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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

17/18 June

Newbury AA lakes - Thatcham   1430 - 1100   Sunny becoming overcast. Breezy becoming VERY breezy. 13ºC-18ºC.   9 Carp (3½ - 8lb) 3 roach and a rudd.   Disappointing session on a usually prolific water. Paul did much better (eventually) and had a dozen on The Method - including a brace of 10's. Had hoped to do some surface fishing but legions of terns, ducks & geese made this sadly impossible - the buggers were insatiable - and did we try and sate them! Float fishing the margins - ano
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17/18 June

Newbury AA Lake - Thatcham   1500 - 0900   Very breezy with heavy drizzle to start, fine clear night.   5 Carp - best 8lb 1oz, 1 rudd, 1 roach.   Very very quiet night on a usually very prolific water. Paul did somewhat better in the next swim with 10 carp to 12lb 6oz. Tried - and failed miserably for one of the lakes few big crucians
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17/18 June

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford   0700 - 0400   Bright and breezy, mainly sunny. Lovely clear night with some high cloud and a gorgeous full moon.   9 Tench; best 5lb5oz with 6 of the rest over 4½lb. 2 Crucians; 2lb 0oz & 1lb 11oz. 2 Perch.   4th IAC Paul Goulbourn memorial fish-in. Yet again 20 of Paul's friends came together to honour his memory and try (and mainly fail!) to catch a crucian! Bites were at a premium all day though I think most angle
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17/18 July

Jubilee Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 0400 Warm clear night with a slight breeze to keep the dew and mossies at bay. Still 14ºC when I packed up at 0400. Lovely night for star/planet gazing - with a double dose of the ISS. 1 Carp 6lb 2oz. Really quiet night - not at all what I expected - only bite came at around 2200 on my float fished prawn section in the margins (hoping for a tinca to show up) - the alarm on my other rod ledgering pellet or boilie was silent all night apart from t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17/18 August

Willows Lake - Thatcham   1900 - 0500   Warm overcast night - lovely night to be out!   4 Carp; 6lb 5oz, 6lb 14oz, 7lb 12oz, 13lb 9oz. 5 Tench - best 2lb 7oz and all the others C2lb±2oz. 1 Crucian; 3lb 3oz. ½doz+ perch - all small.   Nice to see some tench in Willows - bin many years since I've had this many in a session. All fish fell to lift method tactics less than a rod length out - with simple maggots as bait - did also bring a feeder rod but it staye
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Coarse Fishing

17 September (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0845 - 1300 Bright and sunny - with a cool northerly breeze - though felt very warm in full sun! AT 17ºC when I packed up, River very low. 5 Chub: 2X 2lbers and 3 in the ¾-1lb class. 5 Perch; All over 1lb, with 4 over 1½lb, best three 2lb 3oz, 2lb & 1lb 13oz. 30+ Roach - various sizes with around half a dozen 'netters', I weighed one of these at 13oz and the others were of similar stamp - great to see! 1 Dace: a real good-un of around 10oz. 1 Gudgeon
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

17 September (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0630 - 0815 COLD! 🥶 and clear. 3ºC when I left - ice on the car and grass frost in patches on the bank! 13 Perch: 5 over 1lb - 4 not by much the other went 1lb 14oz. Brrrrr that was a shock to the system - thermals and fleece making an early appearance for my first 'double header' of the autumn. Pretty much all fish in the first ½ hour - then suffered a bit of pike trouble (got bitten off) and by 0800 the swim was bathed in sunshine and bites
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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17 September

River Kennet - Newbury   1945 - 2320   Mild, breezy and overcast. 14ºC. River at normal summer levels.   1 Barbel; 4lb 4oz and a chublet.   Umm - bit of a pattern developing here - yet again a fish first cast with little action following. At least there was no crayfish - just the occasional rattle and pull - which eventually resulted in a small chub. Fished a swim I've never ledgered before....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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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

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17 September

River Kennet - Newbury   0830 - 1330   Cool (well cooler than of late) and overcast. River looked in great nick - up a bit but not as coloured as I expected given the flooding in Newbury on Friday!   1 Chub; 1lb 14oz. 2 Perch; 1lb 7oz & 1lb 4oz. 40+Dace, 13 Roach, 2 Grayling - both circa ¾lb, 2 Gudgeon (1st of the season!), 1 Brownie.   Pleasant morning's trotting - fished 5 swims in all hoping to find more/bigger chub, but very pleased to snaffle a co
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17 October

Kennet & Avon Canal, Thatcham   0700 - 1130   Cool and overcast start becoming bright and sunny. AT 5º - 8ºC   8 Perch:3lb 14oz(Another new PB ), 2lb 6oz, 2lb 3oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 15oz. 1lb 14oz, 1lb 10oz (& a tiddler), 2 Chub, 1½lb & a chublet.   A strange session (!!) Both chub in the 1st couple of minutes then no bites for over an hour. Swim woke up at around 0830 after a couple of barges came through (Often the opposite happens). And I had sl
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17 October

River Kennet - Newbury   1715 - 2215   Overcast and breezy. 14ºC. River low with a fair amount of leaf litter.   1 Barbel, 4lb 0oz.   Barbel in the first hour - thereafter it was a case of 'Welcome to Crayfish City' the blighters were on the pellet within seconds at times. Also saw the otter 3 times and whilst I had planned to stay until midnight at least - I knew it wasn't going to be my night when it rolled in my swim a little after 10 o'clock - maybe it was after the crayfish!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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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

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17 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0700 - 1100   River Kennet - Thatcham   1145 - 1415   Bright and sunny after a cloudy start (thankfully!). AT 15ºC WT 12.9ºC. River up a bit and with a tinge of colour after yesterday's rain.   Canal: 1 Perch; 2lb 11oz, 4 Chub; all ¾-1lb, 11 Roach 1 Dace. River: 7 Chub; between 8oz and 2lb (4 over lb), 8 Dace, 2 Roach, 5 Brownies to 1¼lb.   First decent perch of the autumn - though the chublets
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Coarse Fishing

17 October

River Kennet - Hambridge 0845 - 1045 Cool and overcast. River at normal levels with minimal colour. 2 Chub: 2lb 9oz & 1lb 14oz. 9 Dace & 6 Roach - nothing of noteworthy size. 1 Brownie. Quick couple of hours as I needed to get some bait for my trip to the Itchen on Monday - not that I need an excuse to fish one of my favourite (and most reliable) swims on the Kennet. As usual biggest chub first cast and I must find a way of winkling out more than one in a session from
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

17 October

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1800 Bright and breezy. AT around 15ºC all day. River low and clear despite overnight rains. 30 Grayling with around two-thirds in the ¾lb - 1¼lb class with the rest not much smaller. Biggest 1lb 6oz. 10 Brownies between 1½ - 3½lb plus dozens and dozens and dozens of parr fish - a real nuisamce in the same way minnows can be! Lovely day - especially as I practically had the whole fishery to myself with only one other angler booked in. A real game o
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

17 October

River Lambourn - Newbury 0730 - 1100 Cool and overcast - clearing to bright sunshine. AT 8º- 12ºC. River at normal levels. 19 Grayling with over half around the pound mark or better - the three I weighed went 1lb 8oz, 1lb 9oz & 1lb 12oz. 1 brownie - small. First frosts of the autumn always put me in the mood for grayling and this was a bit of an insurance session in case Storm Babet stuffs up the Itchen for my planned visit this weekend. Usual tactics of catch a couple an
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

17 November (Part 1)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0900 - 1330 Cool and sunny, clouding over late morning. AT 2º-10ºC. River very high but with only little colour. 3 Perch: 2lb 2oz and a couple around ¾-1lb. 1 Dace, 1 Roach. 1 Brownie - 2½lb. Bit of a gamble with the river so high - but I reasoned if I could find some 'quiet' water I'd find some fish. Morning got off to the worst of starts - trickling in small amounts of maggot for 10 mins didn't bring the hoped for first cast chub but another ruddy
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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17 November

River Frome - Wool   0730 - 1330   Overcast with a cool easterly breeze - brightening up as I packed up. River low with (dropped over 40cm since last weekend) 67cm on the East Stoke River Gauge.   7 Grayling; 3 over 1lb went 2lb 5oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 8oz. 1 Bream 7lb 14oz (!), 1 Roach 8oz, 6 Brownies - all quite small.   I ummed and ahhhed about renewing my DDAS card this winter - the last 2 seasons have been very scratchy and its a long way to travel to catch
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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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

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17 June (Part 2)

River Kennet - Widmead 0845 - 1145 Warm & Sultry. 1 Chub: 1lb 10oz, 21 Dace - with around a third 8oz or better - weighed a couple, both at 10oz and had another 4 or 5 that weren't much smaller. 1 Grayling - small. 3 Brownies - a pounder and 2 tiddlers. Having exhausted my first swim it was off to another spot a mile or so downstream - and a haul of cracking dace. This swim 'looks' very chubby so it was nice to have that confirmed - all be it right at the end of the sessi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17 June (Part 1)

River Kennet - Hambridge 0500 - 0800 Cool, misty start - though quickly warmed up. River at normal levels and carrying a surprising amount of colour - didn't think there would have been much boat traffic to colour it up. 1 Pike; 9lb 6oz, 2 Chub; 3lb 3oz & a pounder. 1 Dace.  2 Brownies  one that must have been close to 2lb and a tiddler. I had planned an evening session on a stillwater for today - but weather warnings for thunderstorms this evening saw me up at the crack
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17 June A Day on the River

River Kennet 0500 - 1430   Bright and sunny - and VERY breezy. River very full - highest I've ever seen it at this time of year.   0500 - 0800 - Newbury.   1 Barbel, 4lb 9oz, 7 dace, 2 roach and a brownie   Always try and get a session here early in the season - though last year was the first time in over 30 years I didn't get a barbel from here - something I put right within 10 minutes of starting to fish. The surprise was it came from my 3rd choice
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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17 June

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham   0530 - 1430   Cool & overcast - drizzle from 1100.   3 Carp; 10lb 10oz, 8lb 1oz & 3lber. A doz rudd & roach and 1½doz small perch.   Slowish day alledgedly fishing for crucians - though Paul fared better snaffling a brace of 1¼lb+ fish. 10lb carp 1st cast - lucky to land it on a size 18 to 2¾lb bottom! Fished meat & maggot in rotation. All the roach were of a good stamp circa 8-10oz - pity there weren't a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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