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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

7 January

River Kennet - Newbury   0830 - 1130.   Mild with broken cloud, 6º -> 9ºC. A lovely benign, winter's morning. River still on the low side - though up an inch or so and very clear - as it usually is in the winter. WT 46ºF - a little on the cool side for good sport - good thing no one told the fish!   4 Chub; 5lb 5oz, 3lb 11oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 2oz. 1 Barbel; 3lb 5oz. 1 Bream (!); 2lb 10oz. 19 Dace, most quite small with 2 or 3 nice ones, 2 Roach (1 a nice size, circa 8-10oz), 10 Gudgeon.  

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7 January

River Kennet - Hambridge 1030 - 1430 Showery and very breezy after heavy morning rain (28mm already this month). AT 10ºC. River up again on Monday's levels and with a lot more colour. 2 Chub: 4lb 11oz & 2lb 8oz. 8 Perch; 7 over 1lb, with 5 over 2lb - best 2lb 10oz. 4 Roach - a netter of around 10oz and 3 small-uns, and the now obligatory gudgeon! Quick return to Monday's swim - though better prepared this time for a stripey campaign! Took lobs, and my keepnet made a rare

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7 February

River Lambourn - Newbury & Shaw   0915 - 1530   Bright and breezy with some brief showers. River quite coloured after yesterday's heavy rain - but quickly fining down.   39 Grayling; Around a third over 12oz - biggest 2, 1lb 6oz & 1lb 9oz. 7 Brownies 4 parr fish and 3 over 1lb - biggest 3lb 14oz!   Default venues when the Kennet is the colour of drinking chocolate. Did have a quick look in on Northcroft Stream - but even if it had been trottable I

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7 December

River Kennet - Thatcham   0730 - 1030   Cool, calm & cloudy - a lovely benign winter's morn. WT 44ºC.   2 Chub; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 10oz.   A return to a swim that Paul fished last weekend - and as hoped it threw up a couple of chub! First ¼ hour was quietly lively! Started with float fished lobs and pretty much hooked a LARGE pike straight away. Never really got a good look at it but had it on for some time. The uneven contest was eventually decided in the pike's favour but not before the

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7 December

Middle Kennet Estate - Newbury   0815 - 1600   Cool, bright and breezy, with showers for first couple of hours. River quite low.   10 Chub; All over 2½lb, with the majority in the 3lb+ class. Best 2, 4lb 1oz & 4lb 4oz. 7 Roach, 2 Dace. Around 10 brownies to 3lb & half a dozen rainbows to 4lb.   A fine days chubbing in the company of Paul & Chris (Rusty). Rusty was travelling up from Devon and we didn't expect to see him til mid morning so of co

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7 August

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham   0700 - 0930   Cool, overcast with light drizzle. 15ºC. River a little on the low side - but was lower this time last year!   2 Barbel; 7lb 6oz, 6lb 13oz. 5 Chub; 4lb 8oz. 3lb 15oz, 3lb 10oz, 2lb 14oz & a chublet. 6 dace, 1 brownie.   Cracking little trotting session - one of my bigger float caught barbel. Most fish in the last ¾hr having moved a few yards downstream of where I started.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

7 August

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Overcast and breezy - clearing to cloudless skies as it got dark (the exact opposite to the forecast I watched in the morning!!) AT 19º-13ºC 6 (!) Tench: 5lb 15oz, 5lb 12oz, 5lb 8oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 11oz, 4lb 7oz. 1 Carp 7lb 13oz. 1 perch (small) Another splendid evening's tench fishing. (And another 3lb of blackberries collected which are being converted into jam as I type!) All the action after 8pm (again!) save for the micro perch. The peri

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6 September

River Kennet - Padworth   1800 - 2300   Warm(ish) and overcast. River very low.   7 Chub; a couple circa 1lb, the rest half that size. 3 Roach, 2 Dace & 3 Perch.   Another barbel blank on what used to be called barbel alley - preceded by a blank saving trotting session before it got dark - nice to see a few small chub - shows there's been some recruitment recently.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 October

0700 - 0900 K&A Canal - Widmead   4 perch( 1lb 11oz, 1lb 9oz, 2<1lb)   0930 - 1230 Warwicks Water   1 bream (1½lb), 2 doz roach & perch.   Calm, high cloud, dry. 8º -> 16º. WT 14ºC     This was meant to be a perching session but the crayfish on the canal were a nightmare. If the perch didn't take the lobworm on the drop the signals were on the bait within a minute (I timed!!). Switched to Warwicks hoping for a late crucian but none were showing. Fished meat and pellet wi

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 October

River Kennet - Newbury   1815 - 2315   Overcast and mild - 13ºC. WT 53ºF. River up an inch or so and with a bit more colour after Sunday's rain. No debris.   2 Barbel (6lb 4oz, 3lb 13oz), 1 Chub (2¼lb)   Fished the frying pan swim again. First bite at 2015. An evening more notable for the wildlife commuting through my swim. A mink - in the water, several large rats in the margins (being hunted by the mink???) and a badger on the bank!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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

6 November

Middle Kennet Estate water - Nr Hungerford   0700 - 1700   Dull and overcast - Last day of Anti-Cyclonic gloom? 10ºC. River at 'normal' levels colour from the weekend's rain now all dropped out.   41 Grayling (4 'pounders' best 1lb 5oz, over 2 doz circa 12oz), 17 Dace - (best 2 weighed 12oz & 10 oz, 8 over 8oz), 1 doz Trout (50-50 Rainbows/Brownies) best 3¼lb Brownie.   Lovely day exploring the carriers with a float rod and CP. 12oz dace was first fish of the morning - which got me r

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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

6 March

Middle Kennet Estate   0830 - 1800   Bright and sunny after an overcast morning. AT 3º->8ºC, quite chilly in a stiff easterly breeze.   6 Chub; Biggest 2, 4lb5oz & 4lb 0oz, 2 Perch; 2lb 14oz & 2lb 7oz. 15 Dace; Biggest 10oz though nearly all the others weren't much smaller. 2 Roach, both small. 10 Brownies to 2½lb.   Typical session wandering the banks searching for fish - walked even further than normal as it was tough going once the sun came o

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 March

Northcroft Stream & River Kennet - Newbury   0615 - 1000 plus an hour at Hambridge*.   Bright, frosty start. Soon clouding over. River full, pacey and gin clear!   2 Chub; 4lb 8oz & 2lb 11oz. 5 Dace & 2 Grayling*   Chub were the initial target and thankfully it paid to get bankside early (it got rather busy later). Both chub in the first half an hour. Spent the last hour trying to catch a large (12-15lb at a guess - got a good look at it) pike

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 March

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1330 Cool, calm and mainly overcast with milky sunshine at times. AT 1º - 6ºC. River still quite full but down a few inches on my last visit 4 weeks ago. 4 Chub; 5lb 2oz, 4lb 7oz, 3lb 13oz and a pounder. A doz Roach - mainly quite small with a couple of 'netters' of around 10oz. 1 Brownie; 1½lb. Surprisingly scratchy start to the morning - fished the carrier down and only had fish from 2 swims (the smaller chub & trout and the roach). Th

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6 March

River Lambourn - Newbury 1315 - 1500 Overcast with light showers. AT 8ºC. River at normal levels. 6 Grayling; best 1lb 6oz - the others half that or smaller. 5 brownies - a 'pounder' and 4 parrs. Quick trip before the inclement weather forecast for the rest of the week sets in! Being a weekday I expected to have the place to myself - not a bit of it - 4 other anglers on the stretch - so I had to eke out fish from less promising spots!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

6 July

River Kennet (nr Thatcham)   2000 - 0000 Clear with a stiff breeze.   4 Barbel (9lb 7oz, 8lb 15oz, 6lb 2oz, 3½lb) 1 Chub 3lb 3oz   All on pellet (of course!) Chub caught in the 1st 20 mins of arriving - all the barbel caught in 1 manic hour between 10-11.00pm.   River down 2-3inches on last week.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 July

River Kennet - Newbury   1845-2315   Breezy and dry at first with heavy (& prolonged) showers developing - 17ºC. River quite low but quite coloured.   3 Chub - best 3¼lb   An after work barbelling session - without the barbel!! All chub came in the 1st couple of hours - had quite a few chubby type bites which died off when the rain got more intense. Fish on 14mm Halibuts.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 July

River Kennet, Newbury   1600 - 2300   Overcast and breezy with some drizzle. 20º->15ºC but felt a LOT chillier where I was sitting in the breeze! River at normal summer levels and carrying quite a bit of colour   1 Bream; 2lb 10oz   An evening barbelling session with Paul to this (once) prolific section of river. Over the years I have come to call this swim THE Banker - I can't remember coming here in high summer and NOT catching a barbel. These days th

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 July

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham   1830 - 2330   Warm , bright and breezy evening. River low   2doz Dace, 1 Roach, 1 Bleak.   Another evening blanking for barbel - but I at least had the compensation of finding a shed load of dace in the first hour. Switching to the lead thereafter - the only interest in the baits came from minnows and crayfish!

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 July

River Kennet - Newbury   1800 - 2330   Warm, overcast evening (mossies were out in force!!). River down a couple of inches on opening week.   3 Chub; all between 1-2lb. 18 Dace, 6 Roach and 3 brownies.   First of what will probably be many blank barbel evenings!! At least the chub seem to be hanging on - nice to see some school sized fish to come through - but as soon as I switched from the trotting rod to ledgering gear the only interest I had was from the signals - one of which was eno

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 July

River Kennet - Newbury   0430 - 0800   Clear and sunny. River at near normal summer levels and carrying its usual summer colour...   11 Chub; All quite small with a couple slightly bigger (just over 1lb). 3 Doz+ Dace, 1 Roach. 4 Brownies to 1lb.   Lovely morning's trotting and home in time for brekfast. Really nice to see some juvenile chub in the river - augur's well for the future....    

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 January

River Lambourn - Newbury   0800 - 1400.   Cold and mainly cloudy. -1º -> 4ºC. River clear ( as always) and much lower than expected given we've had over 60mm of rain in the past fortnight.   50+ Grayling with around half over 12oz and a good few 'pounders'. Biggest 1lb 10oz. 1 Dace, 2 Brownies - a 2lber and a tiddler.   Cracking session - had planned a 2 venue day - a couple of hours here then a switch to the Kennet - but it took me 6 hours to work my way down the stretch such was the

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

6 February

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham   0700 - 0930   Cool, calm and overcast - with 'milky' sunshine breaking through for last hour. 4ºC. WT a more promising 46ºF, little colour and quite a bit of flow.   2 Perch; 2lb 5oz & a tiddler.   A struggle for bites in seemingly perfect conditions for stripeys - though in retrospect a dusk session may have been better. Both fish fell after 0830 when it was brighter with sun on the water.

Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

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