River Kennet, Barton Court, Friday 13th January 2012

My annual pilgrimage to the venue where I first used a ‘pin and where I first untangled a birdsnest, the two events occurred within seconds of each other if I remember correctly. That was about three years ago and at that time the fishery was still producing a good selection of coarse fish but since then most of my visits have resulted in trout getting to the bait first. When booking the day I was told that the grayling and roach were making a re-appearance so expectations were high….until I saw the weather forecast. The recent mild spell was due to come to an abrupt end with sub-zero temperatures overnight and a frosty start to the following day, the lower temps weren’t the problem it was the sudden change which caused concern.

The forecast was bang on and the car’s thermometer hovered around the zero mark as I gingerly drove to the venue in the dark, yes I’d managed to get up early doors for a change, probably because the day was costing me £15.

On arrival I was reminded why I like fishing at Barton Court;

The manicured banks aren’t everybody’s cup of tea but it’s the network of carriers and all of the nooks and crannies that I find interesting, there was a problem though, a distinct lack of water. The main river looked ok but many of the sluices feeding the carriers were closed and as a consequence some of them were at a standstill, those which were flowing were very low and crystal clear. A forecast bright sunny day was going to make this a tough session so I hatched a plan to target the many pools, I felt that the deeper moving water was my best chance.

The first sortie was to a stream running back towards the road and along the back garden of the rather impressive Barton Court House, it was bloody cold and holding a chunk of aluminium soon had my fingers going numb. I did manage to vindicate my plan by catching a dace and a brown trout from one of the pools along this section but it wasn’t long before I beat a hasty retreat back to base for breakfast. Not a healthy breakfast I’m afraid, the burgers were all I had in the freezer;

I was in no great rush to continue fishing, the sun was inching its way above the horizon with the temperatures gradually increasing as it did so.

I bet the people in this were colder than I was;

Bob the bailiff arrived to check tickets and we chatted about the water levels for a while. He was very concerned about a river that’s been getting lower over the past two or three years, it should be at its highest level now but it’s well down and if we don’t get lots of rain over a sustained period very soon this summer could be a disaster for the Kennet. This swim near the car park used to be good for ‘last knockings’ dace and roach but not any more;

And this is the sluice which feeds Gunters, a small carrier containing coarse fish and usually devoid of trout. Normally this pool will be bubbling away and Gunters will have some flow but the main river can’t afford to lose its water so the sluice is closed and the carrier is stationary;

Once I’d warmed up I bade farewell to Bob and set off in search of the next pool. That was the pattern of the day, walking the river between pools trying any other spots on the way which may have held feeding fish. There was a lot of reed cutting activity and the method of collecting the cuttings was ingenious. The reeds were cut;

And they were left to float off downstream;

Where they all ended up in a side pool to be picked up later (at least I hope they were planning to collect them);

I only added one more brownie to my tally (again from a pool) before the light faded and temperatures started to drop. That was my cue to pack up and leave Barton Court for another year, I just hope that in 12 months time it’s still there as a fishery, here’s the link.

http://www.riverkennet.co.uk/