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Saturday 12th January, K&A Canal, Thatcham That’s the thing about my AN blog, it’s a record of my angling trips so if I shout about the good days I suppose I’ve got to shout about the bad ones too. That’s what I’m doing now. This early doors trip was always going to be touch and go, I’d guessed that Thursday would be the last day for mild conditions and hoped that the water would still be warm enough through Friday to this morning. To be honest it was just about, at 6 degrees I was glad I’d made the effort and the car temperature gauge showed 5 degrees on the way to the venue so although not mild it was still fishable and shouldn’t be too cold. The difference though was the wind chill, the brisk easterly blowing straight up the canal was biting and it wasn’t long before my fingers were numb, that was before I’d even started fishing. When I did start the float was being blown away from the feature I was targeting and what with the rippled surface everything seemed to be conspiring against me…payback for last week no doubt. I swapped banks which at least helped to get the float near the feature but by that time the images of bacon butties and fresh filtered coffee back in my warm kitchen had got the upper hand, I packed up an hour after first light. Not a great session but it’s all information logged for future reference. Good perch were showing and being caught in that swim last night so I do think it may be a holding spot, I was just a day later than I needed to be.

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', though in truth this was very much a game of 2 halfs!. The bright morning sunshine and low river did not make for good sport and by the time I'd abandoned my usual banker stretch and headed upstream after an early lunch I'd caught 'just' 2 chub and 6 brownies. Thankfully conditions were much more conducive in the afternoon - heavy cloud cover and a stiffish breeze to put a ripple on the water and with judicous baiting and regular resting I caught chub pretty continously from the same long trot all afternoon. The rest periods were spent fishing a carrier that I've long suspected could hold big dace - though in previous visits over the past decade or so has failed to produce any (though I did once get a brace of 2lb perch from it!). Today they were in residence - all sandpapery males in breeding condition (would love to have found a pigeon chested female - they can be even heavier!) and a couple of lovely roach as swim mates. My first 1lb dace for 17 years (which was also from this venue - though further downstream).

River Kennet - Aldermaston 1345 - 1645 Warm with 'milky' sunshine. 19ºC. River low and sluggish. 2 Grayling; 1lb 6oz & 1lb 2oz (!!). 11 Roach; Biggest 12oz (weighed) nothing else even half that. 1 Gudgeon. Well I wasn't expecting that! First trip here in well over a decade and even when I did fish it more regularly it was usually hunched over a couple of quiver tips waiting for a barbel - I rarely got the trotting gear out on this venue. So a bit of a recce and for the first hour or so it looked like a fruitless one. I'd fished half a dozen or so swims without so much as a minnow bothering my maggots and had wandered a long way downstream from where I'd dumped my gear when I suddenly found some fish - 12oz roach was first up followed by the bigger lady. Pic below is of the smaller one - after I'd retrieved my gear to my new swim. (I didn't move again for the rest of the afternoon). Can't remember when I last caught a grayling so far down the Kennet! Pic of the gonk for Martin's benefit!

Three days in Swansea fishing as part of a week's family holiday on the Gower. It has to be said that this was salt water fishing (well, maybe a bit brackish), and my experience of such contests is that the fish normally come away with a 'clean sheet'! Though on this occasion I had built up my courage by watching a youtube video by some local youngsters who made it all look rather easy, catching small fish of a wide range of species. So I was hoping to get plenty of bites and catch even if the fish were very small Day 1 I ledgered ragworm, and caught a decent fish! A flounder of about 10 oz. I was well pleased. In addition I had three bites which I failed to connect with. Maybe the fish were too small for my ragworm? Day 2 I made the rash decision to switch to bread in the hope of a mullet. Slow to say the least, but towards the end of the day I saw lots of bubbles coming from a patch of water close to the edge. Then followed very tricky bites, with the float going down about an inch and staying still, just under the surface. BUT I did actually hook a small mullet which duly careered all round the swim before coming off the hook. Then a kindly local angler, who normally fishes for mullet, offered to show me the where and the how the next morning. Wow! Day 3 Of course I was full of expectation. Mullet are often found under boats where they feed off the weed growing on the hull. He had found one particular boat hosted a good shoal of fair sized mullet, but it was too far to float fish. Accurate casting of a ledger was needed. He predicted we would very soon have little knocks from mullet, and he was right. Normally, though, they didn't produce hittable bites, rather the reverse. As if to mock the angler they would slowly remove the bread from the hook until the metal was showing, and then they would refuse to have any more to do with it! But just occasionally they would get fed up and pull the tip round with a solid take! I started to get the hang of the casting, and things looked good, but gradually it became clear the mullet were not in a bold mood, and neither of us caught. But, unlike yesterday, the smaller mullet started to show lots of interest in the bread crusts we were chucking in, and at one stage it was quite dramatic with silver flashes everywhere. And one two of them were by no means small. After my friend had gone, and I'd had a nice lunch at the nearby sailing club, I returned with a float rod. Alas, the mullet had lost some of their enthusiasm. It may have been that the sun had moved so that the relevant area was now in shadow. They seemed to positively LIKE the bright light. In short, I didn't catch. So not much on the bank after 3 days, but an interesting and enjoyable time, of course with many questions. One thing I have wondered about is the use of groundbait. I used bread crumb, both in the feeder and balled in round the float, but it didn't seem to interest the mullet - whereas at times chucking in bits of bread (which sunk) or crust (which of course didn't) did. I've been wondering whether liquidised bread might have been more effective? Comments or advice from those who know more about sea fishing than I do would be welcome!

2.30 - 5.15pm I started off 'up in the water' with hemp and tares and casters hoping for some of the quality roach and rudd I've had in the last couple of months here. I had 6 roach in the first hour, but none were over about 5 ounces, so I switched to fishing on the deck practising the lift method. One nice bream about 3lbs, and 3 crucians all about 8 oz. Enjoyable fishing.

4-5pm. I had two false starts in other swims so only left myself an hour in bright sunlight. Pleasantly surprised, though. About 10 roach up to half a pound up in the water on hemp and tares. To me it's a slight puzzle. My general impression is that the lock cuts are pretty well devoid of fish in the summer. Why is Sandford an exception? Maybe I'm wrong and there are more fish in the others than I suppose. I must give a couple of the ones nearer my home another try. To be fair, the only one I've tried hemp and tares in is Sandford.

River Kennet - Padworth 1800 - 2200 Warm and overcast. River quite low and quite coloured up (usual late summer conditions!) 3 Chub; all ¾-1lb. 11 Roach - 4 in the 8-10oz class - all the others less that half this. 1 Dace; 6oz (looked bigger!) 3 Gudgeon. Moderately successful trotting sesh (and always nice to see a few gobio gobios turn up) to precede the expected blank on the lead once it got dark. Only 'rattles' were as a result of the signals!

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0000 Warm, overcast and breezy. AT a balmy 18ºC at midnight! 2 Tench; 3lb 5oz & 2lb 7oz. 1 Crucian - handsized. Surprisingly slow evening with bites at a premium, though nice to get another of the lake's small crucians. Tench were 3 hours apart (8&11pm) with the crucian putting in an appearance just after 10pm. Alternated between prawn sections and maggot - though all fish falling to maggot. Had intended to fish longer but driving drizzle (and a stationary float!) persuaded me otherwise!

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1830 - 2345 Cool,(cold!) clear evening under a full moon. AT down to 6ºC when I packed up (it got down to 2ºC in our greenhouse overnight). River up a couple of inches and looking in better nick than it has for a couple of months. 1 Barbel; 11lb 7oz. 1 Perch; 1lb 12oz. 11 Dace; (5 of which were over 8oz). 7 Roach; (all small save for one of 11oz). 1 Gudgeon. Hooray! After nearly 40 'rod hours' ledgering (and countless more trying to get one on the float) I finally get off the mark on the barbel front - and with a real lump too! As usual I started off on the float and was soon into some really nice dace - followed up with a nice bonus perch. By eight o'clock I was hunched over my isotopes waiting for something to happen. I planned to fish a bit longer than normal - and would in all probability have normally packed up when at a quarter to midnight my downstream rod gave that familiar 3 foot twitch and I was into my first barbel of the summer. Right from the off it was clearly a big fish - a real struggle to get it off the bottom - but once I did it was quickly mine! And with that it was off to bed - much earlier than I originally intended! Not the most sylph-like barbel I've ever caught!

River Lambourn - Shaw 0815 - 1145 Bright, cool and sunny. Temp up to 5ºC. River quite low as you'd expect this time of year. 31 grayling; All a decent size, nothing below a band 3 (20cm) and most 25cm+. Biggest 1lb 5oz with lots of fish an ounce or so either side of the 1lb mark. 1 trout parr. First trip to the Lambourn this winter and it didn't disappoint. Most fish (2/3rds) from the church stretch where I was also bitten off by a rather large pike!

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0900 - 1600 Cold, overcast with snow laying to a depth of around 3-4inches. Temps hovering around 0ºC all day with frequent sporadic light snow flurries. No wind so wrapped up warm I was quite toasty all day - was actually rather a nice day to be out. River at near normal winter levels and quite clear. WT 42ºC 17 Chub(!); all over a pound with only 4 under 2¼lb, Biggest 4lb 2oz. Most fish in the 2½-2¾lb bracket. 10 Perch; Biggest 4, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 13oz. 16 Dace. 1 Roach, 2 Gudgeon. 4 Brownies including fish of 5lb 1oz and 4lb 5oz. 3 Rainbows to 2½lb. A session that defied logic or at least conventional wisdom as to what constitutes 'good angling conditions'. With air temperatures struggling to get above zero and water temperatures continuing to fall - we expected to struggle - how wrong can you be. I suppose we did have an overcast day and the road salt has yet to get into the rivers - but we considered these mere straws to be clutched! The date had been in Paul and my diaries for some time - we usually try and get a 'special' trip in sometime around my Birthday (which was last weekend). However it was touch and go whether, A we could find a venue that would let us on (or in the case of the Frome was within its banks) and, B we could actually get there. In the end we made the decison at 0700 on the day - and as a concession to the weather opted to arrive and leave in day light. (We usually arrive when it's still too dark to see a float - and leave under the same light conditions!!!!) Any fears that we had evaporated instantly. Paul probably spent most of the morning rueing his decision to turn down my offer to toss a coin for choice of first swim. We both had in mind where we wanted to start - but Paul said 'you can start there'. (well it is MY birthday!) And what a present the river delivered. In the first 1½hours of fishing I had 14 chub to 3¼lb plus the two biggest trout. I don't usually weigh the trout but these were 2 impressive fish. At times the fishing took on Mr Castwell proportions - with the float dipping at the same point in the swim every trot - and yet another 2½lb chub was brought to the net (as opposed to a similar sized trout in Skues' fable). A schooly 2½lber... By the time Paul joined me for mid-morning coffee, bites were begining to dry up - I was almost thankful!! We agreed that we'd rest the swim and that Paul would have first dibs to fill his boots in the afternoon - something he did with aplomb - snaffling another 8 fish including one of 5lb 3oz. I joined him right at the end of the day and was allowed to run a float through a few times. Paul had just announced that we hadn't caught a 4 lber today (a less than subtle ruse to draw attention to the fact he'd caught a 5 methinks!) when bang on cue I get one of just that size. Between the morning and late afternoon chubfests - Both Paul and I had some great predator action. Paul had spent most of the morning catching dace - something I joined in on after my chubby start but after lunch we both decided on seeing if we could get some predators. Paul had his pike gear with him and had seen a fish in the shallows - plus I'd lost a dace to a pike. My target was a perch or two - though that was more in hope than expectation. Sure enough my perch campaign got off to a slow start - chub in cold conditions is a bit of a staple but perch - I must be mad. These thoughts were going through my head after 15minutes of looking at a stationary float when all of a sudden it bobbed twice and slowly went under. A strike met with the briefest restistance and no lob - crayfish? a perch?. The answer wasn't long in coming as my next bait was snaffled even before the float cocked and a nice perch shot out from the slack into the main current - a nice fish of 2½lbs... I'd added 3 smaller ones to this when I had a call from Paul. He'd caught a big pike and could I come and take its portrait with its captor. It was a VERY nice pike short and very fat as trout fishery pike often are and at 17lbs exactly a new PB for Paul.. Paul then caught a couple of jacks and after the hiatus I returned to my Perch swim to continue where I'd left off with a couple more 2lb+ fish and half a dozen smaller ones upto 1lb. 4 O'clock and time to pack up as we wanted to be off the country roads while it was still light. Normally I'd be a bit regretfull at leaving a venue such as this while there was still fishable light - Paul too - but today we were well and truely sated!!!! Paul's 5lber - should be easy to identify again in the future... Winter Wonderland

My PB List. Haven’t done one of these for a while and it seems an appropriate way to ‘celebrate’ my 400th blog post. And I’ve even dug out and scanned a few old photos (rather crappy ones I have to admit!) which are appearing on the WWW for the 1st time. Best Carp – 27lb 6oz. 15 August 2008. Blue Pool – Burghfield. Method feeder – hair-rigged hemp bogey. I usually spend all summer trying to avoid carp as I pursue tench and crucians but this was caught on an IAC fish-in – a 24hr booking around half a dozen of us had on this CEMEX water. I was getting plagued by carp knocking the feeder but not taking the hook offering (pellet or boilies) so I figured I’d give them something EXACTLY the same as was in the feed and made up a ball of hemp with Kryston bogey and hair-rigged that instead. Above was the result! Blog Entry: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-263-1415-august/ Best Pike – 18lb 10oz. 10 February 2001. River Lambourn – Newbury. Free-lined Lamprey section. An opportunistic capture – and one of the few pike I’ve ever ‘stalked’. I saw the fish laid up in a small weir-pool and was able to lower a bait within a couple of feet of its nose. As soon as the bait hit the bottom I could see the pike’s gills ’flare’ but it still took nearly 20mins to edge up to the offering before engulfing it – exciting stuff! Best Barbel – 12lb 4oz. 27 July 2004. River Kennet, Arrowhead – Thatcham. Ledgered Halibut pellet. A bit of ‘prospecting’ which paid off at the time – but despite repeat visits a swim that never produced another fish despite also getting an 8lber and a river carp of similar size the same evening. Still the only 3 fish I’ve ever had from the swim. Best Bream – 12lb 2oz. 2 July 2011. Summer Pit – Yateley. Float fished (lift method) maggot. Really a venue I used to visit for its tench and crucians – but I was actually after bream when I caught this and had a number of 8lb+ fish that summer from the same venue. Blog entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-704-12-july/ Best Brown Trout – 8lb 12oz. 14 March 2008. Middle Kennet Estate – Newbury. Trotted Maggot. (No photo) I rarely weigh trout let alone photograph one – especially when like this they are caught right in front of the keeper’s cottage. I Usually spend the winter trying to avoid them and hoping they get off when I hook one – though was rather pleased to land this on light-ish tackle in fast water. Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-222-14-march/ Best Tench – 7lb 10oz. 18 June 2003. Wylies Lake – Thatcham. Float fished (lift method) black pudding. Black pudding (it needs slicing and frying up first to give it a skin) is one of my favourite tench baits – and one that was first suggested to me by reading the very first printed book on angling. Published in 1496, The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle (also from which the woodcut of an angler float fishing is my Anglersnet Avatar) is attributed to one Dame Juliana Berners – though there is scant evidence such a person ever existed. In it a recommended bait for tench, is described as a paste made from black sheep’s blood, honey and flour – which must have looked like (and smelt like) black pudding. Best Chub – 6lb 7oz. 19 February 2012. Middle Kennet Estate – Nr Kintbury. Trotted Red Sweetcorn. Patience rewarded. A swim I had a hunch held big chub but which I think I’ve rushed at too much in the past – often getting a few schooly ones before killing the sport. This fish was the last one of half a dozen caught in a morning where I rested and fed the swim after each capture. Just in time too – this winter’s floods have changed this swim significantly – washing away the bush that used to create the slack that held the chub – I didn’t get a bite here from 2 visits this (12/13) winter…ho hum. Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-848-19-february/ Best Salmon – 5lb 10oz. 13 October 2008. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo) Again a species I’d rather not be catching when I’m fishing for grayling – was still nice to get my first ‘proper’ one though! Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-281-13-october/ Best Rainbow Trout – 4lb 10oz. 5 March 2004. Barton Court – Kintbury. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo) A species I rather wished wasn’t in the Kennet at all! Best Perch – 4lb 2oz. 16 February 2013. Kennet & Avon Canal – Thatcham. Float fished lobworm. Don’t think I need to say any more about this! Blog entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1017-16-february-part-2/ Best Crucian – 3lb 13oz. 26 June 2011. Newbury AA Lake – Widmead. Float fished (lift method) bacon grill. One of my favourite summer species. Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-699-26-june/ Best Grayling – 2lb 15oz. 6 January 2002. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted maggot. One of my first winters at LIF – and looking through my diary I’d forgotten just how awesome the grayling fishing was back then. In just 2 trips in 01/02 I had 27 grayling over 2lb of which 9 were over 2½lb. This 2.15 was the biggest – over a decade later and I’m still hunting a 3! Best Roach – 2lb 11oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot. A red letter day to end all red letter days. 7 Feb 2003 is now hard-wired into my consciousness. I had a 1-15 roach pretty much 1st cast and this beauty last cast. In between these 2 redfins I had…. Best Dace – 1lb 2oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot. …3 dace over 1lb including this fat pigeon chested female (plus 5 more between 13-15oz). Martin Bowler catches a 1-02 dace from the same swim in Catching the Impossible (filmed sometime after my capture I have to add!) And finally some odds ’n sods… Brown Goldfish - 1lb 14oz: 21/06/05, Float fished Bread, Pumphouse Lake, Yateley. Sea Trout - 1lb 12oz: 06/01/02, Trotted Maggot, Lower Itchen Fishery. Eel - 1lb 6oz: 11/10/03, Trotted Maggot, River Test, Timsbury Rudd - 1lb 6oz: 27/07/91, Float fished Maggot, NAA Lake, Widmead.

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 wasted the best part of the morning. I needn't have worried - though I was contemplating switching to Plan B and a venue just downstream when at around 1000 I connected with something distinctly chub-like which headed for the trailing branches on the opposite bank. However once I'd bullied it into open water I could see it was a really good perch and I thought I'd be celebrating my 500th blog posting with a 4lber - alas 6 ounces shy - but my best of the season (so far). Also nice so see some really chunky dace in this swim this season.

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1630. Cool and overcast after a soggy start, rain returning just as we packed up, temps didn't get above 4ºC all day. River quite pacey with a slight tinge of colour. 37 Grayling; 14 over 1lb with half of these over 1½lb. Best two; 2lb 5oz & 1lb 13oz. 1 Brownie and 2 Salmon Parr. IAC fish-in in memory of Paul Goulbourn. A poignant day on the Itchen. Paul and I were introduced to this fishery back in the late 90's - via an IAC fish-in and we made a point of fishing it every season since - always scheduling a trip in mid to late Feb - so today was full of recollections of trips past and a fitting venue for some of his old IAC mates to gather in his memory. The talk on the list this week has all been about otters and blow me if the first thing we saw when we arrived at Gaters Mill at first light was an otter. And not just a fleeting glimpse - we watched as it scampered up the bank, crossed over the track and plunge into the river to head upstream under the M27. After this early excitement the first challenge was to get the cars up the track - we'd been warned that it was in a poor state but everyone made it up safely even if a few cars had to be pushed out for the return journey. The angling was everything I'd hoped it would be (save for the lack of chub). The river was quite 'full' but thankfully the lack of rain in the previous days had meant it had had a chance to fine down. The weather was exactly as per forecast - early rain giving way to a dry, cool, overcast day. I started in a spot where I expected there to be chub but the extra water meant that the slack that is usually there - wasn't. However it wasn't long before my trotted corn was snaffled by my first fish of the day a 1lb 9oz grayling - a super start. It quite quickly transpired that the fish appeared to be shoaled up in a few specific spots - and I ended up catching all my grayling from just 3 swims - rest and return being my mantra for the day. Sometimes at fish-ins you can go all day without actually meeting up with anyone - especially on a large venue such as LIF. Dave had a arranged for everyone to down rods and meet up for lunch - with the offer of freshly cooked sausages, toasted sandwiches and cupcakes! It made for a nice sociable interlude - even if Ed did miss the photocall in his urgency to return to the river! Thank you's to: - everyone who came especially those that travelled some distance to make it - Dave Smith for organising the day and acting as treasurer -£120 (+ Gift Aid) was raised by the event which will be given to Duchess of Kent Hospice where Paul spent his final days. - Chris (Rusty) for offering to give me a lift and being great company. Some the IAC Reprobates! (That's Brian on his knees - praying for a 2lber?) My biggest of the day.

Middle (just ) Kennet Estate. 0900 - 1645 Bright afternoon after a soggy morning. AT up to 11ºC. River quite full but with little colour. 28 Chub; nearly all in the 2½-3½lb bracket. Only 2 under 2lb and only one over 4lb (and that by just 3oz). 2 Dace. 7 Trout (6 Rainbows & a Brown) up to 2¾lb. Treated myself to a late birthday trip. Keeper directed me to a carrier that he said was 'black' with chub back in the summer (but warned that the extra water might have pushed them out). He (and I) needn't have worried. First 6 trots all produced chub and I had a dozen in no time at all. Rested it in favour of another chub swim on the main river - and that was pretty much the pattern of the day - rest and return! Most fish (around 2/3rds) on trotted red corn - the rest on trotted maggot. The swim on the main river.

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1400 Dull, overcast and cool - AT around 6ºC all day with a breeze picking up. River VERY full, barely within its banks and that only recently given the state of the field. 1.30m at the East Stoke river gauge - much higher than I'd usually fish it - BUT after a dry week it was reasonably clear. 10 Grayling - only 4 needed the net - biggest 1lb 11oz but that was the only really 'decent' one. 1 Sea Trout (1¼lb and still with sea lice on it), 1 brownie - small. Bit of a gamble - but the river levels have been so high on the Frome since the start of the season (1st Nov) it looked like my DDAS ticket was going to go to waste - and with more rain forecast this week - it was a case of now or never! The venue is never prolific so it was nice to get a few, and would often get a fish first trot when I moved swims. Frustratingly I lost nearly as many as I landed including a large fish which I had on for sometime before the hook pulled (again!) - hope it was just a troot! Resting and returning to swims was the order of the day - all fish coming from just 3 spots (and one of those only produced one fish!) One of yesterday's 'hotspots'.

8th August - Shh So I managed to secure a ticket on the water that featured in my last blog and thought it was about time I christened my new rod so I popped down there to fish the afternoon into the evening. As before I baited a good number of likely looking spots with soaked pellet, corn and a few chops and fished them in rotation judging by what I'd seen. It's seriously exciting stuff, watching these dark, old cheese's feeding, all the time willing them to drift off momentarily so you can sneak a rig in. When they come back it's as if time stands still, you freeze to the spot, even trying to breathe quietly as you watch them edge closer to the hookbait. Then in an instant the serenity is broken, the centerpin turns into a blur and your holding the rod at full compression in an attempt to stop them reaching any cover. I had 3 and a tinca over about 5 hours fishing. - 9th August - Shh Another day off... Lasted a couple of hours sitting around at home before I gave in and hotfooted over to the forgotten lake with 4 hours to try and outwit another of it's residents. Baited a number of swims, concentrating on trying to catch from new ones this time. Got off to a very good start in the first swim. Sneaked a hookbait onto a new spot that only had one fish feeding on it, put the rod down and sneaked the 5 yards next door to check another spot when the pin went into meltdown. Pressure off. I had a bit of a wander around after that. The other spot I'd seen fish on had become occupied by a chap that I'd met the day before... he'd been a member for over a season and was yet to land a carp. Anyway, I crept about checking spots before spotting a couple of tails waving at me from the dark water next to a very snaggy tree. It seemed like I waited forever for them to drift off before getting the rig in with a fresh handful of bait. 10 minutes later they were back, 5 or 6 of them feeding with gusto, somehow avoiding my rig. Then out of nowhere a familiar looking ghosty sped in, beelined for the hookbait and hooked itself instantly. A real hit and hold scrap later and as I suspected it was the same fish that I'd opened my account with a week previously. They played hard to get after that with all the spots looking quiet, until I saw a fish ghost over the area I'd had the most action from. They had obviously cleaned all the bait out and were looking for more, so in went the rig and a handful of grub. 20 minutes and one aborted take later I landed another absolute stunner. I'm sure you can see why I love the place and understand that I want to keep it's location quiet.

31st March - K&A Canal Popped back to the canal with the soft plastics tonight. It was rather an impromptu trip after unexpectedly getting off from work early but it was certainly worthwhile. I thought I'd try another new stretch to prevent it getting a little stale, and to give the other stretches a bit of respite. I made a quick call to see if the old man wanted to join me and 3/4 of an hour later we were tackling up, full of expectation. We fished for an hour or so in the biting wind with only a little jack to show for it and feeling rather deflated we came close to admitting defeat and going home. Somehow I managed to persuade him to stay, with the promise that it would pick up as the light was fading. For once my premonitions rang true and as the sun dropped below the horizon I had a right result. 4 good'uns in approximately 15 minutes, and when you consider half of that time was spent weighing and photographing fish, it was pretty hectic. 2.11 2.13 3.0 The other one was 2.4, which I slipped back without a pic. Dad chipped in with a beauty of 2.10 a few minutes after mine which rounded the evening off fantastically. I don't think I could ever get bored catching these perch on the jigs. That said I have ordered some gear for drop-shotting, just to mix things up a little. No doubt I'll be straight back out there when it arrives so hopefully the next entry won't be too far away.

Disruption is the word that springs to mind when I look back over the past season. After a bone dry winter relief (from an angling point of view) came in the form of heavy rain leading up to June 2012, as you would expect this bolstered levels and provided some temporary respite for the struggling Kennet. Only the respite didn’t turn out to be temporary, I kept expecting to see the water drop back during the dry spells but there weren’t many of those for the rest of the season. As a consequence there was a period of about three months during the summer when the Kennet was in prime condition, wading was still possible and it was a pleasure to fish. From there on it became more difficult, during autumn and winter the rain kept coming and what we have now is a river just within its banks and very susceptible to the lightest of rainfall. I don’t mind this situation, it’s much better than if we’d had a dry summer but it has had an impact on the fishing, swim availability has been more limited with some stretches like Brimpton being a muddy torrent most of the time. As regards results well it’s been a pleasing year with January 2013 being particularly notable. This is when I found a swim which produced perch after perch and all of them a good size. Early season activities centred around barbel, the first week off work saw me feeding pints of maggots into what I thought were reliable swims but it wasn’t until the last day of my holiday (24th June) that I finally managed to catch one, only 4lb 4oz but enough on light trotting gear; July and August were fairly quiet for me fishing wise, motorcycling took priority as I prepared my bike for what was to be week long holiday in Cornwall. In the event the weather was terrible so I went in the car and then a family emergency ended the holiday not long after it had started. The time I did spend fishing though was to prove invaluable, in trying to avoid September boat traffic I chanced my arm in a canal swim and stumbled across a shoal of decent perch. Exactly how decent I wasn’t to find out until later in the season but for now 2lb 12oz was pretty good; September also accounted for one of the more amusing moments of the season. A pike grabbed a dace that I’d caught and managed to hook itself neatly in the top jaw, probably a PB pike on the float at 6lb 14oz; October was the last month that my club stretches were fishable without any restriction due to high water levels. After that it was a case of fish the Lambourn, the K&A Canal or search out slack water on the Kennet and there wasn’t much of that. Before the Autumn deluge I did have one final fling at Speen Moors (the APFA Kelly Kettle swim) and achieved a venue PB chub at 4lb 10oz; The onset of winter brought with it the worst fishing conditions I’ve known. The Kennet was high, coloured and fast in most places and the Thames was quite lierally all over the place. The location of last year’s PB chub was four feet under water and although the high levels eventually receded a days rain would see them straight back up again. I never did get down to Goring for winter chubbing which is a real shame. Another disappointment was the lack of access to the Middle Kennet Estate venue but this is perfectly understandable given the conditions the riverkeeper was having to deal with. I did get there twice late in the season and both times caught chub so I’m very grateful for that. November saw me having a brief encounter with roach on the Lambourn. After initial success with a nice little specimen and eyeballing a shoal which contained much bigger fish I really thought I was onto something. As usual though my impatience got the better of me and after failing to tempt the larger roach I abandoned the mini campaign after a couple of visits; January was without doubt the highlight of my season, remember that perch swim I found on the canal during September? Well it accounted for a PB perch of 3lb 8oz and one of the best sessions I can remember, six fish for just under 18lbs in weight This spot was to retain my focus until the end of the season though it never quite lived up to that session again. In fact it dumped me firmly in my place when it failed to provide a fish on an occasion where I was absolutely certain that I’d do well. It was also responsible for my season going out in a quiet whimper rather than a big bang, my final evening session on the 14th March resulted in a spectacular blank. So that’s my review of the 2012/13 season. All things considered it’s been a pretty good year and I’m now looking forward to hot sunny days fishing for carp off the surface and (on the occasions I can manage to get up early enough) misty dawn mornings after tench. Oh and there’s Wingham, I fully intend to put my hand up again this year so if I’m fortunate enough to go who knows what that might bring?

Ok a bit of a cheat title because it was over two sessions but it was from one swim during consecutive dusk/dawn periods. I had no intention of spending a night by the K&A Canal. Saturday 5th January, River Kennet, Newbury and the K&A Canal, Thatcham At last an opportunity to get on the river trotting. The Kennet has been pretty inaccessible with all the rain so the few short sessions I've had have been on the Lambourn catching grayling, nice but I was beginning to miss catching chub. Chris Plumb's blog indicated that there might be a chance at one venue so that's where I headed for the late morning session, the afternoon would be spent on the canal trying to take advantage of the perfect perch conditions. As I drove over the bridge first impressions weren't good, despite the dry spell the river was still way over its banks and I wondered whether it was actually higher than when Chris had fished it. Walking the venue revealed just one fishable swim but it looked a corker, sure there was loads of water but it wasn't coloured and the increased flow on the far bank had created a beautiful glide between the middle of the river and the near bank. Trotting commenced and I'm pleased to report that it was interrupted on several occasions by fish. The first two were chub with 3lb being the largest, unfortunately a trout put an end to those but small grayling, roach, dace and perch followed over the next few hours. Exactly the sort of session I was after. So off to the canal buoyed with enthusiasm, that is until I spent an hour in my chosen swim with no sign of any perch being present. Thoughts of my local pub and dinner started to enter my head as it got darker and creepier, I phoned Steve to let him know that somebody has stolen all of the fish in the canal and that I was thinking of going home. He made the valid point that I may as well stick it out through dusk until it got proper dark, I just needed to be careful about the ghost of an axe murderer who'd drowned in one of the locks (it was a heavy axe and he wouldn't let go apparently). I couldn't fault his logic and also couldn't remember the last occasion Id fished for perch at the 'right' time of day so I pressed another lobworm into service and cast out. Not long after that fry started showing on the surface, not in large numbers but it was activity at last. It was like a switch had been flicked somewhere, my float shot under and I lifted into a solid lump of a perch, I haven't yet caught a tiddler from this swim and that trend continued with this 3lb 2oz beauty; About 20 minutes later another bite and another 'three' but no spare ounces this time, 3lb exactly; I was both elated and speechless but amazed myself by retaining enough composure to re-bait and cast out in rapidly fading light, sadly there was no more action, the feeding spell had only lasted half an hour. Fumbling around and packing up was a tricky business (I'd forgotten my headtorch) but I got back to the car in one piece and contemplated the evening ahead. Forget the pub, early dinner and early to bed, dawn was only a few hours away. Sunday 6th January, K&A Canal, Thatcham and the River Kennet, Newbury Back to the same canal swim and at 7:30am on the dot I could just see well enough to fish. I'd been feeding maggots for half an hour by then and the time had come to lower in the first lobworm of the day. I thought the float had disappeared as soon as it hit the water but in the gloom I wasn't sure that I could trust my eyes, a tentative strike provoked something at the other end and a couple of minutes later the first perch of the day was on the bank, 2lb 12oz; I won't go into chapter and verse about the following two hours, suffice to say it was the best perching session Ive had and included a new PB. The next fish, 2lb 15oz; And the PB, I'm really pleased that this looks noticeably larger than the other fish. Sometimes I look at my perch photos and wonder whether they really look the weight, this one does at 3lb 8oz; Finally 2lb 7oz to round the morning off; At 9:30am I hadn't had a bite for a while so I concluded that the morning feeding time had come to an end. The canal was getting busy with canoeists, dog walkers and pesky anglers so it seemed a good time to move back to the river. The sun came out for a bit and the chub and dace came out for a bit longer, nothing large but it was really pleasant to finish the day on running water. It had been a memorable weekend, the perch weren't full of spawn yet so itll be interesting to try that swim nearer the end of the season, I wonder how much heavier a 3-08 will get?

Another season comes to a close and a rather splendid one it was too. Bookended by two fabulous chub which twice upped a PB that had stood since the 2011/12 season. My tench best also fell, a record that had stood since 2003 was bettered by something of a mug fish which was caught multiple times over the summer by different anglers (I caught it twice!) Record rainfall in September burst the springs on the downs unusually early and put the Kennet into flood or near flood all winter. This, again, led me to explore and get to know some new stretches of river notably at Colthrop which produced some amazing chub! Best Carp: 12lb 6oz. 20 August. Free-lined bread crust, Marshall's Mere. One of the few carp caught 'by design' as I usually try and avoid the blighters when I'm after tench. This rather ugly looking one was caught after a blank evening for the tincas! Best Tench: 8lb 2oz (New PB). 30 July. Float fished prawn section, Warwicks Water. I had some splendid evenings' tench fishing on this small lake over the summer with several tench over 5lb including this stunning specimen. This fish was caught by other anglers over the summer and came out at 9lb, full of spawn, in May. I caught her again, 4 ounces lighter,at the end of August. Best Chub: 7lb 3oz (new PB). 28 February. Trotted maggot, River Kennet (flowing canal) - Colthrop. First days of the season are just about being back on the bank - not chasing personal bests yet my season started with me breaking a PB that had stood for over 12 years. I do love catching chub and that 6lb 10oz fish on a bright June morning was the fish of my dreams. A very plump fish which I don't think had yet spawned, it was the highlight of a superlative morning's angling. I could little imagine that less than 9 months later I'd be celebrating a chub over ½lb bigger! I've fished Colthrop sporadically over tha last 2 or 3 decades and never really caught much of note despite whispers that there were decent fish to be found. A flooded Kennet put a couple of my favourite venues (Hambridge & Brimpton) out of action for large parts of the autumn and winter and meant I fished Colthrop more times this season than the previous 10+ years combined. The venue is close to home so lent itself to short sessions of exploration. The results have been sensational - I've caught exactly 2 dozen chub of which over ½ (14) have been in excess of 4lb, culminating in this spectacular 7lber, which was another gravid fish at its top winter weight. In addition - and somewhat surprisingly,the venue threw up a number of decent grayling to over 2lb! 6lb 10oz 7lb 3oz Best Bream: 6lb 13oz. 18 June. Float fished prawn section - lift method, Marshall's Mere. I don't catch many bream on this lake and this fish, a by-catch on a tenching session is by far and away my biggest ever from the water! Best Sea Trout: 3lb 15oz (new PB). 1 November. Trotted Maggot - River Frome, Wool. I got rather plagued with sea trout on my two trips to Wool this season - I did actually weigh this one as I thought it was well over 4lbs - but didn't realise I hadn't caught a bigger Sea Trout until I got home (might have taken its picture if I'd realised!) Best Perch: 3lb 9oz. 15 November. Float fished maggot - River Kennet, Hambridge. For the third year running my biggest perch was a 3lber from the River Kennet (as opposed to the K&A Canal). 6 of the 7, 2½+lb perch I caught this season came from the river at Hambridge - though as I never caught more than two in a session I do wonder how many were repeat captures! Best Barbel: 3lb 6oz. 9 October. Ledgered Elips pellets - River Kennet, Hambridge. The biggest of 7 barbel I caught from the Kennet this season - my best since 2013/14 (when I had 14) and whilst all modest in size they were a very welcome sight! Best Crucian: 2lb 10oz. 1 July. Float fished prawn section, Harris Lake, Marsh Farm. Scratchy summer on the crucian front and the first season since 2014/15 that I failed to catch a 3lber. Best Grayling: 2lb 6oz. 1 December. Trotted Maggot, Lower Itchen Fishery. Its been a stellar autumn/winter for grayling with 13 fish over 2lb - my best since 2008/09 (when I caught 13 X 2lbers in a day on the Lower Itchen!). For the first time ever in the same season I caught 2lb+ ladies from 4 different rivers (Frome, Itchen, Kennet & Lambourn). Best Dace: 13oz. 8 November. Trotted maggot - Northcroft Stream, Newbury.

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1400 Cool, calm & cloudy. A benign winter's day! AT 4º - 7ºC. River quite pacey with a tinge of colour. 1.17 on the East Stoke gauge. 11 Grayling; 6 over a lb - best three: 2lb 2oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 10oz. 7 Brownies: a 3lb+ and half a dozen small-uns. 2 Sea trout; 2½lb & 3lb. Slow and steady day - fish from 3 swims though the majority from just one spot. Sea trout were a bit of a menace - I lost 3 after extensive aerial antics and was also briefly connected to what I think was a salmon! All fish on maggot, didn't get a single bite on sweetcorn which was a surprise. 10th, 2lb+ grayling of the season!

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1615 Bright and sunny and VERY windy all day. AT 7ºC. River high - barely within its banks and with a tinge of colour - in great winter's nick! 20 Chub: 15 over 1lb with 12 over 3lbs. The biggest 5 went 4lb 4oz, 4lb 10oz, 4lb 15oz, 5lb 2oz & 5lb 8oz. 7 Roach & 4 Dace - all small. 6 Brownies; 2½-4lbs. Birthday treat to myself (twas yesterday) resulted in a splendid days winter chubbing. Wind was challenging to put it mildly - nearly got blown in the river once and had discarded my hat within the first 5 mins of fishing after it got blown off my head twice in a minute! Casting and keeping the float on a trotting line was near on impossible at times - especially in the morning when it was particularly lively! However, I persevered with my usual tactics of trotting corn which produced all the big chub and finished off with 45 mins on the (much more sheltered) carriers failing to find any big dace. Biggest of the Day

River Lambourn - Newbury 1045 - 1445 Cold and cloudy. AT around -1ºC all day. River low 14 Grayling; 8 over a lb and as they got progressively bigger throughout the session I ended up weighing 5 of them - at 1-06, 1-07, 1-09, 1-10 & 1lb 12oz. 1 Brownie - small. I love days like this - wrapped up warm against an iron hard frost - which froze my landing net between each fish landed! As ever the Lambourn Ladies were very obliging despite the cold - fished the length of the venue twice (with a lunch break in between) - so most of my regular hotspots produced again after a good rest. Nice to see some good sized fish in this part of the river again..... Biggest two of the day...

Fished a new stretch of the Thames for a couple of hours this morning. Spent most of the time fishing feeder with double caster on the hook, just 3 rod lengths out. Just caught gudgeon plus a couple of very small roach. Then I switched to 4mm carp pellet and, for the last 10 minutes or so, cast out into the flow and had a 3lb 7oz bream. Not big by Thames standards, but it was actually the best Thames bream I have had, so I was very pleased.

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm - Milford 1600 - 0000 Cool (for late July!), 17ºC - 15ºC, very breezy (thanks to storm Evert) with a couple of brief flurries of rain - though precipitation had been much heavier prior to arrival. 23 (!!!?!!!) Crucians: 18 over 2lb (the other 5 all around 1¾lb - I had 2 @1-14). Best 5 went, 3lb 2oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 12oz & 2lb 11oz. 7 Tench: best 4lb 2oz - the others all 2-3lbers. 1 Perch: unweighed but needed the net and easily ½lb. 2 Rudd (micro sized - both caught on a bare hook as I adjusted the shotting on my float at the start of the session!) WOW! Feast or Famine. I couldn't buy a bite here 6 weeks ago - and yet today caught nearly double the number of big crucians than I caught in the whole of last season - in fact looking back through my diaries I can't see a better return in the 15 years I've been coming to this venue. And to add to the fun they were all caught on the float - pretty much under my rod tip. Had planned for this to be a bit of an overnighter but by 9.00pm I already had 20 to my name (including all the bigger ones) and bites then actually tailed off a bit as it got dark - complete opposite to what nearly always happens here. Really frenetic evening - took 3 attempts to make myself a cup of tea as I kept having to turn the stove off to land a fish! All fish on chopped prawn - took maggot but didn't even put one on the hook!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington 0700 - 1400 Mild and VERY gusty with drizzle for the first couple of hours or so (lovely - not!) 1 doz+ perch - most around to 10-12oz mark but couldn't find anything bigger (which what I was after primarily). 2 doz+ roach nothing big), 1 Gudgeon (1st of the season), 1 Dace, 1 Chublet and a Skimmer. 'Orrible session! Wind was a nightmare for casting and presentation (and nearly knocked me off my feet twice). Fished half a dozen or so swims in search of a decent perch and pretty much had similar results from all of them - though at the last place I tried they were slightly bigger so might start here next time. I truth though it was a bit of a 'I'll be glad when I've had enough of this session' !! as the wind made for very difficult conditions - my wrist was sore from holding the rod against it - as it was straight downstream.

A Southern Chalk Stream ! Dawn till Dusk! Sunny spells and heavy showers - which apart from a brief downpour in the 1st hour missed us completely! Saw some very black clouds to the east and west of us in the afternoon - but nothing over us - so we had the sunny spells while others had the heavy showers - hooray!! 73(!) Grayling. 36(!) over a 1lb. Most in the 1¼ lb - 1lb 10oz bracket. Biggest 5 went; 2lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 15oz & 1lb 13oz. 3 Chub; 5lb 0oz, 4lb 7oz, 3lb 0oz. 20 Brownies to 3lb. 1 Salmon Parr. Brilliant day's fishing. Though the day didn't get off to the best of starts - no big breakfast! We pulled into Sutton Scotney services on the A34 on the stroke of 7am - with saliva glans already working overtime in anticipation of a Little Chef Olympic Breakfast only to discover the Little Chef has been replaced by a Costa Coffee! Popping next door for a MacDonalds breakfast bagel was scant replacement. We're going to have to suss out alternatives for future trips! When we arrived we were delighted to see the river was in fantastic nick especially given the heavy rain the previous day. Last winters floods have significantly remodelled parts of the river bed so we had some new swims to explore - though the biggies and the chub were still in their regular haunts. Biggest 2 chub and 2 of the 2 pound grayling caught on trotted red corn - though the 2-6 was on red maggot. Paul also had a good return with around 50 grayling to 2lb 2oz - and he even had PB sea trout of 4lb 10oz or is it a Salmon? Answers on a postcard see pic below. Fat 5lber. As usual trying to take a pic of a grayling is akin to trying to give a cat a pill. This was about my 6th attempt with my 1st 2 of the day - I gave up after this! Just about got this one (though the tail is in mid flick). Though my biggest of the day did stay still just long enough. A couple of Paul's 'trout' which I'm putting up for identification purposes! Pretty sure this is a sea trout. But is this a sea trout or a salmon?

River Frome - Wool 0815 - 1445 Bright and sunny with a cool breeze. River in good flow but quite coloured up. River gauge at East Stoke 0.90m 10 Grayling; 7 over 1lb - best 3; 2lb 13oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 12oz. 4 Brownies - 3 over 1lb - biggest just under 4lb, 1 Salmon Parr. After last winter I was determined to get down to Dorset at the first opportunity - even if conditions were likely to be sub-optimal. Which certainly was the case. There was a lot more colour in the river than I would have liked and after a couple of hours I was beginning to think it was a wasted journey. I had caught by then - a small grayling in the first 10 mins was followed by not a lot else. And by now the place was heaving with other anglers also making the most of a lovely autumn day. Most like me were roaming so all the swims on the top beat quickly had a visit - so imagine my surprise at dropping into a recently vacated swim and getting a 2lb 13oz grayling within 5 mins!! The next hour in the same spot produced the 2nd and 3rd biggest of the day along with another pounder and a trout. Hooray! My 3rd= biggest ever lady and justification for getting up at 0500 on a sunday! After lunch was spent exploring the lower beat - one that I rarely visit - but I also reasoned there wouldn't be many others either (Rusty called this beat the wilderness due to it lack of features - and lack of fish!) I didn't quite have the beat to myself - but spoke to a couple of anglers who had been catching regularly. I dropped in downstream and soon snaffled a couple of grayling but thereafter kept hooking trout - including the biggie and a couple more which got off - one after doing quite a bit of aerobatics! As ever trying to take a picture of a grayling is akin to trying to give a cat a pill. This was the best of around half a dozen - but is still flicking its tail....

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 trout & 7 Salmon parr. A trip, which despite weeks of anticipation, nearly didn't happen! Paul and I have been fishing here for many a year now and the routine is now a familiar one. My house at 0615 (though Paul is usually 5mins late!), Little Chef, A34 Sutton Scotney for 0700 (Olympic & OJ for me, Early Starter and a pot of tea for Paul), LIF by 0800 - fishing by 0815 at the latest! For this trip I was also under instruction from Paul not to get his new car too dirty - he only picked it up on Weds - so I even put in a clean set of clothes to change into after we finished. I wasn't overly alarmed to get a call at bang on 0615 - fully expected to hear from Paul that he'd just pulled off the motorway and would be 5 mins. Well the first part was right - though limped off the motorway would be more accurate - as he'd broken down with an over heated engine - having lost all it's coolant! 142 miles on the clock - the AA man did have a chuckle - newest car he'd ever attended! Thankfully after quite a bit of head scratching the problem was located - a plastic spacer used to keep the clip from attaching the hose to the thermostat housing during manufacture hadn't been removed (which would have engaged the spring clip) when it left the factory meaning the pipe had come loose and emptied coolant all over the gear box - and stank out the car in the process. Having got Paul going, the AA man followed him to my house to check everything was OK and whilst he finished off the repair we rejigged our timetable for the day. And it was bye bye breaky!! I did us some toast and we decide that we'd head straight for the fishery - fishing time being EVEN more important than a fry up! However, whizzing past the LC at 70mph did feel a little strange! On arrival I was quickly wondering why I'd bothered as I had a very frustrating first hour, We both started in the same pool - often a hotspot and a good place for both of us to get off the mark. I fished red sweetcorn (something I'd continue to do for most of the rest of the day - all my better fish were caught on it) while Paul fished maggot. There's no doubt I got the majority of bites - but fish after fish kept coming off. 'Your hooks not sharp enough', said Paul (I checked it - it was). After getting bitten off by a trout I changed patterns which seemed to do the trick - as I started to land fish - including the trout that had bitten me off 10 mins earlier - my original hook being retrieved from its scissors. We both caught pound plus fish from this first swim - though I was hoping for something a little more impressive - something I eventually achieved by letting my float trot down the glide below the pool - I connected with, and thankfully landed this time, the only 2lber of the day. Roach were also high on our agenda for this trip so for most of the rest of the day we eschewed the usual grayling hotspots in search of redfins (though I was also after a chub or 2!). Paul even got out the feeder rod a couple of times. By the end of the day our final tallies were very similar Paul had more grayling than me with a best of around 1½lb, a couple of nice chub, fewer roach - though those he did catch were a much better stamp than mine - being around the 8-10oz mark. However, I think the highlight of his day was getting an eel when he was feeder fishing - almost by design too - twas from a spot where we've seen them caught before (another point in his species race comp - hence the delight!) As tradition befits we rounded the trip off with dinner and a lovely pint of ale in a local hostelry while we let the rush hour die down. The bit of plastic that caused all the problems... My 2lber & 4-14 Chub Paul's eel and biggest chub (unweighed as his scales were knacked - but I reckon a similar size to mine...)

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm - Godalming AS 1400 - 0930 Hot and sunny. Night was clear and felt quite cool by dawn with a mega heavy dew! Gorgeous night to be out fishing under the Perseids! 14 Tench; Biggest 3, 5lb 13oz, 4lb 10oz, 4lb 8oz. All the rest in the '3lb class' save 2 which were smaller. 7 Crucians - all over 1lb (though a couple by not much!) biggest 2lb 5oz. 2 roach, 1 rudd & a perch. A really lovely session which came to life at 2130 as it got dark - had hardly a touch in the previous 7 hours in the heat (hardly surprising!) Nearly all fish taken on Paul's lunch!!! Prawns - a handful of which he threw in a tupperware at the last minute before leaving home - but which eventually went to the fish! Paul had 13 tench - though nothing bigger than the 3lb brigade and 12 crucians with 3, 2lbers to 2lb 12oz - ALL being caught with said lunch (we cut them up into 4mm chunks). Certainly a bait we'll bring here again! Saw a lot of meteors - especially in the first part of the night before the moon rose. Sunrise. My Biggest Tench (of the session) Paul's best Crucian of the trip.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0730 - 0930 Mild and drizzly 12ºC. Travelling light so water thermometer in other bag. (But WT must be well up). Canal bank high and quite coloured. 6 Perch (2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb10oz, 1¼lb X2 & a tiddler), 1 Tench (!) 2lb 2oz, 1 Roach (15oz) - greedy sod took a whole lob on a size 8, 2 chub both <1lb. Surprisingly pleasurable morning given the conditions - thankfully wind wasn't too bad - though fished less exposed stretch. First ever January Tench - WT must be up!

River Kennet, Nr Thatcham. 0930 - 1430 Hot and sultry, 24ºC. River clear and low. 4 Barbel - 7lb 2oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 4oz, 13 Chub - 8 over 1lb, best 4: 5lb 8oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 15oz, 4lb 10oz. 6 Brown Trout - 3 over 1lb best 2, 1lb 12oz (Same fish I think!) A cracking trotting session in seemingly less than ideal conditions - but the usual tactics paid off. Keep trickling in the bait and they will come. First 'decent fish' (the 4.15 chub) came at around 1130. The (next) 3 biggest chub and the 2 biggest barbel all fell in the last hour - before the swim eventually went quiet. Double red maggot to a size 16 on a 6lb bottom. Pics of biggest barbel and biggest chub of session.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 1315 - 1715 Cold & sunny - AT 5ºC (± 1ºC!) Water quite coloured - and this section of canal around 10-12 inches lower than last visit in December. WT 42ºF. 2 Perch - 3lb 5oz, 2lb 8oz. 1 Chublet Biggest perch at 1530 - just as the sun left the water. 2lber last cast in the gloom. Both on lobs. Biggest perch of the season so far.

NAA Stillwater - Widmead 1200 - 0800 Warm day (25ºC), balmy night with light southerly breeze keeping the dew off - lovely night to be out. 11 Carp - all commons, best 9lb 3oz most circa 5lb, 7 Bream - best 4lb 14oz, most circa 4lb, 3 Tench - 6lb 9oz and a couple of 2lbers, 4 roach (one of 13oz) and 3 rudd. A productive session fishing with Paul - who had avery similar return after a slow start. Most carp and all the bream & tench caught float fishing meat under my rod tip. 6lb tench was very obviously a male - quite possibly my biggest ever male tinca!

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham 1915 - 2345 Clear, still evening with a heavy dew - temp down to 11ºC at midnight. River at normal summer levels - with a little colour. 2 Barbel: 10lb 2oz, 8lb 0oz. 1 Chub 2¾lb Fished a new swim - somewhat surprising as this is my 29th season on this stretch of water and I've fished nearly every inch of it in that time. A fine brace and my first double since 15 Oct 2007 - it will be a lot less than 29 years before I return to this spot!!! Both Barbel in the first hour of darkness. Last hour plagued with plucky bites which I thought were Signals - but given that I eventually caught one - were probably all down to chub.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0700 - 1200 Overcast with drizzle. AT6ºC. Near perfect conditions except for the fact that WT was only at 45ºF. 2 Perch: 3lb 3oz & 3lb 2oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb. Chub very first cast - hit the lob as soon as it was in the water - thereafter bites at a premium - a fish at 0830 and another 2 hours later - but well worth the wait! Paul had a small chub and a 2lb 6oz stripey. The 3-3 Peas in a pod...

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Hungerford 0730 - 1715 Cold, mainly overcast with some sunny spells especially after noon. -1ºC->2ºC but felt MUCH colder in a raw NEly wind. River still quite low for late Jan. 42 Grayling; 15 over 1lb - best 3, 1lb11oz, 1lb10oz, 1lb 8oz. 3 Dace; small(ish!), 8 Brownies - biggest 2lb 10oz - but most were parrs, 7 Rainbows to 3¼lb. A chilly days grayling fishing with Paul. Tried and failed to find any big dace - water levels were too low for them - so concentrated on what this venue does best - the ladies. Paul fared even better with 59 (over 100 between us!) his biggest going 1lb 13oz. He even managed to get more dace than me despite spending less than ½ the time I did looking for them!!! Still thawing out! Paul's Biggest... Frosty Sunset

River Kennet - Padworth. 1700 - 0000 Bright and breezey start with clouds clearing and temps dropping. 20ºC->12ºC when I packed up. River at near normal summer levels (perhaps a tad on the low side) and carrying its usual summer colour... 1 Chub; 6lb 6oz (Equals my PB! ). 2 Barbel; 9lb 7oz & 4lb 4oz. Well, well, well! For the 2nd year running my first 'static' barbel session of the summer throws up a 6lb+ chub. From the same venue as last year too - though from a swim several hundred metres downstream. Whereas last years 6lb was a beat up old warrior who fought more like a bream on diazepam last nights was in great nick, fought very well for a chub and gave a very good imitation of a barbel - was real surprised when it eventually surfaced. Don't get many chub here - to put it into context - in 10 years of regularly fishing this venue this is only my 3rd chub of any size - and 2 of them have been over 6lb! Chub was caught 2nd cast (about and hour after starting). Smaller barbel around 2130 - which didn't fight half as well as the chub and the 9lber just as it got properly dark at 2300. The 9lb 'radiated gigantism' fought like fury and I had real difficulty shifting it from the bottom - usually the sign of a good fish. Thought all the world it would be a double - long and lean though - needs to pack on some post spawning weight!!!!!

Summer Pit, CEMEX Yateley Complex 1930 - 0545 Warm, overcast night temps didn't dip lower than 15ºC - lovely night to be out! 3 Tench; 5lb 12oz, 4lb 13oz, 3lb. 1 Pike 4lb*. 8 perch, 1 roach, 1 rudd. Slow, slow session. First tench around 2330 then a mini flurry of activity between 0200 - 0400 when I had the other 2 and also lost 2 more which threw the hook in the weed. All 3 on my margin rod - not a touch on the rod fishing further out. * The pike managed to get itself 'banked' 3 times - the 1st when it simply grabbed a perch and wouldn't let go - until it was in the net - perch released without a mark on it! The 2nd time it simply swam into the net as I netted the 5lb tench! And then it grabbed a tiny piece of meat I was reeling to pack up - the only time I actually hooked it! Everso everso skinny - poor thing!

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury. 0730 - 1700 Cool and overcast. -2º ->5ºC Positively balmy compared to recent arctic conditions - WT was a chilly 39ºF though. 8 Chub; 4 'pounders' to 2¼lb and 4 chublets. 19 Dace; most a 'nice' size - only one warranted the scales though; a lovely fish of 11oz. 6 Roach, 8 Brownies to 2½lb. Plan for today was to catch some chub in the morning and then move up to where we'd caught all those roach earlier in the winter. First part of the plan went err as planned with both Paul and I getting amongst the chub and whilst we would have liked a 5 lber or 2 it was actually quite nice to see some smaller fish to come through - I think between us we had 9 or 10 over 1lb yet the biggest was only a few ounces over 2. After lunch it was into the car and upto the top limit of the fishery - only for it to very quickly transpire that the roach had moved on - the 'roach' swim was devoid of anything without an adipose fin. By 1500 we were back where we started - and fishing the swim where I'd caught chub in the morning started to produce some nice dace - including my biggest of the day. Paul had only added 3 trout and a chub to his morning's total when we bumped into the river-keeper doing his rounds. A couple of hints (well one BIG tip really) had us both fishing the same pool for the last ¾hr. If you got the bait in the right place (this was the tip!) it was bite a chuck and Paul was quickly adding to his tally with ,ironically, some nice roach in the 6-8oz bracket - finishing the day with a bristling perch a couple of ounces shy of 2lb. Some pics from yesterday Small chub with a big tail. Paul's perch - looks bigger than 1-13 don't ya think! CY got catty'ed with maggots here... Paul goes all arty....

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Godalming 1430 - 0930 Warm and with sunny spells. Quite breezy at times (as it ALWAYS is here - must be the windiest place in Surrey!) 16 Tench; 5 over 4lb, biggest 5lb 2oz, all the rest between 2½ - 3½lb, 11 Roach, 4 over 1lb - biggest 1lb 8oz! , 1 Perch, 1lb 9oz (on float fished meat at midnight), 6 Rudd. A cunning plan that was hatched a year ago. The day started with me popping over to the tackle shop for GAS exchange books (and key) which allowed us access beyond the normal Day Ticket restrictions. Just as well too, as I caught 15 of my tench during the hours of darkness. Paul had an even better day (or rather night) after a slow start - fewer tench than me but he did have crucians show up in the morning accounting for a dozen with around ½ of them over 2lb - me 2 swims down had not a hint of them - in fact for the last couple of hours I couldn't buy a bite on float fished maggot whilst Paul was getting crucians at a fish a chuck (well nearly! ). We both couldn't believe the size of the roach we were catching - Paul had 3 over a lb and like me had more which were close - he also had a 2lb perch - on ledgered corn/worm cocktail... A tench at dawn - pic of my 5lber. Pauls biggest Crucian (2lb 13oz) A tench heads for the lillies - my only 'daylight' tinca. A Surrey dawn Pleasing in appearance - even more pleasing in disappearance (H T Sheringham)

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0730 - 1745 Cold and overcast with a raw easterly wind - though thankfully reasonably sheltered on most swims at this venue. Max temp all day was 2ºC though judging by the times the line was freezing in the rings it was close to or below freezing for all but 2 or 3 hours around midday. WT 43ºF River clear with good flow. 10 Chub; 8 over 2lb, best 3, 4lb 12oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz. 18 Perch; all small except for one clonker of 3lb 3oz!. 3 Pike; biggest 7lb 4oz. 22 Dace; 2 worthy of the scales one at 10oz and a really nice fish of 12oz. 1 Bream; 1lb 6oz, 6 Roach; 4 of which in the 6-8oz bracket, 1 bleak; 5 brownies to 3¼lb. Plan C! We had hoped to be fishing further upstream for big dace but we couldn't get the required permissions. We also considered a trip to the Itchen but in the end settled for this venue - which is becoming a bit of a go to when conditions are as sub-optimal as they were today (see also, blog entry for 19 January). The day started with a toss of a coin as both Paul and I wanted to begin fishing where the chub were all holed up last month. As it happened though they were spread throughout the fishery so whilst I won the toss and did get my biggest from the hotspot I also caught decent chubfrom 6 different swims - as did Paul who had a near idientcal return with 7 chub and the same number of 4lbers as me. As usual the day was spent wandering the fishery and dropping into pretty much every likely looking swim (at least twice!). And like last time we took a couple of hours out to hunt for preds - though this time it was me that was after a pike or two - as I'd not caught one this season. My big perch though was a bit of a fluke - caught trotting maggot when after chub - my 1st ever 3 from this venue! My best chub of the day. 3lb stripey Me in the swim where I had my big perch. Under the dogwood in this photo (far bank) was black with chub - we just couldn't tempt them out into the open!

Flowing Canal (Kennet & Avon) Nr Thatcham 1500 - 1715 Bright, VERY breezy, with a very heavy shower to finish - temps cooler than of late at 10ºC 3 Perch; 4lb 5oz (!!!) New PB , 3lb 8oz and a smallun of around 12oz. 1 Chub 3lb 6oz. Blimey! Autumn perching campaign gets off the mark at last in spectacular fashion. Unexpectedly had the afternoon off so with the St Jude's storm easing away it was off to do some more prospecting on the canal. And yet another swim I've never fished before - though this time I think I'll be back before too long!!!! The wind was a bit of a mare especially as it was downstream - but thankfully with a bit of flow here presentation was still manageable. The small perch was pretty much first cast - a hopeful start followed by the 3lber some ¾hr later. The chub soon followed - though hooked much further downstream than where I'd taken the 2 perch. Then the heavens opened and I put my brolley up and just plonked the float rig in the margins by my feet - with the lob no doubt fluttering gently in the current - not really fishing just waiting for the shower to pass. The rain was in full lash when the float just shot off. My first thought was that it was a jack - as the fight was a series of long 'pike like' runs. However it soon showed its true colours and I was out of cover getting drenched in a flash when I saw the size of it - and that it was only just hooked! Gingerly guided to the net with no further alarms - my second 4lber! Hooray! (I wonder what it will weigh in March ? ) So, a helluva fluke - but who cares, I've walked a lot of miles this autumn sussing out potential new swims - I'll take that bit of luck thank you! Still had time to hook and lose a pike before it was too dark to see my float. Pics unfortunately aren't brill - camera was getting very wet very quickly which didn't help but meant it was all a bit hurried BIG. BIGGER.

Middle Kennet - Kintbury 0745 - 1530 Bright and very breezy with a couple of very brief but very lumpy showers. Torrential rain curtailed proceedings half an hour early. River quite coloured and milky (much more than is normal for here) - the product of the springs breaking on the downs and not yesterday's rain. Middle and upper river has been like this for the past week according one of the keepers I was chatting to. 12 Chub; 9 over 3lb, but only 2 over 4 - best 4lb 7oz. 14 Dace - most quite chunky with 3 really good fish of 10,12 & 13oz (season's best). 4 Grayling, 3 Roach. ½doz+ Brownies to 3½lb. All out chub quest in the morning with 3 out of my 4 chub 'banker' swims producing fish - though 7 came from one spot. All chub on trotted red corn - I hardly used maggot all day. Shame the really big chevins didn't show up - the one swim I blanked in was the one I had my PB from (6.07) in 2012. Last hour and a half was devoted to snaffling a big dace from the carriers - and whilst I had a season's best I also lost a much bigger fish (maggot had folded over the hook point - poo!). Biggest Chub of the day: Biggest dace of the season (so far!)

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1330 - 1700 Still mild with milky sunshine - clouding over and quite breezy. 9 Perch; 5 over 1lb - 2lb 1oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 3oz with a couple more just shy of 1lb. 1 Chub 3lb 1oz, 1 Roach; 14oz. 3 Pike - all between 2-3lb Can't get enough of a good thing at this water atm! Pike were a bit of a pain forcing me eventually to move swims - which resulted in the chub and the roach - both caught on whole lobs.

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley 1900 - 0445 Balmy, overcast night - min 13ºC but felt warmer in still conditions - and sat under the trees - didn't need a coat or a brolly all session. 9 Tench: best 3, 5lb 11oz, 4lb 13oz, 4lb 12oz. All others between 3¼-4¼lb. 1 Roach. A busy evening - I had 5 fish including the biggest 2 by 2230 - followed by a quiet night. Kept at it, hoping for a crucian or two to put in an appearance but it was not to be. 5 fish on meat, 4 on 6mm pellet all float fished - lift method - great fun in the dark seeing the starlight lift and go flat. Dawn broke to a millpond surface with not a bubble to be seen - so whilst I had planned to fish longer, this sight plus the lack of bites in the previous 2 hours persuaded me that some kip followed by a late breakfast was the better option!!!

River Lambourn - Shaw 1300 - 1600 Cold and cloudy, 1ºC. River quite 'full' and clear - suspect the springs have 'sprung' on the downs... 17 Grayling - 4 'pounders', best 3 - 1lb 12oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 9oz (!!!), 4 Roach - all small, 3 Brownies - 1 circa ¾lb. Blimey! Where did they come from? Biggest ever grayling from here - and my first grayling over 1½lb from here since Oct 2001. All bigger fish from same swim - and all caught within first ¼ hour of fishing! Very pleasant afternoons trotting!

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham 0700 - 1300 Calm and cloudy with sunny spells, 11º - 15ºC. 8 Carp (best 2; 8lb 11oz & 8lb 6oz, rest 3½ - 5lb), 7 Crucians (Smallest 1lb 2oz, 4 over 1½lb, biggest 1lb 11oz), 1 small Tench, 9 roach, & a perch. At last, a decent crucian session!! All crucians caught between 0930 - 1130. All fish on float fished meat - lift method, except 3 carp - including biggest 2 - on freelined breadflake.

Northcroft Backstream - Newbury 0930 - 1200 Bright and breezy - 17ºC A dozen Chub (4lb 14oz, 4lb 9oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 14oz - & 7 chublets), 3 Doz Roach, Dace & Gudgeon (in roughly equal nos.) Had a morning to kill in Newbury whilst the car was being serviced and MOT'd so a pleasant chubbing session was most welcome. All fish on trotted single red maggot - from a swim I last fished in 1982!!!!