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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

17 October

River Kennet - Newbury   1715 - 2215   Overcast and breezy. 14ºC. River low with a fair amount of leaf litter.   1 Barbel, 4lb 0oz.   Barbel in the first hour - thereafter it was a case of 'Welcome to Crayfish City' the blighters were on the pellet within seconds at times. Also saw the otter 3 times and whilst I had planned to stay until midnight at least - I knew it wasn't going to be my night when it rolled in my swim a little after 10 o'clock - maybe it was after the crayfish!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

10 October

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0700 - 1230   Mild, mainly overcast and VERY breezy. 17ºC. River very low.   1½+ doz Perch, 4 over 1lb (though 3 not by much!) biggest 2lb 12oz. 1 Chub, 1lb 14oz, 1 Bream 1½lb. 1doz roach, 3 dace and 10 gudgeon.   First trip here this season so was a case of having a good wander around - fished 6 swims in total - and had perch from 5 of them. A lot of perch in the 10-12oz bracket - big enough to snaffle a whole lob - small enou
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

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

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

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

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

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

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

16 January 2011

Middle Kennet Estate.   0800 - 1615   Overcast and breezy - drizzle for last hour, 10ºC. River still quite low - up maybe a couple of inches on our last visit here in November. Carrying quite a bit of colour - more than I expected to see!   6 Chub; 5 over 1lb, best 3:- 5lb 6oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz. 6 Perch; biggest 2lb 2oz, rest all small. 1½doz dace, 2doz+ roach - all small though a few of the dace were circa 6oz and one roach warranted the scales though it 'only' reg
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

28 December

River Kennet - Nr Newbury   0815 - 1600   Misty and drizzly all day - temp up to a balmy 7ºC. River low with just a hint of colour after over-night rain and snow melt. WT a chilly 41ºF   1 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 14 Dace; 3 gooduns - best of which went 12oz. 6 Brownies - biggest 3lb 11oz.   Satisfying days angling all things considered. Due to low water we were restricted to a short section of river and with a low WT, salt and snow melt in the river we expected spo
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 December

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0745 - 1200   Dull, overcast and calm. AT & WT at 44ºF.   1 Perch 1lb 13oz   A real struggle in seemingly ideal conditions - though maybe the WT still a little on the cool side. First 2 hours spent in 2 new swims (an hour in each) without a bite. A switch to one on my 'banker' swims produced the only bite (and fish) of the day.... oh hum can't win them all!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

11 December

River Kennet - Newbury   0745 - 1000   Cool and overcast AT 5ºC. WT a cold 40ºF. River very low and very clear!   6 Chub; 4lb 7oz, 3lb 12oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb12oz, 2lb 3oz & a chublet. 2 Dace.   Quick trotting session. First 45 minutes fished with red corn accounting for the 4lber and the 2 bigger 2's. Others all on trotted red maggot.
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

31 August/1 September

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham   2000 - 0700   Warm and overcast night, didn't get below 14ºC. Drizzle until midnight but by dawn our brollies/shelters were dry. Lovely night to be out.   2 Crucians; 3lb 7oz & 2lb 3oz. 1 Carp 10lb 5oz.   Not quite mission accomplished first cast - but certainly 1st bite!! Biggest crucian of the season, my 3rd biggest ever and the first 3lber I've ever had from this water. Plan was to try and avoid attracting the car
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6

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

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

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

0

15 December

River Kennet - Newbury.   0800 - 1200   Bright and mild. River high and carrying a little colour, too high even for chesties in my fav swim.... 2 Doz Dace - a few quite chunky ones but nothing as impressive as last weekend. 4 Grayling, 2 Chublets & 2 Roach.   Bit of a shall we shan't we session - knowing that the river would be well up and far from ideal for good sport. Having the Lambourn round the corner as back up should it be hopeless helped the decisio
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

19 August

Bucklebury Ponds   0630 - 0900   Clear skies, 16ºC -> 20ºC   3 Bream; 2 circa 1½lb and a tiddler, a doz+ perch.   Bit of a half-hearted session as I wasn't expecting much action but after a hot, sticky and rather sleepless night it was lovely to be out in the cool(ish) morning air - a few fish were a bonus!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

27 August

River Kennet - Newbury   0930 - 1230   Showery, 17ºC. River down to 'normal' summer levels - still several inches higher than this time last year!   30+Dace, around a dozen Roach, some gudgeon and chublet and a brownie.   Pleasant morning's trotting - though I rather hoped I'd connect with something that needed the net (though a couple of the dace and the brownie fell into that category - some of the dace were very chunky...)
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

22 September

River Kennet - Speen Moors   0630 - 1100   Bright and sunny after a cool start - not quite a frost but down to 3ºC. River running low and clear.   7 Perch; 3 over 1lb (though 2 by not much) best 2lb 2oz. 2 Chublets, 1½doz roach - including some 'gooduns' 3 in the 8-10oz bracket and a 12oz fish, 5 dace, a doz gudgeon.   A pleasant mornings trotting and exploring familiar haunts. First hour or so on lobs switching to maggot once the sun was up. Fished 10 swi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

8 August (Part 2!)

River Kennet backstream, Padworth   1900 - 2330   Warm, yet clear evening. Lovely night to be out - got to see some early Perseids.   3 Barbel; 8lb 7oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 6oz.   Bit of an exploratory session - fished a couple of new swims - and got stung to blazes by the nettles - clearly 2 spots that have not seen an angler this season!! Fished in rotation - plan was to give each spot an hour or until I caught - whichever was soonest then switch. As it happene
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

3 September

River Kennet - Padworth   1945 - 2345   Clear and misty evening, with a near full moon - very ethereal! River at normal summer levels (ie higher than last year!)   2 Barbel: 6lb 3oz & 6lb 0oz   Quite a few bumps and rattles - but didn't get a proper bite until around 2230 - with the second fish arriving on the scene ½hr or so later - would have thought it was the same one if I hadn't weighed them!
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

16 November

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0700 - 1630   Misty and murky all day, heavy showers for last 2 hours - 7-9ºC.   7 Chub; 5 over 2lbs biggest 3lb6oz. 7 Grayling (!) 4 over1lb (&3 over 1½), biggest 1lb 11oz. 9 Dace; 3 of which were 6oz+. 1 Roach. 7 Brownies to 3lb.   Eagerly anticipated trip - nice to see the river full after 4+ years of low water. Of course it meant having to almost completely re-learn the venue! We half expected the fish holding area
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

9 December

Middle Kennet Estate(s) Newbury (am), Kintbury (pm)   0745 - 1615   Breezy with sunny spells. 7º->9º->7ºC. River 'full' and clear - though within its banks after recent (and very evident) flooding.   5 Chub; 4 over 2¼lb - best 2, 4lb & 3lb 10oz. 3 Grayling - 1lb 13oz, 1lb 2oz & 14oz. 5 Dace, 3 over 8oz - biggest 13oz. 2 roach, a gudgeon and 2 Brownies both circa 1½lb plus a 4lb bream which doesn't count as it was hooked in the dorsal - giving the most
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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