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  1. This is what a proper Cru looks like! My lake pb for Willows at 3-07 (My pb is 7ozs heavier) Note dorsal & caudal are spot on!
    2 points
  2. Hi Both, I've been following your blog for a while Chris as I'm trying to learn about and access the Kennet. Really enjoy your reports. On rods, I have two Drennan Acolyte float rods, a 15' and a 17'. Both are wonderful rods and so far I have had no trouble with them despite much tangling with shrubbery. I have also heard of top section breakages, but for me, so far so good after two years. They have a wonderful combination of finesse and power. Despite their featherweight and ultra slim profile they seem to have "muscle" and speed in the tip section, which allows you to hit the most delicate bite. The 17' was bought for my particular style locally on the Thames, where I often stret peg. It has enough length to get just over the drop off into the main stream. If they were fly rods they would be up there with Sage and probably cost £700+. On reels Bayleaf I am a recent convert to the "pin". It certainly takes time and I still haven't perfected the casting, but my advice would be that once you get one leave the fixed spool reel at home and force yourself to persevere. My own confidence grew when I bought and Aerial style with a line guard, which stops the line blowing around in windy conditions. I've spoken to several in the know and was consistently pointed to the JW Young Purist II as good general purpose trotting reel. There are usually decent used ones on Ebay, from about £250 upwards but buyer beware. I am certain one I saw was a fake. I bought my most recent pin from Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques and John Stephenson there was really helpful. I would recommend them without hesitation. Hope that helps.
    2 points
  3. Hi Chris, I'm the CSAS fisheries officer, and the barbel that were stocked a year or two ago were much bigger than the one pictured (that's assuming your Speedia is the same size as mine!) so this one is most likely naturally spawned. Glad you're enjoying fishing there, wish more people did.
    2 points
  4. Actually the name has more comedy value - it's T Fooks. Found guilty you would have been well and truly Fooked!
    1 point
  5. Ha Ha. I caught 136 trout and didn't weigh a single one! Will only weigh them if they are bit exceptional - or pushing a PB (which is 8lb 12oz - so unlikely!) This was the last spottie thing I put on the scales (and even took its portrait!). Gudgeon count was 25 - modest but 14 more than the previous season!
    1 point
  6. Ouch - which rod did you snap?
    1 point
  7. Downstream from where you caught your barbel is :civil service water ,then Thatcham ,then NAA bulls lock section. All have huge quantities of minnows ,so much so that the NAA matches were cancelled there as they became ""minnow matches". These minnows mean there are some very large fish there ,pike/perch/chub/barbel/grayling/bream ,etc.................plus very scenic and some wonderful swims. With a NAA permit you could exchange in Tonys and fish the civil service stretch ,warning it is hard................good luck wherever you choose to fish
    1 point
  8. Martin - my catch returns (nearly 1300 ladies over the survey period - via a log book scheme) contributed to this paper: https://www.wildtrout.org/assets/files/news/Grayling-Conservation-Guide_2018_v2.pdf
    1 point
  9. BTW how did you manage to keep the grayling so still as to take its photo - handling grayling is akin to trying to give a cat an enema!
    1 point
  10. Lovely lady - I don't usually fish the Lambourn until the first frosts - might have to wait awhile if this mild autumn continues.....!
    1 point
  11. 1 point
  12. Just keep perservering - I always tie my own - that way you get to choose what diameter line to use with whatever pattern hook. And I rely more on the line diameter than whatever fable is on the label, for example I've seen 0.16 diameter rated between 4.9 and 6.6lbs BS depending on the maker. For short hooklengths on feeders (on the rare times I adopt that approach) I'll go with short lengths of silkworm tied with the knotless knot - which is very easy to tie.....
    1 point
  13. Fished Bellwood when I was in NAA ,caught a few bream ,fishing light where people had been spoding previously and a few carp on pellets by the aerators ,was a few fun fish washed in from the Kennet A rule was applied apparently ,so much weight of fish per acre or hectare is recommend ,just say 30lb per acre ,so 1x30lb ,or 30x1lb so they stocked with big fish like "Boris" 30+lb and a few big mates ,so more a water to camp at lol ,not for me. tis not like willows
    1 point
  14. Great read thank you.........fished this venue ,first day of the season ,very poor ,though very scenic I find these secluded/isolated venues the worst effected on the Kennet from predators. Venues like behind the old "white house" pub are busy ,bright ,noisy......and full of fish
    1 point
  15. Cheers Martin - there's been a few times over the years when I've been minded to give it up but it's been local anglers like yourself that have persuaded me to continue!
    1 point
  16. Woohoo! Just realised this is my 1000th blog post - only taken me 15 years! Not the most auspicious trip to 'celebrate' it - but heyho there's always the next time.
    1 point
  17. Will email you the cover pic of this blog - the only one I took - a pretty major job though - maybe one for the EA as I'm sure it will cause a major damming of the river in winter. Takes out the 2nd best swim on the venue - one I used to call The Banker as, upto a decade ago, as I could pretty much guarantee a barbel from it (as I did last season!) (And if you've got the ear of the committee the fallen tree below the point at Brimpton is still there - occupying my favourite chub hole!!)
    1 point
  18. Yes, it was a good day even if I was well outfished! I packed up at 6.15 and ended up with 14 roach, 11 small ones and 3 around 10ozs or so.
    1 point
  19. Yes - those pounders last summer punched above their weight - did a very good imitation of a 2/3lb tinca!
    1 point
  20. Good job that I arrived early to get the best swim! I'm not too sure that I believe you about 2lb roach jumping in my swim after I left!? Anyway, pleased to meet the famous (or was that infamous) Newbury Blanker.
    1 point
  21. I like Dixons as well, see you there sometime.
    1 point
  22. Updating my spreadsheets this afternoon I realised that ws my 100th 1lb+ chub this season!
    1 point
  23. Hey - you've short-changed me my an ounce! That Chub was 4-10!
    1 point
  24. Aye - well done - Red corn can be a brilliant bait for chub at this time of year - the trout are spawning and I reckon the chub mistake the red corn for trout eggs which they must see quite a bit of in the winter...
    1 point
  25. They do see a lot of anglers (mainly thanks to the Anglers Mail that did a write up on the place some years back!) - but can honestly say only one of todays ladies showed signs of being caught before (damaged maxillary). I do think it's no surprise though that I always get my bigger ones from the less accessible swims i.e. one where you need to get in a wade! Mind you 2 of today's anglers weren't troubling the grayling - as they were chucking lures around!
    1 point
  26. Wow, as I understand it it's just your second year back to angling and you're already in it right up to your neck! As to who will buy the book, presumably you are hoping for a reasonable take up from NAA members. When I last heard there were about 2,000. So if 25% buy the book, that would mean sales of 500. Clearly that could be higher or lower, but I should have thought that more or less defines your likely market. Who will bear the financial risk, you or NAA? Would it be worth having a look at other angling club histories to see what they cover and where they got info from? I googled 'angling club history' and quite a few came up, but I didn't take it any further. It could give some indication of likely sales.
    1 point
  27. Well done, sounds really interesting, a great project - also writing a book will stop you catching my roach!
    1 point
  28. Far too many roach - they are all mine!
    1 point
  29. You may think it's 'not great' but I wonder who you are comparing yourself with. As a casual observer I think it's an impressive bag!
    1 point
  30. Bayleaf, I fish that stretch of the K&A occasionally, I park at Bellwood. I fish mainly for roach these days and have also caught lots of roach there but none of any size - do you know if there are any gooduns in there? I usually use bread flake. PS, I enjoy reading your and CP's blogs.
    1 point
  31. Thanks BTG. I really appreciate the solidarity! Re specific points: First hour after dusk. Yes! And when I was in Newbury a lot of my best fish came then. I was struck by a comment by CP recently that the dinner bell rang at 4pm! And very recently I was speaking to an angler who had had several 6lb chub, and he was just starting to fish about then. The problem is that, post cataracts etc, I find it a problem getting home driving after dark with the car headlights in my face. Not totally impossible, but for the more middle range chub I'd have hoped I could catch in the day - though I do fish till the start of dusk. Pike. True what you say, and I must say IMHO the piking here is very good, better than Newbury. I've had a few, but it's another ball game to get geared up for, and at present I feel it would distract from my current winter objectives of roach and chub. Though when the levels really come up a lot of prey fish and pike shelter in the lock cuts, and THAT will certainly get me interested. Water temperature. Now here's a conundrum. I've discovered a swim (which used to be well known before Didcot A power station was demolished) where the warm water from the power station used to flow in. But what a lot of people don't seem to realise is that, to an extent, it still does, from the existing gas powered power station, Didcot B. I've taken the temperature there a couple of times, and each time it was about 20 deg C, much higher than the main river. It is ideal for float fishing, as you can sit on the hard shoulder above where the warm water goes in and trot down, though this is not viable for me as on grey winter days I can't see the float well enough. But of course I can ledger. The puzzle is that I went there a couple of times in Oct/Nov and only got tiny fish. Thinking it over it occurs to me that though you'd think the water flowing in would attract the fish because of its warmth, coming out of a pipe it won't have much food value. So where will the fish be? I've been casting over to a bush and also just under where the pipe comes in, where it should be warmest, but perhaps I should fish the crease with the main river which might combine at least some warmth and food? All views welcome!
    1 point
  32. What I wouldn't have given for a troot that morning, nuisance or not.
    1 point
  33. In my 20 year sojourn in Newbury I never caught a roach from the lakes over 8oz. Congrats! A novel way of fishing to my view, which brought the results!
    1 point
  34. I find the dace the greatest escape artists, I use micro barbed which does improve the percentages.
    1 point
  35. The S63 was a screen name I used on a car forum many moons ago when I was driving a S63 AMG. I was actually born in 1953 and started my support of Chelsea in 1969, I lived in Wandsworth and use to walk to Stamford Bridge every other Saturday and stand in the shed (it was the warmest place), saved all the tokens on the back of the programme and got my 1970 cup final ticket for ten shillings, or was it 50p by then, can't recall. Went to the same school as Peter Houseman, part of the great "H" team, Hollins, Hudson, Hinton, Harris, Hutchinson along with Ossie, David Webb and Charlie Cooke...ah what memories! My last ever visit to the Bridge was as a guest in a posh box and watched (painfully) the hugely controversial second leg of the CL semi against Barca which we lost due to diabolical reffing, i I actually got to see Messi live, he had a shocker on the night!
    1 point
  36. Well played, though not sure Preston North End will be catching many tench this season in fishing terms. The mighty Chelsea netted a nice league win to add to (yet) another European trophy, so we both had good afternoons.
    1 point
  37. The Kennet can be hard ,so these splendid bream are more than welcome ,they seem to seek the flowing weed the barbel like ,my biggest was 9.5 pound from Aldermaston on the NAA ticket and the colour difference to lake bream fish I have caught (say Bellwood) bronze/ silver is pronounced. Another strong fish around Thatcham are the roach/bream hybrids which really puzzled me ,the first time I caught one but only seen them to 2-3 lb ish. Certainly no secrets involved ,they seem to be in the deeper sections and can be caught on all baits ,float or ledger ,most venues east of Newbury ,except Brimpton ,have heard there are many in Vicky park Newbury and Speen moor but I haven't fished there. Perhaps the bad press is mainly from carpers lol
    1 point
  38. The Kennet flows seem to split at Newbury ,low flows west ,higher flows east ,which makes sense ,my day was bad , slippy angled banks were full of slugs/snails and nettles and my box fell in the river ,my banker swim ,which I had convinced myself would fish well when overcast produced my only fish a gudgeon. Have put a ruler in my box ,as I have nothing to weigh grammes with and hope to catch a 6" gudgeon and try to join the Soc'. Glad to see everyone else is doing much better
    1 point
  39. Crucian-tastic. Well done, Chris - you earned that one. And an early night too!
    1 point
  40. Yeah - a 'par' return for the venue - though I do wonder if their are 2 bream shoals - the 4lb average size that I seem to attract and the 5lbers that you've banked recently!
    1 point
  41. Feeling pretty sated after today!
    1 point
  42. In theory my blog is still in action, though I was shocked to see I haven't submitted any entries for over a year. A mixture of reasons. House move (though still in Didcot area), Covid and tackle shop closed, health. Bad back means I need to fish very near the car, and cataract means I can't do trotting and limits driving at night - though hopefully cataract will be fixed soon. Also the Thames doesn't seem to be such an all seasons river as the Kennet, being very hard to fish when up and coloured. Perhaps I should say it's a learning curve! Despite all this I do intend to start blogging again SOON!.
    1 point
  43. Changing swims at the very same Speen Moors this morning, I stumbled across my fishing guru, Chris, extracting his line from the branches of a tree, a most ungodlike position I have often found myself in. All retrieved, he regaled me with details of his catch for the morning thus far, pretty impressive considering I'd not even had a bite. He was kind enough to answer all my questions about tactics and methods and allowed me to watch his next few casts, which resulted in 2 of the smaller fish mentioned. but confirmed what I was doing wasn't that wrong, but there were some subtle tweaks I could make. Not wishing to make more of a nuisance of myself than I already had, I left to employ these these to cash-in at other swims. Chris, I chose swims with a glassy appearance: swapped my waggler for a loafer float attached at both ends keeping the shirt button shotting pattern: I concentrated trotting in the main flow, with some casts in nearer or further runs: I held the float back at times, I let it chug through at others: I cast downstream, and mended any bow: with a 16 hook on 4lb line, I tried red maggot, white maggot, double red, double white and one of each: I struck at every dip of the float as it tripped along the bottom: I loose fed maybe a dozen maggots very 2 mins or so down the main channel: I changed swims every 20 mins or so where nothing was happening. Nothing was happening. Not even a bite of which I could be sure wasn't just the line bumping the bottom. When Chris passed me later (soon after the nuisance 2lb trout) he was kind enough to tell me that 'swim 42' was jumping with fish, but only small ones. At the stage where I was happy to settle for a few small silvers, I thanked him profusely and ran for it. Chris, I packed up at 12 after 5 biteless hours. I am impressed and appalled to hear of your latest amazing haul. My fishing hat off to you, I honestly don't know how you do it, and I can't. Surely the chub don't know I don't have a 14ft rod nor centrepin reel? I'm left with one tiny hope that maybe you douse your maggots in hot beefy Bovril or irresistible lime marmalade maybe? I was close to throwing my gear in the water and taking up some other hobby like golf maybe, but unlike fishing, that's a pointless waste of time and anyway, there's always, always the hope that next time I go fishing... Keep up the great work and thank you for being a sport
    1 point
  44. Great to see a tench in the canal, that’s the first one I’ve seen in truth. There’s been some good perch caught at Enborne up on the stick ups and a 4lb bream made an appearance on the help the heroes match. Well worth a trip. Pegs 28, 19, 14 and 5 all worth a try.
    1 point
  45. Hi Chris, not barbel info but I did want to let you know I had one of the big crucians out of willows at the weekend. That’s my third now in 2 seasons and this one went 3lb 1oz, was in great condition. Caught it from peg 31 on dendrobena ?
    1 point
  46. Barbel? What are they? Well done, Chris. You bringing them back with you I trust.
    1 point
  47. Ha - it's a bit of a bugger when those double-figure carp won't leave your maggots alone! I hope to share in your bad luck sometime
    1 point
  48. That swim always used to be a very good chub swim - in facta previous PB was from there a 6lb 5oz fish caught on a day (25/9/04) when I had another 6lber and 2 big 4's as back up fish! (Plus 3 bream over 4lb and a 2lb perch!)
    1 point
  49. Note the interestingly shaped crucian - a quite extreme case of 'phenotypic plasticity'. High backed in response to the presence of predators. I've had a comment querying whether it is even a crucian (you know who you are Paul!) so back to Crock of Gold for a thorough check. And the verdict is it looks OK. Lateral line count is 33 - which is spot on, Dorsal fin is convex - goldfish are concave. And the tail is the right shape, goldfish have a more pronunced V shaped tail. No hint of any barbules so no common carp in the parentage (which is highly likely to increase the lateral line count as well!). Also the book gives a couple of examples of crucians with that colouring - so I'm satisfied its a bone fide crucian!
    1 point
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