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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

17 August

Pumphouse Lake (Yateley)   1930-0000   Warm (17ºC) and overcast - started raining as I packed up...   3 Bream (6lb 2oz, 5lb 9oz, 4lb 13oz)   Fished 2 rods - pellet on the lead produced not a touch. Started float fishing maggots in the margins - and had no bites for the 1st hour or so - sense of deja vu! Switched to float fished meat - and all the fish fell to this - though rather wished they were tench! Final fish was right on the stroke of midnight when I'd packed most of the gear away
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

18 August

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   1900 - 0000   Windy - with frequent heavy showers for first couple of hours. Clearing to broken cloud and a (near) full moon. 15ºC. River carrying some colour after recent rain - no debris though.   3 Barbel (7lb7oz, 5lb 0oz, 3¾lb), 1 Chub (2¾lb), 1 Dace (on a 14mm Pellet hair-rigged to a size 8!!!)   Most fish caught during 1st couple of hours (Biggest barbel during the heaviest downpour - so got rather wet!). Only one fish after 2100 - smallest barbel at aro
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

30 October

River Lambourn - Shaw   0800 - 1200   Overcast and chilly with a couple of short, sharp showers. 2º -> 6ºC. River at normal levels with a lot of debris and leaf litter (EA were cleaning the Gauge Weir at the top of the venue!)   17 Grayling (best 1lb 5oz), 5 Roach, 1 Brown Trout   Catch a couple and move on - fished a dozen swims - never had more than 2 fish from any of them. Trotted red maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

5 November

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0700 - 1100   Dull and overcast - some very light drizzle. AT 52ºF, WT 50ºC. River up a couple of inches - some colour but fining down.   7 Perch (2lb 13oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz, 1¼lb and 2 small-uns), 1 Trout (2¾lb), 1 Chub (small), ½doz Roach, 3 Gudgeon.   Perfect conditions for perch - 2lbers all came in a rush between 0800 - 0900 - all caught on lobs. Smaller perch and trout form the weirpool on trotted maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

20 July

Bucklebury Ponds   1000 -1400   Warm, overcast and muggy.   6 Bream to 1½lb. 1 Carp 2½lb. 5 roach, 5 perch.   Another weekend dominated by athletics (up in Loughborough yesterday watching Sam), so another quick 'snatched session at my local. Bites not as prolific as last Sunday (when it wasn't as bright) but still enough to keep me amused for a few hours...
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

3 September

River Kennet - Thatcham   1815 - 2230   Warm sunny evening becoming quite cool quickly with a very heavy dew.   21 dace - a dozen of which were 8oz or better - best weighed in at 10oz. 2 roach (small) 3 gudgeon and a brownie.   Cracking evening trotting - really good stamp of dace from a stretch of river I've not fished in over a decade. Darkness saw me switch to the lead for a couple of hours - alas the only interest I got was from the signals. Definitely a swim that I will return to so
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

15 November

Kennet & Avon Canal - nr Thatcham   1400 - 1630   Overcast, mild with and upstream breeze.AT 13ºC. WT 51ºF. Water quite clear.   5 Perch (3lb 2oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb14oz) 1 Pike (4¼lb), 1 Chub (c1lb)   Couldn't pass up such perfect conditions for perching! All fish on float fished lobs and all caught after 1530 - a manic last hour of daylight!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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6 December

Middle Kennet Estate Water   0830 - 1630   Bright and breezey after heavy morning rain (we sat in the car waiting for it to stop). River coloured up in the morning but was fining down again by the time we packed up. Levels still quite low.     9 Chub - all quite small - biggest 2lb 7oz, 1 Perch 1lb 7oz, 13 Roach - best 2, 1lb 6oz & 1lb (just!) - most others around 6-8oz, 3 dozen Dace, ½ doz gudgeon, 2 Brownies - best 3½lb, 2 Rainbows - best 2¾lb.   Pleasant day's trotting (once the
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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18 July

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   1930 - 2330   Warm and sultry - 26 ->18c. Shirtsleeves and shorts - until the mossies turned up in force!   2 Carp; 10lb 9oz, 3lb 15oz. 10 Roach.   Another cunning plan bites the dust. Paul and I had agreed to meet up for an after work session hoping for crucians, with a carp or 2 off the top as Plan B. Well I managed 'A' carp on floating crust ( the bigger one) - but the usual tactic of letting the floating bait drift into the margins was scuppered by rats
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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11 February

Lower Itchen Fishery   8am - 5pm.   Cold and overcast with light snow flurries in the morning. AT never above 2ºC all day. River on the low side for late winter - with a slight tinge of colour and a surprising amount of weed growth.   22 Grayling; 14 over 1lb, best 4 - 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 15oz. 3 Chub - all 3 - 3lb 5oz. 1 Brownie 2½lb.   2nd IAC grayling day in memory of Paul Goulbourn. Organised with great diplomacy by Dave Smith and attended b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

15 November

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury.   0715 - 1630   Bright and sunny. 6º -> 13ºC. River still quite low and carrying a little colour after 3 days of rain.   6 Chub: Biggest 4lb 1oz, 1 Perch 1lb 5oz, 1 doz Rainbows to 4¼lb, 3 Brownies to 2½lb, 3doz dace, 2 doz roach, ½ doz gudgeon and a skimmer bream.   A day spent chub hunting - and trying (unsuccesfully) to avoid the trout. Most fish on trotted maggot - spent the last hour quiver tipping bread flake hoping for a decent roach but all I accoun
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

28 September

Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington   0700 - 1400   Mild and VERY gusty with drizzle for the first couple of hours or so (lovely - not!)   1 doz+ perch - most around to 10-12oz mark but couldn't find anything bigger (which what I was after primarily). 2 doz+ roach nothing big), 1 Gudgeon (1st of the season), 1 Dace, 1 Chublet and a Skimmer.   'Orrible session! Wind was a nightmare for casting and presentation (and nearly knocked me off my feet twice). Fishe
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

29 January

River Kennet (& Carrier) Marsh Benham 1000 - 1530 Mild and very breezy (too breezy for good float control). AT 9ºC. River low and looking a little threadbare after 3 consecutive months with below average rainfall. 5 Chub: 4lb 10oz, 2lb and 3 between ½-1lb. 16 Roach - various sizes but nothing to warrant the scales. 11 Dace; most small with a couple of clonkers - best weighing in at 12oz. 1 Rainbow; 3lb & a Brownie c2lb. A trip to my syndicate stretch with Martin (Bayl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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25 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0715 - 1030   Clear and frosty - hazy sunshine. 0º -> 10ºC   2 Perch (1lb 15oz, 1lb 1oz)   An exploratory wander up and down the canal - in sub-optimal conditions for perch. No bites in first 1½hrs - quite a bit of boat traffic too! Both fish on lobs.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

14 December

Middle Kennet Estate Water   0800 - 1600   Cold and overcast 0ºC ->5ºC. River very coloured - very unusual for this stretch.   2 Chub (5lb 0oz, 1lb 6oz), 2 Perch (2lb 1oz, 1lb 11oz), 14 Dace (2 X11oz, 1X10oz), 4 Brown Trout - (best 2½lb)   Bit of a struggle in a very coloured river. Both chub and 2 biggest trout on sweetcorn. Perch were first AND last fish of the day - one on maggot one on lobs. All dace were a good size - had 4 more around the 8oz mark. Paul had a very similar return
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

6 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0700 - 0930   Cool, calm and overcast - with 'milky' sunshine breaking through for last hour. 4ºC. WT a more promising 46ºF, little colour and quite a bit of flow.   2 Perch; 2lb 5oz & a tiddler.   A struggle for bites in seemingly perfect conditions for stripeys - though in retrospect a dusk session may have been better. Both fish fell after 0830 when it was brighter with sun on the water.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

20 June

River Kennet - Newbury   0430 - 0700   Cool and overcast. 10ºC. River low and carrying a little colour.   1 Barbel - barely 1lb!, 1 Perch circa 12oz, 3doz+ Dace, 3 Roach, a doz Gudgeon and a brownie.   2½hours trotting and home for breakfast - I love June!!! No chub though which was my, err, target species on my all time 'banker' chub swim - maybe the otter has eaten them all!! Barbel 2nd trot through - and yet again a small fish from here - I've called this stretch a barbel nursery for
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

13 July

Bucklebury Ponds   1030 - 1430   Overcast, muggy with light drizzle at times.   2 Tench; 2lb & 1lb 6oz, 8 Bream most ± 1lb. 1 Carp 2lb 13oz. 10 roach & 4 perch.   Pleasant session watching my float dither, dip and disappear with satisfying regularity. Most fish on pellet apart from the tench which fell to maggot - had to switch to pellet when the perch moved in!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

17 September

River Kennet, Nr Thatcham   1800 - 2300   Warm, overcast and muggy - shirtsleeves all evening!   1 Chub 3lb 7oz, 8 Roach - all small save for one which was circa 8oz, 5 Dace - 2 gooduns at 8oz. 1 Grayling, 1 Gudgeon, 4 Brownies - 3 between 1¾- 2¼lb!     Familiar pattern of the summer - an hour's trotting for a good mixed bag - including the hoped for chub followed by 4 hours of crayfish rattles and bat line-strikes (and no barbel!!!). Trout were a bit of a menace - making good imitation
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

26 February

River Frome - Wool   ​0745 - 1500   ​Mild, sunny spells interspersed with fine drizzle. VERY windy! At 10ºC.   ​6 Grayling: 5 over 1lb - all between 1lb 4oz - 1lb 11oz. 2 Small trout. River at 'normal' levels with a bit of colour. 92cm at East Stoke.   ​Last weekend of the season here and it was a bit of a slog in challenging conditions - wind in particular was very strong and downstream in most swims. Bites at a real premium, but thankfully usually resulted in a half decent (and very fa
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
Coarse Fishing

28 July

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm, overcast and muggy (for the most part - skies clearing and getting cooler and dew-y when I packed up). AT 22º -> 16ºC 1 Tench; 4lb 2oz. 1 Carp: 2lb 8oz. 1 Roach - handsized. It's that time of year when venues are chosen for the quality of the blackberry picking! 3lbs picked in a little over ½hr - which has already been converted into Jaq's wonderful bramble jelly this morning - was followed by 4 hours watching a mainly stationary fl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

4 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm, clear evening with a gentle southerly breeze wafting the aromas of Paul Newman's salad dressing from the factory at Greenham - but not strong enough to keep the mossies at bay! 3 Tench; 3lb 4oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 5oz. 2 Roach & a Perch - all handsized. Slightly sub par return by recent standards - waited 2 hours for a bite then all the fish, bar the smallest tench, came in a flurry between 8.30 and 9.00pm. By 10.30pm the crayfish had m
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3
Coarse Fishing

26 December

River Kennet - Brimpton 1030 - 1330 Bright and sunny. Cooler than last couple of days. AT 4º - 6ºC. River at normal levels and with a tinge of colour. 1 Chub: 4lb 6oz. 2 Brownies; Biggest a brute of a fish - must have been close to 4lb but unweighed - the other around half that size. Impromptu trip based on Jaq announcing she was hitting the sales!! Bright winter sunshine are not the ideal conditions for a spot of chub fishing but I reasoned the recent rise in river levels an
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

31 August/1 September

Knotts Lake   1900 - 0800   Warm and overcast - some breeze - no dew.   2 Tench (6lb 4oz, 5lb 7oz), 9 rudd, 2 doz perch - biggest 1½lb   A VERY quiet night rescued by two nice tench either side of midnight. Biggest on pellet out by the island, 5lber on float fished meat in the near margins. Rudd and perch on maggot - some quite nice sized ones too. Lost a substantial perch (+2lber) at the net when the hook pulled - it lay motionless on the surface for second - just out of net range - bug
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 October

Summer Pit - Yateley   1915 - 2315   Mild, still evening, quite balmy under the trees. 17ºC ->16ºC. WT 14ºC   1 tench 3¼lb   Last throw of the dice to try and get a late season Crucian. Water was pretty lifeless though and was pretty surprised to get a fish 1st cast. Not surprised that this was my only bite of the evening! Fished meat (which caught the tench), bread and pellet.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
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