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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

31 August/1 September

Willows Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 0600   Cool clear night down to 7ºC at dawn and very misty and damp with dew.   9 Tench: All over a pound with 3 fish over 2lb. 7 Carp biggest 2, 12lb 2oz & 8lb 15oz all the others between 3½ - 6½lb. 1 Crucian 2lb 2oz. 4 perch.   A return to the swim of a fortnight ago hoping for - and getting - a similar return for what will probably be my last overnighter of the summer. As before, started off float fishing maggot but the micro perch were in residen
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

3 October

River Kennet - Brimpton   1800 - 2200   Cool and clear with a very heavy dew/mist making it feel cooler still by the end of the evening.   1 Chub; 2lb 13oz, 1 dace and a brownie.   Quick trotting session - primarily to try and get a chub - so that box got ticked though I was hoping for something a little bigger. Then it was 3 hours or so looking at static isotopes. No crayfish activity at all - which was a bonus - the traps have clearly made a difference h
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

19 June

River Kennet - Brimpton 1700 - 2030 Warm and sunny. AT 24ºC. River quite full for high summer - great to see so much water in it! 6 Chub: (in order of capture) 2X ¾-1lbers, 2lb 5oz, 3lb 13oz, 4lb 3oz, 5lb 4oz (they got bigger as the shadows lengthened!). 4 Brownies, a 'pounder' and 3 in the 6-8oz class. Super evening's sport - though, as per usual, had to rely on the 'rest and return' policy after 2 splashy trout in the first 5 mins from my banker swim. Fished 5 swims in tota
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

2

20 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton   0700 - 1100   Cool, bright and sunny.   5 Perch - all around 6-10oz.   The CRT really are a bunch of ****s! I rocked up at first light and made my way to a spot I knew held good perch - a nice bush and fallen branch on the far bank which produced 1lb+ perch (and some nice chub) for me last season - but which also produced a 3lb stripey last year (I've seen the pics!). This feature is on the widest part of the canal
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

3 December (pt1)

Northcroft Stream - Newbury   0730 - 1030   Cool and overcast. AT 3-5ºC. River very low and clear.   3 Chub; 3lb 11oz, 3lb 7oz, 2lb 2oz. 6 Perch (all small), 4 Dace & a 2lb+ Brownie.   A morning travelling very light - most fish from the weirpool.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

24 February

Northcroft Stream & River Lambourn, Shaw.   0700 - 0815 & 0830 - 1130   Cold, and sunny. -3ºC -> +3ºC   2 Dace & a 2½lb brownie from Northcroft.   20 Grayling (biggest 20oz) and 3 small brownies from Shaw.   A chilly morning's trotting. Started by trying to coax a chub or 2 from Northcroft - but quickly realised they weren't to be tempted. So it was off to Shaw for some easy grayling. Venue was rather busy with 7 other anglesr!!!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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7 July

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2300   Warm, overcast and quite breezy at times. Temp still 19ºC when I packed up.   5 Bream; best 2, 4lb 15oz & 4lb 6oz.   A busy little session with loads of activity, bream porpoising, liners etc. All fish on float fished maggot - lift method - yet again meat garnered zero interest. Still no sign of any tench.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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19 July

​River Kennet - Nr Newbury   ​​1800-2330   ​Overcast and breezy - river low despite recent rains.   ​1 Bream; 3lb 5oz, 6 Dace and a brownie of about a lb.   ​Another blank barbel session preceded by an hour or so on the float. Did at least get a rattle on the ledger rods this time - but it turned out to be a surprise bream (from a very fast bit of water too). Shortly after this capture an otter surfaced right over my baits - putting paid to any further bites from anything apart from sig
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

28 January

River Kennet - Hambridge 0900 - 1300 Cool & cloudy. AT 2º-5ºC. River still very high and clear - down a couple of inches on last weekend but not dropped as much as I'd expected after a dry week. 1 Chub; 3lb 7oz, 1 Bream; 2lb 3oz. 2 Grayling. Scratchy morning in my favourite flood swim with bites at a premium. Bream and grayling in the first ¾hr. Chub first cast after resting the swim for nearly an hour, while I had a leisurely lunch on the bank. Had planned to venture ove
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

14 August

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2130   Warm and overcast - with a couple of very light showers. River low.   2 Chub - both circa 2lbs. 3 Dace. 1 Grayling. 4 Brownies to 1lb+   Trotting/barbel session cut short! Started in a couple of banker chub swims - hoping for something bigger than actually turned up. Once I settled down over my ledgering rods things got err interesting! Was watching a pair of swans and their 6 cygnets slowly making there way upstr
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

16 August

River Kennet/Carrier, Marsh Benham   0900 - 1300   Warm, muggy and overcast. River low.   8 Chub; a 3lber and 7 chublets, 30+ roach, a doz dace, 5 perch, 2 bleak and a 3½lb rainbow.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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27 October

Lower Itchen Fishery   0800 - 1700   Bright, mild and sunny. River low.   45 Grayling - with some 2 dozen over 1lb - most in the 20-24oz range. Biggest 2 went 1lb 11oz &1lb 12oz. A dozen+ brownies to 3½lb. 5 Salmon parr.   Lovely day's trotting. Alternated between maggot and red corn all day and caught roughly equal numbers on each bait.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

3 October (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0700 - 0845 Cool (8ºC) and overcast. 14 Perch; 5 in the 1lb-1¼lb class the rest half that. Quick dawn session on Dog Sh!t Alley as hors d'œuvres for my first trip to Speen this season (see pt 2). Nearly all fish came in a 20min period either side of 0730.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

2 September

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm and overcast with a few spots of rain at times (the showers missed me whilst I was on the bank, though it had not long stopped raining when I arrived!) AT 22º -> 16ºC 1 Tench: 2lb 3oz. 3 Carp: 9lb 0oz, 8lb 7oz & 7lb 11oz. A very frustrating evening trying to avoid the carp who were very active when I arrived and I'm sure where bullying my taget species (basically anything that wasn't a carp) out of the swim. I didn't actaully ho
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

1 December

River Lambourn - Newbury 0845 - 1415 Cold and cloudy. AT -2º -> +1ºC. (Proper Grayling weather!). River very full and clear. 23 Grayling. 8 over a lb - best 4 went 1lb 14oz, 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz (X2 - different fish). 5 Brownies: all small/parrs. I do love cold days like this - wrapped up warm and staying mobile. Had the rare luxury of not seeing another angler so fished the length of the stretch twice with a break for lunch in between. Took corn but forgot it in the mo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5

26/27 August

TAA Stillwater - Thatcham   1800 - 0600   Warm, still night despite clear skies for the early part. Temps still 14ºC when I packed up.   1 Tench; 4lb10oz, 10 Carp; all between 5-8lb, apart from biggest 3 of 9lb 4oz, 10lb 2oz, 12lb 11oz.   First ever trip to this lake drawn by the lure of tench and rumours of huge bream! Did indeed see quite a few bream porpoising - unfortunately not usually in my swim. Carp were rather too eager at times - need to find awa
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

29 August

River Kennet - Newbury   1800 - 2245   Warm and overcast evening though clouds cleared and temps started to plummet in the last half an hour.   7 very chunky dace - all 6-8oz. 1 Roach, 2 brownies to 1½lb.   First serious attempt of the season for a barbel - but of course I started out with a trotting rod for the first hour or so. Once I switched to the ledgering the only indications were from bats and crayfish - LOTS of crayfish - A pattern I'll see a lot of in the next couple of months!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

6 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2245   Warm (as ever) - still 22ºC when I left.   2 Bream: 4lb 14oz, 4lb 10oz.   3rd Monday evening on the trot here and as before the fishing was preceded by 30 mins of blackberry picking and as a result we now have a dozen or so jars of bramble jelly - which should see us through to next spring! Back to the fishing - both fish caught in the first hour with the sun still on the water - which augured well for the twilight ho
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

22 October

River Kennet - Brimpton 0900 - 1300 Warm (for the time of year), with milky sunshine. AT 11º -> 17ºC. River still very low with a tinge of colour the only hint that we've had over an inch of rain in the previous 36 hours! 3 Chub: 4lb 3oz, 3lb 6oz & a chublet. 7 Roach and 3 Dace - nothing particularly impressive though they weren't tiddlers either! 5 Brownies, 2X2lbers, another of around 1½lb and a couple of parrs. Surprisingly scratchy morning - with both big chub firs
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0

24 October

River Kennet - Padworth   1800 - 2200   Cool and clear (down to 5ºC when I packed up - but came better prepared this time!)   Blanked   Not enough daylight for a blank saving trotting session so it was straight out with the ledgering rods for 4 hours at staring at static isotopes. Again no crayfish activity and YET AGAIN saw an otter come through just after setting up. Also had a barn owl swoop between the trees not far above my head!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

16 July

Northcroft Stream   0445 - 0715   Warm (19ºC when I packed up) and overcast.   2 Chub 3lb 15oz & 1½lb. 2 doz + dace, 6 roach and 6 gudgeon.   Pre breakfast trotting trip - mainly after the chub - though I did hear of a few barbel coming out on the float from here last summer - which would have made a very nice bonus - alas not to be! Nearly all the silver fish from the weirpool - both chub further downstream.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

4 March

River Lambourn - Newbury   0700 - 1100   Mild and Overcast. 8ºC. River quite 'full' and up a good couple of inches.   25 Grayling; Biggest 1lb 12oz with a lot of fish an ounce or two ±1lb. 2X 2lb+ Brownies !   Default cure for cabin fever after all the snow and ice. Big grayling first fish of the day and biggest lady from the Lambourn in over 5 years (since Dec 2012) - a dark fish that was almost completely jet black - as the big old ladies often are!  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

20 June

River Kennet - Thatcham (2 venues)   0900 - 1400   Warm, muggy and overcast.   A dozen + dace, 2 perch (both around 10-12oz), 1 roach, 1 Gudgeon & 2 brownies - 12-16oz.   A visit here is now more by habit than expectation - long gone are the days when you could hope to winkle out a few barbel on the float - though I was still hopeful of chub. However just getting to a swim was a battle - head high nettles meant I just hacked my way into a couple of spo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

11 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   1230 - 1600   Cool, with milky sunshine. AT 8ºC WT 12.1ºC   1 Pike; 5lb 6oz. 5 Roach, 2 Dace, 2 Bleak.   Blank perch trip! Spent the first couple of hours fishing (and feeding) mag - hoping to attract prey fish - but the only bite I had on lobs resulted in the pike.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

28 December

Kennet Carrier (& main river!) Marsh Benham   0900 - 1600   Cold and sunny with snow on the ground from yesterday max temp 4ºC (briefly!). River up a couple of inches on last visit here (Nov) and carrying a little colour.   7 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 3lb 6ox, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 0oz and 2 sub 1lbers. A dozen+ dace to 10oz, 4 dozen+ roach - most hand sized or bigger! 4 Brownies and a rainbow - all 2-3lb.   Chubbing in the snow - loverly! This venue really comes into its own in the winter mon
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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