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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    22 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead
     
    0530 - 1100.
     
    Bright and sunny after a cool, misty start. 10º -> 20ºC
     
    1 Crucian; 2lb 2oz. 8 Carp; best 2 - 12lb 6oz & 11lb 9oz, smallest 6¾lb. 3 rudd & a perch.
     
    A morning's float fishing (lift method as per usual!!). Crucian and 3 of the smaller carp on 6mm S-Pellet. Meat just got nailed by the rudd. Last couple of hours spent freelining bread - which brought 5 more carp including both bigger ones. Smallest crucian from here in 7 years...
     



  2. Chris Plumb

    24 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Padworth
     
    1815 - 2345
     
    Mainly cloudy and quite breezy. 15ºC - Though felt chillier in the wind. River up a couple of inches (judging by the grass growing under water!)
     
    4 Barbel; 9lb 7oz, 8lb 0oz, 5lb 6oz, 4lb 11oz.
     
    Smallest one 1st cast - within 10 minutes of arriving! Then followed by 2 hours of crayfish activity - attacking the bait within miuntes of it settling. It stopped at dusk - obviously the fish had gone on the munch, as I quickly had the 5lber a little after 2030. Followed this with the 9 at 2200 and the 8, 45 mins later. Had planned to stay longer - but the crays returned at around 2330 so took this as my cue that action was over for the night!!!
     
    The 9 - nice fat specimen - looked all the world as if it would be a double - but lacked a bit of length!
     
     

  3. Chris Plumb

    30 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    1130 - 1500
     
    Cool and overcast. 15ºC. River at near normal summer levels carrying it usual tinge of colour.
     
    1 Barbel; 3lb 13oz, 1 Chub; 3lb 2oz. 4 Grayling, 1 dace, a gudgeon and 3 brownies.
     
    Bit of a recce session with a lot of walking involved - Paul and I are planning an evening trip tomorrow and we're undecided where to go (or even whether to fish a river or a lake!). Fished 6 swims in total so didn't spend long in any one spot. All fish on trotted maggot and most fish (everything bar one of the grayling and 2 of the trout) from the last but one swim I dropped in....might be back there tomorra night!
     
    Chub & a Chris Lythe...
     

     
    ps - Rusty - the 'other' grayling was from your 'banker' swim
  4. Chris Plumb

    31 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    1830 - 2315
     
    Chilly evening under clearing skies. Temp plummeted after dark. Down to 10ºC - I felt warmer standing IN the river all evening that Paul who was on the bank!!!
     
    19 Dace, 2 Grayling and 1 each of a chublet, roach, gudgeon and a brownie.
     
    Trotted maggot until it was too dark to see the float - last ½ hour of daylight was bite a chuck - very good to see some 'silvers' in the river. Dace were quite small save for 2 or 3 really quite decent ones. Lost a fair sized chub which got up under some brambles on the far bank and shed the hook. A switch to the lead produced very little - a few crayfish rattles (and one which attached itself to the line) and an unmissable wrap around barbel bite at around 2230 which I, err, missed! Paul fared somewhat better after dark with a baby barbel of 2lb and a chub of 5lb 6oz.
     
    Some pics...including Paul's chub and me standing in the river clutching a stroppy grayling!




  5. Chris Plumb

    2/3 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley Complex
     
    1900 - 0200
     
    Warm, muggy evening - despite clear skies - really lovely night to be out. Temps down to 13ºC when I left but felt MUCH warmer under the trees - this place has its own micro-climate it seems!
     
    1 Bream; 8lb 4oz. 1 Tench; 3lb 0oz.
     
    An evening which started optimistically as there was quite a bit of activity when I arrived - a few fish bubbling and topping and the fry were getting hammered by preds - mainly perch I think. However dusk came and went without a hint of a bite on either rod and I was starting to make plans for an early night (and excuses for my 1st ever blank here) when at 2230 my margin rod was pulled in with a savagery which belied the size of the fish. Male tincas do punch above their weight and I was fortunate that I was able to grab the butt of the rod before I lost it! My renewed alertness was soon eroded as further bites came there none! I had planned to fish till around midnight and the church clock had struck 12 when I was starting to gather my things together for a 'slow pack up'! I was just about to reel in when I started getting liners. The float dithered and dipped for ages (well around ½ hour) before it suddenly disappeared and I was into that deadweight 'fight' that could only be a bream! Yet another 8lber - 4th of the summer (plus of course that 12lber back in July). Of course this was then a cue to fish on - but with coffee supplies exhausted and no further bites, 2 chimes on the church clock meant it was time for bed!
     
    ps - Saw 2 really spectacular meteors last night - one was a string of 'globules' burning up in the atmosphere the other a really long bright streak!
     

  6. Chris Plumb

    14 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    0930 - 1330
     
    Bright and Breezy. 17ºC
     
    3 Bream - 3lb 4oz & 2 skimmers. 3 perch & 1doz+ rudd.
     
    A short session to check up on the 'progress' of this lake which suffered a total fish kill 6 years ago. And my verdict would be is that it seems to be thriving on neglect!!! Since 2005 it has been re-modelled and stocked as a non-carp venue (though a few snuck in during the floods of 07). Because of this it is much clearer than most other club waters and as a consequence much weedier - this appears to have put a lot of anglers off fishing it - I rarely see another angler here - but in truth all one needs to do is fish to or create a hole in the weed. Whilst crucians and tench were really my target for today I was actually quite pleased to get a snotty and I did see a reasonable sized tench roll. The rudd were insatiable - even on float fished meat but once you got a bait on the bottom they seemed to lose interest! Only other bit of excitement was being briefly connected to a goodish perch which snatched one of the micro-rudd as I brought it in. Definitely a venue I'll be giving more attention next season.
     
    I wouldn't normally take a 3lb bream portrait but as its my biggest fish from the 'new' Alders....
     

  7. Chris Plumb

    21 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    0945 - 1315
     
    Bright and sunny after a cloudy start - 16ºC. River low and quite coloured up!
     
    6 Chub; 5lb 2oz, 3lb 7oz, 1¼lb & 3 chublets. 12+ dace, 3 brownies, 1 roach & a gudgeon.
     
    Well as I had to go to the tackle shop to pick up some stuff for tomorrow - seemed a good excuse to have a few hours by the river exploring some new swims. Fished 4 swims in all - 2 of which I've never run a float through before - one of which produced most of the dace the other giving up the 3lb chub. Was hoping for a barbel or two but plenty happy with a 5lb chub! A lot of the dace were of a pretty decent stamp too...
     

  8. Chris Plumb

    22 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery - Nr Godalming
     
    0700 - 1900
     
    Bright but mainly overcast with some sunny intervals particularly around the middle of the day. Temps upto 17ºC. WT 16ºC. Quite breezy at first (isn't it always here!)
     
    20 roach & rudd and 3 perch - and that er was it!!!
     
    Bit of an epic fail!! Paul and I were after some late summer/early autumn crucians but we didn't have a sniff of one all day - despite a total of 48 rod hours and countless (well 11! ) different baits and tactics. I spurned my only 2 chances of something decent, once when I lost a fish due to a folded maggot over the hook point and once when my float shot under and my 1¾lb hook length instantly parted. I thought I'd set my clutch light enough - I thought wrong! Both lost fish almost certainly tench. Paul didn't even have the encouragement of a bite from anything decent - though had the added frustrations of fish occaisionally rolling in his swim!
     
    Some pics - of a nice sun rise and a hot air balloon to follow (well I haven't got any fish to show off!)
     


  9. Chris Plumb

    26 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1830 - 2330
     
    Warm, still evening - really surprised to see the thermometer in the car down to 11ºC when I left as it felt MUCH warmer under the trees - quilted shirt and coat both remained 'unworn' all evening. River LOW (now the norm for this time of year - alas ) and carrying quite a bit of colour.
     
    4 Barbel; 6lb 15oz, 6lb 10oz, 5lb 2oz, 4lb 1oz.
     
    Nice to get amongst some 'schooly' sized barbel! Got off to a cracking start with 3 fish by 8 o'clock - basically first 3 casts all produced fish. Had to wait until 2230 to bank the next one but did inexpicably 'miss' a couple of 3 foot twitches in the intervening period. No sign of the otter - which probably explains why the barbel were in residence!
     
    Last night's biggest...
     

  10. Chris Plumb

    3 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    0630 - 0930
     
    Warm despite clear skies. 15º - 20ºC
     
    1 Crucian, 2lb 15oz. 1 Carp 5lb 7oz, a rudd (small!)
     
    Mini campaign to get an autumn crucian meets with success!! Though in fairness this morning felt more like high summer! Thought my chance had gone, as despite having the odd crucian rolling it wasn't until the sun just started to bathe the swim in full light at around 0900 that I had a bite from one (the carp trashing the swim an hour earlier didn't help either! ). My biggest ever crucian from this lake - very thick set which doesn't come across in the photo...
     

  11. Chris Plumb

    7 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Itchen
     
    0800 - 1815
     
    Mainly cloudy with sunny spells. 11ºC -> 15ºC -> 9ºC.
     
    41 Grayling; 18 over 1lb, best 5 - 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 14ozX2. 2 Chub 4lb 6oz, 3lb 7oz. 10 Brownies to circa 1¾lb.
     
    A 2lb crucian and a 2lb grayling in the same week!! River was low and consequently the fish were quite spooky so it was a case of catch a couple and rest the swim - my biggest 2 fish both came from swims that had already been fished 3 or 4 times. About half my fish on trotted red corn - including most of the bigger fish, the rest of single red maggot. Paul had a frustrating morning - but did much better in the afternoon once he changed down his hook size (!) - think he ended up with a couple of dozen ladies to 1lb 14oz....(and a couple of chub too )
    Piccies of one of my 2lbers, one of Paul's chub and a belligerent cow who took exception to where Paul wanted to fish and refused to budge!



  12. Chris Plumb

    10 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0700 - 1230
     
    Mild, mainly overcast and VERY breezy. 17ºC. River very low.
     
    1½+ doz Perch, 4 over 1lb (though 3 not by much!) biggest 2lb 12oz. 1 Chub, 1lb 14oz, 1 Bream 1½lb. 1doz roach, 3 dace and 10 gudgeon.
     
    First trip here this season so was a case of having a good wander around - fished 6 swims in total - and had perch from 5 of them. A lot of perch in the 10-12oz bracket - big enough to snaffle a whole lob - small enough to be annoying!!! Was hoping to find some bigger chub - bin a couple of years since I had a decent one from here. Wind made trotting a real nightmare - and as for trying to cast accurately to bushes/trees on the far bank.....
     

  13. Chris Plumb

    13 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    0700 - 1200
     
    Mild/warm, still and overcast - 13ºC -> 17ºC. Neigh on perfick!
     
    18 Perch: In order of capture: 2lb 14oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 8oz,*, 2lb 6oz, tiddler, ~, 2lb 6oz, 1lb 6oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 6oz (again! all different fish I think!), 1lb 7oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 3lb 14oz (equal PB!), 2lb 13oz, 1lb 3oz, tiddler,tiddler,~. !!! Nearly 40lb of perch !
     
    1 Tench*: 4lb 3oz. 2 Chub~; 1¼lb and a chublet.
     
    WOW - make hay while the sun shines. Or rather catch perch while its a dull overcast day!!! Never been so disappointed to catch a 4lb tench - for a couple of minutes I was convinced I was connected to a huge perch. I knew it wasn't a pike - never even entered my head that it wouldn't be a perch! Most fish caught by 1030 - and the run of 4, 3lbers in 4 casts was just after a couple of barges had come through the swim. Often the death knell for sport but not today! Had planned to do a lot of wandering and did fish one new swim on the way back to the car - did mean I didn't have a keepnet with me - which I have taken to bringing for perch sessions - putting them back 40/50yards upstream didn't seem to affect the swim, mind!
     
    First time I've ever had 5, 3lbers in a single session!
     
    Pics below are of the 3 biggest & the tinca...




  14. Chris Plumb

    29 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal - Nr Thatcham
     
    0720 - 1100
     
    Still, overcast and mild - with the sun breaking out for the last ¾hr and the breeze picking up. WT 52ºF.
     
    6 Perch; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 12oz.
     
    A perfect perch morning got off to a perfect start with the 3lber first cast! The biggest 2lber followed soon after and I thought I was going to be in for another morning's haulin! However there then followed nearly an hour of crayfish activity and my 'lobworm attrition rate' shot up - was worried I was going to run out. Thankfully bites from stripeys returned - but they were never really having it, probably as there was also a pike feeding in the swim. My smallest perch clearly showed signs of having been grabbed by one and I was briefly connected to an Esox before it bite through my hooklength.
     
    A couple of piccies - first, and last fish caught just after the sun came out...
     


  15. Chris Plumb

    31 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2330
     
    Mild, overcast with a soft southerly breeze - really lovely night to be out. River low and carrying quite a bit of leaf litter as you'd expect. WT a balmy 56ºF.
     
    1 Barbel; 9lb 0oz. 1 Carp; 15lb 9oz!!
     
    Trick or Treat? Never been so disappointed to get such a lovely looking carp - as for nay on 10 mins I thought I was connected to the mother of all barbel!!! This is my 30th season barbel fishing this stretch of river and in all that time I've never caught a carp - until last night! Barbel caught at 2015 - carp 1½hrs later.
     

  16. Chris Plumb

    11 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal - Thatcham
     
    0700 - 1115
     
    Very overcast with light mizzle all morning. Mild. WT 53ºF
     
    4 Perch; 1¼lb and 3 tiddlers...
     
    A morning prospectiing for perch with Paul - in seemingly ideal low light conditions. The main plan was to try and suss out some new swims - though Paul couldn't promise NOT to have a cast in one of my banker swims - which actually produced zilch for both of us. So a bit of a scratchy session - not sure we learnt much - except where the fish aren't. Paul faired a little better than me with a 2½lber, was disproportinately pleased to catch a bleak (IAC Species Race point!) - and he even managed a 4lber - trouble is it was a pike!
     
    Some pics courtesy of Paul...




  17. Chris Plumb

    13 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome, Worgret & Wool.
     
    0730 - 1030 - Worgret
    1100 - 1500 - Wool.
     
    Mild and breezy. Overcast am. Mainly sunny pm. River very coloured but well within its banks. (Not at all what I was expecting!!!)
     
    4 Grayling; 2lb 11oz, 1lb 4oz, 12oz & a tiddler. 1 Dace; 10oz. 6 Brownies - most quite small. 1 Sea trout - 1¼lb.
     
    A couple of new venues for this winter and a river I've been wanting to fish for AGES! So some new waters to learn - and the 1st part of my education was in misreading what the state of the river would be!! My heart sank when I saw the colour of it. The game keeper informed me that it wasn't like your typical chalkstream - and coloured up quickly after rain. Still he was quite chatty and pointed out a couple of hotspots - one of which produced the dace and both of which I want to revisit when the water is clear!
     
    BTW - I can't remember the last time I was asked for my permit on my usual club waters - yet get asked for it within ½hr of starting here!
     
    I was hopeful that further upstream at Wool would be less turbid - and so it proved. Still very sub optimal - but not quite as hopeless as where I'd started. Bites still at a premium but slowly they came - lost a really good fish when the maggot bent over the hook point - and next cast caught the sea trout - still with lice on it. 1st grayling of the afternoon was the tiddler, followed by some trout of similar size - but then I hit the jackpot with the big un giving a bloddy hearstopping fight - it jumped - twice!
     
    So, bit of a hard slog - but I've seen enough to want to go back!!!
     
    Edit - this site will prove very useful in the coming months...just upstream of where I started on Sunday...
    http://www.farsondigitalwatercams.com/live...me/Holmebridge/
     
    2lb 11oz of grayling - my 4th= biggest.

     
    Wool Bridge

  18. Chris Plumb

    18 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate water
     
    0730 - 1630
     
    Mild and mainly overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. River VERY low.
     
    7 Chub; 4 over 1lb - biggest 3lb 1oz. 8 Perch; 2 over 1lb - biggest 2lb 3oz. 2 Bream - both circa 1lb. 3 Doz+ Roach - most quite small though 2 warranted the scales - one at 13oz the other a lovely fish of 1lb 4oz. 2 Doz + Dace - all quite small. 20 + Gudgeon. 8 Brownies - most over 2lb - biggest 3lb 8oz. 1 Rainbow - 2¾lb.
     
    A lovely day wandering around this prolific water. Low water meant that the fish were shoaled up in the pools - also made them a bit spooky . We saw some really big chub and hundreds of bream but neither would take a bait. Paul caught even more than me and whilst he didn't get any respectable chub had loads of good dace - and was given the shock of his life when a hugemungous pike attacked one of his perch has he was bringing it to the net - alas neither of us had brought any pike gear!
     
    A couple of pics - unfortunately the roach is a bit over-exposed and Paul took a couple of arty landscape pics of the moon between the trees which are on the cutting room floor as they didn't come out very well!
     


     
    A couple of 'library' pictures - taken Nov 08 when there was a little bit more water in the river too!


  19. Chris Plumb

    27 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome - Wool
     
    0745 - 1445
     
    Bright and sunny and VERY breezy - lashing rain for 1st hour! River low and clear.
     
    11 Grayling; 3 smalluns - all the others between 1lb 9oz - 2lb 2oz (2X2lbers). 1 Dace (small). 9 Trout (all small). 1 Salmon 4½lb, 1 Salmon parr.
     
    A challenging session due to the strong downstream wind - made presentation a nightmare and I must have spent half the session with my float waving around in the sky everytime I tried to rebait. No surprise that my 2 biggest ladies came in the first hour when it was cloudy (and wet! ) Salmon fight was, err, interesting and it had obviously found a taste for maggot as it had another angler's hook in its scissors - with maggots still attached! Was briefly connected to a MUCH bigger salmon - which thankfully got off! Had wanted to try and find a few dace on this trip - but a couple of hours fishing the supposed right area produce just one smallun.
     


  20. Chris Plumb

    2 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Shaw
     
    0730 - 1230
     
    Frosty and bright start - clouding over by mid morning. 0ºC -> 6ºC. River low.
     
    56 (!!) Grayling; 3 over 1lb - best a lovely fish of 1lb 12oz. 2 Roach (small). 8 Brownies small ( but bigger than parrs).
     
    Nice sociable session with Paul. Original plan had been to do some more prospecting for perch on the canal but the weather forecasts had been predicting a cold clear Friday morning all week - so Plan B was the ladies! Got off to a slow start and we thought we'd be off the water in under a couple of hours and moving elsewhere but then we found the fish. Usual tactics here are catch a couple and move on - but I guess because of the low water they were somewhat shoaled up - I had 22 from one spot alone. Paul managed 37 grayling and 3 trout with 4 over a pound - his best 1lb 6oz. So over 100 fish between us - a great morning's sport !!!
     
    1-12 is my =biggest grayling from here.
     
    Pics courtesy of Paul (as per usual!)
     





  21. Chris Plumb

    8 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - nr Thatcham
     
    0745 - 1015
     
    Cool, overcast and breezy with some light drizzle. Travelling light so forgot thermometer (in other bag!). River low and looking rather threadbare.
     
    2 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 2lb 15oz. 3 Grayling 10 - 12oz+. 1 Brownie c12oz
     
    Every year I try and get a chub in every month of the season - so that's December ticked off! In truth I was hoping to make a re-acquaintance with the 5lb+ fish I caught from this swim back in the summer but given the low water a brace of 3lbers will do just fine!! Grayling are packing on some weight - second one I caught was close to a pound - hope they're still around this time next year.....
     
    Big gob...
     

  22. 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.

  23. Chris Plumb

    24 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0745 - 1115
     
    Cool and mainly overcast. 2º -> 6ºC. River low and clear (of course!)
     
    33 Grayling; 10 over 1lb (!) best 4, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 7oz, 1lb 6oz with another dozen around the 12oz mark. 3 Brownies - all small but bigger than parrs.
     
    Christmas Eve sees the annual cleaning of my bait fridge as the maggots are served with an eviction order and the appliance is commandeered for Christmas duties. As usual for this venue it was a case of starting at the top and working my way down - fishing every likely look run - resulting in a remarkably similar return to my last visit here (see 23 November). Unlike last month though the fish were a bit more spread out - though all the 'pound plussers' came from just 3 spots - the 2 biggest from the same swim - one devoid of fish last time out though equally last months hot spot was empty. It really pays to travel light!
     

  24. Chris Plumb

    27 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0730 - 1630
     
    Mild and overcast with light winds - a lovely benign winters day. 10ºC. River VERY low.
     
    4 Chub to 2lb 10oz. 5 Grayling - all between 10oz - 1lb 6oz, 14 Dace - nearly all over 8oz - 5 over 10oz, best 12oz (had 3 at this weight!), 3 Roach, 6 Brownies to 2¾lb.
     
    A lovely day to be by the river - we were restricted by low water levels to where we could fish - but finding a shoal of big dace in the very first swim we dropped in took the 'pressure' off!! We ended up fishing and resting it in rotation all day! Paul had an identical number of dace - and like me nearly all were gooduns (ie ½lb+) his best though went a whopping 14oz.
     
    Some pics - all courtesy of Paul...
     




  25. 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!
     

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