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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

16 February

River Kennet - Thatcham   1030 - 1430   Bright and sunny. 8ºC. River VERY high - but surprisingly clear.   2 Chub; 4lb 13oz, 2lb 7oz.   New winter chub banker swim turns up trumps again! Wasn't sure what I'd find - or even if I'd be able to get to the swim - but after paddling through the field - found a surprising slack piece of water. Smaller chub first cast on a lob worm, 4lber 90mins later on trotted maggot. Lovely afternoon to be by the river.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

2 February

River Kennet - Newbury (plus an hour or so blanking on the canal)   0730 - 1215   Bright and Sunny 5-7ºC. River high though not carrying a lot of colour.   4 Perch; 2lb 0oz, 1lb 6oz, 1lb 3oz, 12oz. 5 Dace, 3 Roach & 9 Gudgeon.   A morning spent 'sharing' a large Kennet flood slack with Paul. In truth we rather expected more action (Paul only managed ½doz dace and a gudgeon) and hoped a chub or two would have put in an appearance. Still I'm not complaining with 4 fat perch - all of th
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

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

11 January

River Lambourn - Newbury   0830 - 1245   Bright and sunny 7ºC. River high as you'd expect but clear.   22 Grayling. 4 over 1lb - best 1lb 5oz. 9 Brownies - biggest 2½lb.   As ever the default venue when the Kennet is in flood. Paul and I leapfrogged swims all morning and when we compared notes afterwards had had a near identical day - Paul had 21 ladies, also getting 4 over 1lb - his best 1lb 7oz - also had a bonus roach of around ½lb. Very pleasant morning....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

4 January 2014

K&A Canal - Enborne   1415 - 1615   Rain! 5ºC. Canal the colour strong tea - and flowing unusually fast! WT 45ºF   3 Perch; 1lb11oz, 1¼lb and a sub pounder.   Paul and I had planned a morning trip - but given the forecast I'd switched to a post lunch session and Paul packed the whole idea in! Was still touch and go whether I went - but with the wind dropping right out I thought I'd at least go and have a look! And when I got there I nearly turned around and went straight home. Normal
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

30 December

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury   0830 - 1615   Wild morning - wet and windy. Rain stopped at 1130 to give a bright afternoon with the wind dropping. Mild, 10ºC.   7 Chub; 2 @ 5lb+ - best 5lb 4oz - the rest around 2½ - 2¾lb, one under 2lb. 9 Roach quite a few chunky ones up to 1lb. 1 Dace (8oz). 1 Gudgeon. 6 Brownies to 3lb. 8 Rainbows to 4lb 8oz   Another day's fishing, another storm - and at least today I had the River Keeper to thank for staying reaso
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 December

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0800 - 1600   Bright and very windy especially on the meadows. River high and carrying quite a bit of colour - much more than is usual for here. Mild, around 10ºC all day.   18 Chub (!!): Only 1 under 2lb, most around 3lb with 6 fish over 4lb - biggest 5lb exactly (over 63lb of chub). 2 Grayling 2lb 5oz (!) & 1lb 3oz. 9 Brownies to 3lb+.   For some time now Paul and I have had 2 dates pencilled in over the Christmas pe
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

26 December

K&A Canal - Enborne   1400 - 1600   Cool (4ºC) and bright. WT a low(ish) 43ºF   1 Perch; 1lb 14oz. 1 Chub 1lb 11oz. 1 Tench (!!!) 3lb 3oz. 1 Roach (10oz!). 1 Gudgeon   The excuse was a recce to have a look at the river at Speen in preparation for tomorrow's trip - but I couldn't go to the river rodless! The canal though was always my intended option to drown a lob or two. Wasn't particularly optimistic on 2 counts - bright sunshine and a WT of 43ºF. Th
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

22 December

River Kennet - Newbury   1000 - 1345   Cool, bright and breezy. River 'full' but not in flood condition - carrying a little colour but not as much as I expected!.   2 Chub; 1¾lb & 1½lb. 1 Pike 3lb 14oz. 18 Dace, 8 Roach. 3 Gudgeon.   Not so much a trotting session as a hold the float in a slack behind the tree session. Seems a lot of fish were shoaled up in a very small slack! In truth I hadn't intended to go today - Paul and I had acquired the required permissions for a session on t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

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

7 December

River Kennet - Thatcham   0730 - 1030   Cool, calm & cloudy - a lovely benign winter's morn. WT 44ºC.   2 Chub; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 10oz.   A return to a swim that Paul fished last weekend - and as hoped it threw up a couple of chub! First ¼ hour was quietly lively! Started with float fished lobs and pretty much hooked a LARGE pike straight away. Never really got a good look at it but had it on for some time. The uneven contest was eventually decided in the pike's favour but not before the
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

30 November

Flowing Canal & river Kennet near Thatcham   0715 - 1215   Cool, bright and breezy after a cloudy start. WT 47ºF   1 Gudgeon and 1 trout parr.   Fruitless perch hunt in the company of Paul - we both started in THE swim (see 28 Oct entry ) but despite what I considered reasonably favourable conditions I couldn't help wonder that we were 48 hours too late (Thursday was perfect!) and neither of us got a hint of interest in our float fished lobs. So
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

23 November

River Lambourn - Shaw   0815 - 1145   Bright, cool and sunny. Temp up to 5ºC. River quite low as you'd expect this time of year.   31 grayling; All a decent size, nothing below a band 3 (20cm) and most 25cm+. Biggest 1lb 5oz with lots of fish an ounce or so either side of the 1lb mark. 1 trout parr.   First trip to the Lambourn this winter and it didn't disappoint. Most fish (2/3rds) from the church stretch where I was also bitten off by a rather large pik
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

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

10 November

River Frome - Wool   0815 - 1445   Bright and sunny with a cool breeze. River in good flow but quite coloured up. River gauge at East Stoke 0.90m   10 Grayling; 7 over 1lb - best 3; 2lb 13oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 12oz. 4 Brownies - 3 over 1lb - biggest just under 4lb, 1 Salmon Parr.   After last winter I was determined to get down to Dorset at the first opportunity - even if conditions were likely to be sub-optimal. Which certainly was the case. There was a lot mo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

2 November

Flowing Canal (K&A), Nr Thatcham   0645 - 1000   Foggy start, brightening up. 7º - 10ºC   9 Dace - all good uns, biggest 11oz!   If the last 2 hours of daylight produced a red letter day - would the first 2 hours be the same? The answer a categorical NO! A couple of half-hearted bites on lob was all I had to show before getting the trotting rod out for the last 45 mins and immediately getting among a really good stamp of dace - though even these stopped biting when the sun came out!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

25 October

Lower Itchen Fishery   0900 - 1815   Bright and breezy and quite warm after overnight rain - temps didn't dip below 16ºC all day. River really quite low despite this week's rain and carrying a bit of colour which dropped out during the day.   23 Grayling; 8 over 1lb - best 4, 2lb, 1lb 10oz & 1lb 8oz. 3 Chub; All over 2lb, best 4lb 14oz, 10 Roach (all small, alas), a dace, a small perch, a gudgeon, 4 brownies - biggest a cracking looking fish of 3lb, 1 small sea
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

19 October

River Kennet & Kennet & Avon Canal - Newbury   0730 - 1130   Warm with a little light drizzle at times.   14 Dace, 7 Perch - only one of which needed the net but was still well shy of a pound, 1 Roach (12oz).   Bit of an exploratory session with Paul - visiting some water I've not fished in decades and Paul hasn't even seen! I fished mainly lobs - trying to find some big perch while Paul picked up stacks of small roach and other 'bits' on maggot. My decent roach was on a whole lo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 October

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham.   0930 - 1300   Bright with sunny intervals after early rain. 10ºC. River low and carrying a bit of colour.   6 Chub - all over 1lb, biggest 3¼lb. 1 Barbel; 3¾lb. 6 Dace. 1 Roach & 3 spotties.   Well its been a while since I've had a session like that from here! In fact the last time I caught more than 3 chub in a session from this venue was on the first day of the 1993 season! (when I also had 6). Nothing particularly huge, 3 of them were around the 1½lb
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

4 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Newbury   1100 - 1300   Warm with sunny spells, Breezy. 20ºC. River quite low.   2 Chub; 2lb 10oz, 2lb. 12 Dace, 10 Roach, 1 Gudgeon and a brownie.   So after a frustrating morning a couple of hours on the river to see if the chub would eat my worms - to which the answer was YES! Being a Friday I had expected to have the place to meself and planned to fish a number of swims. However as I turned up who should I see pulling on his chesties - Rusty! Being a gent he let me ha
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

4 October (Part 1)

Kennet and Avon Canal - Thatcham   0700 - 1000   Overcast and mild (16ºC) becoming breezy.   9 roach, 1 dace and a bleak!   Exploratory session, searching for and spectacularly failing to find some new perch swims. Fished 4 likely looking swims (3 I've never fished before) and didn't get a touch on lobs from any of them - not even from crayfish. Gave each spot a good half an hour on worm then had 5-10 mins on maggot to see if there were any bait fish around (there were every time!)   H
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

28 September (Part 2)

Speen Moors   0845 - 1200   Still mild and overcast with some milky sunshine. River quite low.   2 Perch (both circa 1lb), 6 roach, 1 dace, 1 skimmer, 1 spottie and a doz+ gudgeon.   More of a walk than a fishing session as I pretty much wandered around the whole venue. Gudgeon seemed to be everywhere! Tried a few of my usual perch AND chub swims without an awful lot of action - needs a bit of water!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

28 September (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne   0700 - 0830   Mild and overcast.   4 Perch: 2 'pounders' though not by a lot. 1 Chub 1lb 10z. 1 Carp 5lb 3oz.   Detour en route to Speen to check out a couple of 'banker' stripey swims from last winter. First cast perfection as the lob plopped an inch from a semi-submerged branch was met with the float shooting under before it had time to cock and a powerful fish charged up the cut. I knew it wasn't a perch - and whilst I had hoped it would be a nice t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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