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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 al

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

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 1o

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 k

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 Pla

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 scheduli

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 ch

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 th

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 tryi

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

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, w

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 heade

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1700 Cool and overcast. AT 1ºC -> 5ºC. River clear with normal flow and levels. 5 Grayling; 2lb 12oz, 2lb0oz and 3 tiddlers. 2 Brownies; 1 parr and a ¾lber. A day in Dorset with Rusty. This was another 'delayed decision' trip firstly because the forecast kept changing and secondly because of the forecast snow overnight potentially making the drive down problematic. However I judged that the river would be OK and this was the clincher. If Chris could get to me conditions should improve as we drove south. And so it prov

River Kennet - Thatcham 1200 -1400 Warm and breezy - large thunderstorm just missed me! 2 Chub; 3lb 12oz & 2lb 6oz. 5 Dace (all chunky ones!), 1 Roach. One of the advantages of living in the Kennet valley is that within 30 mins of deciding on a quick trip between the showers you can be slipping the net under a 2lb chub! This was a quick trip to Rusty's 'surf float swim' and it's clear from the jungle I had to hack through to get to it that no one has been here since June. Smaller chub was first trot through and the larger one pretty much last

K&A Canal - Enborne 1400 - 1600 Cool (4ºC) and bright. WT a low(ish) 43ºF 1 Perch; 1lb 14oz. 1 Chub 1lb 11oz. 1 Tench (!!!) 3lb 3oz. 1 Roach (10oz!). 1 Gudgeon The excuse was a recce to have a look at the river at Speen in preparation for tomorrow's trip - but I couldn't go to the river rodless! The canal though was always my intended option to drown a lob or two. Wasn't particularly optimistic on 2 counts - bright sunshine and a WT of 43ºF. Thankfully no one told the fish! Bites were at a premium but they did come! The gudgeon with eyes rath

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 ha

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1030 - 1530 Bright, cool (5ºC) and breezy with a few snow flurries on a stiff northerly. WT 44ºF. River still high but down over a foot on my last visit of 5th Jan. This... was halfway up the 6... 4 Chub; 4lb 4oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 5oz & a chublet. 5 Roach (all small), 1 Dace & 1 small Brownie. Came with the initial intention of targetting the perch - but my favourite perch slack wasn't. (Slack that is!) So ended up walking around the whole venue (quite a trek). Smaller chub from the weirpool and th

Middle Kennet 0645 - 1815 Bright and very breezy after early rain. River at 'normal' levels and quite clear. 5 chub (4lb 13oz, others all around 1lb), 7 perch (3 X 1-1¼lb) 12 dace (just 1 good un - 9oz), 5 grayling (all 10-14oz), 3 small roach, 2 gudgeon & 20 trout to 3½lb. A hurriedly re-arranged trip in the light of Monday's weather forecast (when we were due to go!). Biggest Chub and 4 of the Grayling on trotted sweetcorn. Perch on lobs everything else on maggot. Paul had some nice Perch at dusk - his best a plump 2lb 9oz stripey.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0600 - 0900 Mild, Overcast/milky sunshine. Canal carrying some colourand quite full - forgot thermometer so no readings! 5 Perch: 2lb 12oz, 2lb 2oz, 2X'pounders' and a tiddler. Crack of dawn session - though could have had an extra hour in bed as no bites until 0700. Unusually fish got bigger the brighter it got - biggest was last one banked. Barge coming through the swim at 0830 killed sport! Used Anglersnet Centre Pin for the first time - well impressed!

River Kennet nr Newbury 1915 - 2315 Very breezy, 15ºC, Drizzle for last ½hr. River down as low as I've seen it all summer (but still with good flow and a little colour). 7 Barbel, (8lb 4oz, 6lb 7oz, 6lb 2oz, 4lb 10oz, 4lb 4oz, 3lb 14oz, 3¼lb), Chub 3¼lb. Fished a rarely visited swim - though it won't stay that way after last night's haul!!! 8lber first cast (and a frying pan 2nd cast - see picture!) - all fish in the first 3 hours - no bites after 2215.

River Kennet - Newbury 0830 - 1130 Cold and bright. AT -2ºC -> 3ºC. WT 40ºF. Some colour and near normal levels. 7 Chub: 4lb 2oz, 3lb 15oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 6oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 3oz. An excellent morning on a frosty Kennet - or rather IN a frosty Kennet as I was wading for the whole session (warmer than on the bank!). All fish on trotted double red maggot (on a size 14). 1st fish of the decade - below. (3-09)

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0815 - 1600 Misty and drizzly all day - temp up to a balmy 7ºC. River low with just a hint of colour after over-night rain and snow melt. WT a chilly 41ºF 1 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 14 Dace; 3 gooduns - best of which went 12oz. 6 Brownies - biggest 3lb 11oz. Satisfying days angling all things considered. Due to low water we were restricted to a short section of river and with a low WT, salt and snow melt in the river we expected sport to be slow. Spent most of the morning playing hunt the fish (and 'Avoid the Trout'). I said to Pa

River Kennet - Newbury 0815 - 1115 Mild and overcast. Battery flat in thermometer so no temps. River up a bit to normal levels and carrying a bit of colour. 1 Barbel; 3lb 14oz. 3 Chub; 3lb 9oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 13oz. 2 Perch 1lb 12oz and one just shy of a lb. 2 Dace & 3 Gudgeon. An 'insurance' session!! Meant to be having a day on the middle Kennet tomorrow - but if the weather forecast is accurate I'll probably get up, check the rain radar and go straight back to bed!! So this morning, on the excuse that I had to pop over to Tony's to get some m

River Itchen 0830 - 1730 Mild and overcast all day. AT 13ºC Max. River at near normal levels though carrying quite a bit of colour. 22 Grayling; 12 over 1lb, with 6 of those over 2lb - biggest 2lb 7oz. 2 Chub 4lb 3oz, 3lb 8oz. Thanks to Paul's excellent networking skills (& silver tongue) we had exclusive use of this lovely bit of river for a second time (see blog entry 13/10/08 for the first). Bites at a premium and quite hard work at times - but if you stuck at it the fish would take - eventually!! About half my fish on red sweetcorn - most

Summer Pit - Cemex Yateley 2030 - 0600 Still, balmy night with high cloud - temps 20ºC->13ºC but felt a lot milder under the trees! 3 Bream; 12lb 2oz - another PB , 8lb 7oz, 4lb 15oz. 2 Tench; 4lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz. 3 Perch & 2 Rudd. I'm utterly gobsmacked - 2 PBs and 1 = PB in a week! I said last weeks crucian would take some beating - this might just be the fish for me, that does! My first ever double figure bream - previous PB was 9lb7oz - so this has annihilated it!!! What's even sweeter I was tring to catch bream too!!! On our visit here

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham 0630 - 0930 Warm despite clear skies. 15º - 20ºC 1 Crucian, 2lb 15oz. 1 Carp 5lb 7oz, a rudd (small!) Mini campaign to get an autumn crucian meets with success!! Though in fairness this morning felt more like high summer! Thought my chance had gone, as despite having the odd crucian rolling it wasn't until the sun just started to bathe the swim in full light at around 0900 that I had a bite from one (the carp trashing the swim an hour earlier didn't help either! ). My biggest ever crucian from this lake - very thick set

K&A Canal - Nr Thatcham 0720 - 1100 Still, overcast and mild - with the sun breaking out for the last ¾hr and the breeze picking up. WT 52ºF. 6 Perch; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 12oz. A perfect perch morning got off to a perfect start with the 3lber first cast! The biggest 2lber followed soon after and I thought I was going to be in for another morning's haulin! However there then followed nearly an hour of crayfish activity and my 'lobworm attrition rate' shot up - was worried I was going to run out. Thankfully bites f

Middle Kennet Estate water 0730 - 1630 Mild and mainly overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. River VERY low. 7 Chub; 4 over 1lb - biggest 3lb 1oz. 8 Perch; 2 over 1lb - biggest 2lb 3oz. 2 Bream - both circa 1lb. 3 Doz+ Roach - most quite small though 2 warranted the scales - one at 13oz the other a lovely fish of 1lb 4oz. 2 Doz + Dace - all quite small. 20 + Gudgeon. 8 Brownies - most over 2lb - biggest 3lb 8oz. 1 Rainbow - 2¾lb. A lovely day wandering around this prolific water. Low water meant that the fish were shoaled up in the pools

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0900 - 1630 Frosty and bright, temps around 2-4ºC all day. River low and clear 8 Chub; 4 chublets and 4 over 2lb, biggest 5lb 6oz. 16 Dace; half over 8oz, biggest 13oz & 12oz. 3 Roach, biggest 1lb on the nose. 6 Brownies - biggest 2, 4¼ & 3¾lb. NAA day on this lovely part of the Kennet so had to share the place with a couple of dozen other anglers! Highlight of the morning was seeing Rusty do an impersonation of Nigel Mansell as he raced off to bagsy the weedrack swim and seeing 2 other anglers pull in behi

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1730 Cool and Sunny with broken cloud 2ºC->7ºC->2ºC. River very low. 9 Chub; 6lb 7oz (new PB ), 5-2, 3-15, 2-13, 2-10, 1-10 and 3 chublets. 47 Dace, of which less than a dozen were under 8oz!!!! 2 fish of 13oz, 3 fish weighed at 12oz but probably had a load more that were close,10 Roach; 4 of which were over 10oz - best 14oz. 10 Brownies and a Rainbow. This was supposed to be a club day on this lovely estate water - except no one turned up apart from me, Rusty and Steve !! Rusty and Steve explored dow

River Frome Worgret 0800 - 1130 Wool 1200 - 1600 Bright and sunny after a foggy start - felt positively warm in the sun - had far too much on! River clear and low. 11 Grayling: 10 over 1lb (9 over 1½!). Best 5, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz & 2 at 1lb 14oz. Last trip down to Dorset this winter as the water closes to coarse anglers at the end of Feb. I wanted to give Worgret a proper go this time as it was the colour of milky tea when I came here in November. Some of it looks really nice - lots of long glides with some deep holes on the bends but

K&A Canal - Thatcham 0700 - 1000 Overcast with rain/drizzle for ¾hr from 0830. AT & WT 48ºF. 2 Perch; 3lb 2oz & 2lb 7oz. Unexpectedly had a free morning due to Sam deciding on a lay in after partying last night rather than go training. Dad's taxi still had to take Matt to work for 0630 which was the time I'd have rather have been making my first cast. So I arrived 30 or so minutes later than I would have liked to get a couple of nasty surprises. The first - cows!! A herd of them (well ½doz) on the public towpath - stubborn buggers too

NAA stillwater Widmead and Thatcham 0400 - 1200. Overcast, still and mild - temps around 17/18ºC 1 carp, 11lb 5oz. 1st EVER close season session - oooo I feel a little bit dirty! Don't intend to make a habit of it but I had some time owed to me which if I didn't take by next week (and as ½ the office we already off, next week was out) I would lose. So I thought I'd join Paul on one of his 'free Fridays'. 1st part of the morning was purely reconnaissance, OK I did have a bait in the water but after 5 hours looking at a stationary float I was pack

River Kennet - nr Thatcham 0830 - 1230 Cool (for June) and overcast - with heavy rain for last ½ hour which persuaded me it was time to pack up early and go home for lunch. Heavy overnight rain - but the river was in good nick with good clarity and down a bit on the 16th. 1 Chub; 4lb 10oz. 2 Barbel; 2lb 13oz, 2lb 1oz. 13 Dace. 4 Brownies - 2 circa 1lb. (Rusty's going to hate me!) A quick return to the venue we visited briefly on the opening day in order to get Paul a float caught barbel. Paul had to work today so I was going solo. My choice

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham 1930 - 0730 Clear, still night, quite chilly (5.5ºC) by dawn. 5 Carp; 12lb 10oz, 11lb 15oz, 11lb 6oz, 11lb 3oz, 10lb 10oz. A repeat of last weekend for Paul and myself - hoping for a repeat performance on the crucian front. Alas, they were conspicuous by their absence with little evidence of fish rolling. Paul and I did both suffer some curious bites on the float which neither of us could connect with - and for me at least I had to content my self with feeding bits of bread in the margins and waiting for them to s

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1900 - 2300 Warm, balmy evening - in shirtsleeves all session - temp still at 19ºC when I got back to the car. Lovely evening to be out! 3 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 4lb 2oz, 3lb 4oz. 1 dace, Another evening NOT catching barbel - but at least some half decent chub kept me occupied for the first couple of hours. Biggest chub and the dace on trotted maggot in the first hour. Other 2 chub on ledgered snailz boilie (an impulse buy when I was in Hinders back in May!! ) in the second hour. All fish caught by 9.00pm. Very gratified to s

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1630 Very mild (14ºC), overcast and quite breezy with the very occasional drizzly flurry. NOT at all what was forecast - which was pretty much rain all day! River quite pacey (0.97m at East Stoke river gauge) and carrying a bit more colour than I'd have liked. 14 Grayling; 8 over 1lb (6over 1½lb). Best 3; 1lb14oz, 2lb0oz, 2lb1oz. 2 Dace; best 10oz. 1 Roach; 9oz. 9 Brownies to 2¼lb. 3 Salmon parr. A trip that we nearly aborted at the last minute due to an increasingly dismal forecast but because little rain had fallen in

River Lambourn - Newbury 0915 - 1215 Bright, crisp and cold. -2º->3ºC. A lovely winter's morning. River low and clear (as always!) 20 Grayling; 3 over 1lb - best 2; 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz. 2 Dace. 4 trout parr. A great way to kill time while my car was having its MOT! Had arranged to meet up with Paul (who provided a lift back to the garage) and we leap frogged our way down the fishery - for near identical returns. Think Paul ended up with 21 grayling to 1lb 10oz (6 over 1lb) had a solitary dace and a bonus roach of 13oz.

River Lambourn - Newbury 0800 - 1245 Cold (-1º -> 4ºC) bright and sunny. River very full but clear as always! 18 Grayling with around half a dozen in the 12oz class and a couple of bigger ones to 1lb 6oz. 1 Dace; 10oz & half a dozen brownies 1 fish of a 1lb plus the rest small or parrs. Another 2 inches of rain since last weekend has really stuffed up the Kennet and with the first frost of the year there was only really one choice if I wanted to get on the bank this weekend. Seems I wasn't the only one - I encountered 8 other anglers fishing here this morning! Usual

I've always wanted to fish the middle Stour since someone told me it was a place where you could reasonably rely on a good bag of roach with a good chance of a fish over 1lb. I was able to combine it with visiting a family member. Would the fishing come up to expectation? 15 Nov 1.30-4.30pm. The fishing shop steered me in the direction of a 'mill pond', weir pool really. But this immediately raised a question. Where on earth in a weir pool do you find roach? Such experience as I have of weir pools involved perch, trout, chub and a few dace, but never roach! I felt the most likely place for

8am to 3.30pm 4 zander up to a pound vertical jigging, plus some perch also to about a pound - thanks entirely to Kappa's experience and coaching. The first time I have tried this style of fishing. A great day!

Harris Lake, Marsh Farm fishery, Milford 1900 - 1000 Warm, becalmed and overcast night - don't know what the minimum temperature was but it must have been min-teens ºC. Simply a lovely night to be out fishing - could've got away with shirtsleeves ALL night if it hadn't been for the odd persistent mossie! 12 Crucians; 7 over 2lb (!) best 2lb 7oz. 6 Tench; all over 3lb - best 2, 4lb 7oz & 4lb 14oz. A roach (small). Last hurrah at this venue for another summer and it didn't disappoint! Action picked up after a slow start - then followed the usual pattern of 2 or 3 fish in quic

17th Feb Berkshire lake and various stretches of the K&A Back out with the lure rod following yesterdays success. I started off in the shop once again, spending more money on lures. I thought lure fishing would cost me a lot less money than carping, but so far it's cost me a fortune.. it's certainly addictive. I'm even thinking of buying a new rod already... I've only used the other one 3 times . I'd intended on fishing the stretch of canalised river again, but was met with an armada of canoes participating in a race. I couldn't see the fish playing ball with all the disturba

River Kennet - Newbury 0430 - 0700 Cool and overcast. 10ºC. River low and carrying a little colour. 1 Barbel - barely 1lb!, 1 Perch circa 12oz, 3doz+ Dace, 3 Roach, a doz Gudgeon and a brownie. 2½hours trotting and home for breakfast - I love June!!! No chub though which was my, err, target species on my all time 'banker' chub swim - maybe the otter has eaten them all!! Barbel 2nd trot through - and yet again a small fish from here - I've called this stretch a barbel nursery for years - and its tiddlers like this which are the reason. No piccies - didn't want to wade back to th

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley 1800 - 2315 A lovely warm evening under a hazy full moon. Temps 21º -> 16ºC. Shirt sleeves all evening and no mozzies! 2 Tench: 6lb 4oz, 3lb 13oz. The last Hurrah on this venue - bringing the curtain down on a splendid series of mid-week after work float fishing sessions. Won't be back here again until next june (unless we get an early October heatwave!). Fished a new swim - probably not the right time to be experimenting but it had to be done - and quite quickly had the 6lber on the bank, followed next cast by the smaller one. So just as 2 weeks a

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0500 - 0800 Overcast with heavy drizzle for most of the session. 17ºC - river quite low. 2 Chub; 2¼lb & 1½lb. 18 dace, 14 roach and a dozen gudgeon. Pre-breakfast trotting session in the rain - most notable for my very first sighting of an otter on the Kennet. Paul had just arrived - ½hour after I'd started fishing and had waded out to join me mid-stream. I'd just announced that my bites had dried up and we quickly saw why! The animal wallowed in my swim then scurried up the bank not 20 feet from us - sniffed the air - glanced in our direction and

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 0930 - 1230 Overcast, 15ºC. River at 'normal' levels - carrying some colour after the recent heavy rains. 3 Barbel (6lb 13oz, 4lb 5oz, 3lb 11oz), 3 Chub (3lb 4oz, 2lb & a chublet) Great session on trotted maggot - (and I also bumped a couple). Fed swim for ¾hr, then had all the fish in a little over an hour - no bites after 1130.

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1830 - 2200 Overcast, drizzle 'in the wind' temp a constant 13ºC 7 barbel 11lb 6oz, 7lb 3oz, 6lb 10oz, 6lb 4oz, 6lb 3oz, 5lb 13oz, 4½lb An eventful evening at the swim I 'discovered' on Saturday. River carrying more colour than at the weekend. Couldn't even fish for the first hour due to swans feeding just upstream sending down a constant barrage of floating ranunculus. Once I started fishing bites came thick and fast. Only downside is that while fighting the 11lber a HUGE clump of ranunculus got wrapped around my line (more floating debris) - took me