Chris Plumb
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River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1400 Mild, overcast and very windy! AT 11º-13ºC. River still very pacey with a little colour but well within its banks at last. 1.16m on the E Stoke gauge still higher than I would have liked but lowest since early autumn! 11 Grayling: 7 over 1lb - best: 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 7oz. 1 Trout - small. 6 Salmon parr. 2 trip of the season to Dorset - and looking at the forecast for the next week probably my last - heavy rain will stuff the river up for several weeks again. Wind made fishing a bit of a challenge at times, it was straight downstream in most swims - in fact actually standing up in the stronger gusts was a bit of a challenge at times!! Most grayling from one swim which I kept resting and returning to. Sign on Wool bridge - might amuse some of my readers - Martin?
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Thanks NI - can't quite think why I've neglected the Whitehouse stretch for so long - probably because it's a bit featureless and gets a lot of footfall on the towpath - but I reckon your right that this keeps the cormorants away at least and possibly the otters though the ones I've bumped up against on the Kennet seem pretty oblivious to humans - once had one swim right past me whilst I was wading mid river - I could have almost patted it on the head as it swam past! Only fished Padworth once this season - but never used to do very well in the winter there even when it was at its peak a couple of decades ago!
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Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1500 Mild, overcast and quite breezy. AT 11ºC. River continues to fall - now at normal winter levels - clear and pacey and still breaching the banks in places - but passable with wellies. 5 Chub: 4lb 12oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 3oz. 2 Roach - small. 5 Brownies 1½-2½lb. 1 Sea Trout (!) c 2½lb. A full day on my syndicate stretch - a morning on the main river - pleased that I can at last get access to some of the main swims now that levels have dropped. The afternoon was spent on the carrier. 2 chub from the main river - including the biggest of the day and 3 chub from the aptly named 'chub corner' on the carrier. Sea trout was a bit of a surprise has come a long way from the sea - though they've also been turning up in the Thames locally as well!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1400 Mild and overcast. AT 7ºC River very high and clear, but down a few inches on last week. 1 Chub 3lb 10oz. Bit of a recce to see if I could actually access the river. Pleased to say I could (just), so it would have been churlish not to have a few minutes with my grayling gear. One bite, one fish - normal service is resumed!!
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River Lambourn - Newbury 0900 - 1200 Mild and overcast. 7ºC. River very high. 1.85 on the Shaw gauge upstream. Clear as always though. 12 Grayling with half over a lb. Biggest two 1lb 10oz & 1lb 6oz.. 4 Brownies a 'pounder' and 3 parrs. Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - waders needed to get access to most swims. The Lambourn has been very slow to run off after hitting record levels at the beginning of the month it has 'only' dropped 20cm (the Kennet has dropped 46cm in the same period). Nearly all of the 'pacey' swims which usually hold fish in normal years were devoid of fish - they were in the slacks! Had intended to walk back to the top and work my way down again after lunch but other anglers showing up put paid to those plans. A Lambourn Lady
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Recently spawned I reckon - probably explains why it looked a lot bigger than it weighed....
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River Kennet -Speen Moors 0900 -1200 Bright and sunny and quite breezy. At 6º-9ºC. River gin clear but still in the fields here and breaching the banks at multiple points - highest I've seen it this winter but it has still dropped considerably looking at the state of the fields surrounding. Found some dead, stranded fish in the field between the two weirs . They were quite decomposed, but looked like trout parr. 1 Roach (small). 1 Brownie - 4lb 14oz (yes I actually weighed a trout - thought it was bigger - a brute of a fish with a pronounced kype.) A trout first cast is never a good start - especially as it was in the swim that produced 4 chub for me on my last trip here. Bright conditions and a clear river made for very sub-optimal conditions and I struggled for bites all morning - the large weirpool producing just the solitary redfin.
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Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham 1000 - 1400 Mild with milky sunshine and very windy (remnants of Storm Jocelyn). AT 9-12ºC. River very high with a hint of colour after recent rains. 3 Chub: 2lb 11oz, 3lb 10oz, 4lb 5oz. 1 Roach - c6-8oz. Long walk to fish the south bank of the main river of my syndicate stretch paid off with 3 nice chub. Started with the roach with the 4lber next cast. Resting and returning resulted in winkling out another two - with the added bonus of no trout showing up!
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-68021767
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River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1400 Cold with unbroken bright sunshine. AT when I started was -6ºC warming to a balmy 5ºC when I packed up. River high - barely within its banks, VERY pacey and quite clear (though not as clear as the Kennet ATM!). 1.36m on the East Stoke river gauge (highest I've ever fished the Frome). 7 Grayling: the two that went on the scales went 1lb 13oz & 1lb 6oz the others all around 12oz. 1 Sea trout - circa 2lb +. The river gauges on the Frome have been registering levels above the top of 'normal range' since mid-October - until Tuesday of this week. With more rain forecast for the weekend plans were changed and a trip to Dorset was hastily arranged in case this was my only chance to actually use my DDAS ticket this year (the Frome season only runs from Nov - Feb). In truth there was still way too much water than I would have liked and I suspected it would be a bit of a struggle. Actually trotting a line was the biggest challenge for the first couple of hours, with the line freezing in the ferrules between each cast I was mightly pleased when air temps lifted into positive territory. Those 2 hours produced just 1 modest grayling from the fastest stretch so I spent the rest of the session below Wool (old) bridge where the water is a bit deeper (and slightly calmer). This second half was topped and tailed by the bigger grayling and the sea trout which stayed deep and had me convinced I was into a really big lady - ho hum!
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River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse stretch) 0900 - 1200 Cold, calm & cloudy. AT -2º - +1ºC. River very pacey and crystal clear. 2 chub: 4lb 1oz & 3lb 7oz. 1 Brownie: 2lb+. This is rapidly becoming my new favourite winter venue! Started in my '5lber swim' but couldn't get a bite which was repeated in my next 2 swims which produced the silvers on previous trips. So more in hope than expectation I went exploring further swims. The river is fairly featureless so I was looking for nice 'glassy' glides. I hit the jackpot with the very next swim I dropped into - hooking a brace of chub at the very end of a long trot. Unfortunately my next fish had an adipose fin and went airborne a couple of times and whilst I fished a couple more promising looking runs I got no further bites. This was to be part one of a double header - with a trip to Hambridge planned after lunch. Alas the river downstream is still way to high - I couldn't even get to my favourite swim at Hambridge safely!
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Nearly a week later and the Lambourn, Shaw gauge is still at 2.05m. Whilst the Kennet as dropped 25cm in the last 5 days the Lambourn hasn't dropped at all - sure sign the aquifers are FULL!
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JPR Williams https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67912287
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Middle Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham. 0930 - 1430 Cold, cloudy to start clearing to bright winter sunshine. AT 1º-3ºC but feeling MUCH colder in a biting North-Easterly wind. River VERY high - clearly down a few inches on the last couple of days based on all the debris on the bank but still higher by far on my last trip here - gin clear however. 2 Chub: 3lb 2oz, 2lb 13oz. 7 Brownies 2-3½lb. Started on the south bank of the main river with trotted red corn - which met with instant success - a chub first cast. Alas, second cast was a brownie that thrashed the swim to a foam putting paid to anymore bites! The carrier was the usual game of trying, and generally failing, to avoid the trout so thankful for at least one more fish without an adipose!
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Blimey -Newbury gauge hit 1.61m this morning 12 cm over its previous record high!
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Topped out at 1.51m this morning (a new record for this river gauge!) appears to be dropping at last!
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Kennet river gauge at Newbury measuring 1.46m today just 3cm below the record set back in 2014....
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David Soul https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67895679
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Shaw gauge at 2.02m this morning - only 8cm off it's highest ever recording!
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River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 1330 - 1430 Started raining the second I cast out and got progressively heavier - blowing in my face so becoming deeply unpleasant!! AT 5ºC. River bank high, really pushing through and very coloured up. 1 Chub 5lb 10oz (!) Well, as I was parked around the corner for my Lambourn jaunt I thought I'd at least have a look at the slack that produced my SB chub last week. With more water and a LOT more colour it didn't look at all promising - but that didn't stop me running a float through it! So more than a little surprised to get a bite - and even more so to get another fine chub from here. It would be my only take and with the rain lashing down (as if we need any more!!) I beat a hasty retreat.... First chub of 2024.
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River Lambourn - Newbury 0930 - 1300 Cool and bright to start - clouding over. AT 5ºC. River VERY high (1.78m on the Shaw river gauge) I donned thigh waders and needed them to get to most swims I fished!! 19 Grayling: 9 over lb - best two; 1lb 10oz & 1lb 8oz. 4 Trout - all small/parrs. I usually like to start the New Year with a chub but on a recce yesterday I deemed the Kennet unfishable (I was wrong - see part 2!) so opted for the Lambourn as a safer bet. All my usual hotspots produced a fish or 2 (unlike my last trip). Can't remember when I saw the Lambourn so high - which is probably putting off a lot of anglers - I didn't see another rod - which is a bit unusual even on a weekday... First fish of 2024.
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Ha ha - tis a bit too public there....
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Being close to Tesco's and B&Q that stretch gets a whole new level of footfall. I need to perfect my 'I'm not interested in talking ' grunt in response to the endless 'caught anything?' questions.
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Thanks - can't quite think why I've neglected this bit of river for so long - though it's not the quietest of stretches with a retail park on one bank and industrial estate on the other - had a bit of an audience landing the chub - with someone asking if it was a carp!!!
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Kennet & Avon 'Flowing' canal - Thatcham 1345 - 1545 Bright and breezy. AT 8ºC. River very full with a tinge of colour. 14 Roach. 1 Dace. All small. Another rarely visited swim which can be very hit or miss - usually miss - but which I knew would be a large slack on a flooded river. Lots of silvers in residence but no signs of anything bigger.
