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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    18 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Padworth
    1800 - 2200
    Warm and overcast. River quite low and quite coloured up (usual late summer conditions!)
    3 Chub; all ¾-1lb. 11 Roach - 4 in the 8-10oz class - all the others less that half this. 1 Dace; 6oz (looked bigger!) 3 Gudgeon.
    Moderately successful trotting sesh (and always nice to see a few gobio gobios turn up) to precede the expected blank on the lead once it got dark. Only 'rattles' were as a result of the signals!
  2. Chris Plumb

    20 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 0000
    Warm and overcast with a gentle southerly breeze. 19ºC -> 16ºC. Lovely evening to be out - no dew and no shelter required.
    5 Carp; 10lb 13oz, 8lb 14oz, 8lb 10oz, 6lb 5oz (& one of around a pound - unweighed!). 1 Tench 1¼lb. 3 Bream (all skimmers). 1 Perch. 1 Rudd. (Both quite small)
    This was meant to be an evening fishing the margins for tench (or crucians, roach, bream, perch, rudd - anything but carp!) However the bully boy commons had other ideas - they were just insatiable. The 'bigger' eight was first cast and took an age to subdue on a float rod and a 4lb bottom - and no wonder as it was shaped like a torpedo! After hooking and losing a couple more to hook pulls - bumping another couple (possibly striking at liners) - and banking the 2 smaller ones I decided on a 'If you can't beat them, join them' strategy and started dapping bread under my (carp) rod tip. This at least resulted in a 100% hooking to landing ratio - though the double had to be extracted from the lillies where it so nearly won its freedom. After all this commotion the carp eventually vacated my swim - I had no more slurps and swirls at my bread offerings on the surface and float fishing maggot at last produced bites (and fish) that weren't  carp though they weren't exactly prolific!

  3. 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!
  4. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0630 - 1230
    Torrential rain for first 90 mins or so followed by showers (some quite lumpy!). Cool for August (13ºC) and quite breezy - sun eventually appeared for the last hour or so.
    2 Chub: 3lb 13oz & a smallun. 1 Bream; 3lb 14oz. 4 Doz Roach & Dace (mainly roach - nothing of any size). 3 Bleak. 1 Rainbow Trout - 3½lb.
    I read 3 weather forecasts on Friday evening and whilst all predicted a showery weekend they all also said that Sunday would be the drier day. PAH! Didn't get a drop of rain yesterday morning - first shower appeared at lunchtime - and yet this morning it was like sitting through a monsoon. Thankfully I'd just about got set up before the heavens opened and quickly abandoned my trotting for a couple of hours sitting under a brolly, ledgering meat - and almost thankful that I didn't get a bite! Eventually the rains abated enough to resume running a float through various swims. Was hoping for a few more chub - though the bream was a nice bonus and didn't half put up a scrap in the fast current! Also harvested my first blackberries of the summer!

  5. Chris Plumb

    11 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2230
    Warm, becoming overcast and quite breezy.
    1 Tench; 2lb 7oz. 2 Perch - both 6-8oz.
    Slow evening with all the action (if you can call it that!) unusually coming in the first 90 mins. My worst return from Alders in a while. Only excitement as it got dark was connecting with one of the lake's rogue carp, for which I was totally out-gunned. I'm not sure it even realised it was even hooked at first as it plodded up the channel - before realising something was up and took off into the central island of lillies for the inevitible smash up. Then had the frustrations of being locked in - the gate at the Discovery Centre being locked with only the combination lock - the NAA padlock hanging loose with the L-Bar - designed to allow both locks to be used independently - laying on the ground. Dave - the fisheries manager came to the rescue - but this shambles is becoming a regular occurrence.... ?
  6. Chris Plumb

    4 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2230
    Warm, clear evening with a gentle southerly breeze wafting the aromas of Paul Newman's salad dressing from the factory at Greenham - but not strong enough to keep the mossies at bay!
    3 Tench; 3lb 4oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 5oz. 2 Roach & a Perch - all handsized.
    Slightly sub par return by recent standards - waited 2 hours for a bite then all the fish, bar the smallest tench, came in a flurry between 8.30 and 9.00pm. By 10.30pm the crayfish had moved in so it was time for me to move out despite planning to stay longer...
  7. Chris Plumb

    30 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Harris Lake, Marsh Farm - Milford
    1600 - 0000
    Cool (for late July!), 17ºC - 15ºC, very breezy (thanks to storm Evert) with a couple of brief flurries of rain - though precipitation had been much heavier prior to arrival.
    23 (!!!?!!!) Crucians: 18 over 2lb (the other 5 all around 1¾lb - I had 2 @1-14). Best 5 went, 3lb 2oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 12oz & 2lb 11oz. 7 Tench: best 4lb 2oz - the others all 2-3lbers. 1 Perch: unweighed but needed the net and easily ½lb. 2 Rudd (micro sized - both caught on a bare hook as I adjusted the shotting on my float at the start of the session!)
    WOW! Feast or Famine. I couldn't buy a bite here 6 weeks ago - and yet today caught nearly double the number of big crucians than I caught in the whole of last season - in fact looking back through my diaries I can't see a better return in the 15 years I've been coming to this venue. And to add to the fun they were all caught on the float - pretty much under my rod tip. Had planned for this to be a bit of an overnighter but by 9.00pm I already had 20 to my name (including all the bigger ones) and bites then actually tailed off a bit as it got dark - complete opposite to what nearly always happens here. Really frenetic evening - took 3 attempts to make myself a cup of tea as I kept having to turn the stove off to land a fish! All fish on chopped prawn - took maggot but didn't even put one on the hook!

  8. Chris Plumb

    24 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    1345 - 1515
    Warm (21ºC but felt warmer!), overcast with some fine drizzle at times. River at usual summer levels.
    1 Chub; 2½lb. 16 Dace - a few chunky ones but nothing to trouble the scales, 6 Roach - ditto. 2 Bleak.
    Quick, unplanned session - as the apocalyptic amounts of rain forecast for today didn't materialise! Nearly a chubless session too as the usual tactics of 'bait & wait' failed due, mainily I think, to a surfeit of bleak that were nailing all the free offerings before they had a chance to sink in the water column and drift downstream. Pleased to eventually get one pretty much last cast.
  9. Chris Plumb

    23 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2330
    Warm with a nice breeze in my face, much more clement than the oppressive heat of recent days and kept the dew and mossies away. 26ºC - 17ºC.
    5 Carp: 10lb 6oz, 9lb 8oz, 6lb 11oz, 6lb 2oz & a 3lber. 1 Tench (1lb and a bit).
    Got off to a promising start with the tench first cast - though I nearly lost my rod to it as I was still 'setting out by stall' and not paying attention to my float! Alas, it would prove to be my only one - and not a hint of my other target species - crucians. At least the carp kept me busy all evening and I also lost a couple to hook pulls (twas only on a 16) but both only after extended fights. One of these was hooked in the tail - and took me over 20 minutes to get to the bank - only for the hook hold to eventually give as I got it to the lip of the net (twas no great size - another of the 6lb class at a guess). Biggest two were caught dapping bread crust under my rod tip after dark.
  10. Chris Plumb

    14 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    1800 - 2200
    (2½hrs trotting followed by 1½hrs on the lead)
    Warm, sunny evening. 24ºC when I arrived, 16ºC when I packed up.
    1 Chub - small. 2 Dace. 4 Brownies; 2lb 12oz, a 'pounder' and a couple half that.
    An evening trotting for chub nearly ended chubless - for which I place the blame firmly at the door of Mr Trout! First bites in both my first 2 (out of 3) swims had an adipose and all of them chose to go airborne - the biggie repeatedly so which really buggered up my first pitch. Eventually snaffled a couple of dace which while quite chunky didn't trouble the scales before eventually getting a chub all be it not a whole lot bigger than the dace. Then spent 90 mins looking at a couple of stationary quivers - not a hint of a bite - alas. However I was treated to the sight of a barn owl quartereing the field opposite - and on the stroke of 10pm Mr Otter came through my swim - signalling it was time to pack up!
  11. Chris Plumb

    16 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2300
    Warm, sunny evening with a gentle breeze for much of it - which kept the mossies off for all but the last hour. 25ºC when I arrived - still 17ºC when I packed up.
    3 Bream: 4lb 4oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 11oz. 1 Tench 3lb 13oz. 3 Carp; all ¾-1lb. 3 Perch - all 6-8oz.
    Productive evening which got off to a slow start. And whilst I had a perch first cast I'd have to wait 2 hours for my next bite. All the fish then came in a 90min spell around dusk. Again the little carp fought well above their weight - kidding me into thinking I was into tincas. (All were re-homed next door). After 2200 I was plagued with strange bites - which proved to be signal crayfish (I even landed one of the blighters) - damn nuisance as they were on the bait as soon as it touched bottom - so whilst I had intended to fish till midnight - they prompted an 'early' pack up!
  12. Chris Plumb

    9 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 0000
    Warm, overcast with a southerly breeze to put a bit of ripple on the water - neigh on perfect conditions - pity no one told the fish!
    2 Carp 12lb 14oz & 6 lb 7oz. 1 Tench c1lb & a Perch.
    Dismal evening on the float despite same tactics/baits and swim to my last trip here in June. No bites before 2030 - and precious few after that despite the odd fish rolling in my swim! Thankfully I had a Plan B. I'd thrown a couple of slices of bread into my bait bucket and put a carp rod in my quiver with the notion that I might get the carp coming in close after dark to snaffle a surface bait. By 2230 I was confident the resident wildfowl (which had been a PITA up to that point!) had roosted for the night and I started to flick thumb sized pieces of bread into the margins by my feet. It wasn't long before slurps and swirls started to appear and it was simply a question of dapping a bait on the surface and hanging on for dear life. Alas my first attempt met with failure as I'd set the clutch too lightly and within a couple of seconds of my first bite I found myself attached to a lily stem and not a carp! (How do the do that?) Hook safely retrieved and clutch tightened up my next fish was the 6lber which was in the net before it knew what had happened. After all this commotion - things went quiet for a while - though I now had to contend with the rats swimming out to take my freebies! Thankfully there was still time for one more fish - an ugly looking mirror EXACTLY twice the size of my earlier carp both of which had somewhat redeemed an otherwise poor evening.
     

  13. Chris Plumb

    2 July - Part 2 (pm)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    1300 - 1530
    Warm, mainly overcast - though with more sunshine than before lunch - very muggy. AT 20ºC and feeling particularly sticky after a longish walk through the undergrowth! River quite full! Think the weir at Colthrop has been opened up more than the one at Crookham - there was a LOT of water coming down the Aldershot - too much to wade out at the tail of the weirpool!
    3 Chub; 4lb 5oz, 4lb 0oz, 2lb 11oz. 3 Dace, 1 Roach & 5 Brownies (½lb - 1¼lb)
    So after a bite for lunch and an age queuing to get across Thatcham level crossing it was off downstream for a few more hours of trotting. I usually fish the weirpool at the top of the Aldershot by wading out and casting upstream - but it was too deep to do that safely! Fished 3 swims - that have been reasonably reliable in the past - giving each around ¾hr or so. Caught trout in all of them (of course!) and all 3 chub from the second one I dropped into - quite a fast streamy section under trees (see feature photo) - which often produces chevin early season (think it might be close to their spawning redds). All were a real battle to bring up against the current!
  14. Chris Plumb

    2 July - Part 1 (am)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Thatcham
    0900 - 1200
    Warm, overcast and quite muggy. AT 20ºC but felt MUCH warmer. River low (but see part 2!)
    3 Chub: 3lb 13oz, 2lb 7oz, 1lb 14oz. 2 Dace, 2 Roach & 2 Brownies - both around 8-10oz.
    Scratchy morning as most of my 'usual' swims here didn't have enough water in them. Fished 9 swims in total but only caught from a couple of them - nearly all fish came from the weirpool - apart from a couple of the chub which were extracted from one of their usual haunts!
     
  15. 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!

  16. Chris Plumb
    Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford.
    0645 - 2345.
    RAIN, Rain, continuous, unrelenting, nonstop RAIN! Heavy at times, slight, moderate, torrential, tropical, cloud bursts at other times. Over a month's worth in a day! Drove over in the rain, set up in the rain, fished all day in the rain. Rain eventually stopped as it got dark - so escaped packing up in the rain - though everything was pretty sodden. Thankfully my day shelter was up to the task - alas the banks weren't, so during the heaviest of downpours run off just flooded the pitch and I was left sitting in an inch deep puddle at times - fun - NOT! Oh and temps were around 14ºC down on the day before!
    1 Tench; 3lb 7oz. 1 micro Roach.
    As Brian eloquently said on his FB page - it's going to be a bit of a grueller. And it certainly was - 15 hardy souls turned up in the pouring rain to sit under an umbrella to watch a stationary float and have their wallets emptied for Sue Ryder. A few very sensibly bailed on the fishing (I might have joined them if I wasn't the organiser!) For the first time the Paul Goulbourn Trophy - awarded to the captor of the biggest Crucian - went un-won as, err, no-one caught A crucian. In fact only Alex caught anything during the day - weighing in with 3 tench. I had a tiny roach literally first cast - really just checking the shotting on my float when it sailed off. I would have to wait 16 hours for my next fish - by which time everyone had long since left! Still it was nice to see everyone again - and amusing that everytime the rain eased a bit everyone emerged from their shelters for a quick natter before the next downpour set in. Certainly a day to remember - but not for the fishing!
     
    EDIT - Final monies raised for Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading came to £510 - best ever amount for ones of these events.
  17. Chris Plumb

    22 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake, Thatcham
    1400 - 2300
    Overcast, and quite breezy at times. Not particularly warm - in fact quite chilly(9ºC) when I departed under clearing skies.
    4 Carp; 3lb - 6lb 10oz. 6 Tench; mostly around the pound mark - with a couple a bit bigger at 1-14 & 2-15. 6 Crucians; again all quite small - though the stocking from a couple of years ago is getting noticeably bigger - put a couple of the better ones on the scales for curiosity and they both went 10oz. 4 Rudd. 30+ Perch (bit of a menace!)
    In need of a confidence booster after last week's rainy debacle at MF. Again Tench and Crucians were on the agenda and I didn't so mind if the odd bully-boy carp put in an appearance. Which is exactly how it turned out - though I hadn't reckoned on the voraciousness of the perch - had to stop using my bait of choice (chopped prawn) as they just nailed it immediately - even maggot lasted longer. Thankfully all the carp arrived in a flurry around tea time - not to return - so as the shadows lengthened I had a steady stream of my target species plus a few handsized rudd. Was even able to switch back to prawn with the immedaite result of the bigger tench. As temps plummeted so the bites stopped - and whilst I had intended to fish until midnight no bites after 10pm saw me head home 'early' for a warm bed.
  18. Chris Plumb

    24 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet, Bulls Lock
    1330 - 1530
    Overcast and muggy. AT 19ºC but felt much warmer.
    8 Dace, 3 Roach & 2 Brownies (2lb+ and one of around 12oz)
    Had to restock the bait fridge so perfect excuse (not that I EVER need an excuse) to run a float through a new swim for a couple of hours. As ever Chub were the intended quarry though the only fish to put a serious bend in the rod had an adipose fin - also lost 2 troot to hook pulls - though trout being trout they were probably the same  two I landed!
  19. Chris Plumb

    23 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Johnsons Lake, Milford
    1500 - 2315
    Warm (ish) and sunny day with temps plumeting after sundown - car thermo registered just 7ºC on the way home...
    2 Tench; 2lb 3oz and another half that size. 1 Crucian; 1lb 10oz. 2 Rudd; 1lb 10oz and one of around ½lb. 3 Roach; all 'hand-sized'.
    Slowish evening - with everything bar the large rudd (just an ounce off my pb)coming after 2100. And whilst I caught by target species (Tench & Crucians) they weren't of the calibre this lake is famous for so the rudd was a bit of a bonus. Had planned to switch to the lake next door but chilled bones and a quick chat to someone who was doing a night on there (and not catching!!) decided otherwise!

  20. 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!
     

  21. Chris Plumb

    17 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge (CSAS Stretch)
    0800 - 1300
    Warm, overcast & sultry. River at normal summer levels and carrying a bit of colour.
    5 Chub; All 'schooly' sized (1-2lbs) - biggest 2lb 13oz. 11 Dace; a couple of 'good-uns' which went 9oz each. 1 Brownie c10oz.
    Failed plan to try and repeat my success here last Sep of getting some float caught barbel. I did actually see a few on the shallows and they were showing more interest in each other that what was for brunch. So had to make do with ever obliging chub which came from 3 different swims.
  22. Chris Plumb

    16 June 2021

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0430 - 1230
    Warm and sunny (though very misty at 0430!). River at normal early summer levels and clearer than below Newbury.
    6 Chub: 4lb4oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 10oz, 3lb 5oz & 2 'pounders'. 40 Roach & Dace in roughly equal nos - slightly more dace. A few chunky ones but nothing to worry the scales! 3 Bleak.
    Lovely to be back on the river on a glorious summer's morning. Great sport trotting  my 'base camp' swim too. I fished around dozen swims in total - but this became a tactic of simply resting my weirpool spot which produced all the chub and most of the rest. Gratifying to not be bothered by trout as well!
     
    A brassy 4lber
     
     

  23. Chris Plumb

    Season's Bests 2020/21

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Plumby’s Annual Round-up.
    And so another season comes to a close – and I’m just thankful that I had a season at all. The Angling Trust somewhat came of age this year and showed itself to be an effective voice for anglers with its successful lobbying of government for angling during the pandemic. Fishing local did curtail my usual winter jaunts south in search of big ladies – but it was a small price to pay.
    Best Carp: 13lb 14oz. 9th September.  Float fished maggot – Willows. I rarely carp fish and usually try and avoid the blighters – this was a ‘by-catch’ on light-ish tackle meant for tench and crucians – and needed a helping hand to land!

    Best Pike: 9lb 6oz. 17th June. Floating plug – River Kennet, Hambridge. Most of my pike in any given season are caught accidentally while perching (Pike love lobs). This one was bothering dace in a favourite Kennet swim and couldn’t resist the lure of a floating plug wobbled past its lair!

    Best Barbel: 7lb 7oz. 14th September. Ledgered pellet – River Wye, Llanthomas. Not having had a barbel from the Kennet in 5 seasons – this was a sneaky trip to Geoff’s (with borrowed tackle) whilst holidaying in Hay. Ironically within a couple of weeks return I was catching small barbel from the Kennet!

    Best Tench: 6lb 5oz. 23rd June. Prawn sections, lift method - Harris Lake, Milford. As usual my summer consisted of a few trips across to Godalming to fish the wonderful Marsh Farm complex. Johnsons was always too busy – but thankfully Harris next door saved the day!

    Best Brown Trout: 6lb 1oz. 8th August. Ledgered bacon grill – Kennet weirpool, Marsh Benham. I rarely weigh trout let alone take their picture but this was one impressive spottie – even if I was a little disappointed it wasn’t a barbel!

    Best Bream: 5lb 10oz. 14th July. Float fished maggot – Alders. My biggest ever bream from this venue (by an ounce!)
    Best Chub: 5lb 9oz. 8th March. Trotted red sweetcorn – River Kennet, Kintbury. In terms of numbers my 2nd best ever season on the chub front with 131 over a pound caught (I had 136 in 14/15). I had to wait until the last week of the season, however, to find the big ones- this was the best of 5, 5lbers caught in a morning from the same swim.

    Best Perch: 3lb 10oz. 20th February. Float fished lobworm – Kennet & Avon Canal, Enborne. Biggest perch for 5 years and first 3lber in that time –also my first 3 from this venue. Probably rate it as my best fish of the season.

    Best Crucian: 3lb 1oz. 14th August. Prawn sections, lift method – Harris Lake, Milford.  Harris,  again coming to the rescue after a poor evening on Johnsons.  Continues my run of 6 consecutive seasons with a 3lb+ crucian.

    Best Grayling: 2lb 2oz. 19th October. Trotted  maggot - Lower Itchen Fishery. Due to Covid this turned out to be my only trip to the Itchen or Frome this season – so in hindsight really pleased it resulted in a 2lber.

    Best Roach: 1lb 0oz. 21st July. Trotted maggot - River Kennet, Padworth. Had quite a few roach over 12oz this season but this was the only one that nudged the needle to the 1lb mark – from a surprise venue as well.
    Best Dace: 15oz. 21st November. Trotted maggot – River Kennet (flowing canal), Thatcham. Another big surprise from an unexpected part of the river – my biggest dace for over a decade.

  24. Chris Plumb

    14 March (Part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
    1430 - 1745
    Overcast, VERY windy with light rain for last hour and a half. AT 10º ->7ºC.
    7 Perch; 4 over 1lb of which 2 were over 2lb - best 2lb 10oz (last bite of the season - I nice way to end!)
    Many, MANY years ago (probably sometime during the last millennium) I bought a pack of 3-way swivels. I stuffed them in with a wallet of tubing and they have languished at the bottom of one of my tackle boxes ever since. I suppose I must have thought 'they might come in useful one day' - well that day was today! My morning venue is relatively sheltered with tree cover - however arriving on the bank of a much more exposed canal I realised I'd be casting into the teeth of a gale. The trick here is to get the bait as close as possible to the far bank reeds (and keep it there). Casting today was problematic at best with the added jeopardy of giving it to much welly and the whole kit and caboodle flying straight into the reeds. Even if I did pull off a decent cast the wind quickly pulled the float away from the take zone. 
    So after 10 mins of cussing and a few near misses into the reeds I was looking for my 3 way swivels and tying up a paternoster rig - bit of a first for me on fresh water - and it worked a treat. The extra weight aided accurate casting AND keeping the bait exactly where the perch would find it. Was always a little nervous of tangles - but a 1lb+ fish first cast gave instant confidence in the set-up.
  25. Chris Plumb

    8 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
    0815 - 1745
    Cool, overcast with milky sunshine at times. AT 0º - 10ºC. river at normal winter levels - looked in great nick.
    35 Chub - with nearly 2doz over 3lb(!) Had 11 over 4lb of which 5 were over 5lb (!). Best 5lb 9oz. 18 Dace some quite chunky ones but nothing particularly noteworthy. 8 Roach - all small apart from one 'netter'. 6 Brownies 2½ - 3½lb - with most at the upper end of that range!
    Wow! This has become my annual chub fest - I had 20 in each of the last 2 seasons and 2 doz the season before that. I usually accumulate those sorts of numbers by roving between hotspots, today was different in that I had all bar one from one spot (apart from chublets that kept turning up in my dace swims). As usual it was copious amounts of redcorn that did the trick, feeding little and often AND not recasting for 5mins or so after each fish, resulted in a veritable conveyor belt of big chub! Rested the swim for a couple of hours around midday when I had my lunch and went exploring a new swim based on some intelligence from the river keeper (which produced a more modest chub first cast followed by an acrobatic trout second). I always like to have an hour or so around dusk here fishing the carriers as they can produce big dace (I've had fish of a 1lb in the past) so I was almost thankful when around 1530 I connected with a large trout which got off but not before totally trashing my chubspot. A biteless half an hour confirmed my fears so I was off to try an get some big dace - alas the only 'pounder' that turned up in my dace swims was yet another chub!

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