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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

My PB List

In response to the mail I had asking "If that was your season's bests what are your PBs?" Here they are! Carp - 27lb 6oz: 15/08/08, Method Feeder/Hemp Bogey, CEMEX Blue Pool, Burghfield. Pike - 18lb 10oz: 10/02/01, Freelined Lamprey section, River Lambourn, Newbury. Barbel - 12lb 4oz: 27/07/04, Ledgered 14mm Halibut pellet, River Kennet, Thatcham. Bream - 9lb 7oz: 02/09/06, Ledgered 14mm Halibut pellet, Horseshoe Lake, Yateley. Brown Trout - 8lb 12oz: 14/03/08, Trotted M
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

Fish & Fishermen in English Medieval Church Wall Paintings

Another book review - and a bit of a minority interest methinks! Fish & Fishermen in English Medieval Church Wall Paintings By Frederick Buller   A curious and rather unusual book that will fascinate anyone interested in Angling history – of which I thinks there’s a few on Anglersnet (well maybe just me and Vagabond!). The scope of this research is, however, rather narrow and I was amused by a line in the frontispiece which described the book as ‘a definitive text f
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

Crock of Gold

As ever my spring will be spent collecting and reading angling books and knocking out the odd review for Anglersnet. This is a book Jaq bought for me when it first came out last autumn - but it was squirrelled away and given me as a Christmas pressie, hence I've not long finished it....   Crock of Gold – Seeking the Crucian Carp by Peter Rolfe   For me, the epitome of summer is sitting by a misty pool an hour before sunrise on a balmy June morning – staring intently at the re
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

Chalkstream

No fishing this weekend - building up brownie points with Jaq - for the last week of the season - I even went clothes shopping with her yesterday!!! (and we're still talking).   Also got lots of reading to catch up on - just finished a wonderful anthology by Charles Rangeley-Wilson which as ever I've reviewed for AN (see below too). Next up will be The Glorious Uncertainty by John Aston - just started it and I'd have to say that so far its even better than his first book (A Dream of Je
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

Angling Vagabond

This book is already well known to most ANers!   Angling Vagabond - a Glorious Boyhood by Dave Park   If I have one complaint about this book it’s that it finishes too soon - and somewhat abruptly. A sign of a good book - leave the reader wanting more! I hope the author sees this volume as no more than the opening salvo’s of a full angling autobiography. Dave Park (known to all on the AnglersNet forums by his nom de plume, Vagabond) is a much travelled Ichthyologist and I’m s
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

A Train to Catch

Angling books are another one of my passions - and my little angling library is not so little these days as the number of books in it creeps towards 200! Over the years I've done a number of reviews for Anglersnet of my favourite ones. I've got ½ dozen or so to catch up on - a legacy of Christmas (and birthday pressies) so there'll be a few more over the coming months. Here is the 1st.   http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/book-and-media-reviews/a_train_to_catch.html   A Train to Cat
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

A Can of Worms

No fishing for 3 months so I thought I'd put up any new book reviews I do over the spring - this book is already in the Book and Media Reviews section (from the AN home page)...   A Can of Worms - the story of Barbel and the men who fished for them. By Jon Berry   There can be few books which can be said to be the first AND last ‘word’ on their chosen subject yet this is exactly how I’d describe A Can of Worms. Jon Berry has turned to all his skills as a History graduate
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 September

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2300   Clear and still. AT 20ºC -> 12ºC   2 Tench: 6lb 0oz, 2lb 13oz, 2 perch (small)   Pleasant evening - though not even any sign of Crucians. Both tincas on float fished meat caught a rod length out as it got dark between 2000 - 2100. No bites before or after these times.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
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

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9 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1915 - 2315   Cool, clear evening - though felt quite snug under the trees. River carrying a tinge of colour after recent rains.   3 Barbel; 7lb 4oz, 4lb 13oz, 3lb 10oz. 1 dace, 1 brownie.   This stretch of river is certainly 'saving my bacon' on the barbel front this year - and with Paul getting a brace of 9lbers from here last week there are some bigger ones to go at! As usual I started out with the trotting rod and as usual
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham.   1815 - 2315   Cool, clear evening. River back down to summer levels.   1 Brown Trout; 2lb 10oz.   An evening in a swim which provided my best barbel action last autumn (see: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1237-1-october/ ) - hoping for a repeat performance. Its quite a tight swim between the trees - and as trotting was out of the question a total blank was very much on the cards. And so it seemed until a little after 10.30pm whe
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 October

Kennet & Avon Canal, Thatcham   0700 - 1430 (plus an hour on the river proper)   Bright sunshine after a foggy start. Warm - upto 16ºC   1 Perch; 1lb 10oz, 1 Pike; 14oz!, 4 Chub (all small), 2 Dace, 1 Roach, 1 Gudgeon, and 3 Brownies; 1lb 14oz and 2 parrs.   Umm - probably not the best conditions to go prospecting new perch swims - though the only perch I did catch was from a 'new' spot. Pikelet was first cast - in a usually reliable perch swim - but o
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Coarse Fishing

9 October

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1300 Foggy - eventually clearing to sunny spells - though bites dried up when the sun appeared so was quite happy with the gloomy conditions. AT 14ºC when I left. River quite low and with a little colour. 5 Chub: 3lb 11oz, 2lb 5oz and 3 around 12oz or smaller (This year class appear to be everywhere!) 40+ Roach and Dace (more roach than dace) - a nice stamp with around half of both species in the 8-10oz class. Biggest dace I weighed went 10oz and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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9 November

River Kennet - Near Newbury   0730 - 1630   Bright and breezy - rain from 1500. 4º -> 11ºC. River rose an inch and coloured up a bit during the day.   13 Chub ( 5lb 9oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 7oz, 4lb 1oz, 3lb 10oz, 3lb 8oz 3lb 0oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 8oz. 1¼lb - & 3 chublets!) 7 Brown Trout - biggest 4lb 14oz, 6 Rainbow trout - biggest 3¾lb, c100 Dace & Roach - in roughly equal nos. Best roach 12oz, best dace 9oz, ½doz Gudgeon!   River was teaming with silve
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 November

Middle Kennet Estate   0730 - 1645   Bright and sunny - a lovely, benign autumn day - glad we didn't go yesterday! River still low and clear despite yesterday's monsoon!   12 Chub; Most around the 2½lb stamp - biggest 3lb 11oz. 60 Roach & Dace (2/3 roach,1/3 Dace). 8 Perch; a 1lb fish and 7 smalluns. A gudgeon, 2 Brownies to 3lb and a 3lb+ Rainbow.   First 'estate' trip of the winter and it didn't disappoint - there were fish everywhere - though we fai
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Coarse Fishing

9 March (Part 2)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1500 - 1800 Bright and breezy. AT 11ºC - but felt a whole lot cooler on an exposed canal bank! 8 Perch: a solitary 'pounder' - and that not by much - nearly all the others around 8-10oz. Having been well and truely sated on the chub front the aim is now to try and get some decent perch in the last days of the season. This venue has been disappointing this winter  - and today was no different! No bites at all until 1715 - then a flurry of
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

9 March (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 1000 - 1200 Bright and breezy. AT around 10ºC. River at normal levels. 7 Grayling: all small. 4 Brownies: ditto. Had to pop over to the tackle shop to top up the bait fridge for the final push and as I correctly reasoned I'd have this popular spot to myself on a week day thought I'd have a couple of hours. Was hoping to get a grayling or 2 yesterday on the Kennet - so today was to make up for the lack of them yesterday. Usual tactics of catch one and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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9 March

River Lambourn - Newbury   0630 - 0900   Bright and breezey. AT 8ºC   9 Grayling - most (very) small though I did manage a couple of 'pounders' biggest 1lb 5oz. 2 Roach - both needed the net, best 12oz.   On a late at work so perfect excuse to have a couple of hours on the bank. Grayling not really having it - bright sun and a stiff downstream breeze not helping - bumped more than I landed. Quite a few fingerling fish - obviously had a succesful spawning.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 March

Middle Kennet Estate - Newbury   0700 - 1800   Mild and overcast, breezy at times, temps around 10ºC all day. River still low - though up a tad (maybe a cm or so) on recently.   17 Chub, 6 over 1lb biggest 3lb 0oz. 24 Roach - biggest 1lb 4oz - though quite a few more needed the net. 15 Dace - best 2, 13oz & 12oz. 3 Gudgeon and 4 brownies.   A knackering day as we walked the entire length of the fishery TWICE in order to find the fish. My plan was to st
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

9 March

River Kennet (& carrier) Marsh Benham   0900 - 1530   Bright and breezy (very breezy at times in the morning!) Mild-ish but didn't feel that way in the wind. River up an inch or two on last visit here (3 weeks ago).   7 Chub; Best 5lb 2oz - all the rest between 2½ - 3¾lb. 3 Bream: between 2¾ - 4lb. 15 Roach, 5 Dace & 5 Trout (3 browns & 2 rainbows all between 2½-3½lbs).   Pleasant days trotting despite the wind - spent most of my time on the main river and weirpool which prod
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

9 March

River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1600 Bright and sunny. AT 12ºC. River 'full' and gin clear. 2 Chub 2lb 7oz & a 'pounder'. 5 Dace - 3 real clonkers (for dace!) the one I weighed went 11oz the other 2 probably an ounce or so under that. 2 Grayling - both small. Had to make the most of what might be my last chance at the Kennet this season - if the forecast for tomorrow is to be believed! 6 fish in the first 10 minutes followed by nearly two hours without a bite! (bright sun
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

9 March

River Kennet - Hambridge 1100 - 1500 Cool, cloudy with drizzly showers. Temps rose quite rapidly from 3º->10ºC. River up a couple of inches on the weekend and carrying a bit of colour after nearly and inch of precipitation (snow, sleet & rain) in the last 36 hours. 3 Chub; best 3lb 6oz and a couple of 2lbers. 1 Dace - quite chunky and sandpapery (male in breeding condition). 1 trout parr. Fished 2 swims twice - giving each 45 mins at a time - bites at a bit of a premiu
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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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

9 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2230   Sunny and breezey. Temp 16ºC when I packed up but felt much, much cooler in the stiff breeze - intended to stay longer but was under dressed!   1 Chub 2lb 5oz, 2 dace and a brownie of about a pound.   Another evening of not catching barbel - looks like I'm gonna have to start stalking Viney! took the trotting rod as always and spent the first hour eeking out a few fish from a couple of swims. Then spent 3 hours getting increasingly cold watchi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

9 July

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0000 Warm, overcast with a southerly breeze to put a bit of ripple on the water - neigh on perfect conditions - pity no one told the fish! 2 Carp 12lb 14oz & 6 lb 7oz. 1 Tench c1lb & a Perch. Dismal evening on the float despite same tactics/baits and swim to my last trip here in June. No bites before 2030 - and precious few after that despite the odd fish rolling in my swim! Thankfully I had a Plan B. I'd thrown a couple of slices of bre
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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