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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

22 August

River Kennet - Thatcham.   0715 - 0945   Bright and sunny, chilly start. AT 10º ->15ºC. River low and surprisingly clear.   5 Chub; 4lb, 3lb 2oz, 1¼lb & 2 chublets, 2 dace, 2 roach.   Short trotting session.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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29 June

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2330   Warm and overcast evening - still 18ºC when I packed up. Lovely shirtsleeves evening - though the mossies were a pain!   5 Tench; 4lb 11oz, 4lb 6oz, 3lb 13oz, 3lb 12oz, 3lb 3oz. 1 Crucian 1lb 15oz (and a bit!)   Very pleasant evening's float fishing. Quite a bit of activity and loads of bubbling. 3 Tench and the Crucian caught tight (ie less than 1 metre) to the margins. All fish on meat over pellet. 1st Crucian from here for a couple of years!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

20 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0900 - 1245 Mild and overcast - with the earlier drizzle thankfully stopped. AT 11ºC. River low for late Nov - but then we've hardly had a drop of rain for the last 3 weeks! 2 Chub: 2lb 15oz, 1lb 8oz. 1 Perch 1lb 7oz. 5 Roach. 1 Dace. 1 Brownie 1½lb- sigh! I hate trout! Having tip-toe'd into the top of a favoured chub swim and trickled maggot in for 10 minutes I managed to pull off the perfect cast - and had the float running down just the line I wa
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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27 October

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   1830 - 2300   Clear and frosty. AT 5º -> 0ºC. WT 49ºF. River up a couple of inches - with little debris.   1 Barbel 5lb 8oz, 1 Chub 3lb 3oz.   Chilly evening, though fishing under the tree kept the frost off. Chub 1st cast, Barbel at 2100.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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6 July

River Kennet - Newbury   1845-2315   Breezy and dry at first with heavy (& prolonged) showers developing - 17ºC. River quite low but quite coloured.   3 Chub - best 3¼lb   An after work barbelling session - without the barbel!! All chub came in the 1st couple of hours - had quite a few chubby type bites which died off when the rain got more intense. Fish on 14mm Halibuts.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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19 September

River Kennet - Thatcham   0800 - 1130   Bright and sunny. River VERY low, clear and almost bare of rununculus.   2 Barbel: 4lb 14oz, 2lb 6oz, 3 Chub 3lb 11oz, 2lb 14oz & a chublet, 2 trout.   A morning trotting double red maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17 January (Pt 2)

River Kennet, Newbury   1115 - 1245   Still bright and sunny. River pushing through and quite coloured. WT 43ºC   1 Gudgeon!   Tried worming for an hour or so - without a bite - switched to maggots for the last ¼hr to save a blank!!!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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22 December

K&A Canal - Thatcham   0730 - 0945   Mild, with cloud clearing (rather too quickly for my liking) to milky sunshine. AT 48ºF, WT 47ºF   1 Perch; 2lb 6oz   Couldn't resist the lure of the canal with these mild conditions - though, alas, it was much brighter than forecast! Fished 4 swims and only managed 2 bites all morning - both of which came from the 2nd swim I dropped in and resulted in the blank saving stripey. Banker swim failed to produce - again!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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15 July

River Kennet - Thatcham   0645 - 1100   Broken cloud - mainly sunny - makes a change! Temp only upto 15ºC but felt nice to have some sun on my face at last!! River very full but with surprisingly little colour!   1 Chub; 1¾lb, 11 dace - all a 'nice' size, 2 spotties - a par and a fish of around ¾lb.   A morning's trotting in the company of Paul. Barbel as usual were the target but the closest either of us came to one was me being comprehensively smashed by one within 5 minutes of starti
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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7 September

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham   0900 - 1430   Overcast and fairly warm (18ºC). River low and clear.   6 Chub: Biggest 3lb 15oz the rest all less than half that! 3 Doz Dace and Roach in roughly equal nos. A couple of really nice dace of 10 & 11oz and quite a few roach in the 6-8oz class with a couple bigger ones (best went 12oz). 3 Perch - best nearly 1lb, 1 Bleak.   Lovely day's trotting. Did try a couple of hours ledgering - with no return
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

20 November (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0710 - 0835 Mild, overcast with an annoying (and unforecasted) fine drizzle. 11ºC 5 Perch; A couple of 'pounders' - though not by much. Disappointing little session by recent standards (and expectations) - especially as all fish came in the first 10 minutes or so - and I then went well over an hour without a bite. In truth I'd have preferred a dusk session as I have more confidence that perch feed more at dusk in the winter months - regardles
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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28 December (Parts 2 & 3)

River Lambourn - Newbury   1245-1345 & 1400 - 1545   Still Cold!   7 Grayling; (best 3 - 1lb 6oz, 1lb 2oz, 15oz), 3 Roach.   7 (!!) other anglers on Shaw when we arrived so after a grayling or two each, Paul and I moved to somewhere less crowded - with worthwhile results - especially for Paul who ended up with 11 grayling - 5 of which were better than 1lb - bested by a fish of 1lb 8oz. He also had time to winkle out a 12oz roach.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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22 June

Bucklebury Ponds   0930 - 1230   Weather; 'Oribble, wet, windy and cold - this is meant to be JUNE. So far this month we've had nearly SIX inches of rain - 3 times the average for June and there's still over a week to go... 4 Bream all circa 2lb+, 1 Tench 1lb 15oz, 1 Carp 4lb 4oz, 1 roach and 7 perch.   For a venue that is the nearest to my house (even nearer than the Kennet), I really don't visit here that often. When I do its usually to try and catch a crucian, any crucian - as nothing
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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2 August

Warwicks Water - Thatcham   0530 - 0930   Bright start, soon clouding over - raining as I packed up.   6 Carp: All between 3½ - 6lb. 3 Roach.   It's not many seasons ago when I'd fish this pond with the expectation of half a dozen to a dozen crucians in a morning. More recently the place has suffered from low DO and the fishing has been poor. With water levels healthy again - this was a mission to see if the crucians were still around. The answer to that is yes - as I actually had one ro
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

17 December

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1345 Bright, milky sunshine - very cold start - the thaw arrived mid morning - which I was very thankful for - line freezing in the ferrules had made for a tough couple of hours prior to that. AT -6ºwhen I arrived ->+6ºC when I drove off. River at normal levels - 1.05m at the East Stoke gauge. 13 Grayling: 8 over a lb - the 3 I weighed went 1lb 14oz & 2 X 1lb 10oz (different fish!) most of the others lbers around 1lb 6oz. 3 Trout - a lber, one half
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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15 October

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1900 - 2315   Mild and breezy, air temp rose 1ºC to 14ºC. WT 13ºC. River down 3-4 inches on a fortnight ago - considerably less weed coming down too, dark when I arrived so couldn't gauge clarity.   10 - yes 10 barbel. 10.05 (thats 3 doubles in 3 trips!), 8.10, 8.02, 7.08, 5.07, 5.00, 4.14, 3 unweighed around the 4lb mark.   Another stonking evening on the Kennet!   Fished my ' new' swim last night (hereinafter called 'Doubles' or 'Broken Rod' - see below).
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

15 August

Bucklebury Ponds   1030 - 1330   Warm, overcast and breezey. Max 21ºC   1 Carp; 2¾lb, 2 Crucians;1lb 5oz, 1lb 1oz, 2 Roach 1lb 2oz (!!) and a tiddler, 1doz perch.   Short session with the sole aim (thankfully achieved!) of getting a crucian. Roach was a bit of a bonus! All fish on float fished maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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29 October

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 0100   Calm and mild with high cloud. AT 52ºF, WT 54ºF.   2 Barbel 4lb 15oz, 4lb 3oz.   A very pleasnt evening by the river. Fished with Paul who packed up at 2230 having had 1 fish just under 6lb. My first fish came at 2350 and the 2nd 20 minutes later!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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19 December

River Lambourn - Shaw   1130 - 1400   Cold, and sunny. -2ºC -> 1ºC. River at normal levels - crystal clear as ever!   13 Grayling: best 2, 1lb 7oz & 1lb 1oz. 1 brown trout parr.   Lovely afternoon in the cold! Fish were quite spooky - never caught more than 2 from any one spot. Experiment with pomergranate seeds a failure - skins are too thin for a good hook hold!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

2/3 September

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley Complex   1900 - 0200   Warm, muggy evening - despite clear skies - really lovely night to be out. Temps down to 13ºC when I left but felt MUCH warmer under the trees - this place has its own micro-climate it seems!   1 Bream; 8lb 4oz. 1 Tench; 3lb 0oz.   An evening which started optimistically as there was quite a bit of activity when I arrived - a few fish bubbling and topping and the fry were getting hammered by preds - mainly
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

21/22 June

Jubilee Lake - Thatcham   1400 - 0500   Clear and breezy - night was cool and clear but not as cool as forecast (kept too busy to get cold!)   10 Carp; 23lb 10oz (!), 11lb 15oz, 10lb 11oz, 10lb 6oz, 10lb 4oz, 9lb 14oz, 9lb 5oz, 8lb 13oz, 8lb 6oz, 7lb 7oz, (Over 110lb of carp!). 2 Tench 3lb 11oz & 3lb.   Last year I made the mistake of fishing here in the school holidays - and got very irritated by the noise from other anglers. No such worries last nigh
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 September

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2300   Clear and still. AT 20ºC -> 12ºC   2 Tench: 6lb 0oz, 2lb 13oz, 2 perch (small)   Pleasant evening - though not even any sign of Crucians. Both tincas on float fished meat caught a rod length out as it got dark between 2000 - 2100. No bites before or after these times.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 November

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   0830 - 1115   Bright and sunny. AT 3º -> 9ºC. River still low & clear though up an inch or so. WT 49ºF.   7 Dace, 4 Brownies to 1½lb.   A morning's trotting - playing hunt the chub - and failing to find any. All dace were a nice size though (6-8oz).
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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15 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2330   Overcast with a few light showers. 17ºC. River low quite clear and little weed growth (much less than last year)   2 Barbel: 8lb 10oz, 4¼lb   First trip of the year to my Barn Owl swim - and was lucky enough to have this graceful bird grant me some fleeting glimpses!! Biggest fish just as it was dark - at around 2230.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Coarse Fishing

3 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0900 - 1430 Cloud, clearing to bright sunshine - with showers to finish! AT up to 15ºC. River low and clear - despite over ¾inch of rain yesterday! 5 Chub; 3lb 13oz & 4 in the ¾-1lb class (They're everywhere!). 3 doz (!) roach - most quite small with 3 or 4 'netters' - I put a couple on the scales and they both went 12oz. 8 Dace; small save for a couple of clonkers at 10 & 13oz. 3 Brownies; 2, 'pounders' and a 3lb+ brute of a fish (already had a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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