Jump to content

Chris Plumb

Anglers' Net Contributor
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    8518

  • Joined

  • Days Won

    168

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    13/14 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Dobsons Lake - Thatcham
    1900 - 0200
    Warm and overcast with clearing skies after 2330 - which allowed for some good Perseid spotting! AT 20º - 15ºC.
    1 Tench; 4lb 3oz. 2 Roach & a Perch - nothing particularly big!
    Well that was a VERY disappointing night - especially after such a promising start. Swim choice was dictated by a nice patch of bubbles around a rod length and a half out and casting into the area, I had the tench on the bank within 30 mins of starting (with the 2 roach coming either side of it). Main reason for coming here was to try and get a bigger tinca to better the 4-07 from Alders which currently stands as a SB. This initial flurry would not be repeated - in fact after catching the perchlet while it was still light I didn't register another bite. And not a bleep on my feeder rod - despite ringing the changes bait wise.
    An ulterior motive for doing a night was to catch sight of some meteors  - so was thankful that the skies cleared - and was able to see around half a dozen before deciding that if I was going to get some kip it might as well be in my own bed!
  2. Chris Plumb

    7 November (Part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    1045 - 1345
    Cool, milky sunshine. River at normal autumn levels - much lower than expected after a really wet month.
    4 Chub; 4lb 6oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 1lb 15oz. 7 Dace (4 chunky ones). 1 Grayling, 2 Gudgeon & a Brownie.
    Hooray - banker chub swims gives up more than one fish! Had three in the first 20 mins with the 4th one coming after resting it for over an hour whilst I explored elsewhere.
     
  3. Chris Plumb

    12 December

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    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...
     


  4. Chris Plumb

    8 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Padworth
     
    1930 - 2330
     
    Warm evening with a nice breeze to keep the mossies off. Still 16ºC when I packed up.
     
    1 Barbel; 5lb 11oz
     
    Unusually for me ledgered with two rods (and even more unsually left the trotting gear at home). One rod on boilie and one on halibut pellet. Pellet rod went off within ½ hour of arriving - a great start. Unfortunately it was then down to the crayfish to move in. Bait thieving activity died down for the last 45 mins - but it was false hope....
  5. Chris Plumb

    26 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA Stillwater - Widmead
     
    0445 - 1045
     
    Warm and overcast with sun breaking through after 0900. 15ºC->24ºC
     
    1 Crucian; 3lb 13oz - new PB! 2 Commons; 11lb 3oz & 8lb 5oz. 2 Perch - 1 just on 1lb and a nice Rudd of 10oz.
     
    Yippee got what I came for - had heard of some big 3's showing and even whispers of a 4lber so thrilled to have snaffled one. Sat right back and float fished under my rod tip about 2 foot from the bank - lots and lots of little lifts and movement from the off - which was obviously just rudd and perch. Had one classic lift about an hour after starting and briefly connected with something solid which quickly shed the hook - felt this was a crucian and that my chance had gone - thankfully a little after 0800 same thing happened and as soon as it was hooked I knew it was a crucian - couldn't believe the size of it when it popped to the surface for the first time and it took 3 more plunges before I had it subdued - very very nervy couple of minutes - was convinced I had a 4lber!! Had to settle for 3oz light but still can't wipe the smile of my face!!!! Biggest common off the top - with bread flake - other one on the method.
     
    Crucian beats previous PB by 3oz - a 3-10 fish from a nearby lake caught on 22/6/99 - my 2nd longest standing PB until today.
     

     

  6. Chris Plumb

    5 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    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 of canal banks looking for likely swims to replace the autumn Perch hotspots that are hot no more on the Thatcham stretch due to habitat loss. Based on that recce we had pencilled in a visit to this water - somewhere I'd not fished since 2007. However, our two previous attempts this autmn/winter at fishing here had been aborted due to bad weather.
     
    So it was 3rd time lucky - and worth the wait. The 2 of us covered a fair bit of water fishing ½ doz swims in total - though most of the fish came from just 3 (and all the 2's from 2 spots). Conditions were such that fish fed throughout the day - in fact my biggest was the last fish caught. Paul finished on 7 perch with a brace of 2s and did manage a 3lb+ fish - though this was a surprise - but most welcome winter tench. All fish falling to lobs - though Paul had a few minutes fishing maggot and picked up a couple of roach as a result.
     
    All photo's courtesy of Paul (as per usual)
     
    A couple of my perch...
     

     
    Paul's Tinca

    Water, Water Everywhere...



    At the small weir - but where is it?

     
    This is where we usually park the car - field beyond had sheep in it last winter!

  7. Chris Plumb

    18 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate water.
     
    0800 -1600
     
    Cold, frosty and bright. -1ºC -> 5ºC. River very low
     
    5 Chub; 5lb 15oz, 2lb 3oz & 3 chublets 2 of which were circa 1lb. 47 Roach; Most in the 6-8oz bracket - the 5 I put on the scales were 9oz, 10oz, 12oz, 14oz & 1lb 2oz but an awful lot weren't much smaller than the 9oz fish - probably had nearly 20lb of roach in all! 2 Dace & 6 Brownies biggest circa 2½lb.
     
    Chalk this one up to the river keeper who put us on to the fish - from a stretch of river Paul and I had never fished before. Probably my best ever day roach fishing on the Kennet (for numbers and overall average size of fish) Paul had fewer roach but the same stamp - and he managed to winkle out a couple of decent dace to 8oz. First couple of hours were a real struggle due to the rod rings freezing up - fishing (and catching) became a lot easier once the temps lifted enough for the line to run free. Largest chub was a bit hair-raising on light tackle!
     

     
    More pics to follow - once my 'Official Photographer' has sent them over!
     
    And here they are....
     
    Twas a bit nippy when we started...

     
    But Dawn was spectacular!

     
    And Sunrise was pretty too...

     
    Nearly 6lbs....

     
    No fish here!

     
    Dusk in the 'Roach' swim.

  8. Chris Plumb

    16 February (part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    1300 - 1730
     
    Mild, overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. 10ºC. WT bouncing between 44/45ºF when I arrived rising to 46ºF when I packed up.
     
    1 Perch; 4lb 2oz! (New PB ), 1 Chub; 5lb 10oz.
     
    MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! It is a quest that started in 2005 with an eavesdropped conversation in Tony's tackle emporium when a guy at the till was describing in some detail the capture of a 4lb 11oz perch from the canal while I hung on his every word. I have never stared at wagglers so intently!! Whilst he didn't go on to descibe the swim the general area was given away - and I resolved to give the stretch some serious attention. At the time I'd been following up rumours of 4lbers from Speen and whilst I'd had a smattering of 3s and pushed my PB to 3lb8oz, I'd come to the conclusion that low 3s appeared to be the top weight I could realsitically hope for from there.
     
    So it is somewhat ironic that this season has seen me switch back a little bit to Speen and to the canal at Enborne for my perching. In the 8 years since that piece of intelligence I have had 38 perch over the 3lb mark from the Thatcham stretch (I've just looked back in my diaries counting them!) and my PB had edged up to 3lb 14oz - a mark I've achieved twice. But last winter the canal authorities saw fit to rip out ALL the swims on this stretch. Every overhanging bush, branch and tree has been cut down and grubbed out - every holding area for big stripeys gone. Consequently finding the fish this winter has been a real challenge and whilst I have few decent fish - I was still going into the last month of the season not having caught a 3lb perch for the first time in over a decade.
     
    So part 2 of yesterday's adventure was to try and make up for the fact I hadn't had a 3lb perch this season (which now I come to think of it I still haven't! ). My season's best before today being a 2lb 14oz fish from Speen back in Oct (see blog for entry 13 October). The swim I had in mind is one that Paul has 'discovered'. He's fished it a couple of times and had a 3lb 8oz perch just the day before. It's also not a million miles away from where Rusty has been catching 3lbers this winter too - so if you can't beat them.....
     
    I arrived in quite bright sunshine and the first puzzle was to find the swim - it wasn't at all apparent I was in the right spot - little evidence on the bank so a quick call to Paul to get my barings. I was also surprised that Chris wasn't in his swim - I would have bet money on him perching today - and sure enough a couple of hours or so after I arrived he showed up!
     
    I wasn't expecting much action until late afternoon - so the first couple of hours were quite lesuirely - despite arriving at 1 o'clock it was gone 2 before I put a lob out into the swim. The time was spent having some lunch, trickling some maggot into the swim - and even trotting maggot to see if there were any bait fish around (there wasn't!) Eventually I cast a worm out but really wasn't expecting much - in fact sitting on the mossy bank I was actually starting to nod off (the result of a lunchtime beer no doubt) when suddenly my float disappeared and my rod tip wrapped around as a fish headed for the tree roots. This was clearly no perch - I briefly thought it might be a tench before I saw those lips surface - a big chub - by far and away my best ever from the canal - and my biggest of the season. Most unexpected.

     
    An hour after this Rusty arrived and shortly after he was installed in his swim I had my second bite of the afternoon - this alas didn't meet with success - a pike, whose love of lobs I have oft chronicled, shot off across the canal with the line parting as I gave it some resistance.
     
    And then it happened. Bob, bob, under, strike. It's happened a hundred times before and thankfully it didn't enter my head that this was any different. It did feel like a good un and I was simply feeling pleased that I would have my 3 for the season. As I netted it I even shouted 'a big 3' in response to the enquiry from the angler fishing downstream on the opposite bank.
     
    On the bank though it was clearly bigger than any perch I'd ever seen in the flesh, deep and incredibly fat the needle on my scales initially bounced down to nearly 4½lbs before settling on just over 2oz above the 4lb mark - I'd done it!
     
    Even better I had Chris on hand to act as official photographer.

     
    There was still an hour of daylight left and with Chris quickly getting a decent stripey too we thought we might be in for something really outstanding - especially as there was fry scattering in the margins next to my swim. Alas our floats remained stationary and the surface activity quickly died down so whilst I could have fished on for another 20 minutes or so I reasoned that perch dinner time had come and gone and it was time for my dinner and a celebratory glass or three of Rioja!
     
  9. Chris Plumb

    12 December (Part 1)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Speen Moors
    0745 - 1345
    Overcast start (drizzling when I left home) becoming bright and breezy. AT 7º-9ºC. River at normal levels.
    8 Chub: 4lb 7oz, 3lb10oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 11oz & 4 small ones. 7 Roach - most hand sized, 4 Dace, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & a 2lb Brownie.
    Pleasant morning playing hunt the chub, started off with the 3lber from a spot that only usually gives you one chance - and so it proved as resting it for an hour produced nothing more. Fished around half a dozen more swims in all with the rest of the decent chub coming from the penultimate one.
     
    Biggest of the morning.

  10. Chris Plumb

    8 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    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).



  11. Chris Plumb

    20 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate
     
    0900 - 1730
     
    Cool, Overcast and Dry. AT around 5-6ºC all day. River at normal levels and carrying a tinge of colour - all in all neigh on perfect winter conditions!
     
    10 Chub. 8 over a pound, biggest 3; 4lb 5oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 5oz. 13 Dace. Most a good size, best 4; 14oz, 11oz 10ozX2. 1 Grayling - 1lb 7oz. 8 Brownies to 2½lb.
     
    Typical day spent wondering the banks with rods in hand. Spent all morning searching out the dace and had caught just 4 by lunch time though it did include both 10oz & the 11oz fish. Post lunch the focus switched briefly to chub and I had ½doz in quick succession - half on maggot and half on corn. Then after a quick visit to poach Rusty's swim - forlornly as it turned out for a perch - it was a long trek down to a swim rumoured to hold really special chub - unfortunately when I got there I realised I'd left my sweetcorn at the top of the fishery. This meant changing up my dace tackle to something a bit stronger and fishing double white maggot. A small chub resulted quickly followed by the grayling - small compensation for the MUCH bigger lady I lost in the morning due to my own stupidity. I hooked what I firmly believed to be a brownie - and played it really hard - hoping it would get off. The plan worked in the same instance I realised I was connected to a really substantial grayling not a troot! Last hour was spent in a known dace swim - resulting in my last fish of the day being a rather special dace of 14oz.
     

     
    3 of Paul's fish from Sunday....



  12. Chris Plumb

    9 September

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Warm evening (though temps were starting to plummet when I left) 21º->12ºC.
    2 Carp: 13lb 14oz, 7lb 2oz. 2 Tench - both quite small but pushing a lb. 3 Crucians - handsized.
    A session topped and tailed by the 2 carp. The biggie snaffled my float fished maggot within 20mins of starting and with a 16 to a 4lb bottom I was grateful for the help of a fellow angler for its netting! In truth the carp were a pain - especially until it got dark as they were clearly pushing out my target fish (I lost a couple more to hook pulls and bumped 2 or 3 more striking at liners). Thankfully the tincas and lovely miniature crucians eventually turned up - only to be pushed out again by the returning carp for the last half an hour. All fish caught in the margins right under my rod tip.
     

  13. Chris Plumb
    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!) it was a case of you won't catch owt mooching about at home. So rather than the canal I thought I'd have a wander round Speen - drop into a few favourite spots and with ½ pint of maggots left over from last week was sure to catch something. The plan was then to spend the last hour of daylight trying to winkle out a perch or two from a couple of spots that used to be very productive (but have been less so for the last couple of seasons).
     
    Part one went as planned, fishing one of the weirs I had 3 of the perch including the bonus 1lber - but was somewhat gudgeoned out. I was really after a chub so moved down to the APFA swim but only caught more gudgeon! Then who should I meet - but Rusty who was just finishing off a bread based blank in the larger weir. I walked back with him and dropped into a swim en route which quickly produced another perchlet, followed by a roach - and after Chris had bade his goodbyes, 2 dace and a further roach. Having arrived and fished the first couple of hours in bright sunshine, the skies suddenly blackened and for 20 minutes it absolutely tipped it down. I very nearly packed up there and then - but a bright line on the horizon signalled that it was to be just a shower so it was off to the 'perch' swims....
     
    The low water levels didn't fill me with much anticipation but I thought fading light should encourage any fish to feed. The first swim produced nothing and I'd made around ½doz casts in the second swim when the float bobbed once and just slid away purposefully. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. I struck and realised in an instant that this was no perch. Pike love lobs and are a bit of an occupational hazard when perching - and I was seriously out gunned by this beasty! My record on landing pike on worm is pretty good providing you have hooked it clear of teeth - however I really didn't expect to get this one in. The initial strike had turned it away from danger only for it to shoot off down stream in the current. Again I managed to turn its head and headed up stream. In the shallow water I could see it clearly - and realised it was going to be a challenge for my 24' pan net - however on its next pass I placed the net behind it and it turned tail and shot straight in with the current.
     
    A really fine fat specimen hooked in the outside of the scissors - how lucky is that. Tis my biggest ever worm caught pike - beating the 14lb I had 2 years ago, my biggest ever from Speen, and my biggest since my PB of 18-10 in Feb 01. Landed on a size 8 to 6lb mono and my trusty Harrison float rod!
     
    Having photographed and slipped her back I returned to my perch fishing. Alas the perch weren't in residence and the next 2 bobs of the float both produced crayfish - so whilst there was still some daylight left I decided it was time to call it a day!
     

  14. Chris Plumb

    19 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    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 down stream leaving me to have the whole upstream beat to myself!!!! My plan had always been to fish a chub swim that I fish quite a bit but which is otherwise relatively unknown - I've had a hunch for a few seasons that it could hold a quite special chub and this morning it turned out I was right. In the past I've only ever had one or two fish at a time from it so this morning I approached it a bit differently - taking my time - resting and feeding between fish. It certainly paid off as every time I ran a float through (with 3 kernals of red sweetcorn as bait) I had a bite straight away. The 2,2's were followed by the 5lber, in turn followed by the 3-15. Each fish put back some way downstream and each time I dribbled in more freebies for 10-15 mins before recasting. The 6 was the last fish of the morning and the constant feeding obviously paid off as it nailed the bait seconds after hitting the water - I hadn't even trotted down to the 'take zone'. The aggressive take was more akin to a trout but there was no mistaking this for a trout in the clear shallow water. Having already had a 5 I knew this was somthing special and was even muttering could be 7 as it hung in the fast water refusing to budge. The standoff was fairly brief and it was soon being coaxed into a waiting net where it promptly coughed up an enourmous gob of mashed up corn - could have been 6-08 if it had kept it down!! Still at 6lb 7oz it's a new PB by an ounce - I was well chuffed and all the more satisfying for being caught on the float. Next trot through produced a ruddy brownie = one 'killed swim'. I returned for an hour in the afternoon for 1 more chub before the brownies moved in again...
     
    If the morning had started splendidly what was to follow was equally awesome. My plan had always been to switch to dace after a morning's chubbing but I hadn't expected to get so many and such quality - and from a swim I hadn't planned to fish. However looking into the water with my poleroids as I stopped for a mid morning drink and chocolate I could see the swim was stuffed with dace - and by the looks of it some really quite big ones. (I don't think I caught anywhere near the biggest in the shoal!). I weighed the first 5 dace I caught, 3 were 12 oz the other 2, 9 & 10oz. Having got my eye in I only weighed anything that looked bigger - and popped a couple of later fish on the scales which both went 13oz but in truth nearly every fish was of the same stamp - I could see bigger dace in the swim - but never got past the 'schooly' 10ozers to catch one!!!
    All in all a fantastic days sport - feels like two days fishing in one!

     
  15. Chris Plumb

    28 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    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.

     
  16. Chris Plumb

    21 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    1000 - 1300
    Rain (again!?) steady and persistent but never particularly heavy - thankfully, as I was standing out in it for 3 hours. Cool (only 11ºC), quite calm. River was in great nick - higher than normal for June and with a little less colour than last Thursday.
    2 Chub; 5lb 2oz and one of around a pound (unweighed). 18 Dace & 9 Roach - nothing to warrant weighing. 1 Grayling c10oz, 2 Gudgeon (hooray!) & 2 Brownies both over 1lb but under 2lb.
    Apart from the rain, conditions looked spot on - and as usual I started by just trickling in maggot for the first 10+ mins - supremely confident that my first trot through would produce a  good fish.  However, first cast produced the bigger trout (around 1½lb) - usually the kiss of death for their swim trashing abilities! Thankfully I managed to bully it away from the 'chub zone' before its first leap - but still thought that my chances had been blown. I needn't have worried - after slipping the brownie back - my float buried on the second run through and a strike just meet solid resistance. This time the perogative was to steer the fish away from the danger of tree roots on the far bank and once I had it in open water the battle was won. I waited until the last week of the season last year to get a 5lb+ chub - chuffed to get one in the opening week this season!
     

  17. Chris Plumb

    25 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Warm and sunny evening - with cloud cover coming in at dusk which: a) kept temps up at around 14ºC and, b) kept the dew off which was nice!
    3 Tench; 4lb 7oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 12oz. 1 Bream 3lb 8oz. 3 Carp (!) one 'handsized' the other 2 slightly bigger at around a lb a piece. 5 Perch.
    Very pleasant evening on the float - though the carp were an unwelcome sight - this was meant to be a carp free lake when it was restocked after the fish kill of 2007. However some unauthoriised fish were put in and now it looks like they've spawned successfully! Each time I hooked one I assumed I was into another tench so disappointed to see a small carp instead! Started with a flurry of perch on maggot though this time switched TO prawn to slow down their interests. Nice to get a bream as well - which fought very uncharacteristically having nearly pulled my rod in when I turned around to rummage for a drink in my bag!

  18. Chris Plumb

    4 September

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0700 - 1300
    Warm, overcast and quite muggy - though that might just have been all the exertion to hack my way through the undergrowth to my swim - clearly no one has been here since MY last visit back in July! AT 10º - 20ºC. River low with a little colour - typical for this time of year.
    7 Chub; 3 over 2lb - the best 2lb 12oz with another an ounce or so under. Other 3 were around the pound mark ± a few ounces. 1 Barbel (!!) 👍 unweighed but probably just shy of a lb. 1 Pike; 4lb 8oz. 20 Dace and 8 Roach - nothing of any size. 1 Bleak, 3 Brownies: one of 1¼lb the other 2 around half that (and possibly the same fish!)
    Well that WAS fun! And for the 2nd weekend in a row I get a Kennet barbel trotting - though this one may have been recently stocked judging by the size of it. In years gone by barbel of this size were quite common here - so much so that I used to call it the Barbel Nursery!
    I had planned to make this a 2 venue morning - but as it turned out it was a 2 swim session - giving each an hour in rotation. Started off in my usual hotspot and had what would prove to be my biggest chub of the morning within the first 10 mins of fishing after the usual 'bait and wait' tactics at the start of the session. However most of the fish then came from my second swim upstream - one that often only produces in low water conditions (it's usually too pacey). This produced 5 of the chub and the barbel - though the pike was caught back in my initial swim on a plug after it had chased in a couple of the dace.

  19. Chris Plumb

    21 September

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    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!


  20. Chris Plumb

    30 October

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Speen Moors
    1000 - 1530
    Bright and mainly sunny after early morning rain. AT around 13ºC all day. River still quite low and clear despite a wet October (109mm and counting!)
    6 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 2lb 0oz and 4 in the ½-1lb bracket (of course!). 1 Perch 1lb 11oz. 17 Roach - only one troubled the scales (as I thought it would make a pound!) @ 14oz. 3 Dace. 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies; a 2+lber and a smallun.
    First hour and a half on Parliament Draft which accounted for both the bigger Chub. Then enboldened by the news that a working party had cleared a path on the back carrier I set off to find a favourite chub swim of the past. Alas, less than 50% of the length had been cleared and after a sweaty 30 mins trying to fight my way through the undergrowth and fallen trees I gave up and headed back to the big weirpool - where I pretty much spent the rest of the session. 
    Chub and Speedia


  21. Chris Plumb

    20 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome - Wool
     
    0830 - 1645
     
    Overcast, mild and breezey (rather too breezey at times). River clear and quite low.
     
    16 Grayling; best 3 1lb 11oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 9oz. The rest mostly small. 5 Brownies - most small with a couple of pounders.
     
    Ever since my first visit here in November I've been bending Paul's ear to come and join me - and the premise of a belated birthday trip was the perfect excuse. However work (his) threatened to get in the way and we only decided to go yesterday. Fortunately DDAS are rather more forward looking than a lot of angling clubs - and a simple paypal transaction resulted in Paul's Guest Ticket being emailed to me within 5 minutes of payment - I was very impressed.
     
    So a quiet day by the river in deepest Dorset!! You gotta be kidding - the morning was as if Armegedon had started. Numerous fire engines, dozens of police cars and a ruddy police helicopter hovering overhead for 2 hours. We were checked out a number of times - with police cars pulling up - and in one case crossing the field towards us. Most surreal was when we moved 400m upstream and the helicopter followed us!!!! Once home it all became clear!
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-16650234
     
    The morning's fishing was pretty uneventful - at least for me. We started off in what I'd boldly said were banker swims - as they had produced 2lbers on my previous trips in November - so of course we struggled. I was really keen for Paul to catch as I'd persuaded him into this jaunt - and thankfully he scored the only success of the morning with a very fat lady of 2lb 3oz - A fish that made fools of both of us as we estimated it at much bigger.
     
    There was no mistaking the size of Paul's next biggie though!! After lunch we had moved downstream and whilst I was saying we might have a chance of dace here Paul started to catch grayling. A tiddler was followed by a 1-10 fish. He then connected with something that he annouced was a trout. However from my vantage point I could see from the first flash of the fish in the clear water that this was a grayling - and a rather special one at that!!! Acting as netsman I managed to net it first pass - And we were quickly guessing its credentials - a 3? My guess was a modest 2-14 - I was an ounce out; both sets of scales registered an ounce below the magic 3lb mark. Still an awesome grayling and a new PB for Paul.
     
    Things then started to look up for me too - and I started to get amongst the grayling - they had obviously moved down into the deeper water. Paul had the last say though with a third and final 2lber. I don't think I'll need tooooo much persuasion for a return visit next year!!!
     
    The 'Banker' swim - no fish here!

    Top of the fishery looking down to where Paul got off the mark!

    Paul's First 2 of the day...

    Woolbridge Manor (Wellbridge House in Tess of the D'Urbervilles)

    Paul's clonker - 2lb 15oz.

    I get in on the act at last.

    Paul perfects the ancient art of grayling juggling with his 3rd, 2 of the day.

    Sunset over Wool Bridge.

  22. Chris Plumb

    9 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet, Nr Thatcham
     
    1930 - 2315
     
    Cool, overcast some light drizzle at times - more like October than mid-July!
     
    Blanked!!
     
    Cue another Rusty faux headline!!! Shocked on 2 counts when I arrived. The first was not being able to even get in the car park - full of anglers cars. And the second was the state of the river - really coloured up and tanking through - more like mid-winter condition. I did consider turning around and going elsewhere - a thought that stayed with me all evening as I looked at a stationary quiver tip. No bites, not even a hint of one - or even a crayfish - in fact didn't even need to change my hair-rigged pellet for the entire time I was on the bank...
  23. Chris Plumb

    31 August/1 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    2000 - 0700
     
    Warm and overcast night, didn't get below 14ºC. Drizzle until midnight but by dawn our brollies/shelters were dry. Lovely night to be out.
     
    2 Crucians; 3lb 7oz & 2lb 3oz. 1 Carp 10lb 5oz.
     
    Not quite mission accomplished first cast - but certainly 1st bite!! Biggest crucian of the season, my 3rd biggest ever and the first 3lber I've ever had from this water. Plan was to try and avoid attracting the carp - so didn't feed the swim - a ploy which appears to have worked (nearly!). Paul and no such qualms and even crossed over to the dark side with the purchase of a pellet waggler for this trip! He had arrived well before me and being a true gent didn't drop into the swim I wanted - though I think he may have rued that decision when I landed my 3lber as I think it would have been a PB for him... Still he caught a lot of carp - and was landing his 16th of the session as I left - he even managed a 1-10 crucian.
     
    My 3lb+ Crucian...

     
    Not Paul's biggest carp of the night (think this was 8lb something), but certainly the best looking one!

  24. Chris Plumb

    19 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    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





     
     
     
     
     
  25. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Weirpool - Marsh Benham
    0600 - 1200
    Hot and sultry - 19º -> 27ºC. River a little on the low side but not as bad as it can be in August!
    12 Chub: 6 over lb, best 2 both went 4lb 3oz (different fish) - nice to see some small ones. 3 Bream; 2¾ to just under 4lb. 30 Dace. 20+ Roach. 4 Bleak. 1 Brown Trout - 6lb 1oz (!!) & 2 Rainbows of 2½ & 3½lbs.
    Cracking morning's trotting - though the big brownie was on ledgered meat and had me convinced I was into a barbel for a few minutes! 
    Don't usually take pics of troot - usually try to avoid them - but this was one impressive spottie.

    And Rusty will be pleased to see I've done some 'gardening'...

    Bream pic (makes a change from Chub), this was the biggest - all 3 fought surprisingly hard in the flow!

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.

  I accept