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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

26 June

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2200   3 Bream; Biggest 3lb 10oz. 3 Perch - one of about 10oz and 2 tiddlers.   First of what will be a series of evening sessions here this summer after the bream and (hopefully) tench. All fish on maggot despite fishing for half he time with meat.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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25 June

River Kennet/Carrier, Marsh Benham   1000 - 1230   Overcast, warm and breezy.   A brace of 3lb chub and a dozen chublets. 18 Roach, all small. 6 Dace, 1 Perch, 1 Brownie and 1 Rainbow.   A venue that will see more of me in the winter months when there's a bit more water in it - but as I now have unfettered access wanted to see it in its summer finery!! had been told to expect lots of weed - but still found plenty of spots to drop into. Was hoping to pick u
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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22 June

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   0900 - 1200   Much cooler than of late 'only' 20ºC.   1 Chub; 2lb 2oz, 4 Dace & 4 Brownies.   Just a short session today as work is interrupting my week off! (but in a good way - off to an awards ceremony soon - http://www.hpma.org.uk/awards/awards-ceremony fingers crossed we win!) This wasn't so much as a trotting session as a trek with full pack! My pedometer recorded that I covered 3.8km as a searched (and generally fai
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

21 June

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   0445 - 1200   Hot! 17º at 0430 when I left the house 31º when I got home. River quite coloured as it always is in summer and at near normal summer levels.   7 Chub: 5lb 10oz, 5lb 4oz, 4lb 7oz, 4lb 2oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 8oz, 2lb 15oz. 4 Dace, 2 Grayling, 10 Brownies - half over 1lb to 1lb 9oz.   Standing in the middle of the Kennet watching the sunrise on a warm, still June morning whilst trotting under the far bank trees - what's
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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19/20 June

Johnsons Lake - Milford   1100 - 2315 & 0300 - 0900, with a 3 hour kip in the car sandwiched in between!   HOT! Sunny and Sultry - temps hit over 30ºC. Finding a shady spot was a (THE) major factor in considering swim choice!   8 Crucians: 3lb 9oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz. 21 (!) Tench - a dozen over 4lb; best 2, 6lb 13oz & 6lb 1oz. 1 Roach; 1lb 10oz (!) and, somewhat ironically, the only fish under a pound was a tiny
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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16 June (part 2)

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford.   1100 - 0130   Bright, hot and sunny (mainly)   3 Tench: 5lb 14oz, and a brace of 3lbers.   2nd Paul Goulbourn Memorial Cruican Fish-in attended by 16 IAC members. Fishing was hard going for most though a few crucians were caught - the biggest going to Krzystof (sp?) - who won the trophy for biggest cruican with a 2lb 4oz fish. Quite a few resorted to the training pond just to get bites! I always planned to fish on after
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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16 June 2017 (part1)

River Kennet - Newbury   0400 - 0630   Warm, bright and sunny! River not as low as I'd expected.   2 Chub; 3lb 13oz, 3lb 3oz, 16 dace, 2 Roach, 1 grayling, 3 brownies.   And so another season begins and what better way to start than standing up to my thighs in cooling Kennet water after a hot muggy night!   A couple of chub in the first 20 mins got the season off to a cracking start and dropping down 60m or so brought a dace a chuck before it was
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Season's Bests 16/17

Somewhat of a mediocre season!   Best Carp 14lb 9oz, 30/8/16 Jubilee Lake Thatcham, Pellet Feeder (a very sickly looking fish - so no pic! Pic below is of my 2nd best of the season a 12lb 11oz fish caught from the same venue a week earlier) Best Barbel 10lb 4oz 10/10/16, River Kennet, Nr Thatcham. Ledgered Snailz Boilie. Yet again another season where I struggled to catch barbel - this double was the biggest of just 3 fish landed all season. Best Bream
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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14 March

​River Kennet - Speen Moors   ​0700 - 1500   ​Mild and overcast. AT 14ºC. River at normal levels.   ​4 Chub; 4lb 3oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 13oz. 5 Dace, 3 Roach, 4 Brownies - 2 'pounders' and 2 parrs.   ​Kennet chub-fest part 2! 3 of the chub caught in the first hour which took the pressure off somewhat so went exploring - with little reward. Had quite a few lobs to use up but none of the usual perch haunts produced so much as a bite. Ended up in a swim where I caught my first ever 3lb
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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13 March

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0645 - 1815   Bright and sunny - cloudy for final couple of hours. AT up to 14ºC. River at near normal levels.   19 Chub; 17 over 2lb (14 over 3!), Best 6: 4lb 9oz, 4lb 7oz, 4lb 4oz, 4lb 2oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 12oz. Circa 60lb of chevins! 12 Dace; Best 2 11 & 10oz. 12 Roach (all small), 10 Brownies to 3lb.   End of season chub-fest on this lovely corner of West Berkshire in the company of Rusty. All chub from just 3 spots
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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11 March

​River Kennet - Thatcham   ​0815 - 1415   ​Mild and overcast. AT up to a very balmy 16ºC when I packed up. River quite pacey and clear.   ​4 Chub; 4lb 0oz, 3lb 11oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 8oz, 3 Grayling, 1 Dace.   ​Fished 2 venues - one immediately downstream of the other - though different clubs - and had a brace of chub from each. All the grayling were quite chunky - in the 12-14oz class.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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4 March

​Northcroft Stream   ​0700 to 0930   ​Mild and cloudy with sun breaking through. River up a bit but with very little colour.   ​5 Chub: 4lb 1oz, 3lb 2oz, 2lb14oz, 2lb 9oz, 2lb 6oz. 1 Perch.   ​Last minute change of plan which paid off handsomely! Had intended to fish much further downstream but hadn't reckoned on ¾in of rain yesterday and reasoned that the river below Newbury/Thatcham might be coloured up. 2 chub from the weirpool - (which had a salmon in it trying to jump the gauge weir
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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26 February

River Frome - Wool   ​0745 - 1500   ​Mild, sunny spells interspersed with fine drizzle. VERY windy! At 10ºC.   ​6 Grayling: 5 over 1lb - all between 1lb 4oz - 1lb 11oz. 2 Small trout. River at 'normal' levels with a bit of colour. 92cm at East Stoke.   ​Last weekend of the season here and it was a bit of a slog in challenging conditions - wind in particular was very strong and downstream in most swims. Bites at a real premium, but thankfully usually resulted in a half decent (and very fa
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

18 February

River Kennet - Thatcham   0900 - 1400   Mild and misty - sun breaking through for last hour or so. AT up to 11ºC. WT 11.1ºC. River up a few inches on last time here - good flow with little colour.   1 Chub; 2lb 9oz, 2 Dace, 2 Roach, 2 Grayling, 3 Brownies - 2X2lb fish and a smallun.   Fished 2 swims around ½mile apart. Most fish from the first swim - the dace and roach were all a nice size. Only a couple of trout from the 2nd swim - though bright sunshine didn't help proceedings!  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

11 February

Lower Itchen Fishery   8am - 5pm.   Cold and overcast with light snow flurries in the morning. AT never above 2ºC all day. River on the low side for late winter - with a slight tinge of colour and a surprising amount of weed growth.   22 Grayling; 14 over 1lb, best 4 - 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 15oz. 3 Chub - all 3 - 3lb 5oz. 1 Brownie 2½lb.   2nd IAC grayling day in memory of Paul Goulbourn. Organised with great diplomacy by Dave Smith and attended b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

5 February

​K&A Canal, Enborne & River Kennet, Speen Moors   ​0800 - 1300   ​Cool and Overcast, AT 6ºC. River up a bit with a tinge of colour.   ​3 Chub: 3lb 13oz with the other 2 a couple of ounces either side of 2lb.   ​A frustrating morning on 2 counts. The plan was for a couple of hours perching followed by a day on the river. However, on arrival I was horrified to see that the CRT had been out with their chainsaws emasculating the vegetation on the far bank - bushes and overhanging tre
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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28 January

​River Lambourn - Newbury   ​0800 - 1030.   ​Bright and sunny after early rain. Milder than of late - AT 6ºC. River still low.   ​11 Grayling - all bar 2 over 8oz - biggest 1lb 7oz. 5 brownies - all small.   ​Usual catch a couple and move on tactics. Bothered by pike in a couple of swims....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

21 January

River Kennet - Brimpton   0930 - 1330   Cold & Sunny. AT -5º -> +3ºC. WT 5.3ºC. River low and clear - very low for mid January.   5 Chub: 5lb 4oz, 4lb 15oz, 4lb 5oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 2oz. 4 Grayling - all over 10oz with 2 over 1lb - best 1lb 3oz. 2 Brownies - to 2lb+.   Blimey! Didn't expect that! Best haul from here in over a decade. A trip more in hope than expectation given the conditions - bites at a premium but when they came it resulted in a quali
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

13 January

Middle Kennet   ​​1000 - 1530   Cold, with bright sunshine for most of the day and raw north-westerly wind. AT never above 4ºC. River low and clear - despite yesterday's rain.   9 Chub: best 2; 3lb 7oz & 3lb 4oz. 3Doz+ Roach - quite a few fish in the 6-8oz class, 3 Dace, 3 Brownies & 2 Rainbows (all over 2lb)   Day off work - and a birthday treat (it was yesterday) as a guest of Merv. 9 years since I lasted fished here - though it won't be 9 years until my next visit as I'm joi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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8 January

​K&A Canal Enborne   ​ 0800 - 1115   ​River Kennet - Thatcham   ​1200 - 1430   ​Murky, mild and drizzly.   ​Canal; 7 Perch to circa 1lb, 1 Pike 4lb 11oz. ​River: 1 Chub; 1½lb, 5 Grayling, 2 Dace, 2 Perch, 4 Brownies to 2lb+   ​Had planned to spend all morning hunting stripeys on the canal - but there was way too much boat (or rather canoe) activity for good sport. So switched to a couple of hours on the river - rather surprised to get so many grayling from here....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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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

28 December

​River Kennet - Newbury   ​1000 - 1330   ​Frosty and foggy. AT -1º -> +2ºC. WT 7.4ºC river very low and clear - needs some rain!   ​2 Chub; both a couple of ounces either side of 2lb, 11 Dace, 1 Roach, 2 Grayling & 3 Brownies.   ​Pleasant trotting session - bites at a bit of a premium at times - but caught from all 5 swims a dropped into to.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

23 December

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury   0800 - 1600   Overcast with drizzle at times becoming increasingly windy. AT 10ºC. River very low.   14 Chub: Biggest 4lb 9oz. 2 Dace: - 1 a real lump of 12oz. 4 Roach. A doz+ Rainbows - all 2-2½lb & a couple of small Brownies.   A day playing avoid the trout - which was difficult as they appeared to be sharing the same swims as the chub! Did eventually find a couple of swims with fewer of the menaces - which produce
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18 December

​River Frome - Wool   ​0800 - 1400   ​Cool, and murky! River at normal levels with a tinge of colour (more than I expected to see! 74cm at East Stoke river gauge.   ​8 Grayling; all 'netters' with 6 over 1lb - biggest 1lb 9oz. 4 Trout: to 1½lb.   ​Slow day in Dorset. Bites at a premium - in fact was fishing for nearly 3 hours before I had my first fish. All ladies were of a nice stamp though was hoping for something a little bigger. Main excitement of the morning was being briefly connec
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

11 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   1230 - 1600   Cool, with milky sunshine. AT 8ºC WT 12.1ºC   1 Pike; 5lb 6oz. 5 Roach, 2 Dace, 2 Bleak.   Blank perch trip! Spent the first couple of hours fishing (and feeding) mag - hoping to attract prey fish - but the only bite I had on lobs resulted in the pike.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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