upstream gardener

Nice result - it seemed like perfect conditions today (for once :-)) I spent the afternoon at the Madejski watching Irish being beaten by one point in the last seconds of the game. I wish I'd been out on the Kennet! M

Nice fish - not the fattest chub I've ever seen - but bloody close! Well done, bet you were chuffed. Matt

Thanks FT, My understanding is that it was immediately above the bridge on the TAA stretch. I am new to the Kennet this year and have only fished this bit for barbel - so I would be interested in anyone else's experiences this year with trotting. Certainly the Lodon hasn't been producing for the past couple of years - which is why I am tyring the Kennet! M

Thanks - I never knew it was selective for longer fish - hence the barbel! I wish I had stuck with plan A - I went further upstream for my sneaky session and spent 3 hours drowning maggots at thatcham to absolutley no avail! M

My thoughts on the barbel Chris, but no dace or roach is worrying - especially as I was planning a sneaky couple hours this afternoon! You would expect the roach/dace to outnumber the barbel by a large margin on that stretch. What have been the results elsewhere do you know? Thanks M

Not many rods have the screw tip these days, but I think they are brilliant especially where you can't get your quiver tip at the right angle which these days with concrete swims is quite frequently these days. Just harder to cast than a QT. M

Hi, This is one for fellow Kennet fishers. I just heard that the EA recently electrofished the Padworth stretch upstream of the bridge and came up with 20 barbel (good), a few perch, the odd chub, one roach and zero dace (very bad). Anyone any idea about this - is it true? Anyone know what steps the EA are going to take to reverse this ecological disaster? M

Dusk for me - I can't get up! Seriously though, I have had so many dawn sessions that turn out disappointing that I don't bother any more. My feeling, backed up by nothing scientific is that if I want to target predators I should target dawn and dusk is evens for the rest. M

I plan to christen the new centrepin! Maybe the Kennet or maybe the Loddon backstream or the Blackwater. Not made my mind up yet! Loddon is the nearest, but the Blackwater is the only one I have fished before this way. Got a pile of maggots and will leave the 'tip at home so I am not tempted. Matt

Nicholas, Sorry for the tardy response - work commitments! Yes its a stunning piece of water and I was really priveleged to share a rod there with a friend - we had a day each weekend - each! and it wasn't silly money either. Then the estate put the fishing in the hands of agents who banged the prices up and I couldn't justify the cost anymore. Also the membership changed from a few really nice local retired people (who preferred to fish during the week - result) and the place became overrun by unfriendly city types in chelsea-tractors with poor skill levels and even less etiquette. The keeper used to let the local club (not sure which one) have some coarse days after the trout season - but some anglers abused the privelege and he stopped doing it. I know that as a paying rod I could have had the odd day but I never had the time. When I fished there, the keeper (top coarse angler himself) ran it very much as a mixed fishery - coarse fish were not definitely not nuisance fish then, and there were some mouthwatering specimens. I personally had roach to over 2 on the fly and the chub were like like donkeys! If anyone wants to contact the keeper, please PM me and I'll find the contact details - but I think a rod is over £1200 now. Matt PS having suffered a barbed longshank 6 black lure in my earlobe once - I would definitely say that there are other benefits to barbless! Cut the leader and bled like a stuck pig until I'd finished obviously! But I would always use barbed for fish I intended to kill and eat, and barbless at all other times.

I have fished the Avington beat - thats the one immediately above BC - and taken many grayling there and on the Wiltshire Avon, Wylye, and Test from 2oz to over 2lbs. None have jumped! If it was large and silver I would think it was an escapee rainbow - there are a few on the Kennet thereabouts - my largest on the Avington beats was 9.8. on a #16 nymph. I have used barbless hooks for flyfishing for 20 years and probably lost 6 fish that threw the hook. I think though that the drag of the line in the water maintains gentle tension on the hook hold when they jump. If you hook a trout on coarse tackle this wouldn't happen. Matt

Thanks guys - really helpful! Tight lines yourselves. M

Thanks Peter, I checked out the link and it looks perfect - even has tuition if they need it! Where do you fish - I am a coarse fisherman, converted to fly about 30 years ago and just converted back when my boys got interested - and then I discovered barbel ........ Regards Matt

Hi, I wonder if anyone can recommend a day ticket water near St Albans. I am not familiar with the area being a Hampshire boy but I have a friend who wants to take his 11year old lad to an easy water. The important thing here being lots of bites to fairly agricultural tackle and techniques! I took my 2 to Gold Valley down here - not my cup of tea but the boys can't get enough of it and thats the sort of place I think will fit the bill for my friend. But I don't get north of the Thames without a passport and the correct jabs .... Thanks in advance! Matt