Jump to content
  • entries
    1158
  • comments
    904
  • views
    1592510

About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

17 August

River Kennet - Newbury   0900 - 1400   Bright and breezy - river up an inch or so after yesterday's heavy rain with its usual summer tinge of colour.   18 Chub: Most around 6-8oz, with 5 over a lb, biggest went 4lb 7oz with the others between 1¼ - 2¼lb., 2 doz+ Dace, 1 doz Roach, 2 Grayling, 2 Bleak and 3 Brownies.   Lovely morning's trotting - great to see so many silvers in the river - especially the young chub.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

9 March (Part 2)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1500 - 1800 Bright and breezy. AT 11ºC - but felt a whole lot cooler on an exposed canal bank! 8 Perch: a solitary 'pounder' - and that not by much - nearly all the others around 8-10oz. Having been well and truely sated on the chub front the aim is now to try and get some decent perch in the last days of the season. This venue has been disappointing this winter  - and today was no different! No bites at all until 1715 - then a flurry of
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

10 August

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Hot and sultry. AT 30° -> 20°C. Shirtsleeves evening - with a glorious full moon (nearly - it's actually tonight!) rising in the SE.  1 Tench; 2lb 1oz. 2 Carp; 14lb 5oz, 6lb 7oz. 1 perch - small. A torpid evening watching a mainly stationary float - and not even avoiding a float caught carp - though, thankfully, the 6lb common decided to motor out toward the island rather than dive into the lilies a mere couple of feet from where it was
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

27 August

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0630 - 1130 Bright sunny morning. AT 12º -> 23ºC. River very low with a hint of colour. 14 Chub: A 'pounder' and a baker's dozen of small-uns. 30+ Roach & 25 Dace: nothing particularly note-worthy apart from 3 or 4 dace of around 8oz, 5 Perch; all fairly small. 6 Bleak. A trip to my syndicate stretch in the hope that Thursday's rain may have gingered the river up a bit and whilst it was still very low there was a little bit of colour. Loads
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

9 March

River Kennet (& carrier) Marsh Benham   0900 - 1530   Bright and breezy (very breezy at times in the morning!) Mild-ish but didn't feel that way in the wind. River up an inch or two on last visit here (3 weeks ago).   7 Chub; Best 5lb 2oz - all the rest between 2½ - 3¾lb. 3 Bream: between 2¾ - 4lb. 15 Roach, 5 Dace & 5 Trout (3 browns & 2 rainbows all between 2½-3½lbs).   Pleasant days trotting despite the wind - spent most of my time on the main river and weirpool which prod
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

23 July

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2330 Warm with a nice breeze in my face, much more clement than the oppressive heat of recent days and kept the dew and mossies away. 26ºC - 17ºC. 5 Carp: 10lb 6oz, 9lb 8oz, 6lb 11oz, 6lb 2oz & a 3lber. 1 Tench (1lb and a bit). Got off to a promising start with the tench first cast - though I nearly lost my rod to it as I was still 'setting out by stall' and not paying attention to my float! Alas, it would prove to be my only one - and not a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

12 February (Part 1)

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0815 - 1115 Mild, calm and overcast. 6º-8ºC. Lovely benign Winter's day. River quite full - though has clearly dropped several inches in the last fortnight - very clear. 2 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 1½lb. 1 Brownie C.3lb and 3 Rainbow's; a lump of around 4-5lb and 2 half that. If there's anything worse than catching brownies - it's hooking rainbows! A brownie will usually reveal itself straight away - boil on the surface - allowing one to play it hard and hope
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

5 November

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne * Northcroft Stream^   0700 - 0945* 1000 - 1230^   Cold and bright start - clouding over by the time I left. 0ºC - 8ºC   7 Perch; 4 over 1lb, best 2 1lb 9oz & 2lb 0oz (hooray!)* 6 Dace, 4 Roach, 1 Gudgeon and a brownie.^   A lovely crisp morning - not the most ideal conditions for stripeys thankfully no one told the fish that. Had to contend with some really inconsiderate dog owners - one even threw a st
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

8 September

River Kennet - Brimpton   0615 - 1300   Overcast and quite breezy at times - drizzly rain for first hour. River not as low as I expected.   2 Chub: 5lb 6oz, 4lb 13oz. 7 Dace, 1 Roach, ½doz+ brownies - most quite small with one circa 1lb.   Took a ledgering rod As I wanted to have a daytime try for a barbel - however they were removing willows just upstream and an absurd amount of branches and crap coming downstream made it impossible. So back to usual trot
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 October

Lower Itchen Fishery   0830 - 1830   Warm (still 19ºC when I got home at 2030!), overcast and very windy - rainy for the first hour or so. River very low and weedy with lots of leaf litter and detached weed coming down.   50+ Grayling - nearly every fish in the 12oz-1lb class with a lot just over 1lb too. Nothing substantially bigger - alas - best went 1lb 7oz. 2 Chub; 3lb 5oz & 2lb 14oz. 1 Roach (13oz) & 10 brownies to 2½lb.   A very blowy day in
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 December

River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham   0930 - 1430   Cool and misty morning with bright sunshine after 1200. River lower than I expected and quite clear.   8 Chub; Biggest 3lb most of the rest 1¾ - 2¾lb. 1 Bream 2lb 15oz, 3 Doz Roach - all quite chunky but nothing over ½lb. 2 Dace, 1 Rainbow 2½lb and a Brownie of 3lb +   Lovely winter's day in West Berkshire. Chub were very obliging even if my biggest of the day was caught first cast. Bream fought harder than any bream I've ever hooke
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

12 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2230   Cool clear evening - with a breeze falling off. AT down to 10ºC when I packed up - felt quite chilly!   1 Tench - 2lb 3oz. 14 Roach - all small.   Another blackberry picking and tench evening! Roach were a bit of a pain but once it got dark the bites from them subsided and just like last time my solitary tench came at around 2130. Shortly after was then connected to one of the lakes rogue carp which I played for several minutes and was just entertai
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

11 September

River Kennet - Hambridge (CSAS) 0645 - 1100 Overcast to start with sun breaking through for last hour or so. AT 19ºC. River low and a little coloured up. 2 Chub: both around 1¼lb. 16 Dace: most quite chunky - I'd already weighed a couple at 7&8oz but last one of the morning was even bigger at a shade over 10oz. 1 Roach. 1 Grayling (circa 8-10oz). 2 Bleak. 3 Trout (8oz - pretty sure it was the same damn fish each time!) Plan was to try and get a barbel for the 3rd weekend
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

23 December (Part 2)

Kennet and Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1330 - 1615 Bright and VERY breezy. AT 11ºC 1 Perch; 1lb 11oz That was a bit below expectations to put it mildly - especially after starting with a semi decent perch in the first 10 mins (and in bright sunshine)- it would prove to be my only bite!!! Wind was a nightmare and way stronger than this morning - made accurate casting and good presentation all but impossible. I fished on hoping that the witching hour would rescue proceedings - but
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

17 February - Part 1

River Kennet (& carrier) Marsh Benham   0930 - 1400   Mild and bright, clouding over by the time I left. River still not very high for mid Feb.   3 Chub; all 2lbers. A dozen roach, biggest 1lb exactly with nothing else remotely close to that!. Half dozen dace, 3 Brownies between 2-3lb & 4lb+ Rainbow.   Most fish from the weirpool - though started with a 2½lb chub from 'Chub Corner' first cast - turned out to be the biggest of the day!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

9 March (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 1000 - 1200 Bright and breezy. AT around 10ºC. River at normal levels. 7 Grayling: all small. 4 Brownies: ditto. Had to pop over to the tackle shop to top up the bait fridge for the final push and as I correctly reasoned I'd have this popular spot to myself on a week day thought I'd have a couple of hours. Was hoping to get a grayling or 2 yesterday on the Kennet - so today was to make up for the lack of them yesterday. Usual tactics of catch one and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

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

0

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

0

1 July

River Kennet - Brimpton   1800 - 2045 - Warm, with sunny spells. River at normal early summer levels.   1 Chub; 4lb 14oz, 3 Dace, 3 Brownies to 1½lb.   Pleasant evening's trotting - pleased to get such a nice chub so early in the season - was in surprsingly good condition too.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal (flowing) - Thatcham 1245 - 1500 Mild (15ºC) and overcast, quite breezy. 17 Dace - with around half over ½lb - I weighed two at 11oz & 12oz. 5 Roach - all small. 1 Gudgeon. Unexpectedly had a free afternoon - so thought I'd follow up some recent intelligence of this stretch producing good dace and roach. Information I wasn't entirely surprised by as I had this super dace from here a couple of years ago. Biggest dace first cast started proceedings w
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

9 February

Lower Itchen Fishery   0830 - 1700   Bright and breezy (very at times), River well up and coloured from yesterday's heavy rain - though conditions gradually improved throughout the day.   9 Grayling; best 1lb 8oz. 2 Brownies - 2½lber and a parr.   4th IAC Paul Goulbourn memorial grayling day - so it was nice to catch up with some old friends. Fishing was a challenge for all though as the river fined down I think most caught a few. Gary, who I fished with all day, was the star of the show
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

23 August

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1330 Warm and sunny (after a cool start) and with a very helpful couple of hours overcast from 9-11am - bites at a premium once this burnt off! AT 11º - 24ºC. River at normal levels with a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 4lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz, 1lb 13oz. 7 Perch - 1lb 15oz the rest all quite small. 2 doz+ Dace - various sizes with quite a few chunky ones - biggest went 12oz and had another 4 or 5 around the 8oz mark. 15 Roach - all small. 1 Blea
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

2

26 January (part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury   0830 - 1045   Mild and overcast. River low.   19 Grayling. Over half a couple of ounces either side of 1lb with the biggest, a lovely jet black fish of 1lb 10oz. 2 brownies - both small.   Usual catch a couple and move on trotting tactics.....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 October

River Kennet - Newbury   0930 - 1345   Bright and cold start, clouding over. AT no higher than 5ºC all day. River at normal autumn levels (actually slightly up on some previous autumns) and carrying a LOT of leaf litter.   4 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz. 5 Grayling; Best 1lb 3oz. 13 Dace (quite a few in the 6-8oz bracket), 5 Roach and 5 small brownies.   A morning's trotting in the cold - this venue is starting to return to it's old productiv
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
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

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