Rivers Lambourn & Kennet, weekend of 29th & 30th January 2011

A double entry today, the first on the Lambourn giving the Shadowlander centrepin its debut. I won’t say too much about this reel because I’ll be writing a review of it in the near future. It’s agricultural but it worked, as a couple of grayling and brown trout will testify.

The Lambourn looked really good with a healthy amount of water opening up new swims but it was so cold I only lasted just over an hour, not a day to be trotting I can tell you. JV44 was far more resilient fishing both free stretches and Steve Walker made an impressive appearance with his fly rod catching three grayling in as many minutes it seemed. I’d have stayed for a longer chat (sorry Steve) but my nose was running, my hands were frozen and I’d just discovered a wind knot in my braid (how do wind knots happen?). I couldn’t be bothered to re-tackle so I retired to the nearby Waitrose sanctuary where I relieved them of some Speckled Hen, olive and sun dried tomato houmus and some posh pita bread. Lunch was rather nice. Did I mention that the Shadowlander worked?

Sunday dawned and I wished that Waitrose still had two of the empty Speckled Hen cans on their shelves. I wasn’t planning a trip but the wind had died down and although it was still chilly the sun was doing it’s best to open the blinds. My money was on the sun so I brought forward a plan I’d hatched a couple of weeks ago, to grease a palm, to eat well and to fish a section of the Kennet unknown to me. Phases 1 & 2 went very well, so well in fact there almost wasn’t a phase 3 but having paid the bill I dragged myself out of the very comfy surroundings to see if I’d backed a winner. I had, it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon.

Walking the stretch brought home how careful you have to be when spotting fish. I wasn’t and although spooking a number of trout gave me no concern spooking a decent group of chub annoyed me somewhat. All I saw was lots of chub rear ends heading upstream, some quite big rear ends too. With the water being gin clear and no more than three feet deep I decided that stalking tactics weren’t going to be my forte so opted to rely on my watercraft skills (ahem!) and fish at distance.

Andy Murray had already lost the Australian Open by the time I started chucking in tennis ball sized lumps of bread mash, had it been the Ryder Cup they would have been golf ball sized. I don’t fish during the World Cup. The aloof approach worked quite well with the first success being a 5lb 4oz chub, a smaller one of about 2lb followed before the brownies arrived and snaffled everything. Moving downstream to another likely looking spot provided dividends by way of a 3lb 2oz chub, the ledgered flake was proving irresistible and so it was with some reluctance that, after three hours, I headed back to where the car was parked. The slacks by the side of the weirpool, however, looked too inviting to pass up so the last dollops of mash were thrown in and the flake hookbait touch ledgered beneath my feet. Two brownies and a chublet shared my view that the day shouldn’t end…but it had to.