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Hi Both, I've been following your blog for a while Chris as I'm trying to learn about and access the Kennet. Really enjoy your reports. On rods, I have two Drennan Acolyte float rods, a 15' and a 17'. Both are wonderful rods and so far I have had no trouble with them despite much tangling with shrubbery. I have also heard of top section breakages, but for me, so far so good after two years. They have a wonderful combination of finesse and power. Despite their featherweight and ultra slim profile they seem to have "muscle" and speed in the tip section, which allows you to hit the most delicate bite. The 17' was bought for my particular style locally on the Thames, where I often stret peg. It has enough length to get just over the drop off into the main stream. If they were fly rods they would be up there with Sage and probably cost £700+. On reels Bayleaf I am a recent convert to the "pin". It certainly takes time and I still haven't perfected the casting, but my advice would be that once you get one leave the fixed spool reel at home and force yourself to persevere. My own confidence grew when I bought and Aerial style with a line guard, which stops the line blowing around in windy conditions. I've spoken to several in the know and was consistently pointed to the JW Young Purist II as good general purpose trotting reel. There are usually decent used ones on Ebay, from about £250 upwards but buyer beware. I am certain one I saw was a fake. I bought my most recent pin from Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques and John Stephenson there was really helpful. I would recommend them without hesitation. Hope that helps.

Hi Chris, I'm the CSAS fisheries officer, and the barbel that were stocked a year or two ago were much bigger than the one pictured (that's assuming your Speedia is the same size as mine!) so this one is most likely naturally spawned. Glad you're enjoying fishing there, wish more people did.

The Kennet flows seem to split at Newbury ,low flows west ,higher flows east ,which makes sense ,my day was bad , slippy angled banks were full of slugs/snails and nettles and my box fell in the river ,my banker swim ,which I had convinced myself would fish well when overcast produced my only fish a gudgeon. Have put a ruler in my box ,as I have nothing to weigh grammes with and hope to catch a 6" gudgeon and try to join the Soc'. Glad to see everyone else is doing much better

Crucian-tastic. Well done, Chris - you earned that one. And an early night too!

Thank you Gentleman ,BW for the info about the society ,most splendid ,eccentric and as you say most TIC and Chris for the lovely article about our charismatic friend. Strange to see the society is about the Grand Union as although the Gudgeon is everywhere I always associate them with "gravel bottoms" . Will be trotting on the Kennet tomorrow ,low expectations ,catch wise ,high expectation on enjoyment. I do not fish lakes much ,or use the method ,preferring running or paternoster cage feeder etc but if I fished method ,with braid and a rigid tip , I would expect big fish ,would bump off or straighten hooks ,or to snap hook lengths........two ways to try ,fish mono main line for stretch ,or try using a bait runner function ...........please not at all based on my catching of carp ,light years behind you gents but on beach casting for bass ,build in some give or something must break.

And in the dim and distant past I once penned this for a now long dufunct website.... https://web.archive.org/web/20160824084246/http://purepiscator.com/thehof_entry.aspx?hofid=14

Lovely pictures of the Rudd and Gudgeon ,such pretty fish ,there are some oversized gudgeon on the Reeds ticket at Thatcham. The vast amount of perch in the lakes are busy at this time of year swallowing up the fry ,not a fan.

Yeah - a 'par' return for the venue - though I do wonder if their are 2 bream shoals - the 4lb average size that I seem to attract and the 5lbers that you've banked recently!

Common - similar in size to the ones I've rehomed from Willows recently. There's a LOT of mis-identification of crucians (usually mistaken for brown goldfish!) below is my rule of thumb - on the bank guide! Lateral line count - 33 (32 or 34 MAY be OK if everything else is right!) Less than 32 - liklely to be Goldfish or goldfish cross, more than 34 common carp or cross Dorsal - Convex (Goldfish are concaved) Caudal - Paintbrush shaped (Goldfish are much more v shaped) Mouth - absolutely NO barbules or even vestigial ones (carp or carp cross)

Humbled by everyone's generosity - just paid £460 to Sue Ryder - a record ammount for a PG charity fish-in - beating the £400 raised in 2018.

Straight back in the groove, Chris. Those chub must have missed you.

Only you could catch a vegan pike, Chris

Feeling pretty sated after today!

15 - I know! As a gardener, my services are less required in Jan/Feb so I take good advantage on the bankside. OK, the fish don't much like the cold, but I struggled to catch anything other than the odd trout from several trips to Speen Moors and while one happy Bulls Lock gave me a surprise couple of grayling (and 10 minnows- beat that!), my return visits yielded nothing in either the stills, where I though they might be holed up, the crease with the mainflow, or alongside the south bank. I really enjoyed my January trips on the Lamborne, but there's more anglers there than pedestrians in Newbury town centre, so in Feb (clearly to my own detriment) I've avoided it. Despite fining down tackle to a size 18, single maggot on a 1.5lb hooklink, I've blanked at Bulls Lock twice, the Moors, Greenham Mill, and since the weather has improved, Pallets, Dobsons and Willows (OK, so make that 7 blanks, not 6). I believe I'm stealthy enough to try not to scare the fish, - I even had a girl on one of those ridiculous standing paddle board things on the canal scream out loud as she hadn't seen me til the last mo. On flowing water, I try to hold the float back when trotting, set it as close to the bottom as I can without continuingly getting submerged, and chuck maybe 6 maggots in a cast. I really am not sure what I do wrong, but it's something, and once I've sussed it, well, minnows beware!

In theory my blog is still in action, though I was shocked to see I haven't submitted any entries for over a year. A mixture of reasons. House move (though still in Didcot area), Covid and tackle shop closed, health. Bad back means I need to fish very near the car, and cataract means I can't do trotting and limits driving at night - though hopefully cataract will be fixed soon. Also the Thames doesn't seem to be such an all seasons river as the Kennet, being very hard to fish when up and coloured. Perhaps I should say it's a learning curve! Despite all this I do intend to start blogging again SOON!.

Congratulations, Chris, particularly on the 3.10! I've heard some negative reports on the Kennet over the last 2 or 3 years, so good to hear it's not all bad. I also thought the conditions were OK, here at Didcot. The Thames was up and coloured, but I thought I might do OK in a lock cut, the only one around where you don't need a lock and weir permit, which are not available this year. Alas, the hard-standing that I fish from was underwater!

I have a Youngs Purist - but found it a little on the heavy side - especially if I'm on the bank all day - used to suffer with 'tennis aka trotting ' elbow when I used it for long periods!

Changing swims at the very same Speen Moors this morning, I stumbled across my fishing guru, Chris, extracting his line from the branches of a tree, a most ungodlike position I have often found myself in. All retrieved, he regaled me with details of his catch for the morning thus far, pretty impressive considering I'd not even had a bite. He was kind enough to answer all my questions about tactics and methods and allowed me to watch his next few casts, which resulted in 2 of the smaller fish mentioned. but confirmed what I was doing wasn't that wrong, but there were some subtle tweaks I could make. Not wishing to make more of a nuisance of myself than I already had, I left to employ these these to cash-in at other swims. Chris, I chose swims with a glassy appearance: swapped my waggler for a loafer float attached at both ends keeping the shirt button shotting pattern: I concentrated trotting in the main flow, with some casts in nearer or further runs: I held the float back at times, I let it chug through at others: I cast downstream, and mended any bow: with a 16 hook on 4lb line, I tried red maggot, white maggot, double red, double white and one of each: I struck at every dip of the float as it tripped along the bottom: I loose fed maybe a dozen maggots very 2 mins or so down the main channel: I changed swims every 20 mins or so where nothing was happening. Nothing was happening. Not even a bite of which I could be sure wasn't just the line bumping the bottom. When Chris passed me later (soon after the nuisance 2lb trout) he was kind enough to tell me that 'swim 42' was jumping with fish, but only small ones. At the stage where I was happy to settle for a few small silvers, I thanked him profusely and ran for it. Chris, I packed up at 12 after 5 biteless hours. I am impressed and appalled to hear of your latest amazing haul. My fishing hat off to you, I honestly don't know how you do it, and I can't. Surely the chub don't know I don't have a 14ft rod nor centrepin reel? I'm left with one tiny hope that maybe you douse your maggots in hot beefy Bovril or irresistible lime marmalade maybe? I was close to throwing my gear in the water and taking up some other hobby like golf maybe, but unlike fishing, that's a pointless waste of time and anyway, there's always, always the hope that next time I go fishing... Keep up the great work and thank you for being a sport

So there I was, on the canal bank at Enbourne having pinched a Friday afternoon from work. I'd caught nothing, the canal seemingly in the 'off' position when along the bank walked another angler. I immediately recognised his face from this blog, the fabled Chris Plumb. I introduced myself as one of his blog stalkers, perpetually in awe of every catch in the same venues I just scratch in. As he told me of that morning's chub, for the first time some fish movement appeared in my swim, and as he left and walked west to complete his 18-perch haul, I had 3 roach in as many casts before all went quiet again. As the light faded, Chris was walking back towards me on his way home when I could just make out my float sink on my 'Hail Mary' final cast with a large worm. He walked by just as I landed a 2lb pike. Just as I thought: Chris Plumb is a bloody fish magnet. They say 'never meet your heroes', but I'd advise you to make an exception should Chris pass ever your swim. postscript: Blanked this morning at Dobson's (though did lose a carp at the net). Where were you, Chris?

That explains it! Turned up at Hambridge at 2:30, I had the 1 bite for a 1lb 8 chub. I think you'd caught the rest.

Great to see a tench in the canal, that’s the first one I’ve seen in truth. There’s been some good perch caught at Enborne up on the stick ups and a 4lb bream made an appearance on the help the heroes match. Well worth a trip. Pegs 28, 19, 14 and 5 all worth a try.

Hi Chris, not barbel info but I did want to let you know I had one of the big crucians out of willows at the weekend. That’s my third now in 2 seasons and this one went 3lb 1oz, was in great condition. Caught it from peg 31 on dendrobena

Barbel? What are they? Well done, Chris. You bringing them back with you I trust.

Ha - it's a bit of a bugger when those double-figure carp won't leave your maggots alone! I hope to share in your bad luck sometime