Chris Plumb
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Blog Comments posted by Chris Plumb
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I hear the new owners are doing a lot of work at BC - and have closed the river to coarse anglers in the winter. Good luck if you go - I don't think I've even seen the lake at BC - what's in it?
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We did win!
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The gauge weir depicted in the header was dismantled in the autumn of 2019....
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Well it definitely wasn't one of mine as it was an eyed hook - I only use spades in smaller sizes and this was a 14/16...
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Eeek this was from a couple of years ago - corrected a typo and the blog software has pushed it to the top!
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Well done JC - nice to see there's at least a couple of us keeping this blog going!!!
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There was certainly a sudden increase in weights at the turn of the millennium - in the 4 seasons 98/99 - 01/02 I had 22 PBs with my barbel PB going up every year. However I reckon there were many more fish in the river 25 years ago - for example my diary records the opening day of the season 1993 - spent at Brimpton (in the pouring rain!) I had 6 chub and 7 barbel that day yet no fish (of either species) was over 3½lb and despite catching over a 100 chub and barbel that season (mainly from Brimpton and Lower Benyons) my seasons best was 3-06 for chub and 4-02 for barbel! How I wish for those days now! Thankfully the chub still seem to be hanging on in reasonable numbers (and size) though the big perch and barbel of any size have all but disappeared....
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Hi Jojn - yes - I've got diaries going back to 1971/72 season (when I was 10!) and always fished the Kennet system since then - so have quite a bit of data! For me it all kicked off in 1999/2000! In those 2 years I had my first 6lb + chub, my first 3lb+ perch and first 10lb+ barbel. All of which were big step ups from previous PBs. My Chub pb in particular leapt up from 4-13 to 6-3 in one go in 1999 - having crept up by just 12oz in the previous 11 years. For 15 years from 1979 - 1994 my best barbel was a modest 6lb and when I caught my first double it added 1½lbs to my pb. My perch pb stood at 2-03 (1993) before smashing it with a 3.01 in 1999 - at the time I'd only ever caught 3 perch over 2lb!. A lot of commentators put all this down to the explosion in signal crayfish numbers at around the same time - and who am I to disagree but it does give an explanation as to why there are no pbs before 2001 (my Rudd was the last one!) The 2001-05 period is partly due to access to great waters - the roach and dace were on the same day - from a swim that Martin Bowler fishes (and catches a 1-02 dace!) in Catching the Impossible - alas I no longer have access to this (the old boy that ran the fishery passed away and it was bought out by owners that no longer allow coarse fishing). Similarly the pike was from a water I can no longer fish (in fact that was my last ever visit though I didn't know it at the time!)
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Well if we get a mild March I just might!
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Yes - that's one of my plans for next summer! Meant to be a barbel or 2 in there as well!
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No I was on the other bank - up near the cattle drink....
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WELL DONE John - nice trio of redfins!
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Nice one!! Thankfully I nearly had the place to myself - only one other angler in the top field. But I should have spent some time below the road bridge (on that bit you called the wilderness!) A couple of anglers there when I went to have a looky and they'd both had 2lbers out! Ah well, always next season!
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That chub looks bigger than a 3! Like to make its acquaintance again in a couple or so winters!
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I've often wondered about that too and whilst this might have been a large sea trout - I have hooked and landed salmon on the Frome and on the Itchen - both circa 5lb and both on trotted maggot!
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MF tactics - well 'my' MF tactics - pole float, dead depth, tiny pieces of meat. One of the tapes as come away - twas wrapped around a fence post - not sure if it's by design but it does bring more lilies into play at more swims!
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Would love to have seen a pic. For the record - my 3 vital signs for crucian ID are as follows. 33 scales on the lateral line - can possibly be 32 or 34 but outside of this is a no-no (too few likely to be/have some brown goldfish - too many - carp. Dorsal fin is always concave and the caudal (tail fin) is usually quite paintbrush like (no pronounced V). And absolutely NO barbules!
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Yup that pretty much sums it up!C.
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That twas the only picture I took all day as well - though I#m rather pleased with it - does capture how bright it was !
Conversation with G went OK - he's going to ask the owner but did say various precedents had been set so was hopefully I'd get the answer I'm hoping for! Did also say that everyone on TP struggled - nearly all had packed up by 1500! (we then discussed the benefits of fishing till it got dark - and he let slip where some nice roach have been coming out
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Thanks - John, though I'd still rather have had a pike!
C.
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Hi kenj - I recall Paul talking about you - and you're right about the Embrook - I was always very envious that it ran through his garden - not many anglers can rightfully boast of catching had 1lb+ roach from their own gardens!
Paul and I last fished together back in Sep though I know his last trip was about a month after this toward the end of October - he died 6 weeks later.....-
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Taken with my fishing camera - crappy thing I've had for years. If you look carefully you can just make out my float in mid-river!
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Not so over-ambitious then!!
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I suspect they'll spend the day holed up there but move downstream to feed!
20 May
in Chris Plumb's Blog
A blog by Chris Plumb
Posted
Might give it a go - tis a nice part of the world!