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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

7/8 September

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham   1930 - 0730   Clear, still night, quite chilly (5.5ºC) by dawn.   5 Carp; 12lb 10oz, 11lb 15oz, 11lb 6oz, 11lb 3oz, 10lb 10oz.   A repeat of last weekend for Paul and myself - hoping for a repeat performance on the crucian front. Alas, they were conspicuous by their absence with little evidence of fish rolling. Paul and I did both suffer some curious bites on the float which neither of us could connect with - and for me a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

7/8 August

NAA Stillwater - Widmead   1830 - 0545   Cool, clear and calm. AT down to 10ºC at dawn.   5 Carp: 9lb 5oz, 8lb 7oz, 8lb 0oz, 7lb 11oz, 6lb 4oz. 1 Perch (small).   Slow, slow night which got off to a very fast start! Had one of the 8's on the bank within a couple of minutes of starting - hadn't even got my second rod out of the quiver when the alarm went off. Pity then, that my next bite was shortly after midnight! In truth I was really after trying to get a bream or even a tench from her
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 September

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2300   Cool and very breezy. Continuous rain & drizzle from 2000. 12ºC. Autumn has arrived! And to think I even brought a pair of binoculars with me last night hoping to take a peak at the supernova in M101 - fat chance with 100% cloud cover.....   6 Chub; 2 'pounders' and 4 chublets. 3 Dace, 3 Roach (1 over ½lb), 3 gudgeon.   Similar session to last week - though a few hundred yards downstream. Paul had spotted a couple of nice looking swims which
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

7 September

Alders Lake - Thatcham   1800 - 2315   Warm, still evening. 16ºC when I packed up.   3 Bream ; 5lb 6oz (again!), 5lb 0oz, 4lb 2oz.   A lovely benign September evening. Bites not as prolific as last Friday (not that prolific is ever an apt adjective here!), but caught enough bream to get well and truely slimed!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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7 September

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham   0900 - 1430   Overcast and fairly warm (18ºC). River low and clear.   6 Chub: Biggest 3lb 15oz the rest all less than half that! 3 Doz Dace and Roach in roughly equal nos. A couple of really nice dace of 10 & 11oz and quite a few roach in the 6-8oz class with a couple bigger ones (best went 12oz). 3 Perch - best nearly 1lb, 1 Bleak.   Lovely day's trotting. Did try a couple of hours ledgering - with no return
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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7 October

River Itchen   0800 - 1815   Mainly cloudy with sunny spells. 11ºC -> 15ºC -> 9ºC.   41 Grayling; 18 over 1lb, best 5 - 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 14ozX2. 2 Chub 4lb 6oz, 3lb 7oz. 10 Brownies to circa 1¾lb.   A 2lb crucian and a 2lb grayling in the same week!! River was low and consequently the fish were quite spooky so it was a case of catch a couple and rest the swim - my biggest 2 fish both came from swims that had already been fished 3 or 4 t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

7 October

Lower Itchen Fishery   0730 - 1800   Cool, calm and cloudy. A lovely benign autumn day. River quite low.   70 Grayling (!): Best 1lb 12oz with nearly half the fish over 1lb - I weighed the first 6 fish I caught (to get my eye in!) and 5 were over a lb (but not by much!) pretty much every fish caught was of a similar stamp. 10 Brownies; 1½ - 2½lb. 1 Chub 2lb 5oz.   Cracking days sport - which reached Mr Castwell proportions by the end of the day (yet anothe
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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7 October

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0645 - 1300   Bright after a chilly start - river quite low despite yesterday's rain.   2 Chub; 3lb 6oz & a chublet, 3 Roach, 1 Gudgeon & 3 brownies - all pounders.   Not so much a fishing session as a hike with full pack. Walked pretty much the entire fishery - covered 9.7km in the process which is over 6 miles in old money! And there's been a few changes since last I was here - the top of the fishery has been scalped
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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Coarse Fishing

7 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1045 - 1345 Cool, milky sunshine. River at normal autumn levels - much lower than expected after a really wet month. 4 Chub; 4lb 6oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 1lb 15oz. 7 Dace (4 chunky ones). 1 Grayling, 2 Gudgeon & a Brownie. Hooray - banker chub swims gives up more than one fish! Had three in the first 20 mins with the 4th one coming after resting it for over an hour whilst I explored elsewhere.  
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

7 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Brimpton 1145 - 1445 Bright and breezy. AT 8º-10ºC. River still very high - though most colour has now dropped out. 6 Brownies; a fish of around 2½lb - the rest all around 8-10oz, all almost identical in size - kept thinking I was catching the same fish. Normal service has been resumed - alas. My Nemisis turning up 'early doors' in every swim I tried - thwarting all attempts at attracting a chub or 2!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

7 November (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0700 - 1000 Cool and misty. River quite low especially given how wet October was. 8 Grayling; All between 8-10oz with a couple a tad bigger. 6 Brownies - a couple of netters - the rest were parrs. Scratchy morning's trotting - fish thin on the ground - most of my usual banker swims turned up nothing - think they were just too spooky in the clear shallow water.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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Coarse Fishing

7 November (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 0715 - 1045 Bright, crisp morning, though the breeze picked up a lot and was clouding over when I packed up. AT 2º - 8ºC 1 Pike: small (very - see pic below!). 1 Perch c6-8oz. 1 Roach - handsized. A cold start with bright sunshine above and grass frost under my feet are not the most ideal conditions for autumn perching! Another exploratory session and I fished 4 swims along the length of the section - but regardless of where I cast, bites
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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7 November

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   0830 - 1115   Bright and sunny. AT 3º -> 9ºC. River still low & clear though up an inch or so. WT 49ºF.   7 Dace, 4 Brownies to 1½lb.   A morning's trotting - playing hunt the chub - and failing to find any. All dace were a nice size though (6-8oz).
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 November

Middle Kennet   0730 - 1630   Cool and overcast after a bright start. River low but carrying just a tinge of colour after heavy overnight rain.   9 Chub, 7 over 1lb - best 2; 4lb 6oz & 4lb 4oz. 15 Perch, 8 over 1lb - best 2; 2lb 7oz & 2lb 2oz (most of the 'pounders' were over 1½lb). 1 Pike 5lb 6oz. 60+ roach & dace - in equal nos. ½doz gudgeon. 6 rainbow trout to 3¼lb & 5 brownies to 3¾lb.   Stonking session on one of my favourite parts of
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

7 November

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0645 - 1015   Overcast & cool. River VERY low and carrying a lot of leaf litter. WT 51ºF.   20 Dace; a couple of real gooduns - one weighed at 11oz another of similar length but slipped back unweighed. 1 Perch 1¼lb. 3 Roach, 2 Grayling, 2 Gudgeon, 2 Brownies, biggest circa 1lb.   A morning's trotting for whatever turned up (but secretly hoping a chub or barbel would put in an appearance!) Dace appeared to fall into 1 of 2 categories - about ½ were fingerli
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 November

River Frome - Wool   0745 - 1500   Cool, bright (too bright!) and very breezy. River very low (lowest I've ever seen it). 56cm@ East Stoke.   19 Grayling; 7 over 1lb, best 1lb10oz. 1 Dace, 9oz, 7 Brownies.   A bit of a struggles in challenging conditions - though the lure of a 3lb grayling will keep me coming back here! Fish very spooky in the low water so it paid to rest 'hot spots'. Dace was a nice bonus.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 March (part 2)

River Kennet - Newbury   1100 - 1400   Overcast with drizzle. AT&WT both 49ºF. River still high with little colour - has dropped very little in the last month.   2 Barbel; 2¼lb & 3½lb. 2 Grayling; both 8-10oz. 14 Dace a few chunky ones but nothing particularly big. 1 Roach ½doz Gudgeon.   Trotting session for what ever comes along - but hoping a barbel or a chub or two would put in an appearance - so jolly happy with a brace. Could have been so muc
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1

7 March (part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0600 - 1030   Mild, overcast with continuous drizzle. AT has averaged over 9ºC for the last 48 hours and the WT is catching up (48ºF) which is 9ºC in new money!   2 Perch; 3lb 15oz (and a bit - if it had swallowed the lob and not spat it out it might have tipped 4!), 2lb 2oz. 1 Pike 2¼lb.   1st part of a 'Reverse Rusty' session (Dawn on the canal - midday on the river). And conditions absolutely screamed perch so it was
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

7 March

Middle Kennet   0645 - 1815   Bright and very breezy after early rain. River at 'normal' levels and quite clear.   5 chub (4lb 13oz, others all around 1lb), 7 perch (3 X 1-1¼lb) 12 dace (just 1 good un - 9oz), 5 grayling (all 10-14oz), 3 small roach, 2 gudgeon & 20 trout to 3½lb.   A hurriedly re-arranged trip in the light of Monday's weather forecast (when we were due to go!). Biggest Chub and 4 of the Grayling on trotted sweetcorn. Perch on lobs ever
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 March

River Kennet - Newbury   0630 - 0900   COLD, and clear. AT was 22ºF when I arrived WT a whole 20ºF warmer at 42ºF. River clear and quite 'full'.   13 (!) Chub: In order of capture; 3lb 1oz, 6lb 0oz, 2lb 14oz, 5lb 2oz, 3lb 10oz, 4lb 13oz, 4lb 3oz, 4lb 10oz, 3lb 7oz, 4lb 15oz, 1lb 11oz, 2lb 2oz, 3lb 6oz. 1 Barbel 3lb 4oz. 1 Dace.   Simply an awesome session!! All fish on trotted double red maggot (to a size 14). I seriously questioned the wisdom of this trip
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

4

7 March

Middle Kennet Estate   0715 - 1730   Mild (max 15ºC) with sunny spells after early morning drizzle. River high with more colour than I expected.   15 Chub; all over 1lb - best 4lb 7oz, most between 2-3lb.15 Roach - quite a few 'chunky' ones with the best 2 going 1lb 2oz & 15oz. And err 15 dace. 7 perch; all small except one 'pounder' & 'only' 3 brownies to 2½lb.   Usual 'chub fest' at this ever reliable venue though Paul and I started out trying to
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 March

River Kennet/flowing canal - Thatcham   1530 - 1815   Bright and breezy. Mild. WT a very encouraging 51ºF.   2 Perch; both 'pounders' - biggest 1lb 14oz. 6 Dace - all chunky ones with a couple of corkers at 12 & 10oz. Pike 5lb 5oz.   Plan was to have a dusk session after stripeys,though arriving in very bright sunshine I decided to start by trotting maggots and immediately found some really nice dace (biggest 2 were the first two fish I caught). The 2 perch soon followed and though I
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 March

River Lambourn - Newbury 0730 - 1000 Overcast and mild. River VERY full - over a foot up on normal winter levels, BUT clear as always. 22 Grayling - most in the 10-14oz class with a few slightly bigger. 1 Dace - 11oz (another sandpapery male). 2 Brownies. Usual fall back after another week of rain has pushed the Kennet into full flood again. Fish of a remarkably similar stamp - dace was a real bonus.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

7 July

NAA Stillwater - Widmead.   0400 - 0800   Soggy!! Not actually raining for most of the trip (though tipped it down at the end of it) - but sat under the trees it was drip, drip, drip all morning!!   2 Carp; 7lb 12oz, 5lb15oz. ½doz or so rudd, 1 roach.   Frustrating morning after crucians. Had fishing rolling in my swim 3 or 4 times but the rudd were insatiable, nailing whatever baits I tried. Bigger carp on floating crust.
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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