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Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

12 December

River Lambourn - Newbury 1045 - 1445 Cold and cloudy. AT around -1ºC all day. River low 14 Grayling; 8 over a lb and as they got progressively bigger throughout the session I ended up weighing 5 of them - at 1-06, 1-07, 1-09, 1-10 & 1lb 12oz. 1 Brownie - small. I love days like this - wrapped up warm against an iron hard frost - which froze my landing net between each fish landed! As ever the Lambourn Ladies were very obliging despite the cold - fished the length of the v

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3 December

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1400 Cold and overcast with a chilly breeze. AT 4º- 6ºC. River still low and threadbare. 3 Chub; 2lb 7oz and a couple of chublets. 3 Dozen Dace & Roach (mainly dace - all quite small). 1 Perch; small. 3 Brownies - a couple in the 2lb class and a brute of a fish @ 4½lb (with a size 12 in its gob)! 2 Rainbows both around 3lb (and I suspect were the same fish!). Brrrrrr 🥶 Winter's here, though the cold, alas, hasn't suppressed the trout's a

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

26 November (Part 2)

River Lambourn - Newbury 1230 - 1430 Mild, dull and overcast. 11ºC. River low. 18 Grayling - with around half a lb or better - the two I put on the scales went 1lb 8oz & 1lb 6oz and had a few more not far shy of these two. 1 Brownie - small. With 3 other anglers working the venue I was very pleased with this return - clearly managed to find a few spots that hadn't already been visited and like this morning's session further upstream managed to get a couple of shoals compe

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

26 November (Part 1)

River Lambourn - Shaw 0900 - 1230 Mild with milky sunsine - clouding over.AT 7º - 11ºC. River low and clear (of course). 15 Grayling with 5 an ounce or so either side of 1lb with the rest half that or smaller. 3 Brownies; 1½lb and a couple of parrs. Whilst the rains have had little impact (so far) on the local chalkstreams they have certainly stuffed up the Frome judging by the river gauges so whilst I had planned a trip to Dorset this weekend I had to make do with bothering

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

20 November

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0800 - 1400 Bright and sunny morning after overnight rain, clouding over with heavy showers after lunch! Cooler than of late 5º - 9ºC River still low. 180mm of rain (and counting) since the start of October hasn't made a blind bit of difference to the river - so far! 4 Chub: Biggest 3lb 6oz - the others between 1¾ - 2¼lb. 6 Dace - a couple of chunky ones, 3 Roach - all small. 1 Perch c½lb, 1 Brownie c¾lb. A successful  morning on the weirpools (so a

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

12 November (Part 3)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1500 - 1645 Bright -though getting damp and dewey as the sun set. 3 Perch - all 6-8oz. Inconspicuous end to the day - turned into something of a recce session as both my first two choices of swim were already occupied by anglers! None of the 4 swims I dropped into merit further investigation though heavy boat traffic (very unusual for November) and very heavy footfall on the towpath from walkers, dogs and cyclists made it a less than enjo

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

12 November (Part 2)

River Kennet - Brimpton 1200 - 1430 Warm with bright sunshine. AT 17ºC. River very low (of course!) 1 Chub: 1lb 10oz, 1 Dace. 4 Brownies 2 in the 1½-2lb range and two under a lb. I hate trout! Bright conditions and a low, clear, threadbare river were already very sub-optimal conditions for autumn chubbing. And what I really DIDN'T need were acrobatic brownies turning up 'early doors' in ALL my favourite chub hotspots. Alas, that's exactly what happened. Dropped into the weirp

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

12 November (Part 1)

River Kennet - Thatcham 0815 - 1115 Warm (very for November) and mainly overcast (clearing for last ¾hr). AT 15ºC. River very low despite 5 inches of rain in the past 3 weeks! 2 Perch 1lb 12oz & 1lb 7oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb, 1 Dace, 1 Roach , 1 Gudgeon, 5 Trout parr. Started off, with worms for a change, in the weirpool as I've (correctly as it turned out) thought for a while that the place screams "Here be Perch!". However I'd caught the chub first cast and had been bitten off b

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6 November

River Kennet (and Carrier),  Marsh Benham 1015 - 1500 Mild and overcast morning, with a torrential downpour at lunchtime giving way to bright sunshine - 4 (well 3) seasons in one day! AT 11º - 13ºC. River still  very low. West Berks has had  116.6mm (over 4½inches in old money!) of rain in the past 2½ weeks - since 20 October - the prayers for a wet autumn are being answered - yet very little is making its way into the water course. Hopefully though the aquifers are being topped up and

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

31 October

Kennet & Avon Canal (flowing) - Thatcham 1245 - 1500 Mild (15ºC) and overcast, quite breezy. 17 Dace - with around half over ½lb - I weighed two at 11oz & 12oz. 5 Roach - all small. 1 Gudgeon. Unexpectedly had a free afternoon - so thought I'd follow up some recent intelligence of this stretch producing good dace and roach. Information I wasn't entirely surprised by as I had this super dace from here a couple of years ago. Biggest dace first cast started proceedings w

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

29 October (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0745 - 0930 Warm (for late October), calm and cloudy with 3 brief showers. AT 13/14ºC. Perfect autumn perching weather - pity no one told the fish! 4 Perch: best 1lb 13oz with another 2 around ¾lb and a tiddler. Surprisingly subdued session - lots of activity on the surface and I concluded the perch were more interested in chasing fry than having my lobs for breakfast. The smallest perch I caught which was not much longer than the lob it took

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

29 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1015 - 1345 Very warm - with hazy sunshine. AT a balmy 21ºC when I packed up. River still very low - we've had over 3 inches of rain in October - though you wouldn't know it looking at the river levels! 2 Chub: 2lber and a 1lber. 1 Barbel: 1lb 14oz, 5 Roach, 4 Dace, 3 Gudgeon & a 1lb+ brownie.  A change from my usual tactics as my 'modus operandi' when I have a morning at Enborne is to transfer over to Speen but decided to drop down to here instea

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in 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

17 October

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1800 Bright and breezy. AT around 15ºC all day. River low and clear despite overnight rains. 30 Grayling with around two-thirds in the ¾lb - 1¼lb class with the rest not much smaller. Biggest 1lb 6oz. 10 Brownies between 1½ - 3½lb plus dozens and dozens and dozens of parr fish - a real nuisamce in the same way minnows can be! Lovely day - especially as I practically had the whole fishery to myself with only one other angler booked in. A real game o

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8 October

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0830 - 1400 Bright and sunny. AT 6º->16ºC. River low (very!). 10 Perch; 6 over lb, best two 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz. 6 Chub; 3 'pounders' - two not by much. 20+ Roach - most quite small with 3 or 4 in the 6-8oz bracket. 2 Dace - small. 2 Gudgeon & 2 Brownies - both 1½-2lb. Late arrival as I had to go back for my maggots - doh! By the time I got to the canal it was bathed in bright morning sunshine and after a chilly night I deemed it too sub-

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3 October

River Kennet - Hambridge 0845 - 1245 Sunny spells. AT 8º ->17ºC. River still very low (prayer mats are out for a wet autumn!). 7 Chub; biggest 3lb on the nose, 5 between 1½ - 2½lb and a chublet. 1 Barbel; 1lb 13oz, 13 Dace & 9 Roach (all fairly small), 1 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak & a Brownie c¾-1lb. Super morning's trotting - nice to get another baby barbel for the 2nd trip running here and I might have lost a much bigger one though I think the leviathan that snapped my 6lb

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

21 September

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2200 Calm and cloudy to start with clearing skies and dropping temps for the last hour (and a very heavy dew!) AT 17º -> 11ºC (But felt much chillier in the damp conditions...) 1 Bream 5lb 2oz, 1 Tench 1¼lb, 1 Rudd; 11oz (looked bigger!), 1 Roach - hand-sized. 6 Perch all smallish. Nearly all the excitement in the first 90 mins with the tinca pretty much first cast. The only fish to come after it got dark was the lovely rudd and the roach. Had

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

19 September

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0645 - 1115 Cool, calm & cloudy. AT 9º -> 14ºC. River VERY low. 12 Chub; 2lb 7oz and 11 chublets. 4 Doz Dace and Roach - in roughly equal nos (slightly more dace). Most of the roach were a 'nice' size though the star of the show (and the only fish to actually get weighed) was a cracking dace of 12oz. 5 Perch - all small. 1 Brownie c2lb. Pleasant mornings trotting. The river is teeming with 'silvers' - which makes finding the bigger chub a bi

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

17 September (Part 1)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0630 - 0815 COLD! 🥶 and clear. 3ºC when I left - ice on the car and grass frost in patches on the bank! 13 Perch: 5 over 1lb - 4 not by much the other went 1lb 14oz. Brrrrr that was a shock to the system - thermals and fleece making an early appearance for my first 'double header' of the autumn. Pretty much all fish in the first ½ hour - then suffered a bit of pike trouble (got bitten off) and by 0800 the swim was bathed in sunshine and bites

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

17 September (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0845 - 1300 Bright and sunny - with a cool northerly breeze - though felt very warm in full sun! AT 17ºC when I packed up, River very low. 5 Chub: 2X 2lbers and 3 in the ¾-1lb class. 5 Perch; All over 1lb, with 4 over 1½lb, best three 2lb 3oz, 2lb & 1lb 13oz. 30+ Roach - various sizes with around half a dozen 'netters', I weighed one of these at 13oz and the others were of similar stamp - great to see! 1 Dace: a real good-un of around 10oz. 1 Gudgeon

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

10 September

River Kennet - Brimpton 0700 - 1100 Cool (compared to lately) and mainly overcast. AT 11->16ºC. River still low but up a good couple of inches on my last visit here in July. 4 Chub: 5lb0oz, 3lb 6oz, 1lb11oz and one <1lb. 5 Roach & 1 Dace - all a 'nice' size circa 6oz. 4 Brownies; a lber and the others around half that. With 1½inches of rain already this month (nearly as much as the whole of June, July & August!) I was hopeful that the river might have perked up

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in 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

31 August

River Kennet - Hambridge 1730 - 2145 Warm, clear evening. AT 23º -> 16ºC. River very low. 3 Chub: 4lb 11oz, 2lb 13oz, 1lb 12oz. 1 Barbel (hooray!) 2lb 1oz. 7 Dace, 2 Roach (all small). 5 Bleak. Been a while since I did an evening here - used to be a banker swim for ledgering for a barbel - so much so I've even brought a couple of my 'occasional' angling friends here in the past to (succesfully) catch their first barbel. Those were in pre-otter days (who made an appearance

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

27 August

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0630 - 1130 Bright sunny morning. AT 12º -> 23ºC. River very low with a hint of colour. 14 Chub: A 'pounder' and a baker's dozen of small-uns. 30+ Roach & 25 Dace: nothing particularly note-worthy apart from 3 or 4 dace of around 8oz, 5 Perch; all fairly small. 6 Bleak. A trip to my syndicate stretch in the hope that Thursday's rain may have gingered the river up a bit and whilst it was still very low there was a little bit of colour. Loads

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

24 August

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm and muggy despite clear skies - though there was a few large spots of rain as I left. AT 26->19ºC. 4 Tench; 4lb 15oz & 3 around 1¼lb ± a couple of ounces . 1 Bream 4lb 7oz. 1 Roach; 'half decent' at around 6oz. 2 Perch; small. A game of 2 halfs with all the action coming after 2030 as it got dark and not a hint of movement to the float before then -at least there were no crayfish around! Pleased to see the tench putting on a few

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

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