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About this blog

Diary of a (mainly) river angler.

Entries in this blog

Coarse Fishing

24 December

River Lambourn - Newbury  0800 - 1045 Bright and cold (2ºC) with a 'fresh' northerly breeze! River up a couple of inches on last visit but gin clear despite heavy overnight rain. 9 Grayling - best 2 weighed in at 1lb 1oz & 14oz - the rest around half this stamp. 2 Brownies - a 'pounder' and a parr. Usual pre Christmas jaunt to use up some bait due to the bait fridge getting its annual deep clean - as the maggots get evicted for a few days and it's comandeered for Christma
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

2

26 September (part 2)

K&A Canal - Thatcham   1515 - 1815   Bright and sunny. AT around 15ºC - a very pleasant afternoon.   11 Roach. Best 12oz, with another fish circa 8oz - the rest all smalluns.   Failed perch hunt (part 2)! Paul and I were hitting the canal for the first time this autumn in search of stripeys. Conditions weren't exactly in our favour and the boat traffic was heavier than we would have wished. Plan was to start off fishing maggot and hope that by attracting the silver fish the perch wou
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
Coarse Fishing

Season's Bests 2021-22

And so another seasons draws to a close - quite a good one on the numbers front with over 400 fish over a lb landed and 12 (14 including trout - which I'd rather not!) different species over a lb caught. The best returns since 14/15 season. Few fish came close to a PB however - so quantity not quality probably sums it up! Best Carp 12lb 14oz.  9 July  Freelined Bread flake - Willows. I rarely have carp as my primary quarry - but they are often a by-catch (usually unwelcome!) when I'm after
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

4

29 January

K & A canal, flowing canal & River Kennet - Thatcham   0700 - 1700   Mild, overcast and VERY blowy for most of the day. AT 54ºF, WT 48ºF. River quite 'full' though with surprisingly little colour.   8 Perch: 3lb 12oz (SB ), 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 14oz. (Nearly 22lb of perch ) 2 Chub; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Dace & 2 Roach.   After last week's chub fest I wanted to take advantage of the return to mild weather and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

4
Coarse Fishing

9 September

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm evening (though temps were starting to plummet when I left) 21º->12ºC. 2 Carp: 13lb 14oz, 7lb 2oz. 2 Tench - both quite small but pushing a lb. 3 Crucians - handsized. A session topped and tailed by the 2 carp. The biggie snaffled my float fished maggot within 20mins of starting and with a 16 to a 4lb bottom I was grateful for the help of a fellow angler for its netting! In truth the carp were a pain - especially until it got dark a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

7

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

14 November

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury   0830 - 1630   Bright and sunny after biblical amounts of rain in the 1st hour (and the preceding hours of darkness). River though was clear and still quite low!   8 Chub; All over 2lb with half over 3lb. Best 4lb 4oz. 4 Dace; All gooduns - biggest a shade over 12oz! A doz+ brownies to 3½lb and a rainbow.   A day that was booked off work with the intention of heading down to Dorset in search of a monster grayling. A plan th
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

23 September

River Kennet - Near Thatcham   1900 - 2230   Clear evening becoming very foggy. Lovely evening to be out!   1 Barbel - 11lb 2oz   I've had a pretty patchy summer on the barbel front - a few schooly sized fish on the float have been fun but I was going into the last week of September not having had a barbel over 8lb for the first time since 98/99 season. So at the weekend I vowed to have a concerted effort between now and when the clocks go back to try and
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

5

22 August

River Kennet - Padworth 0600 - 1230 Bright and blowy! River at normal summer levels and carrying a bit of colour. 1 Chub, 7 Roach & 7 Dace. 3 dace in the 8-10oz class (nice!) and a couple of the Roach were 12-14oz as was the chub. 2 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak. After my success here trotting last month I promised to return and have a proper go on the float. Fished around 10- to a dozen swims and only had fish from 2 of them with the chub and all the bigger silvers coming from the fi
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

20/21 June

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fishery, Nr Godalming.   1530 - 0930   Overcast and muggy becoming cooler am. (And DRY despite the forecasts for days beforehand forecasting rain!)   14 Tench; 7 over 4lb, best 3 - 6lb 2oz, 5lb 7oz, 5lb 5oz. 6 Crucians; 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 3oz*, 2lb 1oz*, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 10oz. 4 Roach - 3 over 1lb (!) best 1lb 6oz. 3 Rudd - all 10-12oz.   3rd time Paul and I have done a night here and this cracking session was following on from las
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

3

1 November

River Kennet - Thatcham   0700 - 1200   Sunny morning after a rainy start - rain stopped almost as soon as I started fishing.   2 Perch; 3lb 10oz & 1lb 2oz. 19 Dace (5 of which were in the 8-10oz class - very nice). 3 Roach.   Fished trotted corn for the first 45 mins in the hope of snaffling one of the big chub that are usually in residence - but didn't get a touch. Was rueing that decision by 0830 with the swim now in full sunlight thinking I'd waste
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

Season's Bests 2019/20

And so another season comes to a close - not a bad one despite the wet weather disrupting several plans over the autumn and winter (including the annual Itchen IAC fish-in). I did at least get a  PB this year. Still no barbel,though there is a planned trip to the Wye to try and rectify that in 2020  - and the season finished strongly with 3 SB's in the last 4 days. Biggest Carp. 15lb 8oz, 28th June. Ledgered pellet - Method Feeder. Jubilee Lake - Thatcham. My now annual trip to try and get
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0
Coarse Fishing

14 September

River Wye, Llanthomas 1630 - 1930 Warm,sunny evening. 2 Barbel: 5lb 14oz & 7lb 7oz. Mission accomplished! I usually make a point of NOT fishing when I'm on holiday with Mrs P - I tend to stay married that way! However when a long weekend in the Brecons became a week's stay in Hay due to our Greek holiday falling victim of Covid it would have been churlish not to drop in on Geoff's! I've known Geoff over 20 years and around 9 years ago he acquired a mile (double bank) of t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3

26 May

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2230 Warm, slightly overcast evening with little breeze - still 17ºC when I left. 3 Bream - all of a similar stamp between 2¾ - 3½lb. Beginning to make a habit of this!! Bites at a premium - not a touch for the first 2 hours or so then all three fish between 8.30 - 9.30pm as a shoal of bream obviously got their heads down over some groundbait. Quite a few fish topping as it got dark but no more action. Stayed for another biteless hour  hoping for
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

0

9 February

Middle Kennet Estate   0730 - 1630   Light sleet/drizzle ALL day. 2ºC (ALL day). River high but in its banks (just) and with little colour.   5 Chub; 5lb 8oz, 4lb 9oz, 4lb 5oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 10oz. 3 Rainbows to 4lb 7oz, 2 Brownies to 2½lb   A day Paul and I had pencilled in for some time (with very light pencil given current conditions!) and the plan had been to invite Chris & Steve and to target monster dace on another stretch of river. Alas permission
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2

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
Coarse Fishing

24 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Widmead 0715 - 1030 Mild, overcast with some light drizzle and an ever increasing breeze. Canal quite full. 4 Perch: 2 'pounders', biggest 1lb 6oz. 3 Chub: again a brace of pounders - to 1lb 9oz. Dawn perch raid to a favoured swim of old - been 3 years since I last fished here but for a decade from 05-15 this was a nailed on banker venue for big perch - had dozens and dozens of 3lbers in that time plus a couple of 4s. My last 3 from here was Dec 15 a
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

5
Coarse Fishing

17 January

River Kennet - Hambridge 0915 - 1315 Cool, calm and bright. AT 3º - 6ºC. River at normal winter levels and quite clear - looked in great nick. 1 Chub; 1½lb. 3 Perch; 1lb 9oz, 1lb 6oz and a sub lber (but not by much!). 7 Roach - all handsized. 7 Dace - 3 in the 6-8oz class. 4 Brownies - a lber and 3 smalluns. Usual tactics to snaffle a decent chub from the off meets with a rare failure (I'm blaming the bright conditions and a trout first cast!) - only chub I did get turned up
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3

25 October

Lower Itchen Fishery   0900 - 1815   Bright and breezy and quite warm after overnight rain - temps didn't dip below 16ºC all day. River really quite low despite this week's rain and carrying a bit of colour which dropped out during the day.   23 Grayling; 8 over 1lb - best 4, 2lb, 1lb 10oz & 1lb 8oz. 3 Chub; All over 2lb, best 4lb 14oz, 10 Roach (all small, alas), a dace, a small perch, a gudgeon, 4 brownies - biggest a cracking looking fish of 3lb, 1 small sea
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
Coarse Fishing

10 October (Part 2)

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1015 - 1400 Cool, overcast and quite breezy. River in good nick - not as high or coloured as I expected after all the rain last weekend. 5 Chub; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 6oz & 2 chublets. 1 Perch 1lb 7oz. 30(!) Roach with around a 3rd in the 8-12oz bracket. 12 Dace - all, bar 2, a really good size - biggest weighed in at 11oz but nearly everything else was within an ounce or 2 of this - cracking stuff. 2 Bleak & a Gudgeon. Super trotting sessio
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

0
Coarse Fishing

6 December

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0745 - 1315 Cool, calm & cloudy. AT 1º - 3ºC. River quite full - though somewhat surprisingly (and contradictory!) the carrier was on the low side. 4 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 2oz and a chublet. 18 Roach - few of any size bar one which went 12oz. 4 Dace, 1 Perch, 8 Brownies - 2½ - 3½lb & 2 Rainbows 2½lb & 4+lb. Pleasant morning's trotting - chub as ever were the target - though most of my 'banker' swims were full of tro
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

3
Coarse Fishing

8 March

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1800 Bright and sunny morning - clouding over after lunch (thankfully!). AT around 10ºC all day after a frosty start. River slightly on the low side. 22 Chub: Only 3 under 2lb and 8 over 4lb. Best 3 went 5lb 6oz, 5lb 2oz & 4lb 15oz. 7 Roach; 1lb 5oz, 12oz and 5 tiddlers. 7 Dace: 1lb 😀, 12 oz 2@ 10oz and the other 3 weren't much smaller! 1 doz+ Brownies 2½lb - 4lb. 2 Rainbows both around 2½lb. My now annual end of season 'chubfest', t
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

8

2 January 2015

River Kennet - Newbury   0800 - 1115   3 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 3lb 7oz, 2lb 12oz. 1 Perch 2lb 9oz. 1 Bream 2lb 6oz. A doz+ Dace, 5 Gudgeon, 4 Roach, 1 Grayling and 3 Trout parr.   River Kennet - Thatcham   1145 - 1315   1 Brownie - 1½lb (caught twice within 10 minutes!)   1345 - 1600   1 Grayling 1lb 10oz.   Bright and cool - with a breeze picking up in the afternoon. WT 48ºC. River in perfect winter nick - good flow (but w
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

1
Coarse Fishing

3 October

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1245 - 1615 Overcast, cool and drizzly at first (after 2inches of rain in the previous 24 hours). Water up and coloured. 5 Perch; All 'netters' with a couple nudging a pound. 1 Tench; 2lb 6oz. Quick 'snatched' session to the venue nearest where I live. Had planned to fish upstream of Newbury today but didn't fancy standing out in the pouring rain all day - so made the most of a short break in the weather (the rains returned as I walked ba
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb in Coarse Fishing

2

11 March

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury   0715 - 1745   Cold and RAW, with frequent snow flurries and a mini blizzard around lunchtime. Strong and dessicating NE wind. Temps 0ºC or below all day (line freezing to rod ALL day), wind chill must have been minus loads! Spring is here - NOT! WT a balmy 43ºF.   17 (!) Chub; Almost all over 2lb - biggest 3lb 14oz, 4 Perch; 2 'gooduns' at 2lb 2oz &1lb 14oz. 23 Dace - quite a few chunky ones and 2 real corkers; a female fish of 13oz
Chris Plumb

Chris Plumb

2
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