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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

3 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne   0645 - 0915   Northcroft Stream   0930 - 1100   Cool and foggy - lifting to bright sunshine for last half an hour.   Canal: 4 Perch; 1lb 3oz & 3 tiddlers. 1 Chub; 1lb 9oz, 1 Roach 1lb exactly.   A morning on the canal in search of perch - or at least that was the plan - so float fishing whole lobs to far bank bushes and snags. Somewhat surprised therefore to get a 1lb roach pretty much first cast
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

30 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1815 - 2315   Cool, clear and calm (despite being a very breezy day - the wind died down at dusk). 9ºC when I packed up but felt cooler. River low with a fair amount of leaf litter - autumn is here!   1 Barbel 6lb 10oz, 1 Chub 5lb 5oz.   Again no trotting rod - but still no blank - and I even had my target species (barbel) for a change - only my 3rd of the season. Both fish were caught in the first hour - just as well as I had
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

26 September (part 2)

K&A Canal - Thatcham   1515 - 1815   Bright and sunny. AT around 15ºC - a very pleasant afternoon.   11 Roach. Best 12oz, with another fish circa 8oz - the rest all smalluns.   Failed perch hunt (part 2)! Paul and I were hitting the canal for the first time this autumn in search of stripeys. Conditions weren't exactly in our favour and the boat traffic was heavier than we would have wished. Plan was to start off fishing maggot and hope that by attracting the silver fish the perch wou
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

26 September (part 1)

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0645 - 1045   Cool and bright. Ice on the car for the first time this autumn - temps down to 1ºC overnight (in our greenhouse)! River low and clear.   1 Chub; 2lb 14oz. 2 Perch (one circa 1lb), 1 Bream 1lb 1oz. 3 Dace & 5 Gudgeon.   First trip here of the season so did as much walking as fishing. Did want to have an hour before the sun rose in a favoured perch swim - which is not proving as reliable as it once was and the o
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18/19 September

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   1800 - 0300   Warm, still overcast evening - giving way to a chilly clear night after 2300 - temp down to 6ºC when I packed up.   5 Carp; 14lb 3oz, 9lb 14oz, 9lb 5oz, 8lb 8oz, 8lb 3oz. 2 Perch.   Failed attempt at an autumn crucian - though I did have a couple roll in the swim in the first hour or so as it got dark. All carp came to float tactics meant for the crus so took an age to land on 16s to 4lb bottoms (also lost 2 to hoo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

13 September

River Kennet - Newbury   0830 - 1145   Warm (ish) and overcast with milky sunshine. River low and clear.   1 Barbel; 5lb 6oz, 2 Perch (both circa 1lb - possibly the same one!), 15 Dace, 4 Roach, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Grayling and a Brownie - un-weighed but must have been close to 2lb...   At last a barbel on the float - but in truth I'd all but given up on getting one and had other plans for this morning's trip! I was in a couple of swims that have given me pike tr
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

5 September

K & A Canal (flowing), Thatcham.   0615 - 1115   Cool and overcast with the odd spot of drizzle.   1 Chub; 2¼lb, 1 Perch; 1lb 1oz. 21 Dace - to 10oz, 5 Roach, 6 Gudgeon and 2 Brownies - biggest 2½lb.   A morning's trotting - fished half a dozen swims in total, some new and some familiar ones. As ever dace were of a good stamp - though I was also hoping to find some decent chub - especially after getting one first cast!
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

26 August

River Kennet, Nr Thatcham.   1330 - 1630   Bright and breezy after HEAVY morning rain (circa 1inch). River coloured up but dropping.   4 Chub: 3lb 6ox, 1¼lb and 2 chublets. 5 Dace - 1 clonker of 10oz (weighed), 1 Roach, 2 Gudgeon & 2 Brownies - both over 1lb.   Post 'monsoon' trotting session. Reckoned the chub might be on the feed - reckoned right!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

25 August

Bucklebury Ponds   0945 - 1215   Cool and overcast   1 Carp; 4lb 9oz. 5 Skimmers, 15 Roach & 5 Perch (all small).   Short session before the latest band of rain swept through....Was hoping to snaffle a slightly bigger bream. Carp took an age to land on light tackle!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

14 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham.   1930 - 0000   Overcast with light rain, temps around 16ºC all evening. River up a tad and with a little colour after an inch of rain in the previous 36 hrs.   1 Chub 1lb 14oz.   A damp, drizzly evening saw me leave the trotting rod at home and opt for the comfort of my brolly from the off (and to hell with a blank!). As it turned out I needn't have worried - an 'chub rattle' in the first hour resulted in a modest fish. Snailz boilies yet again proving a fav
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

10 August

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   1830 - 2300   Warm evening with clearing skies after heavy rain during the day - giving perfect Perseid spotting opportunities - saw around half a dozen. River was quite coloured up - much more than I expected to see.   1 Chub 2lb 9oz. 8 Dace; 3 in the 6-8oz bracket. 1 Gudgeon.   First evening trip to this swim - and might be my last - ledgering pellet produced nothing but crayfish rattles all evening. An hour and a half's trotting produced the usual blank sav
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7/8 August

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   1830 - 0545   Cool, clear and calm. AT down to 10ºC at dawn.   5 Carp: 9lb 5oz, 8lb 7oz, 8lb 0oz, 7lb 11oz, 6lb 4oz. 1 Perch (small).   Slow, slow night which got off to a very fast start! Had one of the 8's on the bank within a couple of minutes of starting - hadn't even got my second rod out of the quiver when the alarm went off. Pity then, that my next bite was shortly after midnight! In truth I was really after trying to get a bream or even a tench from her
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

1 August

River Kennet - Newbury   0515 - 0745   Cool (5ºC when I started) and clear. River with a little more flow and quite clear for a change.   1 Chub; 5lb 13oz. 30 Dace. 20 Roach. 6 Gudgeon. 1 Grayling.   Cracking dawn trotting session and home for breakfast! Chub were the target and I was at the head of the swim before 0500, trickling in maggot for 20 mins or so waiting for it to get light enough to see my float. Sure enough the trick worked and first trot thr
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

30 July (Part 2)

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2345   Cool,(cold!) clear evening under a full moon. AT down to 6ºC when I packed up (it got down to 2ºC in our greenhouse overnight). River up a couple of inches and looking in better nick than it has for a couple of months.   1 Barbel; 11lb 7oz. 1 Perch; 1lb 12oz. 11 Dace; (5 of which were over 8oz). 7 Roach; (all small save for one of 11oz). 1 Gudgeon.   Hooray! After nearly 40 'rod hours' ledgering (and countless mo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

30 July (Part 1)

Alders Lake - Thatcham   0530 - 1030   Bright and quite cool with a breeze picking up for last hour.   3 Rudd. 9 Perch.   A dawn session more in hope than expectation! Was after the lake's resident tench or bream though reports this summer from here haven't been exactly favourable! Water looked pretty life-less so whilst I had planned to stay longer - I decided an early pack up to get home in time for the start of the cricket was the better option!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

25 July

K&A Canal, Thatcham (Flowing canal)   1200 - 1600   Cool and breezy. River up a god 3-4 inches and carrying a tinge of colour after yesterdays deluge.   14 Dace; with a few chunky ones in the 6-8oz bracket. 4 Roach. 1 Grayling (small). 1 Bleak. 1 Brown Trout; 2lb 15oz!   Spent a couple of hours in each of 2 swims - hoping a chub or two would put in an appearance - but my only 'chub' turned into a rather fat brown trout at the net!    
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

22/23 July

Marsh Farm - Milford   1630 - 0900 (Johnsons 1630 - 2300) (Harris 2330 - 0900)   Warm, overcast evening and morning with a clear, cool night. (Minimum temp must have been below 10ºC)   Johnsons: 1 Tench; 1½lb. 9 Micro-carp! and a Rudd (also small) Harris: 3 Crucians to 1lb 13oz, 2 Tench to 3lb 3oz. 15 Roach and a Perch   Plan was to have a repeat of this session (with hopefully similar if not better results!) and confidence was high when we
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

20 July

River Kennet - Newbury   1900 - 2330   Warm, overcast and breezy. River very low.   1 Chub; 2lb 7oz. 20+ Dace, 9 Roach.   5 Weeks into the season and not a hint of a barbel so far! At least there appears to be an abundance of silver fish in the river and a bonus chub provided a modicum of action on the ledger rod. No otter sightings this evening - just a family of mink - 4 of them rampaging along the far bank margins!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18 July (parts 2 & 3)

River Kennet - Bulls Lock   0700 - 0830   1 Perch; 1lb 6oz, 3 Dace, 1 Roach and a Grayling.   First time I've fished this bit of river - trotted a nice long glide which looks like its the sort of swim you can 'build up' - though I didn't really have enough maggot for that. Was hoping for a chub or 2 but quite happy with the perch.   River Kennet - Thatcham   0900 - 1100.   1 Chub; 3lb 6oz, 4 Dace, 3 Brownies to just on 1lb.   So having re-stocked with bait it was off to have a 2nd
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18 July (part 1)

Pallets Pool, Nr Newbury.   0445 - 0645   Warm (ish - for that time in the morning!)   20 rudd. 2 roach and a bleak!   Short session primarily to get a rudd for the IAC All Rounder Challenge though hopeful of a tench or bream. Pond was surprisingly busy with 4 anglers pegged out for the night. Lots of predator activity so somewhat surprised not to get a perch or two. No interest at all on the lead....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

15 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2130   Warm, muggy evening. River very low - looking rather threadbare!   6 Dace; 3 in the 6-8oz class. 1 Roach. 3 Brownies; biggest 1lb 5oz.   First trip to a swim Paul and I recce'd in the close season - an area we reckon held good trotting potential and good 'static' areas - particularly for near bank 'lowering'! The trotting lived up to expectations with some nice chunky dace and a couple of trout doing good imitatio
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

10/11 July

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   1930 - 0500   Warm, overcast and still. No need of a shelter or brolly - could have sat in shirtsleeves all night if it wasn't for the mozzies. Super night to be out.   1 Crucian; 2lb 6oz. 5 Carp; 17lb 14oz, 16lb 0oz, 10lb 1oz, 9lb 5oz, 7lb 1oz. 1 Perch (small).   Love it when a plan actually comes off! One of the lake's crucians was always number one priority and I had one as soon as it got completely dark - should probably hav
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

6 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2330   Warm , bright and breezy evening. River low   2doz Dace, 1 Roach, 1 Bleak.   Another evening blanking for barbel - but I at least had the compensation of finding a shed load of dace in the first hour. Switching to the lead thereafter - the only interest in the baits came from minnows and crayfish!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
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