in order of capture - 2lb 1oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 13oz, 2lb 7oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 5oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 7oz, 1lb 12oz, 2lb 9oz) 9 Brownies to 2½lb, 1 Sea Trout 1¾lb, 2 Salmon Parr, 3 chublets & a small roach!  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

29 December (Part 2)

Kennet & Avon 'Flowing' canal - Thatcham 1345 - 1545 Bright and breezy. AT 8ºC. River very full with a tinge of colour. 14 Roach. 1 Dace. All small. Another rarely visited swim which can be very hit or miss - usually miss - but which I knew would be a large slack on a flooded river. Lots of silvers in residence but no signs of anything bigger.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
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

29 December

Middle Kennet*   0815 - 1630   Bright and Breezy. River 'full' and carrying some colour - dropping out during the day.   8 Chub - best 3; 4lb, 3lb 13oz, 3lb 6oz, other 5 <2½lb. 13 roach - best 3; 2lb 1oz (Yippee!!), 1lb 12oz, 1lb 10oz, (next biggest 14oz), 10 dace (6 over 8oz - biggest 11oz), 5 Brownies (to around 3lb), 3 Rainbows (ditto!), 1 Salmon Parr and a Gudgeon!   Fantastic day! Fished with Paul - who I think had a similar day - catching more sma
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 December

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0800 - 1630   Cold, bright and sunny - no thermometer but temps must have hovered around 0ºC all day - line was icing in the rings upto 1000 and again from around 1500!   13 Chub - smallest 2lb 14oz, biggest 2; 5lb 6oz, 4lb 9oz. 1X2lb+, 7X3lb+, 4x4lb+, 1X5lb+. (Total Weight of Chub: 50lb 7oz). 3 doz Dace and Roach - mainly dace - all small. 2 Brownies - best 3lb, 1 Rainbow - circa 2lb.   Brrrrrr! A cold winters chubbing - all on trotted maggot. Paul managed 6
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 December

​River Lambourn - Newbury   ​0945 - 1230.   ​Frosty with fog clearing to bright sunshine for final hour. River very low.   ​22 Grayling; 4 over 1lb - best 1lb 8oz. 2 trout parr.   ​Productive trotting session while Jaq hit the sales! All biggies from last 2 swim a dropped into - quite a few fish caught 'by sight'.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

29 December

Kennet carrier (& main river) - Marsh Benham 0815 - 1330 Bright and breezy with a few light (& one heavy) showers. AT 5º-7ºC. River at normal levels - carrier still a little on the low side for winter. 1 Chub: 2lber. 20 Roach & Dace (slightly more roach - nothing note-worthy). 3 Brownies and a Rainbow - all 2½ - 3½lb - with the Rainbow at the top end of that and possibly pushing 4lb... A morning spent playing (and largely failing!!) at avoid the trout. Got off to
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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29 August (Part 2)

River Kennet - Widmead 1015 - 1215 Sunny spells and still cool - 14ºC. 1 Chub: 1½lb. 13 Dace: most a really nice size - biggest 12oz. 1 Roach. A real pain getting through the minnows - but once you did there were some quality dace on offer - still hoping this swim will produce decent chub - but had just the one modest sized one early in the session to show for my efforts. Best dace of the season (so far!)
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 August (Part 1)

River Kennet - Hambridge 0615 - 0930 Cool (9ºC) and overcast - more like late October than late August!  River higher than normal for this time of year - but reasonably clear given all the rain this week. 2 Chub; 3lb 14oz & a chublet. 1 Pike; 8lb 12oz. 7 Dace, 5 Roach and a couple of brownies - 12oz+. Chub first cast ( as per usual) after trickling in maggot for 15mins before starting. One of the dace was an absolutel clonker - a season's best for all of 2 and a bit hours
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 August

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   0600 - 1030   Bright and sunny - chilly (8ºC) start.   1 carp 5¼lb, 1 roach, 3 doz+ rudd & perch - mainly rudd.   Slow morning - only 1 bite on the lead - resulting in the carp - all others margin fishing maggots - though had to switch to meat after 15 mins - the place was heaving with small perch and rudd.....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham.   0945 - 1245   Calm and overcast with 'milky' sunshine. Not particularly warm for late August (19ºC) - but it made for a very pleasant morning's roaming. River looked in good nick, still quite low given all the rain we've had recently and with a little colour.   1 Grayling; 1lb 2oz, 2 Chublets (both close to 1lb). 14 Dace. 5 Brownies - 4 over 1lb to 1½lb.   A morning's trotting - still hoping and trying for a float caught barbe
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

29 August

River Kennet - Newbury   1800 - 2245   Warm and overcast evening though clouds cleared and temps started to plummet in the last half an hour.   7 very chunky dace - all 6-8oz. 1 Roach, 2 brownies to 1½lb.   First serious attempt of the season for a barbel - but of course I started out with a trotting rod for the first hour or so. Once I switched to the ledgering the only indications were from bats and crayfish - LOTS of crayfish - A pattern I'll see a lot of in the next couple of months!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

29 August

River Kennet - Thatcham 0915 - 1130 Cool (for August) and overcast. AT 14ºC. River low and clear. 1 Barbel(!!) 👏 3lb 15oz. 5 Chub; a 'pounder' with the rest a ¼ of that - nice to see some juvenile fish in the river. 1 each of Perch (¾lb), Roach, Dace & Gudgeon. Well, THAT's put a grin on my face! 😀 A couple of hours trotting to use up some maggot that's on the turn having languished in the back of my bait fridge for weeks! A decade or so ago - this was THE venue to get a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

29 August

River Kennet - Brimpton 1400 - 1700 Cool, overcast and breezy with fine drizzle for last hour. AT a decidedly autumnal 15ºC. River a little on the low side - but not out of the ordinary for late summer. 1 Chub- un-weighed but around a 1lb. 9 Dace - all quite chunky. 10 (!) brownies all around 8-10oz with one a tad bigger. DAMN TROUT! Rare foray to the lower and slower stretches of this venue - but not before starting in my 2 'banker' chub swims - where the trout were insatiab
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

28/29 June

Jubilee Lake - Thatcham   1900 - 0430   Glorious might to be out - warm (min 15ºC) with a balmy southerly breeze to keep the dew off - fantastic view of Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky too!   7 Carp; 15lb 8oz, 9lb 14oz, 9lb 3oz, 8lb 7oz, 8lb 2oz, 6lb 15oz, 5lb 8oz.   Not one of my favourite venues - too busy and noisy - which probable explains why I struggled to get a single bite in the margins. All fish during darkness on the feeder - the biggest two
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

28 September (Part 2)

Speen Moors   0845 - 1200   Still mild and overcast with some milky sunshine. River quite low.   2 Perch (both circa 1lb), 6 roach, 1 dace, 1 skimmer, 1 spottie and a doz+ gudgeon.   More of a walk than a fishing session as I pretty much wandered around the whole venue. Gudgeon seemed to be everywhere! Tried a few of my usual perch AND chub swims without an awful lot of action - needs a bit of water!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
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