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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

Coarse Fishing

24 November

River Lambourn - Shaw 1215- 1500 Sunny spells - quite breezy and getting chilly. AT 8º-5ºC. River very full but crystal clear as always. 11 Grayling: 5 over a lb. Best two @ 1lb 10oz & 1lb 9oz. 8 Brownies; one 'pounder' the rest all quite small. Looks like being a great year for Lambourn ladies - another couple of fish well above expectations for this venue - and both first cast fish from a couple of usual hot-spots. River very pacey which meant some of my other favoured
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

4 September

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fishery, Milford 1500 - 2300. Hot and sunny with a stiffish southerly breeze - clear, warm evening. AT 28ºC and still 17ºC when I left. 7 Tench; best 6lb on the nose plus a variety of sizes (1X5lb+, 2X4lb+, 2X3lb+, 1X2lb+). 2 Crucians; 2lb 6oz, 1lb 13oz & 1lb 11oz. 20+ Roach up to 10oz. 3 Rudd - all around 8-10oz, 1 Perch- small. The return of summer put me in the mood for some more crucian fishing - though in truth they didn't get much of a look-i
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

3 August (Part 1)

River Kennet - Thatcham 1130 - 1330 Bright and breezy. AT 20ºC. River at normal levels and with a bit of colour. 3 Chub; all small. 7 Dace & 4 Roach: ditto. 1 Brownie 1½lb First part of a chub hunting afternoon - and whilst it's always a good sign to see some juvenile fish in the river - I was hoping for something a little bigger!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

18 December

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0845 - 1400 Mild and overcast - quite breezy. AT 10º-12ºC. River VERY high, up another 3 or 4 inches on last month and with a hint of colour. 4 Chub: 2lb 14oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 10oz. 4 Roach, 3 Dace, 1 Perch (all small). 1 Brownie 4½lb Morning got off to a cracking start with all four chub caught in the first ½hour - then switched to a slack on the weir-pool that has been throwing up nice perch all autumn - but they weren't in residence - thou
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

21 September

River Kennet - Hambridge 1400 - 1630 Bright with thundery showers. AT 15ºC. River up 10 inches on my last trip (I measured it!) and quite coloured up. 1 Bream; 2lb 4oz. 2 Perch 1¼lb and one around half that. 10 Roach - all handsized. 2 Dace. 2 Gudgeon. With 37mm of rain yesterday (1½inches in old money) making it the 9th wettest day in the last 20 years - locally, I wasn't surprised to see the Kennet close to winter flood levels. Perfect excuse to drop into my favourite flood
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

6 October

River Kennet -  Brimpton 1230 - 1500 Warm and mainly sunny. AT19ºC. River with good flow (for mid autumn) and a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 3lb 6oz, 2lb 15oz and a 'pounder'. Hooray NO trout! Both my 'banker' chub swims gave up a fish and nothing with an adipose fin - which makes a change - first time this season that I haven't caught a spottie from here - long may it continue!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

3 November (Part2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1230 - 1430 Mainly overcast, quite breezy with a couple of lumpy showers. AT 13ºC. River up over a foot on my last visit and the colour of 'builder's tea'! 1 Chub 3lb 5oz. 1 Bream 3lb 2oz. 3 Roach - all small. 1 Gudgeon. Fished my 'banker' flood water swim - but even I was surprised I caught. River was really coloured up after Storm Ciarán had dumped an inch and a half of rain on West Berkshire in the past 24 hours - and didn't look at all promising.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

9 January

Middle Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham. 0930 - 1430 Cold, cloudy to start clearing to bright winter sunshine. AT 1º-3ºC but feeling MUCH colder in a biting North-Easterly wind. River VERY high - clearly down a few inches on the last couple of days based on all the debris on the bank but still higher by far on my last trip here - gin clear however. 2 Chub: 3lb 2oz, 2lb 13oz. 7 Brownies 2-3½lb. Started on the south bank of the main river with trotted red corn - which met
Coarse Fishing

20 October

Middle Kennet carrier - Marsh Benham 0930 - 1400 Sunny spells after another night of heavy rain. Mild/warm for the time of year. AT 12º-17ºC. River up several inches and carrying quite a bit of colour - which had noticeably dropped out somewhat by the time I packed up.  4 Chub; 4lb 13oz & 3 chublets. 1 Bream: 2lb 11oz. 3 Perch: 1½lb and a couple of tiddlers. 16 Roach - nothing noteworthy. 3 Dace (ditto). 1 Brownie -3lb. Despite spending a lot of time and effort on the mai
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

29 September

Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1400 Bright and sunny after overnight rain. AT 14º-16ºC. River at normal levels with a tinge of colour. 12 Chub; 6 over a lb - best 3lb 6oz, and half a doz chublets. 8 Perch; 1lb 12oz & 7 small-uns. 1 Bream 2lb 2oz. 30 Roach & Dace (more roach), 'a' roach of 12oz the only noteworthy fish. 1 Bleak. 1 Rainbow -  unwelcome as ever but a real lump @5lb 10oz. All out attempt at trying to snaffle some bigger chub and avoid
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

15 December (Part 2)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 1400 - 1600 Cool, calm with some milky sunshine. AT 7ºC 10 Perch; most quite small - with one good-un @ 2lb 4oz. 1 Pike c2½lb Successful dusk session after a big stripey, in a canal basin that is something of a winter aquarium - for predators and prey - as evidenced by a couple of the club's seasoned match anglers who were also fishing it when I arrived. They kindly let me drop in above them - and I was quickly having problems with pike - I g
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

27 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1000 - 1400 Bright and sunny (for the most part!), AT 9ºC - 13ºC. River up 3 or 4 inches on my last trip here but with little colour. 7 Chub; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 8oz, a 'pounder'  and 3 chublets. 5 Perch: all between ¾-1¼lb. 1 Roach - small, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Brownie; 3lb+. A lively morning - went for a wander initially, though ended up relying on my favourite spot on the weir pool, with all fish of substance coming from it. It's becoming a bit of a b
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

13 December

River Lambourn - Shaw 0930 - 1330 Cool, overcast and drizzly. AT 6ºC. River full and clear. 1.68m on the Shaw river gauge. 6 Grayling - a couple of 'pounders' - biggest 1lb 6oz, 3 around 8-10oz and a tiddler. 12 Brownies - all small/parrs. I had planned to fish the Kennet today - but another 14mm of rain yesterday will have completely stuffed up even my most favoured flood swims. Somewhat of a scratchy morning - largely failing to avoid the small trout which were everywhere.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

21 December (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0900 - 1200  Mild, overcast and very windy due to Storm Pia - some swims had some jeopardy due to falling branches! AT 11º/12º. River very high and clear. 1.67m on the Shaw gauge. 8 Grayling: half over a lb - best 1lb 11oz. 3 Brownies - all small/parrs. Bit of a 'scratchy' morning with most of my more reliable swims hardly producing a bite. Think all the extra water has pushed the fish into some unlikely spots. Eventually found some fish and had 4 fro
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

21 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1245 - 1500 Overcast and drizzly. AT 9ºC. River VERY high up yet another couple of inches on my last visit (11 days ago) - but with hardly any colour. 2 Chub: 3lb 6oz & 3lb 2oz. 1 Perch: 3lb 1oz (SB), 1 Dace:(small), 1 Grayling;(ditto) Usual 'flood swim' bonanza - 2nd winter in a row I've had a 3lb+ perch from here. Started  downstream of my usual swim which produced the 'smaller' chub and the 2 'silvers'.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

9 February (Part 2)

River Lambourn - Shaw 1115 - 1415 Mild, breezy with some sunny spells and some drizzle. AT 11ºC. River VERY high. 1.95m on the Shaw gauge - 20cm above the top of normal range and 27cm higher than my last visit here. Even had a tinge of colour! 13 Grayling - 7 over 1lb - best 1lb 7oz. 5 Brownies - a pounder and 4 parrs. Never seen the Lambourn so high - took chesties and needed them to stand up to my thighs in water, where I'd normal stand on dry land! Also very rare to see it
Coarse Fishing

11 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0945 - 1415 Warm, overcast and breezy. AT 16º-18ºC. River down around 6-8 inches on my last trip here 3 weeks ago. 14 Perch: All 12oz or more - best two went 1lb 10oz & 1lb 12oz but all of the others were a few ounces either side of a lb. 6 Chub: 2lb & 1lb 10oz and 4 chublets. 9 Roach - all small apart from one 'netter' of round 10oz. 1 Dace - small. 12 (!) Gudgeon. 2 Brownies - a lump of around 3½lb and a parr. Super morning's sport and I w
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

16 February

Middle Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham  0930 - 1430 Mild, mainly cloudy with sunny spells. AT 12ºC. River very pacey with a tinge of colour. 2 Chub: 3lb 6oz, 2lb 3oz. 16 Roach - all quite small. 1 Dace (ditto). 4 Bleak. Nice to see some silvers showing again! Usually when the Kennet is in flood this carrier is a mecca for silver fish and one of this season's mysteries was where had they got too - all syndicate members had struggled to find them. Nothing of any size alas
Coarse Fishing

20 February

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 0900 - 1230 Mild and mainly overcast. AT 8º-12ºC.  River very pacey and VERY coloured up (AGAIN!) after heavy weekend rains. 5 Roach - all fairly small. Bit of a gamble given the state of the river - but my new favourite chub slack has been producing is such conditions this winter. This morning however I fluffed my lines - I was briefly connected to something solid within a few minutes of starting, alas, a maggot folded over the hook point
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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Coarse Fishing

28 November

River Kennet - Colthrop 0900 - 1300 Sunny spells - quite cold. AT 5ºC. River very high and gin clear! 1 Dace, 1 Roach (both small). 2 Gudgeon. 1 Brownie. Another venue I visit infrequently (last time was  three years ago), but whispers of large chub had me investigating first hand. Started out on the flowing canal in a failed attempt at emulating last week's big dace capture. All in all I struggled for bites all morning....
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

29 December (Part 2)

Kennet & Avon 'Flowing' canal - Thatcham 1345 - 1545 Bright and breezy. AT 8ºC. River very full with a tinge of colour. 14 Roach. 1 Dace. All small. Another rarely visited swim which can be very hit or miss - usually miss - but which I knew would be a large slack on a flooded river. Lots of silvers in residence but no signs of anything bigger.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

13 March (Part 2)

River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 1330  1500 Mild overcast and breezy. AT 12ºC. River very pacey but surprisingly clear given all the rain yesterday. 1 Bream : 2lb. 3 Perch, 1 Roach (all small). Having fished down the Lambourn twice, a quick bite of lunch was followed by a 90 min session in my new favourite chub slack. Alas, ole rubber lips wasn't in residence - a bream taking my bait at just the spot I expected a chub to be!
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