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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

4/5 August

Newbury AA Lake - Widmead   1800 - 0500   Mainly cloudy - breezy at first. 20º - 13ºC   14 carp - (best 4; 10lb 5oz, 8lb 2oz, 7lb 15oz, 7lb 3oz all others in 5+ - 6+ bracket), 5 Bream (5lb 6oz, 5lb 2oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 2oz, 3lb 11oz), a doz rudd, roach and perch (mainly rudd).   A busy night!! Most carp on pellet, though had 4 carp and 4 of the bream on float fishing margin tactics - meat, corn and maggot all catching. Packed up at 1st light to beat the rain!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

6 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Nr Thatcham   1400 - 1615   Cold and clear. AT 7ºC -> 3ºC. WT 42ºF - canal carrying a little colour.   2 Perch - a fine brace - 3lb2oz & 2lb 9oz. 1 Pike, 8lb 6oz.   A succesful dusk trip for stripeys - despite the cold bright conditions. Pike 1st cast (yet another worm caught pike) and biggest perch on the stroke of 4pm just as the light was fading fast.
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

6 September

River Kennet - Padworth   1800 - 2300   Warm(ish) and overcast. River very low.   7 Chub; a couple circa 1lb, the rest half that size. 3 Roach, 2 Dace & 3 Perch.   Another barbel blank on what used to be called barbel alley - preceded by a blank saving trotting session before it got dark - nice to see a few small chub - shows there's been some recruitment recently.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
Coarse Fishing

28 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1400  - 1615 Bright and breezy after morning rain. AT 10ºC. Canal surprisingly coloured up after recent rains - surprising - as the canalised river below Woolhampton lock wasn't at all coloured! 8 Perch; 3 'pounders' - best 1lb 9oz. None of the rest particularly small - all around 8-10oz class. Dusk session to take advantage of the mild temps and a (temporary) cessation of precipitation! Whilst I wasn't at all confident when I arrived and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

18/19 July

Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead   1900 - 0600   Mild (min16ºC) , overcast and drizzly - dry during dark hours, breezy. WT 19ºC   2 Carp (13lb 2oz, 8lb 14oz), 1 Tench (4lb 5oz), ½doz Perch - best 1lb 6oz.   Very quiet night - place seemed lifeless despite conditions seemingly being OK for fishing! My night was rescued by a busy hour just after midnight when I had all three fish. Tench on float fished meat both carp on pellet. Perch on maggot in the morning. Paul fared no better - a solita
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 October

River Itchen   0830 - 1815   Bright and sunny all day. River VERY low and gin clear!   51 Grayling: 27 over 1lb of which 8 were over 2lb - biggest 2lb 6oz., 4 Chub: 4lb 11oz, 3lb13oz, 3lb5oz, 2lb 6oz, 20+ Brownies to 2½lb.   Lovely day spent trotting the river with Paul - who had a similar return - though he managed to all but avoid the trout. Most fish on maggot - a few to corn - though the brownies seemed to get to the corn first.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

18 August

River Kennet - Padworth 1800 - 2200 Warm and overcast. River quite low and quite coloured up (usual late summer conditions!) 3 Chub; all ¾-1lb. 11 Roach - 4 in the 8-10oz class - all the others less that half this. 1 Dace; 6oz (looked bigger!) 3 Gudgeon. Moderately successful trotting sesh (and always nice to see a few gobio gobios turn up) to precede the expected blank on the lead once it got dark. Only 'rattles' were as a result of the signals!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3

1 July

Warwicks Water   0800 - 1200   Rain, drizzle and more rain!   10 crucians (All 1lb+, best 1lb 11oz) 6 roach.   All caught on float fished meat - lift method.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

The Gigantic Book of Fishing Stories

The Gigantic Book of Fishing Stories - Edited and Introduced by Nick Lyons, Foreword by David Halberstam.   OK, I admit I'm a bit of a 'sucker' for angling anthologies - in fact I've just counted up the number of such volumes in my modest angling library and realise I already have 10 such books, not counting this one. Of these, my favourite 3 - and most comprehensive - are BB's, Fisherman's Bedside Book, The Magic Wheel, & Fish, Fishing & the Meaning of Life. I like anthologies
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 August

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   0600 - 1030   Bright and sunny - chilly (8ºC) start.   1 carp 5¼lb, 1 roach, 3 doz+ rudd & perch - mainly rudd.   Slow morning - only 1 bite on the lead - resulting in the carp - all others margin fishing maggots - though had to switch to meat after 15 mins - the place was heaving with small perch and rudd.....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0645 - 0915   4 seasons in 2½hrs! Heavy rain stopped just as I arrived - followed by and hour of calm overcast conditions, then an hour of bright sunshine, with heavy rain/hail to finish off. AT dropped from 7ºC to 4.5ºC. WT 46ºF Water 'up' and carrying some colour.   6 Perch - in order of capture: 2lb 13oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 10oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz. 6 fish for 16½lbs!   The plan for this morning was meant to be - a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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12 March

Middle Kennet Estate   0730 - 1815   Cool overcast and showery. 5-9ºC. River clear and at normal levels.   6 Chub; Smallest 2lb 0oz, Biggest 4lb 5oz. 7 Grayling; biggest 2lb 2oz, the rest all between 12-20oz. 1 Bream; 5lb 6oz. 12 Dace; biggest 11oz. 1 Perch; circa ¾lb. 8 Brownies to 3lb.   A great mixed bag from a very pleasant days roving in the company of Paul, Merv & Dave. Spent most of the day to 3.00pm trotting corn which resulted in the chub AND
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

30 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham   0930 - 1330   Breezy with hazy sunshine.   20+perch   Reports that the tench were at last beginning to show up in this lake - which was restocked with non-carp species after a total fish kill 8 years ago - had me returning for a recce session. Fished a couple of swims which both had enough bubbling activity to give me cause for optimism but regardless of what bait I tried (maggot, prawn, cockle, meat or pellet) the only fish pulling the float under were perch - a
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

24 November

K&A Canal - Enborne 0730 - 1230 Dull, mild and calm. Ideal weather for perch. Canal however was very coloured up which was less than ideal. 1 Perch - small - barely longer than the lob it gorged on! 2 Roach. Bit of an epic fail. Had high hopes for today - milder weather and reports of big stripeys had me setting off full of expectation. Hadn't planned on the canal being so coloured however - and somewhat strangely above Guyers Lock it was clear - enough to see the bottom.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

25 July

River Kennet - nr Thatcham   0700 - 1100   Sultry 17º - 21ºC. River in good flow with more ranunculus than I've seen on this stretch for 5+ years...   2 Barbel, 3lb14oz, 1lb 1oz (!), 1 chub 1½lb & 6 chublets, 1½ doz dace, 5 roach, 3 gudgeon.   Trotting session - all fish on single red maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

8 September (Part 1)

Northcroft Stream   0700 - 0900   Overcast 13ºC. Stream low - sluice was ¾'s closed.   1 Pike 4lb 4oz, 2 Chub 2½lb, 1¾lb, 1 Bream 1¾lb, 3 doz Roach, Dace & Gudgeon (mainly roach and gudgeon), 2 Perch.   Trotted red maggot - pike took a couple of red maggots on the retrieve.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

20 September

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0630 - 1100   Bright sunshine after a cool and misty start. 5º -> 15ºC. River quite low.   1 Pike (5lb 14oz), 8 Chub (4lb 9oz & 7 chublets), 3 Perch (1lb12oz, 1lb 5oz and a smallun), 1½ doz roach, gudgeon and dace (mainly roach).   First session of the autumn hunting for big perch - though jacks and chub seemed to be occcupying their haunts from last year. All chub and the pike on lobs, most of the chublets were in th 12oz-1lb range - which is a good s
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

6 November

Middle Kennet Estate water - Nr Hungerford   0700 - 1700   Dull and overcast - Last day of Anti-Cyclonic gloom? 10ºC. River at 'normal' levels colour from the weekend's rain now all dropped out.   41 Grayling (4 'pounders' best 1lb 5oz, over 2 doz circa 12oz), 17 Dace - (best 2 weighed 12oz & 10 oz, 8 over 8oz), 1 doz Trout (50-50 Rainbows/Brownies) best 3¼lb Brownie.   Lovely day exploring the carriers with a float rod and CP. 12oz dace was first fish of the morning - which got me r
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

17 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0715 - 1015   Overcast and cool (9/10ºC), with a 'fresh' Easterly making it feel even cooler.   6 Perch; 2lb 13oz, 2 'pounders', 3 tiddlers. 1 Brownie - 2lb (!!)   Near perfect conditions for perch (apart from the wind direction) had me bankside before it was light enough to see my float. And as soon as it was light it wasn't long before I had my first decent perch of the autumn on the bank. Alas the boat activity start
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

12 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Brimpton 1200 - 1430 Warm with bright sunshine. AT 17ºC. River very low (of course!) 1 Chub: 1lb 10oz, 1 Dace. 4 Brownies 2 in the 1½-2lb range and two under a lb. I hate trout! Bright conditions and a low, clear, threadbare river were already very sub-optimal conditions for autumn chubbing. And what I really DIDN'T need were acrobatic brownies turning up 'early doors' in ALL my favourite chub hotspots. Alas, that's exactly what happened. Dropped into the weirp
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3

13 July

Pumphouse Lake, Yateley   1800 - 2300   Cloudy then rain.   Blanked!   Friday the 13th - pah! 10 rod hours without a touch. Pellet on the lead on 1 rod, float fishing the margins with a variety of baits on the other - couldn't even buy a bite with maggot or worm. Packed up early when the wind picked up and it started to rain - heavily! - I hadn't brought my shelter - the weather forecast having predicted a dry warm night! Glad the rain made my mind up for me - Paul fished on 'til 1st lig
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

22 September

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   1830 - 2330   Overcast with drizzly showers. 14ºC. River quite low - needs a drop-o-rain!   5 Barbel (6lb 10oz, 6lb 2oz, 5lb 9oz, 4lb 3oz, 3lb 15oz), 1 Chub 1½lb   A return to the 'Fryingpan Swim'. 3 barbel in 1st 45 mins then 3 more fish between 21-2300.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

1 November

River Kennet - Newbury   0700 - 0945   Cold, overcast with a chilly easterly breeze. AT 1º -> 4ºC. WT 43ºF (down 6ºF in 5 days) .River quite low, clear with some leaf litter.   1 Pike (6lb 6oz), 4 Chub (all between ¾lb - 1¾lb), 11 Dace, 1 Grayling.   Slow morning in one of my favourite trotting swims. Pike followed a couple of dace in - so 10 mins with a floating plug soon had him on the bank! All other fish on single red maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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