Jump to content
  • entries
    1158
  • comments
    904
  • views
    1592968

About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

5 July

Bucklebury Ponds   1100 - 1415   Warm (20º+), overcast and quite breezy.   1 Carp; 3lb 11oz, 2 Skimmers. A dozen+ Roach & Perch (in roughly equal nos.)   Short session to my nearest water. All fish on float fished maggot...
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

26/27 June

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   1900 - 0700   Warm with a southerly breeze - very pleasant night to be out.   7 Carp; All over 5½lb. Best 2, 8lb 11oz & 8lb 7oz. 2 Roach. 4 Perch.   Biggest carp on float fished maggot around an hour after starting, all the others caught between 2200 - 0400 on the method feeder. Snailz Boilies beating Halibut Pellets 4-2 (I swapped baits every hour). Was hoping for a bream or even a tench to put in an appearance but still nic
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18/19 June

Johnsons Lake/Harris Lake, Milford   (a ) 1515 - 2330 - Johnsons (b ) 0000 - 0345 - Harris (c ) 0415 - 1030 - Johnsons   Warm and sunny. Night was also quite warm despite mainly clear sky.   Johnsons: (a) 1 Perch; 2lb 2oz and a micro - carp (smaller than my hand!). (c ) 1 Crucian 3lb 1oz, 1 Tench 7lb 6oz. 1 Mirror carp (only slightly bigger than my hand at 2lb 10oz!)   (b ) Harris: 5 Tench; all over 3lb with 2 over 5lb. 3 Crucians; all over 2lb t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

17 June, A Day's Trotting.

River Kennet - Newbury & Thatcham   0430 - 1700   Warm (Up to 22ºC), mainly overcast and quite breezy at times. River in summer mode - ie low!   3 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 3lb 6oz & 3lb 2oz. 50+ dace with many in the 6-8oz class - biggest 9oz. ½doz Roach, 1 Grayling and several brownies to nearly 1lb.   4 different venues and a total of 11 swims fished - a day for travelling light. Just took rod, net, bait and food (and drink!). Started in Newbury and basic
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

15/16 June 2015

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fishery, Milford.   1600 - 0700   Cool clear night, with bright sunshine before dusk and cloud building just after sunrise.   6 Crucians; 4 over 2lb - best 2lb 4oz. 5 Tench; Biggest 5lb 7oz. 4 Roach, 3 Perch, and a Gudgeon!   Mission accomplished. Paul and I both said, rather wistfully, that we'd like a 5lb + tinca and a 2lb + crucian to kick off the summer. The crucian part of that equation being the one we thought we might struggl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 June

Mill Pond, Mill Farm Fishery, Nr Pulborough   0700 - 1600   Warm (23/24ºC), overcast and very muggy. A heavy shower early morning and mid afternoon (though the forecast thunderstorms didn't materialise - thankfully!)   40+ Silver Bream to 11oz. 9 Roach (with 3 half decent at 11, 14 & 15oz), 2 Crucians; 1lb 5oz & 1lb 2oz. 1 Carp; 4lb 7oz. 1 Eel 2lb 1oz (a new PB!)   A day that started out with both Paul and I wanting to catch our first Silver Bream
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

My Perch Weights since 1990

Following on from the Chub weights progression thread I started on the main forum - (see:http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/6986096-kennet-chub-weight-progression-since-1982/) I've done the same with my perch captures (thanks to Rusty for putting the idea in my head!) to see if the same uplift in weights happened at around the same time (turn of the millennium). This file IS small enough to upload on the blog as there is less data (it starts from 1990 as I didn't have enough cap
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

Season's Bests 2014-15

End of Season Round-up. So endeth another season – quantity not quality rather sums it up. Best ever season for fish over lb, yet few ‘stand-out’ captures and no PBs. Summer and autumn was a real grueller on the barbel front and I had my worst return (5 fish) since the 78/79 season despite putting in quite a few rod hours. The news that there’s been a modest barbel stocking into one of my club’s section of the Kennet was thus very welcome. Summer was punctuated with monthly trips over to Go
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

14 March

Middle Kennet   0700 - 1700 (yes we packed up an hour early to have a pint on the way home!)   Cold easterly wind - bright sunshine for first few hours then cloudy. Temps around 6ºC most of the day.   6 Chub; Biggest 3lb 8oz. 1 Pike; 5lb 15oz. 3 Perch; (all small). 4 Roach; 1lb, an 8oz fish and a couple of tiddlers. 15 Dace. 6 Brownies to 3lb. 1 Rainbow of 4lb 2oz.   Something of an anti-climatic end to the season. Fish clearly weren't feeding - though thi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

13 March

River Lambourn - Newbury   1030 - 1300   River Kennet - Newbury   1315 - 1530   Overcast after this morning's drizzle.   Lambourn; 22 Grayling; 5 over 1lb, best 1lb 9oz. 1 brownie Kennet; 6 Perch; 2 'pounders' best 1lb 7oz. 6 Dace, 4 Roach, half doz Gudgeon and a Grayling.   A take it easy day after the exertions of Weds & Thurs (and I'll no doubt be on the bank for 12 hours tomorrow as well)! Biggest 3 grayling all caught 'by sight'. seeing fish come up in the water I fished wi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 March

River Kennet, K&A Canal, 'Flowing' Canal, Thatcham   0630 - 1800   Mild, neigh, warm at times under a milky sun (and out the wind). Clouding over mid afternoon. WT 51ºF.   4 Chub; 5lb 11oz, 5lb 4oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 2oz. (4 fish for 20lb give or take an ounce!) 6 Dace; ALL over 8oz (!) biggest 11oz. 2 Grayling; 1lb and the other was not far shy. Pike 5lb 1oz. Trout 3lb.   A peripatetic day with 5 venue changes and over a dozen swims fished - yet all the t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

11 March

Middle Kennet   0730 - 1800   Mild, bright and sunny morning clouding over after lunch with some light drizzle at times. river lower than expected and very clear.   16 Chub; All 'schooly' sized; biggest just over 3¼lb. 6 Perch 1¼lb and 5 around the 10-12oz mark. 3 Doz Roach and Dace - in roughly equal numbers 2 Biggest roach 1lb 2oz & 1lb 1oz (!) no others troubled the scales. Most of the dace were quite chunky - but none were over 8oz. 2 Grayling (1st ones ever
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 March

River Kennet/flowing canal - Thatcham   1530 - 1815   Bright and breezy. Mild. WT a very encouraging 51ºF.   2 Perch; both 'pounders' - biggest 1lb 14oz. 6 Dace - all chunky ones with a couple of corkers at 12 & 10oz. Pike 5lb 5oz.   Plan was to have a dusk session after stripeys,though arriving in very bright sunshine I decided to start by trotting maggots and immediately found some really nice dace (biggest 2 were the first two fish I caught). The 2 perch soon followed and though I
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 February

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0715 - 1800   Bright (very) at first with some welcome broken cloud in the afternoon. AT around 8ºC all day after early frost. River not quite as full as expected and no colour despite yesterday's rain.   12 Chub; Biggest 3lb 14oz, 19 Dace - though only 2 real gooduns - biggest 13oz. 7 Roach, 4 Grayling. A doz+ brownies - biggest over 4lb - though also had quite a few parr fish.   Given the time of year - the plan was to g
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

26 February

River Kennet - Newbury   1300 - 1530   Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   1600 - 1800   Becoming bright, cool and breezy after a mild rainy morning. AT dropped from 11->6ºC. WT 10ºC (50ºF). River and canal 'full' with little colour.   River; 1 Chub 2lb 10oz, 2 Perch; small, 8 Roach, 7 Dace. 1 Grayling and around 10 Gudgeon. Canal: 1 Perch 3lb 4oz. 1 Chub 3lb 13oz.   Day off to use up some hols (use it or lose it!) and as I had
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

21 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0645 - 0830   1 Chublet.   River Kennet - Thatcham   0930 - 1115   1 Chub; 4lb 4oz   River Kennet - Thatcham (about ¾mile upstream)   1145 - 1330   2 Grayling   Cool, bright and quite breezy at times. Canal and river quite 'full' and carrying a little colour WT46ºC   All the talk of big perch on the forum had me hankering after a stripey so despite sub-optimal
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

13 February

River Itchen   0830 - 1700   A rather 'lively' day weather wise - dry but windy until 1100 then 2½hrs of heavy rain (and even windier) followed by 2½hrs of dry weather with even heavier rain for the last hour - by which time the river was colouring up. First day of rain after a fortnight of benign, calm conditions - poo!   17 Grayling; 8 over 1lb - best 5; 2lb 1oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 11oz 1lb 10oz X2. 3 Chub 3lb 6oz X2 (not the same fish!) and 2lb 13oz. 4 Brownies to 3lb
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

8 February

River Frome - Wool   0800 - 1500   Bright and sunny after a frosty and misty start. River in great nick - clear with good pace - 0.94cm on the East Stoke river gauge.   10 Grayling; Half over a lb. Best 3; 2lb 3oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 9oz. 1 Sea Trout; c2lb.1 Salmon parr, 1 Trout parr.   A 'sparkly' day in Dorset which got off to a real flyer - with the biggest 3 grayling listed above all on the bank by 0830!. Once the sun was up for the day the fishing turned i
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

26 January

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury   0800 - 1700   Overcast, mild (9-10ºC) with some milky sunshine at times after a drizzly first hour. A lovely benign winter's day. River quite pacey and carrying a little colour.   14 Chub: 6 over 3lb - best 4lb 13oz. 3 Pike; All jacks - biggest just under 7lb. 7 Perch; all small, save for one goodun of 2lb 8oz. 2 Dozen Dace & Roach. 3 Brownies all around 2lb+.   Cracking day's sport (as always from here). Plan was to do a b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

24 January

River Lambourn - Newbury   0900 - 1130   Cool (1 - 4ºC) bright and sunny. River quite full and looking in great winter shape.   26 Grayling; 6 'pounders' to 1lb 6oz.   Had to go out for some maggot for Monday's trip so perfect excuse to have a couple of hours by the river (not that I normally need a reason!). Normal catch a couple and move on trotting tactics....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18 January

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0830 - 1645   Cool (1º - 4ºC), overcast with sunny spells in the afternoon. River quite 'full' and carrying more colour than is usual for here - quite 'milky' in appearance - possibly the result of springs 'breaking' on the downs.   11 Chub; Biggest 5lb 7oz with only 3 under 3lb. 32 Dace; Biggest two 14oz & 12oz with around another dozen in excess of 8oz - I weighed another 4 at 9, 10, 10 & 11oz - but quite a few of similar
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

11 January

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0800 - 1345   Cool , bright and sunny with a stiff breeze - clouding over for the last hour or so. River in good winter nick - quite pacey with a bit of colour.   7 Chub: 6 over 2lb though only 1 over 3 and that not by much. 7 Roach, 2 Gudgeon and 2 spotties.   Bin a few years since I had that many chub in one visit from this venue. Unusually for me spent the first 4 hours in one swim - which produced all the chub - every time
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

2 January 2015

River Kennet - Newbury   0800 - 1115   3 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 3lb 7oz, 2lb 12oz. 1 Perch 2lb 9oz. 1 Bream 2lb 6oz. A doz+ Dace, 5 Gudgeon, 4 Roach, 1 Grayling and 3 Trout parr.   River Kennet - Thatcham   1145 - 1315   1 Brownie - 1½lb (caught twice within 10 minutes!)   1345 - 1600   1 Grayling 1lb 10oz.   Bright and cool - with a breeze picking up in the afternoon. WT 48ºC. River in perfect winter nick - good flow (but w
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

30 December

River Frome - Wool   0830 - 1600   Cold, and very bright with everything white in a very heavy hoar frost - very picturesque. -3ºC -> +3ºC - though in negative territory for most of the day (certainly all morning) by the way the line was freezing in the ferrules. River looked in good nick - down a few inches on our last trip in Nov (85cm by the East Stoke gauge)   11 grayling: 4 over 1lb - 2lb 0oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 3oz.   Bit of a grueller of a s
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.

  I accept