Jump to content
  • entries
    1158
  • comments
    904
  • views
    1602185

About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

Fish & Fishermen in English Medieval Church Wall Paintings

Another book review - and a bit of a minority interest methinks! Fish & Fishermen in English Medieval Church Wall Paintings By Frederick Buller   A curious and rather unusual book that will fascinate anyone interested in Angling history – of which I thinks there’s a few on Anglersnet (well maybe just me and Vagabond!). The scope of this research is, however, rather narrow and I was amused by a line in the frontispiece which described the book as ‘a definitive text f
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

24 January

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury   0800 - 1645   Drizzly. 7ºC. Little wind - though enough to blow my brolly into the river when my back was turned! River 'full' with quite a bit of colour - more than I expected - and more than is usual for here.   19 Chub: All over 1lb - though biggest 'only' 3lb 13oz and 'only' 8 over 2lb! Pike; 10lb 11oz. 3 Dozen Dace with many many fish in the 6-8oz class, 9 roach - all small and only 3 troot (2 brownies and a rainbow).  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

28 October

Flowing Canal (Kennet & Avon) Nr Thatcham   1500 - 1715   Bright, VERY breezy, with a very heavy shower to finish - temps cooler than of late at 10ºC   3 Perch; 4lb 5oz (!!!) New PB , 3lb 8oz and a smallun of around 12oz. 1 Chub 3lb 6oz.   Blimey! Autumn perching campaign gets off the mark at last in spectacular fashion. Unexpectedly had the afternoon off so with the St Jude's storm easing away it was off to do some more prospecting on the canal. And y
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7

15 November

Middle Kennet Estate   0715 - 1630   Bright sunshine all day after a frosty start. A lovely benign autumn day, temps up to 9ºC. River low - in fact very low given the amount of rain we've had in the last 6 weeks...   14 Chub; 11 over 1lb - most between 1½ and 2¾lb. 3 over 3lb, best 2 - 4lb 2oz & 3lb 15oz.11 Perch; 4 over 1lb all between 1lb 7oz & 1lb 15oz. 50+ roach and dace in roughly equal numbers (Slightly more roach) nothing worthy of the scales though a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

19/20 August

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   1530 - 0800   Warm, with 'milky' high cloud and a full moon - luv-er-ley night to be out!   3 Carp; 11lb 7oz, 8lb 10oz, 8lb 8oz. 3 doz. roach & perch in roughly equal nos. - most of the perch were in the 6-8oz bracket - most of the roach weren't! 1 rudd.   Not fished here for some time - in fact the last time was: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-268-2930-august/   This used to be a fantas
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

13 December

River Frome - Wool   0800 - 1600   Cloudy, windy with bands of rain. At least it was very mild at 11ºC ALL day. River very low (63cm at East Stoke a foot down on when I came in November).   8 grayling - only one over 1lb (and not by much). 3 brownies to 1¼lb, 1 sea trout and 4 salmon parr.   Ahh - the perils of relying on the 5 day weather forecast for making your fishing plans! As late as Monday night every forecaster I looked at was predicting a benign
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

20/21 June

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fishery, Nr Godalming.   1530 - 0930   Overcast and muggy becoming cooler am. (And DRY despite the forecasts for days beforehand forecasting rain!)   14 Tench; 7 over 4lb, best 3 - 6lb 2oz, 5lb 7oz, 5lb 5oz. 6 Crucians; 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 3oz*, 2lb 1oz*, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 10oz. 4 Roach - 3 over 1lb (!) best 1lb 6oz. 3 Rudd - all 10-12oz.   3rd time Paul and I have done a night here and this cracking session was following on from las
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

9 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1915 - 2315   Cool, clear evening - though felt quite snug under the trees. River carrying a tinge of colour after recent rains.   3 Barbel; 7lb 4oz, 4lb 13oz, 3lb 10oz. 1 dace, 1 brownie.   This stretch of river is certainly 'saving my bacon' on the barbel front this year - and with Paul getting a brace of 9lbers from here last week there are some bigger ones to go at! As usual I started out with the trotting rod and as usual
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

19 January

River Kennet - Thatcham   1300 - 1530 plus a final hour fruitlessly wandering the canal in pursuit of perch.   Bright and sunny - 6-7ºC. River high but surprisingly clear - eminently fishable!   2 Chub; 5lb 12oz & 5lb 0oz.   A couple of hours + in what is fast becoming a banker chub swim followed by an unsuccessful perch session. In hindsight I probably should have stayed with the chub - this swim could throw up a real biggie! Both fish on trotted magg
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

23 September

River Kennet - Near Thatcham   1900 - 2230   Clear evening becoming very foggy. Lovely evening to be out!   1 Barbel - 11lb 2oz   I've had a pretty patchy summer on the barbel front - a few schooly sized fish on the float have been fun but I was going into the last week of September not having had a barbel over 8lb for the first time since 98/99 season. So at the weekend I vowed to have a concerted effort between now and when the clocks go back to try and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

22 February

River Kennet - Thatcham   0645 - 1030   Bright and sunny - a lovely spring morning. River still very high though running clear and a couple of inches down on Sunday.   3 Chub; 5lb 14oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 6oz. 3 Perch; 3lb 1oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 3oz.   Stonking session in the swim I fished on Sunday - though this time there was a bit more flow as the flood water is starting to run off. In truth I hadn't planned to fish here but Paul paid a visit during the week and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

1 November

River Kennet - Thatcham   0700 - 1200   Sunny morning after a rainy start - rain stopped almost as soon as I started fishing.   2 Perch; 3lb 10oz & 1lb 2oz. 19 Dace (5 of which were in the 8-10oz class - very nice). 3 Roach.   Fished trotted corn for the first 45 mins in the hope of snaffling one of the big chub that are usually in residence - but didn't get a touch. Was rueing that decision by 0830 with the swim now in full sunlight thinking I'd waste
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

20 September

Kennet & Avon Canal, Thatcham (and an hour on the river proper)   0630 - 1300   Warm, overcast, murky and muggy - perfect low light conditions for perching! Temp 17/18ºC   8 Perch; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 7oz and a couple of pounders. 2 Chub 1lb 14oz and a chublet. 1 Roach; 12oz (took a whole lob worm). 5 dace and a grayling (from the river in the last hour)   Plan was to do some prospecting for new perch swims so Paul and I covered quite a bit of towpath looking
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

16 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1900 - 2300   Warm, balmy evening - in shirtsleeves all session - temp still at 19ºC when I got back to the car. Lovely evening to be out!   3 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 4lb 2oz, 3lb 4oz. 1 dace,   Another evening NOT catching barbel - but at least some half decent chub kept me occupied for the first couple of hours. Biggest chub and the dace on trotted maggot in the first hour. Other 2 chub on ledgered snailz boilie (an impulse buy when
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

24 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington   0730 - 1130   Mild, overcast and drizzly. WT 53ºF. AT 55ºF.   2 Perch; 2lb 0oz & 1lb 11oz. 18 Roach: some really chunky ones with 2 over 1lb - best 1lb 2oz. 1 Chub <1lb (just). 2 Skimmers to 1lb 6oz. 1 Gudgeon.   First time I've ever fished this bit of club water - and it was the whispers of big perch showing last winter that had me pulling into the car park whilst it was still dark. I'd recce'd the water a coupl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 December

Middle Kennet - Kintbury   0745 - 1530   Bright and very breezy with a couple of very brief but very lumpy showers. Torrential rain curtailed proceedings half an hour early. River quite coloured and milky (much more than is normal for here) - the product of the springs breaking on the downs and not yesterday's rain. Middle and upper river has been like this for the past week according one of the keepers I was chatting to.   12 Chub; 9 over 3lb, but only 2 over 4 - b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

0

9 January

River Kennet - Thatcham   0930 - 1230   Overcast and mild with squally showers. 9ºC. River up 3-4 inches on last visit (Boxing Day) and quite coloured up.   1 Chub; 4lb 4oz. 8 Dace - most normal dace size with a couple of clonkers that warranted the scales - 12oz & 10oz. Possibly my biggest ever from here. 1 Roach, 1 Grayling.   Plan was to get a chub - achieved within 10 mins from a reliable spot but unlike 2 weeks ago I couldn't winkle out another on
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

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

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

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0630 - 0930   Mild, murky and calm. WT 54ºC. (AT same.) Perfect perching weather!   7 Perch; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 14oz and 3 small ones - one close to 1lb the others no where near! 1 Chublet.   Really paid to get here at first light - bites from the off and had 3 of the bigger perch including the 3lber on the bank by 7 o'clock. Bites dried up after an hour and only 2 fish after 0800 and one of those was the ch
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

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

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
×
×
  • 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