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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    15 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0900 - 1630
     
    Frosty and bright, temps around 2-4ºC all day. River low and clear
     
    8 Chub; 4 chublets and 4 over 2lb, biggest 5lb 6oz. 16 Dace; half over 8oz, biggest 13oz & 12oz. 3 Roach, biggest 1lb on the nose. 6 Brownies - biggest 2, 4¼ & 3¾lb.
     
    NAA day on this lovely part of the Kennet so had to share the place with a couple of dozen other anglers! Highlight of the morning was seeing Rusty do an impersonation of Nigel Mansell as he raced off to bagsy the weedrack swim and seeing 2 other anglers pull in behind us on the Kintbury rd, unload their car in a blind panic and practicallly sprint off to their swims to ensure Paul and I wouldn't get them!! In truth we weren't at all bothered as we were pretty sure our secret dace swims were safe (as they were!!). All in all, a fairly slow day as you'd expect in such bright conditions. Paul and I both caught decent dace early on though I had much better success in the last hour when I had the 13oz dace and the 1lb roach in consecutive casts. Paul caught more dace overall - he having had a better 'middle' part of the day - again local knowledge playing a big part. Equally my 'banker' chub swim was unoccupied mid-afternoon and trotting 3 grains of corn on a size 8 quickly brought some decent chub to the net - the 5lber was first cast. Paul and I pride our selves in being last off the venue on such days - but Rusty outdid us - we were on our way home when I got a call from Chris - to say he was still fishing!!!!!
     
    Pics from Paul (apart from the chub)...





  2. 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.

  3. Chris Plumb

    4 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet Newbury
     
    0800 - 1045
     
    COLD and clear. AT -9ºC when I drove off confirmed by a reading of 16ºF when I arrived on the bank. WT a balmy 35ºF - coldest day I think I have ever been fishing. However dressed appropriately and standing IN the river for warmth I was really quite toasty apart form the thumb and index finger on my right hand -which kept 'sticking' to the metal of my Witcher. Thought that frozen rings would be a mare but in fact the water froze on the line so quickly it was solid before it got to the rings - bit of a nasty grating noise when I caught a fish though! River very clear and very low (and very cold).
     
    1 Chub; 2lb 13oz. 2 Brownies; 2¼lb and a tiddler. 5 Dace - including one clonker of 10oz. 1 Gudgeon.
     
    Chub first cast which I took as an excellent omen and anticipated a morning's bagging up in the cold. Alas the bigger trout was pretty much second cast and went absolutely mental, jumping ½doz times and completely killing the swim - so my morning's chubbing was over 5 minutes after it started! Rested the swim hoping they'd return but only caught dace after the hiatus.
     
    Unfortunately I'm not the only one who knows of this hotspot.....

  4. Chris Plumb

    12 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury.
     
    0730 - 1700
     
    Cool and overcast. -2º ->5ºC Positively balmy compared to recent arctic conditions - WT was a chilly 39ºF though.
     
    8 Chub; 4 'pounders' to 2¼lb and 4 chublets. 19 Dace; most a 'nice' size - only one warranted the scales though; a lovely fish of 11oz. 6 Roach, 8 Brownies to 2½lb.
     
    Plan for today was to catch some chub in the morning and then move up to where we'd caught all those roach earlier in the winter. First part of the plan went err as planned with both Paul and I getting amongst the chub and whilst we would have liked a 5 lber or 2 it was actually quite nice to see some smaller fish to come through - I think between us we had 9 or 10 over 1lb yet the biggest was only a few ounces over 2. After lunch it was into the car and upto the top limit of the fishery - only for it to very quickly transpire that the roach had moved on - the 'roach' swim was devoid of anything without an adipose fin.
     
    By 1500 we were back where we started - and fishing the swim where I'd caught chub in the morning started to produce some nice dace - including my biggest of the day. Paul had only added 3 trout and a chub to his morning's total when we bumped into the river-keeper doing his rounds. A couple of hints (well one BIG tip really) had us both fishing the same pool for the last ¾hr. If you got the bait in the right place (this was the tip!) it was bite a chuck and Paul was quickly adding to his tally with ,ironically, some nice roach in the 6-8oz bracket - finishing the day with a bristling perch a couple of ounces shy of 2lb.
     
    Some pics from yesterday
     
    Small chub with a big tail.

    Paul's perch - looks bigger than 1-13 don't ya think!

    CY got catty'ed with maggots here...

    Paul goes all arty....



  5. 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!

     
  6. Chris Plumb

    26 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome
    Worgret 0800 - 1130
    Wool 1200 - 1600
     
    Bright and sunny after a foggy start - felt positively warm in the sun - had far too much on! River clear and low.
     
    11 Grayling: 10 over 1lb (9 over 1½!). Best 5, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz & 2 at 1lb 14oz.
     
    Last trip down to Dorset this winter as the water closes to coarse anglers at the end of Feb. I wanted to give Worgret a proper go this time as it was the colour of milky tea when I came here in November. Some of it looks really nice - lots of long glides with some deep holes on the bends but I fished down the entire length of it for a solitary bite and fish (one of the 1-14s). So whilst I had planned to stay all day here it was a call for an early lunch and off to Wool. Walking back to the car I stopped to chat with another angler who had turned up after me (and was fishing the one spot where I'd caught!) to find he was using the same reel as me - A 1920 Witcher copy! I think most of those that were made have ended up in display cabinets so it was nice to see another angler using one.
     
    Being the last Sunday of the Frome season I expected Wool to be quite busy - so was quite relieved to only see a couple of other anglers. I started in the bridge swims but after a biteless ¾hr it was time to move upstream. I had the 2lb2oz fish in the first swim I dropped into - and ended up not moving from that spot for the rest of the afternoon!! In the morning I'd blamed the bright sunshine for the lack of fish - but they didn't seem to put them off here and I had a slow but steady session bringing some fine grayling to the net. The 2-05 and 2-14 were the last 2 fish of a fine afternoon's sport - and seeing the 2-14 twisting in the current I thought this was my 3 at last - alas not to be - but ranks as my 2nd biggest ever - and a grand way to end my first winter on the Frome.
     
    Pics of my 2-05

     
    And 2-14
     

    As usual the buggers wouldn't keep still for the camera!
  7. Chris Plumb

    3 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal - Thatcham
     
    0700 - 1000
     
    Overcast with rain/drizzle for ¾hr from 0830. AT & WT 48ºF.
     
    2 Perch; 3lb 2oz & 2lb 7oz.
     
    Unexpectedly had a free morning due to Sam deciding on a lay in after partying last night rather than go training. Dad's taxi still had to take Matt to work for 0630 which was the time I'd have rather have been making my first cast. So I arrived 30 or so minutes later than I would have liked to get a couple of nasty surprises. The first - cows!! A herd of them (well ½doz) on the public towpath - stubborn buggers too very disinclined to get out of the way - making a right mess as well! The second was more of a shock - my banker perch swim is no more For over a decade the low bushes and scrubby willow on the far bank have proved a refuge for some big perch. Alas some official at the BWB has obviously decided that they posed a hazard to shipping and the whole lot have been completely grubbed out - not just cut back and pruned but completely ripped out!
     
    Thankfully over the years I've sussed out some 'back-up' swims here and fished 3 in total - both perch taken from the second one I dropped into - from the only 2 bites I had all morning (apart from the crayfish!)
     
    Bigger one below...

  8. Chris Plumb

    9 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Newbury
     
    0700 - 1800
     
    Mild and overcast, breezy at times, temps around 10ºC all day. River still low - though up a tad (maybe a cm or so) on recently.
     
    17 Chub, 6 over 1lb biggest 3lb 0oz. 24 Roach - biggest 1lb 4oz - though quite a few more needed the net. 15 Dace - best 2, 13oz & 12oz. 3 Gudgeon and 4 brownies.
     
    A knackering day as we walked the entire length of the fishery TWICE in order to find the fish. My plan was to start off in a known chub swim while Paul started in a nice eddy that requires wading to mid river to fish properly! Having expected chub I was somewhat shocked to start the morning with 2 stonking dace - the 12 oz fish followed next cast by one an ounce heavier - and whilst I caught some more gooduns throughout the day these were the only 2 I weighed. The trekking paid off as we caught in pretty much every swim we visited - and it did mean we could rest some of the hotspots - especially the roach one - where I finished the session with pretty much fish a cast - until Mr Pike decided he'd interfere - he kept returning to hold station right under my feet in order to get the best chance of grabbing a free meal! Paul had a near identical return to me - though his biggest chub was 11oz on from mine - and he did lose one a whole lot bigger. He also had a shed load of gudgeon and a couple of perch - one of which was 2lb.
     
    1st fish of the day...

    In Bob's footsteps (20 years on) - me poaching Paul's swim with my worming gear (hence no CP!)





    Chub with an evil eye - Paul sticks his tongue out at a self take!

  9. Chris Plumb

    14 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate
     
    0730 - 1800
     
    Cool and overcast all morning, bright sunshine in the afternoon feeling quite warm despite the thermo only reading 10ºC. River VERY low.
     
    4 Chub; 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 11oz and a chublet. 5 Perch; a couple of 'pounders' best of which was just under 2lb - the rest around 12oz. 25 roach - most fairly small though had one 'goodun' of 14oz. 9 Dace. 1 Bream 2¼lb. 10 gudgeon, 4 bleak & 6 brownies to 3¼lb.
     
    Usual mixed bag for our end of season jaunt to this prolific water - we couldn't find any of the bigger chub and perch - though Paul's only chub over a pound did go 4lb 3oz. Still twas a lovely spring day and we both found some new swims to fish - and ones we want to have a good go at next winter - perfect way to end the season - wanting more. Paul again had a similar return apart from the dace where he had around 4doz due to me spending most of the morning fishing the usual haunts of big chub here - but only snaffling a few of the smaller cousins!
     
    Day was rounded off with some great pub grub and talk of plans for next season!!!
     
    Fancy a dip? This 'peg' is called the swimming pool.

    Fat perch (one of Paul's captures)

    Where it came from...

    View from one of the 'new' swims!

  10. Chris Plumb

    15 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
    0830 - 1100
    Mild and windy with some drizzle in the wind (Storm Dennis approaching!). River VERY full with just a hint of colour which is unusual for here.
    8 Grayling; 4 'netters' biggest 2 went 1lb 7oz & 1lb 5oz. 2 Brownies - both around ½lb.
    This weekend had been pencilled in for months for an IAC fish-in. I'd booked Lower Itchen Fishery and filled all the places with folks coming from far and wide to attend. Unfortunately Storm Dennis had other ideas and the event was cancelled - pity as I was really looking forward to my annual late winter trip here. The day like all fish-ins' I organise these days was a charity event in memory of Paul and with no fishery to pay and most of my rods asking that their monies go straight to the charity - Storm Dennis will at least have benefitted Sue Ryder!
    So with the storm not quite arrived (the rain at least)and to ward off cabin fever - I sneaked a couple of hours on the Lambourn - so that I wouldn't be denied a grayling this weekend!
  11. Chris Plumb

    1st June (!)

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA stillwater Widmead and Thatcham
     
    0400 - 1200.
     
    Overcast, still and mild - temps around 17/18ºC
     
    1 carp, 11lb 5oz.
     
    1st EVER close season session - oooo I feel a little bit dirty! Don't intend to make a habit of it but I had some time owed to me which if I didn't take by next week (and as ½ the office we already off, next week was out) I would lose. So I thought I'd join Paul on one of his 'free Fridays'. 1st part of the morning was purely reconnaissance, OK I did have a bait in the water but after 5 hours looking at a stationary float I was packed up in a flash when Paul suggested we move and try and get a carp or two off the top from a pit where they shouldn't be - and relocate them to where they should - work that clearly comes under the heading of 'Close Season Preparation! (In case you're wondering the club have a Section 30 for this that runs to the end of Oct).
     
    Sure enough the carp were clearly patrolling the surface layers and catching them looked a doddle - especially as I had a fish pretty much first cast and Paul had a hook straightened with his first cast. Alas I didn't get another take - though Paul did go on to winkle out a couple of commons (mine was a mirror) of 5lb+ and 6lb+.
     
    All in all a good excuse to be out!
     
    I really didn't want my photo taken...

    But Paul was determined to gather the evidence...

    Paul had a 9½lber from Dixons.

    Fish-on !

    Fish on the bank.

    Paul gets all arty (Again!)

  12. Chris Plumb

    18/19 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Godalming
     
    1430 - 0930
     
    Warm and with sunny spells. Quite breezy at times (as it ALWAYS is here - must be the windiest place in Surrey!)
     
    16 Tench; 5 over 4lb, biggest 5lb 2oz, all the rest between 2½ - 3½lb, 11 Roach, 4 over 1lb - biggest 1lb 8oz! , 1 Perch, 1lb 9oz (on float fished meat at midnight), 6 Rudd.
     
    A cunning plan that was hatched a year ago. The day started with me popping over to the tackle shop for GAS exchange books (and key) which allowed us access beyond the normal Day Ticket restrictions. Just as well too, as I caught 15 of my tench during the hours of darkness. Paul had an even better day (or rather night) after a slow start - fewer tench than me but he did have crucians show up in the morning accounting for a dozen with around ½ of them over 2lb - me 2 swims down had not a hint of them - in fact for the last couple of hours I couldn't buy a bite on float fished maggot whilst Paul was getting crucians at a fish a chuck (well nearly! ). We both couldn't believe the size of the roach we were catching - Paul had 3 over a lb and like me had more which were close - he also had a 2lb perch - on ledgered corn/worm cocktail...
     
    A tench at dawn - pic of my 5lber.

    Pauls biggest Crucian (2lb 13oz)

    A tench heads for the lillies - my only 'daylight' tinca.

    A Surrey dawn

    Pleasing in appearance - even more pleasing in disappearance (H T Sheringham)

  13. Chris Plumb

    20 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    0430 - 1000
     
    Clear and sunny, warm after a cool start (8ºC when I set up).
     
    6 Carp; best 2, 14lb 8oz, 8lb 4oz - the rest 6 or 7lbers.
     
    So after a crucianless night on Marsh Farm a morning trying for one nearer to home - this lake has them to over 3lb - but alas it is also the home to a lot of voracious carp! The 4 smaller ones all 'fell' to my float gear. All the time I was feed little bits of bread into the margins by my feet (any further out and the ducks get at it). It wasn't too long before the carp were competeing for freebies - so a quick change in tactics to freelined bread resulted in the 2 bigger ones straight away - before returning to looking at a float!
     
    All fish caught by 0700 - could have gone home for breakfast!
     

  14. Chris Plumb
    River Kennet - Padworth
     
    1630 - 2230
     
    Warm (ish) and overcast becoming quite breezy and rather cool. River 'full' and looking in very fine fettle.
     
    3 Barbel; 9lb 11oz, 9lb 0oz, 5lb 3oz. 21 Dace.
     
    A game of 2 halves! Again I found myself introducing Paul to a new venue on his recently acquired TAA book. The plan was to have 3 hours trotting in order for Paul to have a good explore then fish into darkness on the lead. A plan that was nearly executed to perfection. We both found lots of silver fish - dace were of a good stamp and Paul's catch (he had an identical number of dace) was added to with a roach or 2, a couple of chublets and some gudgeon. The 2 swim's I'd earmarked for our more sedentary half of the evening were both gratifyingly free. These are both swims where I've done well in the past, are quite close together and I really couldn't decide which I wanted, so being the gentleman ( ) I let Paul have first dibs. Unfortunately for him it was an incorrect call! Withing 5 mins of casting out I was into a 9lb barbel - with Paul, still with trotting rod in hand, summoned to witness and assist. Another 9lber next cast, followed within the hour by the smaller fish - with still 2 hours before we were due to pack up (and - usually the best time) I was thinking I could be on for quite a haul - but I had no more bites. Paul, alas, had no bites at all!!
     



  15. Chris Plumb

    21 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - nr Thatcham
     
    0830 - 1230
     
    Cool (for June) and overcast - with heavy rain for last ½ hour which persuaded me it was time to pack up early and go home for lunch. Heavy overnight rain - but the river was in good nick with good clarity and down a bit on the 16th.
     
    1 Chub; 4lb 10oz. 2 Barbel; 2lb 13oz, 2lb 1oz. 13 Dace. 4 Brownies - 2 circa 1lb.
     
    (Rusty's going to hate me!)
    A quick return to the venue we visited briefly on the opening day in order to get Paul a float caught barbel. Paul had to work today so I was going solo. My choice of todays venue was influenced by 2 factors. 1, I knew it would be pretty quiet and I should get my first choice swims and 2 -, said swims have recieved 6 pints of Rusty's maggots over the previous 48 hours - thanks for the baiting up - Chris!!!
     
    I started in the swim I put Paul in last Saturday and within 5 minutes of starting - the float dipped and I was met with solid resistence. A battle, as much with the current as the fish ensued and it wasn't long before I had the chub subdued in slightly quieter water - my biggest from here for over 2 years.
     
    I was saying to Paul yesterday at Padworth that it's a pity this venue didn't produce more dace - so of course today I started to catch some - interpersed with the odd trout. My starter swim produced no more rod benders - so I followed the bait downstream and fished another favourite - the Bridge swim. Again success was almost instantaneous - with a hard fighting fish stripping line off the centre-pin on the strike - when I eventually got it under control I couldn't believe how small it was! Half an hour later and the trick was repeated - this barbel being even smaller - great fun though.
     
    Chub

    Baby Barbel

  16. Chris Plumb

    22/23 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead
     
    1700 - 0730
     
    Cool and breezy (very) with short sharp showers to start. Overnight felt very chilly in the wind (temps were down to 10ºC) so the quilted, thermal one-piece suit made a rare appearance. I went from feeling chilled to toasty in a matter of minutes (though that might just have been struggling to get in it!)
     
    1 Tench; 4lb 3oz. 2 Bream, 5lb 2oz & 4lb 3oz. 1 roach & 1 perch.
     
    A session that failed to live up to early promise as all my fish were caught in the first couple of hours. However that was it and I didn't get another bite after 2100 - just the odd bleep on the lead and bloddy crayfish worrying whatever bait I fished in the margins. Paul had a similar experience - catching 3, 6lb+ carp before it got dark - then nothing. Though he did get a bream just as I was packing up.
    Sausage du jour was Pork and Bramley Apple, accompanied with a couple of fried egg sandwiches and a mug of tea - lovely!
     

  17. Chris Plumb

    27 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead
     
    1930 - 0000
     
    Warm overcast and muggy night - lovely shirt-sleeves evening though needed plenty of DEET - mozzies were in almost plague like swarms! Temp still 16ºC at midnight.
     
    1 Crucian; 3lb 3oz. 1 Tench; 4lb 9oz. 2 carp 6lb 3oz & 6lb 13oz. 1 Rudd.
     
    Mission accomplished - 1st crucian of the summer and it's a real goodun! Things didn't start off quite so well - had the 'smaller' carp practically 1st cast on my float gear - took an age to get in and completely trashed the swim. So no bites afterwards for ages. Had switched to trying to get a few carp off the top and had not long put back the other one when a very large crucian rolled in my over where I'd baited earlier. A useful reminder to stop fannying about and get back to what I'd come here for. Swim really came alive in the first hour of darkness (22-2300) with fishing rolling and lots of bubbles. Crucian caught at around 2230 with the tench some 20 minutes later.
     
    My 4th biggest ever Crucian...

  18. Chris Plumb

    6 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Willows lake, Thatcham
     
    0530 - 0930
     
    Overcast, clearing to bright sunshine for last hour.
     
    5 Carp; 12lb 9oz, 11lb 2oz, 8lb 11oz, 7lb 2oz, 6lb 13oz.
     
    Another forlorn crucian hunt - but at least at this venue there are some 'easy' carp (too easy!! ) to amuse.
     
    2 smaller fish on float tackle - bigger 3 on floating crust in the margins (ie within 1m of the bank!)
     
    Biggest one:

  19. Chris Plumb
    River Kennet backstream, Padworth
     
    1900 - 2330
     
    Warm, yet clear evening. Lovely night to be out - got to see some early Perseids.
     
    3 Barbel; 8lb 7oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 6oz.
     
    Bit of an exploratory session - fished a couple of new swims - and got stung to blazes by the nettles - clearly 2 spots that have not seen an angler this season!! Fished in rotation - plan was to give each spot an hour or until I caught - whichever was soonest then switch. As it happened both swims produced a fish first cast (the 2 smaller ones) with the 1st swim then producing the 8 after being 'rested'. A useful and informative session - well worth the extra effort (and the stings!)
     

  20. 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!

  21. Chris Plumb

    7/8 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    1930 - 0730
     
    Clear, still night, quite chilly (5.5ºC) by dawn.
     
    5 Carp; 12lb 10oz, 11lb 15oz, 11lb 6oz, 11lb 3oz, 10lb 10oz.
     
    A repeat of last weekend for Paul and myself - hoping for a repeat performance on the crucian front. Alas, they were conspicuous by their absence with little evidence of fish rolling. Paul and I did both suffer some curious bites on the float which neither of us could connect with - and for me at least I had to content my self with feeding bits of bread in the margins and waiting for them to start disappearing before offering one with a hook in it! Last carp and smallest did come on float fished prawn - meant for the crucians. As last week Paul had many more carp (he did fish the method OR the pellet waggler!) - but when I left still hadn't managed a double!
     
    Sunrise over Willows Lake...

     
    X marks the spot?

  22. Chris Plumb

    22 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0630 - 1100
     
    Bright and sunny after a cool start - not quite a frost but down to 3ºC. River running low and clear.
     
    7 Perch; 3 over 1lb (though 2 by not much) best 2lb 2oz. 2 Chublets, 1½doz roach - including some 'gooduns' 3 in the 8-10oz bracket and a 12oz fish, 5 dace, a doz gudgeon.
     
    A pleasant mornings trotting and exploring familiar haunts. First hour or so on lobs switching to maggot once the sun was up. Fished 10 swims in total and had fish from 8 of them......
     

  23. Chris Plumb

    5 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Somewhere in Hampshire (guess the river!)
     
    0815 - 1815
     
    Bright and sunny morning after overnight rain. Clouding over after lunch with more (quite heavy at times) rain after 1530. Temps. 11º-14º-11ºC.
     
    26 Grayling; 12 over1lb, best 3, 2lb, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 13oz. 7 Chub between 2¾lb to 4lb 5oz (2,4lbers). 13 Brownies to 3½lb.
     
    Enjoyable (despite the late rain) session where persistence was rewarded. Paul and I only found one prolific swim (and that was mainly full of chub) but if you stuck at it and kept trying something a little new you were usually rewarded with a fish or two. Resting and returning was also a good tactic. Most of my fish were caught on red corn - though not all - the 1-14 was on red maggot. Paul had an almost identical return fishing mainly red maggot. 2 doz grayling to 1¾lb, 6 chub - though 5 of these were 4lbers! and he did better than me at shaking off the trout before landing them - only having to net 6! Oh and he also managed to find a few roach - though I don't think they were particularly big...
     
    As usually trying to get a grayling to pose for a pic was neigh on impossible - this was my 5th (and best!!!!!) attempt at my 2lber.

     
    Chub on the otherhand are much more accommodating - this is the 'smaller' of my 4lbers.

     
    and my bigger one>

  24. Chris Plumb

    13 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0700 - 1130
     
    Sunny spells. 3->10ºC. River up a touch with a little colour after this week's rain - looks in really good nick.
     
    3 Perch; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 11oz and sub pounder, 5 Chub all between ½-1lb - good to see!, a doz dace, roach & gudgeon all small!
     
    Successful dawn perching session - both caught from a new swim - or at least a swim that hasn't produced big stripeys in ages, followed by an hour's trotting maggot. Nice to see some juvenile chub coming through....
     
    2-14

    2-11 (plus camera strap )

  25. Chris Plumb

    20 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    0700 - 1100
     
    Cool, calm and murky/foggy - very autumnal!. 5->10ºC
     
    3 Perch; 2lb 1oz and a couple of tiddlers, 1 chublet and 6 roach.
     
    Better conditions for prospecting for perch - though 2 hours with lobs produced a couple of missed bites and 2 small perch who weren't much bigger than the lobs used to catch them! Switched to maggot as I could see silvers snaffling my freebies just under the surface - so of course 2nd cast I had the 2lb perch!
     
    First decent perch from the canal this autumn - looks like it's escaped from a rather ambitious pike...
     

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