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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

19 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1800 - 2330   Warm and breezy evening - still 15ºC when I packed up. River quite low.   1 Barbel; 9lb 1oz. 1 Chub c1½lb, 7 Dace, 1 Roach, 3 Brownies to 2lb 4oz.   A barbel for the 2nd river trip in a row - and a decent one too! Was hoping today's rain would have gingered the river up a bit and so it proved! As usual, I started off with the trotting rod until it was too dark to see my float, but within ¾hr of settling down over
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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12/13 August

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   1900 - 0700   Warm, overcast (alas) and breezy night.   4 Carp; 8lb 9oz, 7lb 8oz, 7lb 3oz, 6lb 7oz.   Slow night - all fish at dusk or dawn - with 5 bite-less hours in between. Couldn't even enjoy the Persieds due to the cloud cover.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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8 August

​River Kennet, Newbury.   1800 - 2315   ​Cool, overcast evening. River down to usual summer levels.   ​1 Barbel; 6lb 2oz. 1 Chub 1½lb. 30+ Dace. 1 Roach.   Hurray, a barbel at last! Started off with the trotting rod as per usual - and again found a bit of river with stacks of silver fish. Then expected to spend a few hours looking at near static quiver tips (apart from the odd bat crashing into the line). However, just as it got properly dark the pellet rod (fishing a boilie on the other
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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5 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2230   Clear evening and quite breezy - good evening for spotting early Perseids (saw 3).   2 Bream; 5lb 6oz & 4lb 14oz. 1 Tench (circa 1½lb).   Catch reports on the NAA forum had me visiting this venue with a smidgen of optimism for a change - and despite bites being at a premium, the tench early doors removed any doubt!. Both bream as it got dark and both on meat - alternated between maggot and meat - giving each an ho
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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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

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Coarse Fishing

21 July

River Kennet - Padworth   1800 -2300   Warm and overcast with light rain for last 2 hours.   30 Dace & 2 Perch.   Another trotting/static combo. Nice to get a bite a chuck on the trotting gear - and both perch were in the 8-10oz bracket. Not so much as a crayfish rattle on the ledgering rods...
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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11 July

​River Kennet, Near Thatcham   ​1800 - 2200   ​Warm and quite breezy.   2 Dace, 1 Grayling and 6 trout to 1lb+   Another failed barbel session cut short early by a large dog otter surfacing in by swim THREE times in under half an hour! :-(  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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10 July

Bucklebury Ponds   1130 - 1400   Overcast, breezy and drizzly - warm.   2 carp; 4lb 3oz, 3lb 6oz. 12 Roach, 4 Perch and a skimmer.   Fishing time has been severely curtailed by athletics over the last 4 weekends - so just a quick session on my local pond float fishing maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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6 July

River Kennet - Newbury   1800 - 2330   Warm, overcast evening (mossies were out in force!!). River down a couple of inches on opening week.   3 Chub; all between 1-2lb. 18 Dace, 6 Roach and 3 brownies.   First of what will probably be many blank barbel evenings!! At least the chub seem to be hanging on - nice to see some school sized fish to come through - but as soon as I switched from the trotting rod to ledgering gear the only interest I had was from the signals - one of which was eno
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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1 July

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham   1745 - 2345   Overcast, breezy with a few short sharp showers. Cool - becoming even cooler - down to 9ºC in the car on the way home.   3 Carp; 7lb 9oz, 5lb 6oz, 4lb 11oz.   Not long after Paul's funeral - his wife Kim wanted me and Geoff to come over and sort through his fishing tackle (and bait fridge/freezer). Kim was keen for both of us to have whatever tackle we would make use of and one of the pieces I took was his p
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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22 June

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   0845 - 1515   Warm, overcast and very muggy - with some drizzly rain at times. River very full for high summer and quite coloured (though that's normal for the summer!)   2 Chub: 3lb 2oz, 2lb 14oz. 2 Dace, 3 Grayling, 8 Brown Trout - 3 over 1lb to 1lb 10oz.   Relaxed morning's trotting though it quickly became a quest to A - avoid the minnows and B - catch something without an adipose! A change of venue further downstream event
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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20/21 June

Marsh Farm, Milford   1430 - 2315 Johnsons 2330 - 0315 Harris 0330 - 0730 Johnsons   Warm, slightly overcast with a full moon. Simply a lovely night to be out - never really got dark!   8 Crucians; 3lb 7oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 7oz X2, 2lb 6oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 11oz, 11 Tench; Best 5lb exactly with another 5 over 4lb. 1 Brown Trout (!) 1lb 9oz.   After the excitement of the IAC fish-in on the 16th, a quick return to MF in the hope (thankfully mor
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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16/17 June

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery, nr Godalming   1230 - 0445.   Warm (especially overnight), overcast, with heavy showers - though the worst of it missed us. Lots of thunder rumbling away in the distance - thankfully that's where it stayed!.   18 Crucians; 7 over 2lb, 2lb 9ozX2, 2lb 7oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 4oz X3, 3 Tench to 3lb 10oz (all over 3lb)   Informal IAC 'match' competing for the inaugural Paul Goulborn Memorial Trophy - to be awarded to the captor of t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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16 June 2016

River Kennet - Newbury   0430 - 0800   Cool and overcast - but dry. River surprisingly high with some colour.   4 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 2lb 10oz and a couple of fish circa 1½lb, 13 Dace, 2 Grayling, 2 brownies   So begineth another season - I have been umming a ahing over whether or not to continue with this blog - but someone asked if I was and I said yes so will carry on for the time being - pity the view counter's been broken for months - was hoping to celebra
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Season's Bests 2015-16

Best Carp; 17lb 14oz, 11/07/15. Free-lined bread. NAA Still water, Thatcham. http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1311-1011-july/   Best Barbel; 11lb 7oz, 30/07/15. Ledgered halibut pellet. River Kennet, Nr Thatcham. http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1321-30-july-part-2/   Best Tench; 7lb 6oz, 19/6/15. Float fished prawn section. Johnsons Lake, Milford. http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/bl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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14 March

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0630 - 1830   Bright sunshine, cool (circa 5ºC) with a 'fresh' North-easterly blowing all day - very challenging conditions for trotting a gin clear chalk-stream!!   3 Chub: Biggest 4lb exactly the other 2 were 3lbers. 5 Grayling to 1lb 2oz. 14 Dace; 5 over 8oz best 3; 2X10oz & an 11oz fish. 7 Roach (all small). 10+ brownies to 3lb+.   End of season bash to a lovely part of the world - even if the fishing was a bit cha
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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12 March

River Lambourn - Shaw & Newbury   0600 - 1230   Cool & misty giving way, eventually, to bright sunshine. AT -1º -> 6ºC (line icing up in the rings for the first hour) River gin clear as per usual. EA Gauge at Shaw - 0.26cm.   24 Grayling - with around a ¾ 12oz or better. Plus 7 Dace, 3 Roach & a Chublet form the drain!   Morning session which turned into an impromptu Anglersnet fish-in with Rusty, Steve Walker & JV44 all rocking up to the venue at 0930. By then I'd al
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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11 March

K&A 'flowing' Canal & River Kennet - Thatcham.   0600 - 1330   Cool and foggy - eventually clearing to bright sunshine. River quite full and pacey but starting to fine down after Wednesday's rain. AT 1-9ºC   2 Chub; 2lb 7oz & 1lb 15oz. 3 Dace, 2 Grayling and 1 Brown Trout of 6lb 2oz!!!!   Started off on the canal in a swim Rusty had reported having 'Pike trouble' recently so along with the float fished lobs out went a deadbait. And it wasn't
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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6 March

Northcroft Stream & River Kennet - Newbury   0615 - 1000 plus an hour at Hambridge*.   Bright, frosty start. Soon clouding over. River full, pacey and gin clear!   2 Chub; 4lb 8oz & 2lb 11oz. 5 Dace & 2 Grayling*   Chub were the initial target and thankfully it paid to get bankside early (it got rather busy later). Both chub in the first half an hour. Spent the last hour trying to catch a large (12-15lb at a guess - got a good look at it) pike
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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28 February

River Frome - Wool   0815 - 1515   Cool, overcast with a stiff and very chilly easterly breeze. AT 1-6ºC. River still dropping and a little coloured. East Stoke EA Gauge reading 1.12m.   19 Grayling; 5 'pounders' to 1lb 8oz. 1 Brownie.   Penultimate day of the season and at last the river has dropped enough to gamble on a visit. The river has fallen from a high of 1.49m (as measured at E Stoke) in the last 10 days - though was still carrying a bit more col
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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21 February

Northcroft Stream   0930 - 1400   Mild, overcast and VERY breezy. River in great winter shape - quite pacey with very little colour.   3 Chub; 4lb 6oz, 3lb 15oz, 2lb 11oz. 23 Dace.   Couldn't decide where to go today - the mild weather suggested a canal perching session - the howling gale whistling around the house when I awoke at 0530 suggested other wise!! So a lay-in and Plan B - Chub - always a winter favourite. Smaller one in the weir-pool - the other 2 plus most of the dace from a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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13 February

Lower Itchen Fishery   0830 - 1630.   Cool and overcast after a soggy start, rain returning just as we packed up, temps didn't get above 4ºC all day. River quite pacey with a slight tinge of colour.   37 Grayling; 14 over 1lb with half of these over 1½lb. Best two; 2lb 5oz & 1lb 13oz. 1 Brownie and 2 Salmon Parr.   IAC fish-in in memory of Paul Goulbourn.   A poignant day on the Itchen. Paul and I were introduced to this fishery back in the l
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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12 February

River Kennet, Nr Thatcham   0830 - 1315   Bright start, clouding over - quite chilly in the breeze. AT & WT 45ºF. River in great winter nick - quite pacey but well within its banks with a slight tinge of colour.   4 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 12oz. 1 Grayling, 2 Brownies both 1lb+.   Very satisfying morning in a swim a rarely visit in the winter!! Can't think why - though it is quite a long walk and there's very few back up spots if this does
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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7 February

River Lambourn - Newbury & Shaw   0915 - 1530   Bright and breezy with some brief showers. River quite coloured after yesterday's heavy rain - but quickly fining down.   39 Grayling; Around a third over 12oz - biggest 2, 1lb 6oz & 1lb 9oz. 7 Brownies 4 parr fish and 3 over 1lb - biggest 3lb 14oz!   Default venues when the Kennet is the colour of drinking chocolate. Did have a quick look in on Northcroft Stream - but even if it had been trottable I
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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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

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