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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

30 October

River Kennet - Thatcham   0800 - 1130   Bright and sunny. AT 54ºF, WT 52ºF - up 7ºF on Monday evening!   1 Barbel 4lb 11oz, 1 brownie 1¼lb, 5 dace & a roach.   Slowish morning's trotting - started out with lobs for 1st hour hoping for a chub or two but nothing doing. Then an hour's trotting maggot before the barbel showed up - target for the morning was a barbel so at least that box got ticked! Rather a lot of minnows in residence - more than I've seen for a long time!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

25 October

River Kennet - Padworth   1800 - 2200   Cold and clear! AT down to 30ºF, WT 45ºF down 2ºF on Saturday. River also low and clear.   1 Brown Trout; 3lb 9oz.     Brrrrrrr! Probably need my head examined going barbel fishing in such chilly conditions - but it was the only free evening I've got this week. Not surprised I blanked with old whiskers - especially with a falling WT. Might have hoped for a chub or two - so mightly surprised to get a 3½lb trout - which picked up my 14mm hair-rigged
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

23 October

K&A Canal, Thatcham   0715 - 1115   Mainly overcast, some sun just after dawn and a couple of light showers. AT 50ºF, WT 47ºF.   10 Perch: 3lb 9oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 3oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 9oz, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 8oz. 27lb of fish!!!!!   Brilliant morning's perching!! 3lb 3oz fish first cast and thereafter caught steadily upto 1030 when 3 barges came through in quick succession and killed the swim. First ever time I've had 4X3lbers in a ses
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

15 October

Lower Itchen Fishery   0830 - 1830   Dull and overcast all day temps around 11/12ºC. River low, gin clear & carrying quite a bit of debris - mainly weed with some leaf litter.   44 Grayling: 14 over 1lb - best 3, 2lb 1oz, 2lb 1oz & 1lb 15oz. 3 Chub, 4lb 14oz, 3lb 6oz, 2lb 12oz, 2 Brownies, 4 Salmon Parr, 1 roach & a gudgeon - possibly my 1st ever from LIF - can't ever remember catching one from here before!   Very pleasant days angling organise
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

8/9 October

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   2015 - 0900   Warm, overcast and quite breezey. Temps never below 15ºC - Unseasonably warm.   13 carp - best 2, 13lb 11oz (common) & 12lb 0oz (mirror) - the rest evenly spread between 9½ - 3½lbs. 1 Crucian 2lb 5oz. 1 skimmer and a dozen assorted perch, roach & gudgeon (mainly perch).   The plan was going to be a dawn raid for stripeys on the canal - but a very last minute change of plan - due to the unseasonably warm ove
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

4 October

River Kennet - Padworth   1830 - 2300   Clear and misty evening. 15º -> 10ºC. River at normal summer levels - though carrying a bit more colour than usual after the weekend's rain.   2 Barbel: 8lb 11oz, 4lb 14oz.   Both fish in first 1¼hrs - smaller one 1st cast. Was also greeted by a Barn Owl flying within 10-15' of my head - probably hunting for the legion of rats scurrying around on the bank behind me after it got dark!!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

2 October

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0645 - 1045   Bright after a misty start. 7 -> 12ºC River up and inch or two and carrying a bit of colour after yesterday's rain.   4 Chub - 3lb 0oz and 3 chublets all circa ¾lb, 2 Perch: 2lb 11oz & a smallun, 28 dace, 10 roach, 5 gudgeon and a grayling.   Started off trotting lobs and had both perch and the bigger chub in the first ¾hr before switching to maggot. Quick chat with Rusty who was en-route to Speen and finished off further downstream where
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

25 September

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0630 - 1045   Bright and clear and quite chilly - 3º -> 11ºC. River at normal summer levels (ie quite low!)   9 Perch; 2lb 8oz & 8 smalluns, 2 Chub; both circa 1¼lb, 1 Pike 6lb 15oz, a dozen gudgeon & ½doz roach and dace.   First trip of the autumn so had a wander around and fished 5 swims in all. Big perch first cast and the pike not long after - both to lobs. All other fish on trotted maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

22 September

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2315   A lovely warm evening under a hazy full moon. Temps 21º -> 16ºC. Shirt sleeves all evening and no mozzies!   2 Tench: 6lb 4oz, 3lb 13oz.   The last Hurrah on this venue - bringing the curtain down on a splendid series of mid-week after work float fishing sessions. Won't be back here again until next june (unless we get an early October heatwave!). Fished a new swim - probably not the right time to be experimenting but it had to be done - and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

18 September

River Kennet, Nr Thatcham.   0700 - 1100.   Bright after a chilly start. AT 4º -> 14ºC. River low and clear.   4 Chub: 5lb 6oz, 5lb 2oz, 4lb 4oz, 3lb 15oz, 1 Barbel; 6lb 3oz, 1 Brownie.   Normal service has been resumed with a cracking brace of 5lb+ chub! 3 Biggest chub in 1st hour of fishing (having fed the swim for ½hr without wetting a line). Rested it and caught the other chub from an upstream swim (along with the spottie). Returned for the last ¾hr
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

13 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2315   Mild (min of 16ºC), overcast and very, very breezy! Levels on the low side and quite clear.   Blanked! (Well nothing with fins - was totally crayfished out!)   Tried another new swim but was into the Signals almost as soon as the bait hit the water. Activity stopped for an hour at around 10pm so was hopeful that fish had moved in - but nothing doing!  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

11 September

River Kennet, Nr Newbury     0630 - 1030   Breezy, mild (17ºC) and drizzly with heavier showers. River lowish - but not as low as last September.   1 Chub; 4lb 7oz, 13 Perch; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 5oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 7oz - the rest all around ½-¾lb with a couple just under 1lb. 18 dace, 9 roach & ½ doz gudgeon.   Rather surprised to find a shoal of perch in one of my favourite chub swims! Chub first cast which augured well but everything else to put a seri
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

8 September

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2330   Still and mainly overcast - another lovely evening under the trees! 21ºC -> 13ºC   3 Tench: 6lb 10oz, 4lb 8oz, 3lb 9oz.   Water seemed very lifeless with no bubbling or fish topping and for over 2½hrs it looked like being my 1st blank of the season as I waited for a bite. However, it switched on briefly and had all 3 fish - starting with yet another 6½lb+er - in little over ¾hr from 2045. All fish on 6mm S-Pellet in the margins - not a bite a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

3/4 September

Pumphouse Lake - CEMEX Yateley   1815 - 0415   Lovely warm still night. Temp down to 9ºC in the car when I left but it must have been several degrees warmer in my little micro-climate under the trees - didn't need a coat or brolly all session.   1 Bream; 5lb 3oz, 1 Tench; 4lb 2oz, 1 roach, 1 perch.   5 hours of little activity, followed by 5 hours of no activity (followed by 5 hours sleep!). All fish caught by 2300 (could have had a lot more kip!) with no bites thereafter. Tench and brea
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

1 September

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham   1915 - 2345   Clear, still evening with a heavy dew - temp down to 11ºC at midnight. River at normal summer levels - with a little colour.   2 Barbel: 10lb 2oz, 8lb 0oz. 1 Chub 2¾lb   Fished a new swim - somewhat surprising as this is my 29th season on this stretch of water and I've fished nearly every inch of it in that time. A fine brace and my first double since 15 Oct 2007 - it will be a lot less than 29 years before I ret
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 August

River Kennet - Padworth   1815 - 0015   Cool and clear, rain for last hour. 11ºC. River up a bit (but not as much as I expected!) and carrying a bit of colour.   2 Barbel; 5lb 14oz & 5lb 2oz.   With 3 inches of rain in the past 5 days I expected the barbel to be on the munch so a brace of 5lbers was somewhat below expectations!!! First fish whilst it was getting dark (2000) and the second fish coaxed me out from under my brolly to get wet at around 2315.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

23 August

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1800 - 2330   Clear and breezey after heavy rain in previous 12hrs. Cooler than of late, down to 12ºC but felt even chillier in the breeze!   5 Tench; 6lb 13oz, 4lb 15oz, 4lb 11oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 4oz. 1 Crucian; 2lb 3oz.   Well, I'm certainly getting my money's worth from this venue this season! Another lovely evening's float fishing - this time by the light of a full moon. No bites until it started to get properly dark (2030) when it suddenly switched on and I
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

21 August

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham   0530 - 1130   Warm, overcast and very breezey.   3 Carp; 14lb 10oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 13oz. 9 skimmers, 10 perch - all small save for one scraper pounder, 4 roach, 2 rudd, 3 gudgeon.   A morning's float fishing in the hope (forlorn as it turned out!) of some crucians. 14lb was 'interesting' on a float rod and a 4lb bottom.Fished meat and maggot - gave each an hour in rotation. No fish on meat - no bites - at least none I could see in
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

16 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1815 - 0000   Warm, overcast and quite breezey. 16ºC at Midnight. River down a bit (on 3 weeks ago) with a little colour.   1 Barbel; 5lb 8oz.   Return to the swim where I had a 7,8 & 9 recently (see entry for 28th July). Thought the weekend's rain might have gingered things up a bit but the river seemed pretty lifeless. Only one bite and even that was a very tentative plucky affair - thought I was into a Signal and just lifted the rod to remove the beast
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

10 August

Trwynhwrddyn Point, Pembrokeshire   1100 - 1300   Overcast/milky sunshine. Tide going out - high tide about an hour before I started.   3 Bass - all small 12-14inches   3 Fish that had me feeling ridiculously pleased with myself! I rarely do any sea fishing and have no tackle. So with a borrowed spinning rod (thanks Paul) and some pike lures (most of which I think I've found over the years!) I looked a bit of a numptie compared to some other anglers with all the gear, who were launching
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

7 August

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham   0700 - 0930   Cool, overcast with light drizzle. 15ºC. River a little on the low side - but was lower this time last year!   2 Barbel; 7lb 6oz, 6lb 13oz. 5 Chub; 4lb 8oz. 3lb 15oz, 3lb 10oz, 2lb 14oz & a chublet. 6 dace, 1 brownie.   Cracking little trotting session - one of my bigger float caught barbel. Most fish in the last ¾hr having moved a few yards downstream of where I started.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

2 August

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1815 - 2330   Warm, still and overcast. 16ºC when I packed up.   6 Tench: 7lb 2oz, 5lb 13oz, 4lb 7ozX2, 4lb 6oz, 3lb 6oz.   Another cracking evening's float fishing for tincas. ALL fish on meat around 2 rod lengths out - not a touch in the margins. Biggest ever tench from this venue (beating the 7lb 0oz fish from 4 weeks ago!).    
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 July

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0500 - 0800   Overcast with heavy drizzle for most of the session. 17ºC - river quite low.   2 Chub; 2¼lb & 1½lb. 18 dace, 14 roach and a dozen gudgeon.   Pre-breakfast trotting session in the rain - most notable for my very first sighting of an otter on the Kennet. Paul had just arrived - ½hour after I'd started fishing and had waded out to join me mid-stream. I'd just announced that my bites had dried up and we quickly saw why! The animal wallowed in my
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

28 July

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham   1800 - 0000   Overcast, 20º -> 15ºC but felt a lot cooler fishing an exposed swim in a stiffish breeze - had the thermals on by 8 o'clock! River a little on the low side.   3 Barbel: 9lb 12oz, 8lb 5oz, 7lb 6oz.   A trio of terrific hard fighting barbel. First fish (the smallest) just after 2100 followed by the biggest just on 2300 with the 8lber on the stroke of midnight as I was about to pack up. All fish on 14mm halibuts
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

23/24 July

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley   1900 - 0445   Balmy, overcast night - min 13ºC but felt warmer in still conditions - and sat under the trees - didn't need a coat or a brolly all session.   9 Tench: best 3, 5lb 11oz, 4lb 13oz, 4lb 12oz. All others between 3¼-4¼lb. 1 Roach.   A busy evening - I had 5 fish including the biggest 2 by 2230 - followed by a quiet night. Kept at it, hoping for a crucian or two to put in an appearance but it was not to be. 5 fish on meat, 4 on 6mm pellet all float f
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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