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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 Kennet, Newbury & Thatcham 0400 - 1230 Cool, overcast and very blustery. River quite coloured and very full for the time of year - highest it's been in the summer for many a year.... (well since 2007 now I come to think about it!!) 2 Chub; 2lb & 1¼lb. 1 Barbel 3lb. 57 Dace, 7 Roach, 3 Grayling, 1 Perch, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & a 1¾lb spottie. Pleasant start to the season with plenty of fish to put a bend in the rod - we had planned an overnighter on a local lake put had been put off by the weather forecast which wasn't half as bad

River Kennet - Newbury 0830 - 1145 Warm (ish) and overcast with milky sunshine. River low and clear. 1 Barbel; 5lb 6oz, 2 Perch (both circa 1lb - possibly the same one!), 15 Dace, 4 Roach, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Grayling and a Brownie - un-weighed but must have been close to 2lb... At last a barbel on the float - but in truth I'd all but given up on getting one and had other plans for this morning's trip! I was in a couple of swims that have given me pike trouble over the last few visits so I actually started with 20mins in each swim throwing a lure around

K&A Canal, Thatcham (Flowing canal) 1200 - 1600 Cool and breezy. River up a god 3-4 inches and carrying a tinge of colour after yesterdays deluge. 14 Dace; with a few chunky ones in the 6-8oz bracket. 4 Roach. 1 Grayling (small). 1 Bleak. 1 Brown Trout; 2lb 15oz! Spent a couple of hours in each of 2 swims - hoping a chub or two would put in an appearance - but my only 'chub' turned into a rather fat brown trout at the net!

River Kennet - Thatcham 0745 - 1000 (a) 1030 - 1230 (b ) Bright and sunny after a chilly start (ice on the car for the first time this autumn). River low and carrying a tinge of colour. (a) 1 Chub (circa 1lb), 16 Roach, 5 Dace, 4 Grayling, a bleak and 2 brownies - biggest circa 1½lb. (b ) 3 Chub; 5lb 6oz, 4lb 13oz 4lb 9oz. 6 Dace biggest 10oz (the other 5 weren't much smaller!) A couple of hours trotting in a couple of swims half a mile apart. Good to see so many silver fish in the river - and very pleasing to find the chub in residence

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

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery, Nr Godalming 1830 - 0900 Warm, balmy night under a full moon. 14 Crucians, 7 over 2lb, best 2 - 2lb 14oz & 2lb 10oz (smallest 1lb 7oz!). 14 Tench - all bar one over 3lb, best 5lb exactly. 2 Roach - a tiddler and a fish of 1lb 2oz, 6 rudd - all small and 2 perch ditto. Well I think I've got those 2 species out of my system for another summer - simply cracking session which started with 4X2lb+ crucians in 4 casts! Paul got off to a slow start and for awhile it looked like I'd win the unofficial numbers match -

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1930 - 2345 Cool (down to 10ºC) and clear - perfect evening to be out watching perseids - and with no moon nature put on a stunning display! River down a couple of inches at least on my last visit here (29 July). 3 Barbel; 4lb 10oz, 3lb 15oz, 3lb 9oz. 1 Chub 4lb 5oz. 4 Dace (all chunky ones requiring a net!), 1 Roach and 4 spotties. Wayhay! So there are still some fish in the Kennet!! Trotted until it was too dark to see my float and all the fish bar the biggest barbel came to these tactics. Switched to ledgered pellet

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 - befo

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 - Barton Court 0630 - 1815 Dull and over cast some light drizzle in the morning some milky sunshine in the afternoon. Max AT 11ºC. 17 Perch: 9, 1½lb+, best 3: 2lb11oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 0oz. 1 Chub 2lb 10oz, 3 Dace, 2 Roach, 7 Gudgeon, 1 Brownie - 1¼lb Anglers Net fish-in. Biggest two perch from Gunters, all others (including chub) from Railway Cut. 4 perch on maggot 5 on float fished lobs.

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0745 - 1200 Bright and mild. River down an inch or two on last visit (10 January)- and quite clear. 3 Chub; All 1¾ - 2½lb. 1½doz Roach - all a 'nice' size but nothing over 8oz. 8 Dace - most small with one chunky one of 8oz. 8 Brownies 1-2½lb & 3 Rainbow's to 4½lb Another morning failing not to catch trout! Fished all the usual chub banker swims - but they were mainly full of trout. The rainbows as ever gave a very chubby like fight so was doubly disappointed to see that flash of pink as I got them to the surface.

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)

Middle Kennet Estate 0730 - 1815 Cool overcast and showery. 5-9ºC. River clear and at normal levels. 6 Chub; Smallest 2lb 0oz, Biggest 4lb 5oz. 7 Grayling; biggest 2lb 2oz, the rest all between 12-20oz. 1 Bream; 5lb 6oz. 12 Dace; biggest 11oz. 1 Perch; circa ¾lb. 8 Brownies to 3lb. A great mixed bag from a very pleasant days roving in the company of Paul, Merv & Dave. Spent most of the day to 3.00pm trotting corn which resulted in the chub AND the 2lb grayling (which nailed 3 kernels on a size 8). Biggest ever lady from the Kennet and 1st eve

NAA Stillwater - Thatcham 1300 - 0930 Hot and sultry (again!). Max 25ºC, Min 12ºC. 4 Carp (but see below!) ; 14lb2oz, 9lb 7oz, 5¾ & 4¾lbs. 3 Crucians; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 9oz. 4 roach & 2 rudd. A very quiet night - saved, for me at least - by a very productive last 2½hrs when I had the 14 (on floating crust from right under my feet) and all 3 crucians on float fished meat - hooray! Paul and I had set ourselves a target for the session of a double figure carp and a crucian each - so job done for me! Paul didn't manage a cru and his only

NAA Stillwater - Widmead 0415 - 1015 High cloud - warm. 15º -> 20ºC 4 Carp; 10lb 1oz, 9lb 6oz, 9lb 0oz, 7lb 11oz. 1 Crucian; 3lb 2oz. 2 roach, 1 rudd (all 3 of which needed the net to land.) Despite the splendid crucian and the hard fighting commons - a quiet morning bite-wise. Crucian on float fished meat - in the margins - pretty much only bite of the morning - apart from the roach and rudd - wasn't even 'carped' as is the norm. Biggest common on the feeder - other 3 all caught on bread in the last ¾hr when they started to feed on the top. M

River Kennet - Nr. Thatcham 0700 - 0930 Cool, overcast with light drizzle. 15ºC. River a little on the low side - but was lower this time last year! 2 Barbel; 7lb 6oz, 6lb 13oz. 5 Chub; 4lb 8oz. 3lb 15oz, 3lb 10oz, 2lb 14oz & a chublet. 6 dace, 1 brownie. Cracking little trotting session - one of my bigger float caught barbel. Most fish in the last ¾hr having moved a few yards downstream of where I started.

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

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1230 - 1600 Bright and sunny start followed by a heavy shower. AT 5-7ºC. Forgot to take WT! 1 Pike; 15lb 3oz (!!!). 4 Perch 1lb 9oz and 3 smalluns. 2 Roach. 2 Dace. 8 Gudgeon. Rather hoped that the weather would have held to what we'd had in recent days (mild and overcast). Bright sunshine and a sudden drop in temperature is not what the angler ordered and I ummed and ahhed all morning about whether or not to go. However with opportunities somewhat diminished for the next couple of months at least (yes a job at last!) i

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

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0745 - 1400 (With 1½hrs out to wander round Speen Moors looking at the floods before returning for the final 45 mins) Dull, mild and overcast 9-10ºC. A lovely, benign winter's day - perfect perching weather. WT 47ºF 13 Perch. 12 over 1lb with 4 X2lbers - biggest 2lb 7oz Every May Paul and I have what we call - "A Wander". We take a day out to look at a few venues and plan our campaign for the opening week - just an excuse to go out for a beer really! Last May I wanted to look beyond June and we tramped a couple o

Middle Kennet Estate 0730 - 1630 Light sleet/drizzle ALL day. 2ºC (ALL day). River high but in its banks (just) and with little colour. 5 Chub; 5lb 8oz, 4lb 9oz, 4lb 5oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 10oz. 3 Rainbows to 4lb 7oz, 2 Brownies to 2½lb A day Paul and I had pencilled in for some time (with very light pencil given current conditions!) and the plan had been to invite Chris & Steve and to target monster dace on another stretch of river. Alas permission to fish that bit wasn't granted so we had to 'make do' with this beat. My confidence wasn't high as

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 0830 - 1600 Cold, and very bright with everything white in a very heavy hoar frost - very picturesque. -3ºC -> +3ºC - though in negative territory for most of the day (certainly all morning) by the way the line was freezing in the ferrules. River looked in good nick - down a few inches on our last trip in Nov (85cm by the East Stoke gauge) 11 grayling: 4 over 1lb - 2lb 0oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 3oz. Bit of a grueller of a session. Bites at a real premium - especially in the morning - though I did get my 2 early doors. 7 f

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1300 - 1600 Mild, cloudy and benign - perfect perching weather. AT 10ºC 9 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz - the others all around 8-10oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb and a Rudd(!) The CRT have made it very difficult to locate big stripeys on the canal - by removing pretty much every bit of over hanging vegetation from miles of bank - however conditions were ideal for winter perch so a roving approach - travelling light and giving swims 30 mins or so before moving on was the plan for the afternoon - and 5th swim - bingo! Biggest pe

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford 0700 - 0400 Bright and breezy, mainly sunny. Lovely clear night with some high cloud and a gorgeous full moon. 9 Tench; best 5lb5oz with 6 of the rest over 4½lb. 2 Crucians; 2lb 0oz & 1lb 11oz. 2 Perch. 4th IAC Paul Goulbourn memorial fish-in. Yet again 20 of Paul's friends came together to honour his memory and try (and mainly fail!) to catch a crucian! Bites were at a premium all day though I think most anglers caught at least 'A' tench - I had my biggest pretty much first cast. However only 6 crucians were

River Kennet - Newbury 0900 - 1400 Bright and breezy - river up an inch or so after yesterday's heavy rain with its usual summer tinge of colour. 18 Chub: Most around 6-8oz, with 5 over a lb, biggest went 4lb 7oz with the others between 1¼ - 2¼lb., 2 doz+ Dace, 1 doz Roach, 2 Grayling, 2 Bleak and 3 Brownies. Lovely morning's trotting - great to see so many silvers in the river - especially the young chub.

River Kennet (& carrier) Marsh Benham 0900 - 1530 Bright and breezy (very breezy at times in the morning!) Mild-ish but didn't feel that way in the wind. River up an inch or two on last visit here (3 weeks ago). 7 Chub; Best 5lb 2oz - all the rest between 2½ - 3¾lb. 3 Bream: between 2¾ - 4lb. 15 Roach, 5 Dace & 5 Trout (3 browns & 2 rainbows all between 2½-3½lbs). Pleasant days trotting despite the wind - spent most of my time on the main river and weirpool which produced my biggest chub here this season.

River Kennet - Brimpton 1015 - 1515 Cold, bright and sunny. River low - very low for mid Jan 2 Chub; 3lb 1oz & 1½lb. 1 Brownie 2½lb A bright sparkly day though not ideal conditions - perseverance paid off - didn't get a bite until 1430 then 3 fish in half an hour from swims that appeared devoid of fish a couple of hours earlier (sun was off the water!)

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!

Whilst the summer months will find me fishing lakes mainly in pursuit of such as tench and crucian carp, the final three months of the river fishing season will see me more often than not on my most favourite of places to fish, small streams. It might be the upper sections and carriers of the Kennet, or some of the small brooks that I have access to, one very local to me, the Emm Brook. So local that I have the fortune to be able to fish it from the bottom of the garden if I’m feeling very lazy! Inspired by reading “Small Stream Fishing” by the late David Carl Forbes in the mid-1970’s, I

River Kennet - Newbury 2045 - 0000 Warm and overcast - river still has good flow though a little turbid. 2 Dace & a spottie. Planned to be bankside way earlier - but was seriously delayed getting home. Quick 20 mins trotting followed by 3 hours looking at a mainly stationary rod tip. Had a couple of promising rattles but nothing that developed into anything 'hittable.'

River Lambourn - Newbury 0800 - 1130 Bright after a frosty start - 1st frost of the month. River very low. 29 Grayling, 11 over 1lb (!!). Best 3; 1lb 14oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 7oz. 1 Roach - unweighed but needed the net. 1 Brown Trout parr. Pure co-incidence that my first visit of the season here corresponded to the 1st frosts of winter. Usual catch a couple and move on tactics until I found a pod of sizeable grayling feeding confidently under the branches of a willow. More importantly they were feeding competitively too - so much so that within a couple of minutes of feeding, and not

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 - Newbury 0730 - 1230 Cold and frosty. River clear with some leaf litter. WT - 47ºF (That's down 8ºF since Monday). 5 Chub (2-3lb, biggest 3lb 11oz), 3 barbel (all 2-3lb) 4 doz Dace, Gudgeon, Roach (mainly Dace). A morning trotting maggot or worm - very surprised to get the barbel considering the drop in WT. All chub and barbel caught after 1030 having spent 3 hours dribbling in maggot (and catching nowt but dace). Small but great fun on float rod and CP. All barbel caught on worm most chub on double red maggot.

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