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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    3 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury.
     
    0700 - 1700
     
    Bright and breezy morning after a frosty start. Clouded over mid afternoon and the wind dropped. (Glad we're not going today in all this rain!). River up on this time last year with good flow - still not as high as I thought it would be....
     
    9 Chub; All bar 1 over 2½lbs, best 2, 4lb 5oz & 3lb 14oz. 9 Perch; 2lb 3oz & 1lb 10oz the rest all small. 20 dace and a doz+roach (all small though a few of the dace were quite chunky). ½ doz brownies to 2½lb.
     
    VERY pleasant days angling. My aim was to get among the chub - achieved first cast with a 3lb fish and it seemed every swim I dropped into gave up a chub or two. Paul had a somewhat different day - many, many more roach than me including a few over ½lb and a best fish of 1lb 2oz (or it might have been 1-03 - I can't recall!), yet at lunch time (soup was roast parsnip) he was chubless - a situation he eventually put right with a couple of 3lbers late in the day.
     
    Best comedy moment came straight after lunch when we both took our lobs upto a banker perch hotspot. Nice and sociable we both made 1st casts at the same time - our floats coming into postion no more than a couple of foot apart. And bang on cue they both shot under. My strike met with heavy resistance as the 2lber shot off into the current. Paul's strike - a tiny perch - no bigger than the lob!!! To really rub it in I nearly had 2 for the price of one - we could both clearly see another big perch chasing the one I'd hooked - trying to get the lob that had been blown up the line - it nearly swam into the net as it's mate was landed! We both fished on - but the other biggy didn't return and our LAR (Lobworm Attrition Rate) shot up due to the legions of perchlets, forcing an abandonment to proceedings!
     
    Some pics below courtesy of the trips official photographer - Paul!
     
    Here be Chub!

    Autumn Colours

    A couple of Paul's fish...


    Paul gets all arty...

  2. Chris Plumb

    16 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0700 - 1630
     
    Misty and murky all day, heavy showers for last 2 hours - 7-9ºC.
     
    7 Chub; 5 over 2lbs biggest 3lb6oz. 7 Grayling (!) 4 over1lb (&3 over 1½), biggest 1lb 11oz. 9 Dace; 3 of which were 6oz+. 1 Roach. 7 Brownies to 3lb.
     
    Eagerly anticipated trip - nice to see the river full after 4+ years of low water. Of course it meant having to almost completely re-learn the venue! We half expected the fish holding areas in low water conditions might not be the same when the river was full - and so it proved. Our nailed on banker dace swim which has produced really good dace in each of the previous 3 seasons produced not a bite to me today!
    Paul and I had differing objectives for the trip - Paul wanted to get among the dace - something he achieved with 4 fish over 10oz a couple of which went 12oz. I wanted to get among the chub - preferably big ones - which didn't really show up - though lots of schooly ones for future years is a good omen (Paul had 10 but nothing over 3). The grayling were a very pleasant surprise especially their size. The perch on the other hand appeared to have done a disappearing act. (Maybe they've all moved to Gunters!)
    As we departed the car park at dawn - in opposite directions - I wished Paul good luck with a cheery 'break a rod' something he'd achieved by the time we met up for morning coffee!!
     
     
     
    Some Pics...(proabably!)

     
    Well that worked with postimage.org - though its now stubbornly refusing to upload any more!
     
    At last! Thanks to imageshack!
     
    1lb 4oz dace was once caught here! (alas not by me!)

     
     
    Not a 1¼lb dace - one 8oz lighter!

     
     
    Snaggy dace swim - I had some gooduns from here...

     
     
    I actually don't know where this is - Paul???

     
    Chub & Speedia

     
    Where have all the perch gone? Last knockings and not a stripey in sight...

  3. Chris Plumb

    1 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    1100 - 1400
     
    Cold with sunny spells. 5ºC. River very full and gin clear looked in cracking nick!
     
    17 Grayling; 2 'pounders' biggest 1lb 7oz
     
    Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - venue was rather busy and bumped into that reprobate Rusty who was worming for roach! Had rather hoped to be fishing the Frome this weekend - alas it still has a flood warning out for the river - and here's why - somewhere just behind the tree Rusty and I caught 2lbers last winter!
    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101...pe=1&ref=nf
     
    Lambourn Lady

  4. Chris Plumb

    9 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate(s) Newbury (am), Kintbury (pm)
     
    0745 - 1615
     
    Breezy with sunny spells. 7º->9º->7ºC. River 'full' and clear - though within its banks after recent (and very evident) flooding.
     
    5 Chub; 4 over 2¼lb - best 2, 4lb & 3lb 10oz. 3 Grayling - 1lb 13oz, 1lb 2oz & 14oz. 5 Dace, 3 over 8oz - biggest 13oz. 2 roach, a gudgeon and 2 Brownies both circa 1½lb plus a 4lb bream which doesn't count as it was hooked in the dorsal - giving the most almighty battle in a fast current and doing a great impression of a huge chub.
     
    Bit of a grueller especially in the morning when we covered miles of bank trying to find fish - and when I did find a few - managed to hook one in the backside! More success after lunch and after a second move of the day - this time a couple of miles upstream!!!
     
    Paul struggled even more than me in the morning - but decided he would concentrate on trying to catch big dace in the afternoon - something he managed rather well with nearly a dozen over 8oz.
     
    Best comedy moment was seeing Paul trying to get into the 'Bob James Position' with thigh waders when really chesties were needed - he never did manage it - but it made amusing viewing!
     
    Some pics
    One of Paul's Dace - looks like a female already in breeding condition.

    2, 13oz dace - both Paul and I caught 13oz dace at the same time - mine is the top one and although Paul's looks smaller in the pic it was a lot thicker...

    A welcome chub - caught 1st cast after the lunchtime move.

    Followed shortly after by a nice grayling.

    Paul gets all arty (again) looking upstream toward dace town!

    The chub that wasn't...

  5. Chris Plumb

    15 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury.
     
    0800 - 1200
     
    Bright and mild. River high and carrying a little colour, too high even for chesties in my fav swim....
    2 Doz Dace - a few quite chunky ones but nothing as impressive as last weekend. 4 Grayling, 2 Chublets & 2 Roach.
     
    Bit of a shall we shan't we session - knowing that the river would be well up and far from ideal for good sport. Having the Lambourn round the corner as back up should it be hopeless helped the decision to go. However I couldn't get into position for my favourite spot so Paul and I shared a large pool upstream (much larger than normal with all the extra water). We were soon into fish - both getting nice dace and in Paul's case not much else apart from a couple of nuisance brownies to around 2lb and a grayling. Paul ended up with around half my total - though did a lot more exploring and spent half the time photographing mince pies!
     
    Slack - temporary home for most fish within ¼mile! (especially dace).

    Too deep for chesties.

    Elevenses.

    Looking upstream - Rusty's having a rather nice rod, built of finest Tonkin, in a workshop not a million miles from the weir in this photo!

  6. Chris Plumb

    21 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal Thatcham
     
    1300 - 1600
     
    Bright and breezy. 9ºC. WT 47ºF Canal very high, over the banks in several places when I arrived - but dropped over a foot during the afternoon.
     
    4 Perch; 2lb 12oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 14oz and 1 sub pounder (but not by much). 2 Chub (lets), 15 Roach, 1 dace and a bleak (1st of the season!)
     
    Plan was if I can't find the perch - maybe they can find me! Plonked my self in one spot and sparingly fed maggot all afternoon - with a single red on the hook - and planned to switch to lob as it got dark. In the end I didn't really need to. Bites were slow at first but after an hour or so the float dipped with satisfying regularity and every so often a strike met with solid resistance. Very pleasing afternoon's sport!
     

  7. Chris Plumb

    5 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
     
    0745 - 1400 (With 1½hrs out to wander round Speen Moors looking at the floods before returning for the final 45 mins)
     
    Dull, mild and overcast 9-10ºC. A lovely, benign winter's day - perfect perching weather. WT 47ºF
     
    13 Perch. 12 over 1lb with 4 X2lbers - biggest 2lb 7oz
     
    Every May Paul and I have what we call - "A Wander". We take a day out to look at a few venues and plan our campaign for the opening week - just an excuse to go out for a beer really! Last May I wanted to look beyond June and we tramped a couple of canal banks looking for likely swims to replace the autumn Perch hotspots that are hot no more on the Thatcham stretch due to habitat loss. Based on that recce we had pencilled in a visit to this water - somewhere I'd not fished since 2007. However, our two previous attempts this autmn/winter at fishing here had been aborted due to bad weather.
     
    So it was 3rd time lucky - and worth the wait. The 2 of us covered a fair bit of water fishing ½ doz swims in total - though most of the fish came from just 3 (and all the 2's from 2 spots). Conditions were such that fish fed throughout the day - in fact my biggest was the last fish caught. Paul finished on 7 perch with a brace of 2s and did manage a 3lb+ fish - though this was a surprise - but most welcome winter tench. All fish falling to lobs - though Paul had a few minutes fishing maggot and picked up a couple of roach as a result.
     
    All photo's courtesy of Paul (as per usual)
     
    A couple of my perch...
     

     
    Paul's Tinca

    Water, Water Everywhere...



    At the small weir - but where is it?

     
    This is where we usually park the car - field beyond had sheep in it last winter!

  8. Chris Plumb

    13 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0900 - 1630
     
    Cold (-1ºC ->3ºC), bright and breezy. Clouding over somewhat in the afternoon. WT 7ºC (won't stay like that for long). River still very high but quite clear.
     
    2 Chub; 4lb 3oz & 1¾lb, 5 Grayling; 3 over a pound best, 1lb 13oz. 10 Dace - only two of which were below 8oz! . Best 13oz which I achieved twice. 5 Brownies to 4lb and 2 Rainbows to 1¾lb.
     
    Club day so the plan was to target dace all day and not really move too far from the likely holding areas. As it happened I had the place to myself as only one other angler turned up! Meant I could give the swim a good rest during the worst of the bright sunshine knowing I would be able to get on them again as it got dark - just as well as 8 of them were caught in the last hour of light.
     
    One of the 13oz dace - (note a rare outing for the Witcher Avon Elite )

     
    Fat Chub

     
    Wilderness Lady

  9. Chris Plumb

    19 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Newbury
     
    0900 - 1600
     
    Cold, overcast with snow laying to a depth of around 3-4inches. Temps hovering around 0ºC all day with frequent sporadic light snow flurries. No wind so wrapped up warm I was quite toasty all day - was actually rather a nice day to be out. River at near normal winter levels and quite clear. WT 42ºC
     
    17 Chub(!); all over a pound with only 4 under 2¼lb, Biggest 4lb 2oz. Most fish in the 2½-2¾lb bracket. 10 Perch; Biggest 4, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 13oz. 16 Dace. 1 Roach, 2 Gudgeon. 4 Brownies including fish of 5lb 1oz and 4lb 5oz. 3 Rainbows to 2½lb.
     
    A session that defied logic or at least conventional wisdom as to what constitutes 'good angling conditions'. With air temperatures struggling to get above zero and water temperatures continuing to fall - we expected to struggle - how wrong can you be. I suppose we did have an overcast day and the road salt has yet to get into the rivers - but we considered these mere straws to be clutched!
     
    The date had been in Paul and my diaries for some time - we usually try and get a 'special' trip in sometime around my Birthday (which was last weekend). However it was touch and go whether, A we could find a venue that would let us on (or in the case of the Frome was within its banks) and, B we could actually get there. In the end we made the decison at 0700 on the day - and as a concession to the weather opted to arrive and leave in day light. (We usually arrive when it's still too dark to see a float - and leave under the same light conditions!!!!)
     
    Any fears that we had evaporated instantly. Paul probably spent most of the morning rueing his decision to turn down my offer to toss a coin for choice of first swim. We both had in mind where we wanted to start - but Paul said 'you can start there'. (well it is MY birthday!) And what a present the river delivered.
     
    In the first 1½hours of fishing I had 14 chub to 3¼lb plus the two biggest trout. I don't usually weigh the trout but these were 2 impressive fish. At times the fishing took on Mr Castwell proportions - with the float dipping at the same point in the swim every trot - and yet another 2½lb chub was brought to the net (as opposed to a similar sized trout in Skues' fable).
     
    A schooly 2½lber...

     
    By the time Paul joined me for mid-morning coffee, bites were begining to dry up - I was almost thankful!!
     
    We agreed that we'd rest the swim and that Paul would have first dibs to fill his boots in the afternoon - something he did with aplomb - snaffling another 8 fish including one of 5lb 3oz. I joined him right at the end of the day and was allowed to run a float through a few times. Paul had just announced that we hadn't caught a 4 lber today (a less than subtle ruse to draw attention to the fact he'd caught a 5 methinks!) when bang on cue I get one of just that size.
     
    Between the morning and late afternoon chubfests - Both Paul and I had some great predator action. Paul had spent most of the morning catching dace - something I joined in on after my chubby start but after lunch we both decided on seeing if we could get some predators. Paul had his pike gear with him and had seen a fish in the shallows - plus I'd lost a dace to a pike. My target was a perch or two - though that was more in hope than expectation.
     
    Sure enough my perch campaign got off to a slow start - chub in cold conditions is a bit of a staple but perch - I must be mad. These thoughts were going through my head after 15minutes of looking at a stationary float when all of a sudden it bobbed twice and slowly went under. A strike met with the briefest restistance and no lob - crayfish? a perch?. The answer wasn't long in coming as my next bait was snaffled even before the float cocked and a nice perch shot out from the slack into the main current - a nice fish of 2½lbs...
     

     
    I'd added 3 smaller ones to this when I had a call from Paul. He'd caught a big pike and could I come and take its portrait with its captor. It was a VERY nice pike short and very fat as trout fishery pike often are and at 17lbs exactly a new PB for Paul..
     

     
    Paul then caught a couple of jacks and after the hiatus I returned to my Perch swim to continue where I'd left off with a couple more 2lb+ fish and half a dozen smaller ones upto 1lb.
     

     
    4 O'clock and time to pack up as we wanted to be off the country roads while it was still light. Normally I'd be a bit regretfull at leaving a venue such as this while there was still fishable light - Paul too - but today we were well and truely sated!!!!
     
    Paul's 5lber - should be easy to identify again in the future...

     
    Winter Wonderland





     
     
     
     
     
  10. Chris Plumb

    A Train to Catch

    By Chris Plumb,

    Angling books are another one of my passions - and my little angling library is not so little these days as the number of books in it creeps towards 200! Over the years I've done a number of reviews for Anglersnet of my favourite ones. I've got ½ dozen or so to catch up on - a legacy of Christmas (and birthday pressies) so there'll be a few more over the coming months. Here is the 1st.
     
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/book-and-media-reviews/a_train_to_catch.html
     
    A Train to Catch
    A Return Ticket to the Golden Age of Fishing
    By Jon Berry
     
    A century ago the presence of an angler on a train with a creel over his shoulder
    and rods in hand, would have been a familiar sight. For generations the
    railways offered an escape for the urban angler; a chance to explore a greener
    and pleasanter land and find some peace by the water.
     
    And anglers were a target audience the railway companies went out of their way to
    attract with special ticketing arrangements and marketing materials such as
    Anglers Guides geared specifically to travelling fisher-folk. One such guide
    even gave a swim by swim description of waters that could be reached from
    London by rail! 150 years ago the rail network itself had spread to every
    corner of Britain allowing ready access to the lakes, broads, rivers and canals
    of the nation.
     
    In ‘A Train to Catch’ Jon Berry writes of his attempts to follow some of these
    angling journeys. In this ‘post Beeching’ era with the rail network a pale
    shadow of what it was, it is a quaint and slightly quixotic quest! Jon sets out
    from his home in Swindon and travels the length and breadth of Britain. The
    trips take place over 3 years during his holidays, again imitating the anglers
    (or rather journeys) he is writing about. It also seems somewhat appropriate
    that Jon’s journeys begin and end in the town where many of the great steam
    engines that would have carried the anglers he is trying to emulate were built.
     
    Despite the limitations of a now depleted network Jon puts in some rail miles and
    remains reasonably faithful to his quest, only rarely having to resort to road
    to reach his final destination. His angling by rail odyssey takes him far and
    wide, from Looe in Cornwall to the North of Scotland, Lowestoft to Wales and
    many points in between.
     
    The book is a mixture of history, anecdote and reminiscence, written with good
    humour and is quite ‘chuckle-some’ in places. I particularly liked the old
    railway maps illustrating just how extensive the rail network was in those
    days. There are snippets from old adverts, pictures of old railway inns,
    extracts from the angler’s guides, a cartoon from punch, colour plates of his
    trips – in fact all the usual plethora of tid-bits you come to expect from one
    of Jon’s books – meticulously researched as ever! It all adds up to a most
    pleasing narrative.
     
    The fishing itself is somewhat secondary – but I guess that’s sort the point. It’s
    not the being there, it’s the getting there that’s important – even if it does garner
    a few disapproving stares from the odd Thames Valley commuter! Having said that Jon
    does cram in quite a variety of angling, from shark fishing off the Cornish
    coast, trout fishing in Derbyshire and pike fishing on the Norfolk Broads to a
    grand tour (of sorts) of Scotland. Some enterprising TV executive really ought
    to make it into a TV programme!
     
    Medlar Press (25 Nov 2011) £20 Hardback
    ISBN 978-1-907110-31-3
     
     

     
     
     
     
  11. Chris Plumb

    9 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate
     
    0730 - 1630
     
    Light sleet/drizzle ALL day. 2ºC (ALL day). River high but in its banks (just) and with little colour.
     
    5 Chub; 5lb 8oz, 4lb 9oz, 4lb 5oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 10oz. 3 Rainbows to 4lb 7oz, 2 Brownies to 2½lb
     
    A day Paul and I had pencilled in for some time (with very light pencil given current conditions!) and the plan had been to invite Chris & Steve and to target monster dace on another stretch of river. Alas permission to fish that bit wasn't granted so we had to 'make do' with this beat. My confidence wasn't high as Paul and I had struggled here once already this season. And this despite the fact the keeper had pointed out a new stretch for us to try. However that didn't dint our collective enthusiasm and I wasn't surprised to see 2 car headlights picking out the track ahead of us when we pulled into the estate - yup Chris (Rusty) and Steve (JV44) had arrived even earlier than us.
     
    Cold sleet and a high river was always going to make for a tough session - however flows were down a bit on December - so Paul and I put the other 2 off the scent and dashed up to the top of the fishery to where we'd had some (actually more than some) good roach last winter.
     
    Alas, it was still tanking through and the 'roach slack' wasn't slack. So we were quickly working our way down the main river - Paul had spotted a nice 'glassy' run which looked like it might contain chub and was soon putting a float through it. I joined him some 50m upstream though my swim was a lot more boily but at least I had a feature to cast to....
    Looking upstream from Paul's swim

     
    Paul was trotting maggot - but I had a cunning plan - red/orange sweetcorn - and 2nd trot, 3 kernels on a size 8 was snaffled by my best chub of the season - 5lb 8oz.
    Don't I look happy!

     
    Coloured sweetcorn looks a lot like trout eggs

    and I reckon chub must see (and eat) a lot - its a bait I have a lot of confidence in on fisheries such as this!
     
    A rainbow soon followed and after Paul bade me farewell to go exploring (still fishless) I had the 4.09 rubber lips - which sicked up a goodly mouthfall of Paul's maggots in my net!
     
    By the time we met up for mid morning coffee I'd added a small brownie and a 4lb rainbow to my tally and Paul had managed to snaffle himself a chub of around 2 ¾lb.
    Me & Rusty
     
     

     
    After coffee Paul and I went to have a look (and fish) the new bit. I wasn't particularly confident as we'd fished the same stream (although further up) a couple of years ago without success.
     
    The hut is in the middle of the beat - and upstream looked pretty featureless.

     
    And downstream wasn't much better.

     
    Still we had to give it a go so we walked upto the top and spent an hour and a half leap frogging swims - for the grand total of a brownie - each! Lunch was then taken - with Jaq's Roasted Squash, Chilli & Almond Soup getting a big thumbs up from two damp anglers.
     
    So it was back to the main estate - and this time we re-located ourselves to the bottom of the fishery. To a swim featured in APFA - the one where CY poaches a chub from BJ's swim and gets a catapult of maggots for his trouble!
     
    Alas there was no chub here - and by mid afternoon I decided I'd trek back up to the top of the fishery to 'my' chub swim as I figured it would have had a good rest from this morning.
     
    The walk is a long one, about 1½miles - shorter as the crow flies - but I'm not a crow! However it was worth the effort. I bumped into Chris on the way - and even landed a chub for him. And what he didn't tell me was that 'my' swim hadn't had quite the rest I'd thought it had - below is the pic of it from his blog!!!!
     

     
    Thankfully Chris hadn't fished with magic beans (well kernels) and the last couple of hours saw me catch 3 more chub and another rainbow - before I ran out of bait - I did have another tin - but it was in the car and that was....1½miles away!
     
     
     
     
     
     
  12. Chris Plumb

    16 February (part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    1300 - 1730
     
    Mild, overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. 10ºC. WT bouncing between 44/45ºF when I arrived rising to 46ºF when I packed up.
     
    1 Perch; 4lb 2oz! (New PB ), 1 Chub; 5lb 10oz.
     
    MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! It is a quest that started in 2005 with an eavesdropped conversation in Tony's tackle emporium when a guy at the till was describing in some detail the capture of a 4lb 11oz perch from the canal while I hung on his every word. I have never stared at wagglers so intently!! Whilst he didn't go on to descibe the swim the general area was given away - and I resolved to give the stretch some serious attention. At the time I'd been following up rumours of 4lbers from Speen and whilst I'd had a smattering of 3s and pushed my PB to 3lb8oz, I'd come to the conclusion that low 3s appeared to be the top weight I could realsitically hope for from there.
     
    So it is somewhat ironic that this season has seen me switch back a little bit to Speen and to the canal at Enborne for my perching. In the 8 years since that piece of intelligence I have had 38 perch over the 3lb mark from the Thatcham stretch (I've just looked back in my diaries counting them!) and my PB had edged up to 3lb 14oz - a mark I've achieved twice. But last winter the canal authorities saw fit to rip out ALL the swims on this stretch. Every overhanging bush, branch and tree has been cut down and grubbed out - every holding area for big stripeys gone. Consequently finding the fish this winter has been a real challenge and whilst I have few decent fish - I was still going into the last month of the season not having caught a 3lb perch for the first time in over a decade.
     
    So part 2 of yesterday's adventure was to try and make up for the fact I hadn't had a 3lb perch this season (which now I come to think of it I still haven't! ). My season's best before today being a 2lb 14oz fish from Speen back in Oct (see blog for entry 13 October). The swim I had in mind is one that Paul has 'discovered'. He's fished it a couple of times and had a 3lb 8oz perch just the day before. It's also not a million miles away from where Rusty has been catching 3lbers this winter too - so if you can't beat them.....
     
    I arrived in quite bright sunshine and the first puzzle was to find the swim - it wasn't at all apparent I was in the right spot - little evidence on the bank so a quick call to Paul to get my barings. I was also surprised that Chris wasn't in his swim - I would have bet money on him perching today - and sure enough a couple of hours or so after I arrived he showed up!
     
    I wasn't expecting much action until late afternoon - so the first couple of hours were quite lesuirely - despite arriving at 1 o'clock it was gone 2 before I put a lob out into the swim. The time was spent having some lunch, trickling some maggot into the swim - and even trotting maggot to see if there were any bait fish around (there wasn't!) Eventually I cast a worm out but really wasn't expecting much - in fact sitting on the mossy bank I was actually starting to nod off (the result of a lunchtime beer no doubt) when suddenly my float disappeared and my rod tip wrapped around as a fish headed for the tree roots. This was clearly no perch - I briefly thought it might be a tench before I saw those lips surface - a big chub - by far and away my best ever from the canal - and my biggest of the season. Most unexpected.

     
    An hour after this Rusty arrived and shortly after he was installed in his swim I had my second bite of the afternoon - this alas didn't meet with success - a pike, whose love of lobs I have oft chronicled, shot off across the canal with the line parting as I gave it some resistance.
     
    And then it happened. Bob, bob, under, strike. It's happened a hundred times before and thankfully it didn't enter my head that this was any different. It did feel like a good un and I was simply feeling pleased that I would have my 3 for the season. As I netted it I even shouted 'a big 3' in response to the enquiry from the angler fishing downstream on the opposite bank.
     
    On the bank though it was clearly bigger than any perch I'd ever seen in the flesh, deep and incredibly fat the needle on my scales initially bounced down to nearly 4½lbs before settling on just over 2oz above the 4lb mark - I'd done it!
     
    Even better I had Chris on hand to act as official photographer.

     
    There was still an hour of daylight left and with Chris quickly getting a decent stripey too we thought we might be in for something really outstanding - especially as there was fry scattering in the margins next to my swim. Alas our floats remained stationary and the surface activity quickly died down so whilst I could have fished on for another 20 minutes or so I reasoned that perch dinner time had come and gone and it was time for my dinner and a celebratory glass or three of Rioja!
     
  13. Chris Plumb

    22 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Newbury
     
    0730 - 1745
     
    Cold and overcast with a raw easterly wind - though thankfully reasonably sheltered on most swims at this venue. Max temp all day was 2ºC though judging by the times the line was freezing in the rings it was close to or below freezing for all but 2 or 3 hours around midday. WT 43ºF River clear with good flow.
     
    10 Chub; 8 over 2lb, best 3, 4lb 12oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz. 18 Perch; all small except for one clonker of 3lb 3oz!. 3 Pike; biggest 7lb 4oz. 22 Dace; 2 worthy of the scales one at 10oz and a really nice fish of 12oz. 1 Bream; 1lb 6oz, 6 Roach; 4 of which in the 6-8oz bracket, 1 bleak; 5 brownies to 3¼lb.
     
    Plan C! We had hoped to be fishing further upstream for big dace but we couldn't get the required permissions. We also considered a trip to the Itchen but in the end settled for this venue - which is becoming a bit of a go to when conditions are as sub-optimal as they were today (see also, blog entry for 19 January).
     
    The day started with a toss of a coin as both Paul and I wanted to begin fishing where the chub were all holed up last month. As it happened though they were spread throughout the fishery so whilst I won the toss and did get my biggest from the hotspot I also caught decent chubfrom 6 different swims - as did Paul who had a near idientcal return with 7 chub and the same number of 4lbers as me.
     
    As usual the day was spent wandering the fishery and dropping into pretty much every likely looking swim (at least twice!). And like last time we took a couple of hours out to hunt for preds - though this time it was me that was after a pike or two - as I'd not caught one this season. My big perch though was a bit of a fluke - caught trotting maggot when after chub - my 1st ever 3 from this venue!
     
    My best chub of the day.

     
    3lb stripey

     
    Me in the swim where I had my big perch.
     

     
    Under the dogwood in this photo (far bank) was black with chub - we just couldn't tempt them out into the open!


     
     
  14. Chris Plumb

    Chalkstream

    By Chris Plumb,

    No fishing this weekend - building up brownie points with Jaq - for the last week of the season - I even went clothes shopping with her yesterday!!! (and we're still talking).
     
    Also got lots of reading to catch up on - just finished a wonderful anthology by Charles Rangeley-Wilson which as ever I've reviewed for AN (see below too). Next up will be The Glorious Uncertainty by John Aston - just started it and I'd have to say that so far its even better than his first book (A Dream of Jewelled Fishes).
     
     
    Chalkstream
     

     
     
     
    Fishing the Perfect River by Charles Rangeley Wilson
     
    What a great idea - an angling anthology celebrating my
    favourite rivers. The only puzzle is why did it take me nearly eight years to
    discover it? I love a good fishing anthology and I’m struggling to fathom how
    this book hasn’t been on my radar until now – after all I’ve already read
    everything else Charles Rangeley-Wilson has ever published in book form. (I
    even reviewed ‘Somewhere Else’ and ‘The Accidental Angler’ 6 years ago for
    Anglersnet – see: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/book-and-media-reviews/somewhere_else_accidental_angler.html)
     
    In truth though there’s not much of Charles’s actual writing
    in this. He and his editor Tony Hayter have assembled a large selection of
    articles and arranged them by catchment and river. Thus we have chapters
    entitled Wessex, Thames, East Anglia, Eastern Wolds & France (Normandy).
    Each major river and many, many minor ones are then acclaimed through the writing of others.
    All the classic angling writers of the 2Oth century are featured:- Sheringham (repeatedly!), Skues, Hills,
    Plunkett Greene, Venables and Walker to name half a dozen. Well nearly all.
    There is a bias in the writing towards trout which probably explains why
    there’s no articles form Chris Yates – which is a shame as he has written
    eloquently of the Hampshire Avon and Kennet – though usually of barbel. Still,
    it is a somewhat puzzling oversight given that one of the Dick Walker articles
    is the Dace chapter form No Need to Lie.
     
    The book is sumptuously illustrated with colour plates, most
    taken by the compiler and often at the very spot where an accompanying story
    unfolded (often decades previously!) There are maps of every chalk stream in
    England some of which took some hunting down and many of which I’ve never heard
    of. Frustratingly though there is no mapping of the French rivers – which gives
    that chapter a sense it was a bit of an afterthought.
     
    Naturally, when I first opened the book I turned to the
    articles on my beloved River Kennet and it was with a certain piquancy that I
    found myself reading of venues and even swims that I have fished and knew
    intimately. There’s even a colour photo of a swim I know well! However the
    pleasant surprise come in the writings of some ‘lesser’ rivers – streams I’ve
    never heard of like the River Hiz & River Tas to name a couple. The Field
    and now long defunct Fishing Gazette are plundered in earnest for many of these
    articles. Back issues of both publications are often ‘staples’ for anthologies
    like this one!
     
    In all there are around 90 articles, poems, diaries and
    ‘Letters to the Editor’. One of the
    pleasures (in fact reasons) of reading a well researched anthology such as this
    is being introduced to new authors and their works. There’s a few books that I
    now want to get better acquainted with as a result of extracts appearing in
    Chalkstream. Top of my list is likely to be A Chalkstream Chronicle by Neil
    Patterson. I’ve bumped into Neil a couple of times on The Wilderness where his
    book is set.
     
    The book itself is produced to Medlar’s usual high
    production values, glossy paper and colour photos throughout – it makes a great
    present for any chalk stream angler (which is how I acquired my copy!)
     
    Medlar Press (8th Oct 2009) 2nd Edition (1st Edition was 4 years earlier!) £25.
     
    ISBN 1-899600-86-1
     
     
     
     
     
     
  15. Chris Plumb

    11 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury
     
    0715 - 1745
     
    Cold and RAW, with frequent snow flurries and a mini blizzard around lunchtime. Strong and dessicating NE wind. Temps 0ºC or below all day (line freezing to rod ALL day), wind chill must have been minus loads! Spring is here - NOT! WT a balmy 43ºF.
     
    17 (!) Chub; Almost all over 2lb - biggest 3lb 14oz, 4 Perch; 2 'gooduns' at 2lb 2oz &1lb 14oz. 23 Dace - quite a few chunky ones and 2 real corkers; a female fish of 13oz and a male fish of 14oz. 6 Roach - all small. 2 Brownies 1½lb & 2½lbs.
     
    Brrrr We must be mad - any other venue and we probably would have cried off - but this is now the third time we've been here in sub-optimal conditions and the place has fished its socks off (see 19 Jan & 22 Feb). Certainly a day for several layers of thermals, hot soup (Jaq's Honey Roast Parsnip) and plenty of coffee. The keeper even unlocked the fishing hut for us - and what a palace it is, full kitchen, lounge, loo, heaters, spare kit. Trout anglers have it cushy!
     
    Yet again I won the toss and had first dibs at the chub hotspot and whilst I did get 6 chub from it - all the others, bar 1, came from a different swim in the afternoon - one that hasn't really produced for me in the past. So Paul having lost the toss decided to get his worming gear out and target the perch. Good luck with that says I (somewhat triumphantly it has to be said!) - I think you'll struggle to get perch today. Well what do I know - in the time it took me to get my first two chub Paul had snaffled a dozen stripeys with several fish over 1½lb and a best of 2lb 4oz. I dropped into the same spot in the afternoon and had my two biggies 1st & 2nd casts!
     
    Apart from more perch I think Paul's final tally was nearly identical to mine - slightly fewer 1lb+ chub and more trout (and I think he also worried the local bleak and gudgeon populations ). So worth getting out of bed for despite the conditions and whilst the 5lb+ chub appear a bit thinner on the ground here at present it's good to see SO many coming through. Also today I was particularly pleased with my chub to trout ratio - fewest number of trout I think I've ever had here in a day - so the cold did bring some good!!!
     
    Obligatory fish plus Witcher pictures.



     
    Some Pics from Paul.
    Our nets were doing this all day - frozen solid!

    Spring?

    Dace!

    From here!

  16. Chris Plumb
    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1100 - 1400
     
    Overcast with drizzle. AT&WT both 49ºF. River still high with little colour - has dropped very little in the last month.
     
    2 Barbel; 2¼lb & 3½lb. 2 Grayling; both 8-10oz. 14 Dace a few chunky ones but nothing particularly big. 1 Roach ½doz Gudgeon.
     
    Trotting session for what ever comes along - but hoping a barbel or a chub or two would put in an appearance - so jolly happy with a brace. Could have been so much better - as I had a much bigger one beaten on the surface (circa 7lbs) and was guiding it to the net when the hook pulled - the perils of using a size 18 I guess but bit of a bugger when I'd done all the hard work!......sigh!
     
    Barbel and Witcher is always a pleasing sight!
  17. Chris Plumb
    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    0600 - 1030
     
    Mild, overcast with continuous drizzle. AT has averaged over 9ºC for the last 48 hours and the WT is catching up (48ºF) which is 9ºC in new money!
     
    2 Perch; 3lb 15oz (and a bit - if it had swallowed the lob and not spat it out it might have tipped 4!), 2lb 2oz. 1 Pike 2¼lb.
     
    1st part of a 'Reverse Rusty' session (Dawn on the canal - midday on the river). And conditions absolutely screamed perch so it was back to the scene of my triumph last month (see 16 Feb part 2). Could lighntening strike twice - well it ruddy well nearly did! I arrived in almost total darkness - such was my keen-ness and huddled under the brolly waiting for it to be light enough to see a float - there was suddenly some commotion at my feet - fry scattering and a large swirl. So I quickly lowered in a lob and it was snaffled immediately - a 2lber before it was even light enough to cast out to me chosen spot - a good omen.
     

     
    Pic - with obligatory welly.
     
    Next bob of the float produced a pike - landed somewhat flukely - it bite through the line in the net. However I then had to wait nearly an hour for my next bite - but it was worth the wait. Just like my 4 from 3 weeks ago I didn't appreciate its weight until I had it on the bank - this one was stuffed with spawn and as fat as a football - and no matter how long I looked at the dial on my scales it just wouldn't get to 4lb. Touching the mark but just the wrong side of it - !
     

     
    And that was it - All the action in the first hour and a half. I moved swims a couple of times but by mid-morning everything was quiet - so it was off to the river to see if the rising temps might have got the barbel on the feed....
    (See 7 March part 2!)
     
  18. Chris Plumb
    River Itchen - Twyford Meads 0800 - 1100
    Itchen Navigation - Winchester 1130 - 1430
    River Lambourn - Shaw - 1530 - 1700
     
    WET. Rain, continuous, unrelenting rain. Mild - 10ºC and no wind (so that's alright then).Did I mention the rain?
     
    Twyford Meads - 9 Grayling, best 2; 1lb 5oz & 1lb 3oz the rest all small.16 Salmon Parr, 1 Brown Trout.
    Itchen Navigation - Blanked.
    Lambourn - 4 Grayling 1 small the other 3 12-14oz. 1 Brown Trout, 1¼lb
     
    Late passes granted to both Paul and I from TWMBO - but Paul's impending Grand parenthood had meant we hadn't booked in anywhere. Even 24 hours out the trip was in some doubt. In the end Paul got the all clear so we went off to explore some new water. A couple of locations we'd heard about and even done a bit of recce-ing in the past - but never fished. And Paul had an alterior motive - he needed a salmon parr for the species race he has entered this year!
     
    So 1st up was Twyford Meads - a lovely looking bit of river - though we were a bit unsure of the fishing boundaries (still are in fact). That didn't stop us and before you could say 'Here's the bailiff' Paul was landing a pound and a quarter grayling. A great start - though he wouldn't get another!!!! I was quickly into some small ladies and kept losing goodish fish before managing the 2, pounders in quick succession. Paul and I leapfrogged swims back down to the road - but pretty much the only fish that would bite were salmon parr - they were everywhere - bit like minnows in the summer - so Paul got that box ticked!
     
    3 hours and we'd fished the length of it so it was back to the car for a coffee and some respite form the rain - before moving up to Winchester to another free stretch we'd heard about. Arriving and looking at the river didn't exactly fill us with anticipation - it is a canalised stretch of water and pretty featureless. We walked the length of it hardly dropping a float in - and it probably would have stayed that way if we didn't see some encouragement in the margins - this took the form of a dead roach - freshly dead it was a LARGE dead roach - not quite a 2 but certainly north of 1lb. The top part of the section has at least got a bit of flow and it was here we concentrated our efforts - I fished down the stretch without a bite but Paul managed a very decent lady of 1lb 11oz and lost a much bigger one.
     
    So back at the car for a late lunch, another drying out session and a debate about what to do next. Avoiding the rush hour seemed a good idea - so we headed back to Newbury to finish off with some 'easy' grayling - and maybe just maybe the rain will have passed through by then. Wrong on both counts - I only found fish in one swim and Paul didn't find fish in any and if anything the rain got even heavier!
     
    Twyford Meads


  19. Chris Plumb

    24 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome, Wool
     
    0830 - 1500
     
    Cold and overcast - max 2ºC with a raw northerly wind. River high with a little colour (more than the Kennet!) but within its banks (at last!). EA Gauge at East Stoke 1.14m
     
    7 Grayling - best 3; 2lb 9oz, 2lb 2oz & 2lb0oz, 1 Sea trout; 1¼lb.
     
    First Frome trip of the season and given the season on this bit of river closes on 28th Feb, my last! All winter it looked highly improbable that I'd get to fish it at all - but thankfully this latest cold snap has at least been dry and the river has dropped over a foot in the last fortnight - making it fishable at last.
     
    Conditions weren't exactly easy though and for a couple of hours it looked like a wasted journey as I couldn't buy a bite. The third swim I dropped in looked a nice pool - which last year in lower conditions I didn't even look at. After 15mins I bumped a fish here - progress, and shortly after had one of a pound and a half. I'd found some fish and it was time to put a little plan into action!
     
    Yesterday when I went to pick up my bait, Tony was showing me some artificial rubber wasp grubs. We both agreed they looked and felt like the the real thing. Tony went on to say they were coming on the market in the spring - but in a fit of generosity for which he is famous - he gave me one! I think the chub will go crazy for them and can't wait to give them a go in earnest next winter. But would the grayling like them?
     
    Only one way to find out - I snicked it onto my size 16 and blow me if first trot through the swim the float buried in the same place I had the first one and a 2lber was brought to the net. 20 mins later and I repeated the trick with another 2! Another 20 mins or so later and yet another 2 - this time the biggest of the morning fell to the same tactics! Think we might be onto a winner with this!!!
     
    I only found fish in one other swim - and that just one - on conventional red maggot - but returning to this pool for one final time with my trusty rubber grub produced a bright silver and very acrobatic sea trout.
     
    So quite hard going overall - but can't complain with my biggest grayling of the season AND a succesful experiment.
     
    Best of the day!

     
    Today's hotspot.

     
    Bait du Jour - Look out for them in the shops soon!

     
  20. Chris Plumb
    Plumby’s Annual Season Round-up!
    Bit of a strange season – summer was somewhat slow – saved by a three trips to Marsh Farm on the still water front and eventually finding some Barbel at a haunt of old, late summer, after some very poor river trips. Hard to remember now that the autumn was actually pretty dry – in fact on my only 2 trips to the Dorset Frome the river was actually fairly threadbare and in need of some water. Of course we then got biblical proportions of rain and the last 3 months of the season have been somewhat challenging. However the chub have been ever obliging and like last year I had over 100, 1lb+ fish. In fact I had even more than last year with a ton up since October. A new swim rewarded patience and application (just ask Rusty!) – and fished well throughout the flooding once the colour had dropped out and looks like it might be worth paying a visit to in the summer…
     
    Best Carp, 12lb 14oz. 16 June, NAA Stillwater, Thatcham. Float Fished Prawn.
    Caught on light tackle meant for crucians – took an age to land!

     
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1070-1617-june/
    Best Barbel, 11lb 2oz. 23 September, River Kennet, Nr Thatcham. Ledgered Halibut pellet.
    A really slow summer on the barbel front – loss of fishing rights at Padworth Park didn’t help plus my nailed on banker barbel venue produced not one fish to float or lead for the 1st time since I joined Newbury AA in 1982. Thankfully I eventually found a few fish further downstream – and this biggie (my 3rd best) came at what was going to be the start of a concerted effort to get a double – achieved first cast!

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1128-23-september/
    Best Pike, 10lb 11oz. 24 January, Middle Kennet Estate. Float Fished Lobworm
    Most of my pike these days are a ‘bye-catch’ when after perch – this one was no exception!

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1164-24-january/
    Best Tench, 6lb 2oz. 21 June, Harris Lake – Marsh Farm, Nr Godalming. Float Fished Maggot (lift method).
    1st of 3 great trips to Marsh Farm last summer.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1079-2021-june/
    Best Chub, 5lb 14oz. 22 February, River Kennet, Nr Thatcham. Trotted maggot.
    New swim which fished well during the floods and pretty much saved my winter. Never hugely productive but threw up a number of good fish – this was the biggest of a dozen chub.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1171-22-february/
    Best Perch, 4lb 5oz (new PB). 28 October, River Kennet, Thatcham. Float Fished Lobworm.
    Wait years for a 4lb perch and get 2 in a season – this one was a pure fluke!

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1140-28-october/
    Whereas this one, just 3oz lighter, turned up in the ‘new’ chub swim!

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1175-2-march/
    Best Crucian, 3lb 1oz. 21 June, Harris Lake – Marsh Farm, Nr Godalming. Float Fished Maggot (lift method).
    In terms of numbers my best season on the crucian front for 6 years.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1079-2021-june/
    Best Grayling, 2lb 13oz. 10 November, River Frome, Wool. Trotted Maggot.
    Yet again my annual quest for a 3lber was pretty much wiped out by the weather. Managed 2 trips to Dorset before the rains came… This was caught on the first of those and is my 3rd= best lady.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1144-10-november/
    Best Roach, 1lb 6oz. 20 June, Harris Lake – Marsh Farm, Nr Godalming. Float Fished Maggot (lift method).
    Marsh Farm has a very pleasant habit of throwing up the odd decent roach so wasn’t unduly surprised by this.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1079-2021-june/
  21. Chris Plumb
    End of Season Round-up.
    So endeth another season – quantity not quality rather sums it up. Best ever season for fish over lb, yet few ‘stand-out’ captures and no PBs. Summer and autumn was a real grueller on the barbel front and I had my worst return (5 fish) since the 78/79 season despite putting in quite a few rod hours. The news that there’s been a modest barbel stocking into one of my club’s section of the Kennet was thus very welcome. Summer was punctuated with monthly trips over to Godalming for tench and crucians though the need for this may diminish in future seasons with the development of a crucian only water by one of my clubs. The winter was mainly benign and for the 3rd year running I had over 100, lb+ chub.
     
    Best Carp, 9lb 7oz. 15 August. NAA Still water, Widmead. Method feeder, Snailz Boilie (no picture).
    I do very little deliberate carp fishing – and usually try and avoid them in the summer in favour of other species. The ploy worked rather too well this season – my first for 5 years without a double.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1221-1516-august/
     
    Best Barbel, 8lb 14oz. 1 October. River Kennet, Nr Thatcham. Ledgered 14mm Halibuts.

    At last! Biggest of 3 that evening (60% of my season’s total) from a swim I last fished in 2010.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1237-1-october/
     
    Best Pike, 6lb 13oz. 26 January. River Kennet, Nr Newbury (no picture).
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1275-26-january/
     
    Best Tench, 5lb 14oz. 4 August. Johnson’s Lake, Godalming. Ledgered Cockle.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1215-45-august/
     
    Best Chub, 5lb 11oz. 12 March. K&A Canal(flowing), Thatcham. Trotted Maggot.

    Probably my most ‘satisfying’ fish of the entire season. New swim on a rarely fished venue and just after I’d scaled down to a size 18 (I was expecting to catch dace!)
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1285-12-march/
     
    Best Perch, 3lb 10oz. 1 November. River Kennet, Thatcham. Trotted Maggot.

    In 13/14 season this swim produced a string of good chub and perch (chub to nearly 6lb and perch over 4lb). Last November when I caught this fantastic stripey it looked like producing the goods again. Alas, this was the last decent fish I had from it (apart from a rather bizarre 1lb 10oz grayling) until a 4lb 14oz chub in the last week of the season.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1245-1-november/
     
    Best Crucian, 2lb 15oz. 28 July. Harris Lake, Godalming. Float fished chopped prawn.

     
    Last summer Paul and I decided we’d target Johnson’s a bit more for a really big crucian and whilst it paid off for Paul with a number of 3lbers my best from there was ‘only’ 2lb 13oz – bettered by 2oz with this Harris fish.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1213-2728-july/
     
    Best Grayling, 2lb 6oz. 10 October. Southern Chalkstream . Trotted red maggot.

    Whilst the Dorset Frome was fishable most of the winter – for the first time in 3 seasons, it didn’t produce any really impressive lady’s (to me at least – the beat did do a couple of 3lbers). I did have a smattering of low 2lbers from the Frome but my best of the season was this fish – from a venue that has to remain anonymous!http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1240-10-october/
     
    Best Roach, 1lb 2oz. 11 March. River Kennet, Nr Newbury. Trotted maggot.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1284-11-march/
     
    Best Rudd, 1lb 1oz. 4 August. Johnson’s Lake, Godalming. Ledgered Cockle. (Biggest Rudd in 18 years and I don’t take its portrait – doh!)
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1215-45-august/
     
    Best Dace, 14oz. 18 January. Kennet Carrier, Nr Kintbury. Trotted maggot.

    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1273-18-january/
  22. Chris Plumb
    Best Carp; 17lb 14oz, 11/07/15. Free-lined bread. NAA Still water, Thatcham.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1311-1011-july/

     
    Best Barbel; 11lb 7oz, 30/07/15. Ledgered halibut pellet. River Kennet, Nr Thatcham.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1321-30-july-part-2/

     
    Best Tench; 7lb 6oz, 19/6/15. Float fished prawn section. Johnsons Lake, Milford.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1303-1819-june/

     
    Best Brown Trout; 6lb 2oz, 11/3/16. Float fished roach deadbait, K&A Canal, Thatcham.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1385-11-march/

     
    Best Chub; 5lb 13oz, 1/8/15. Trotted maggot, River Kennet, Newbury.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1322-1-august/

     
    Best Pike; 4lb 3oz, 10/12/15. Float fished lob worm. K&A Canal, Thatcham.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1357-10-december/
    (No Pic!)
     
    Best Perch; 3lb 12oz, 29/1/16. Float fished lob worm. K&A Canal, Thatcham.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1374-29-january/

     
    Best Crucian; 3lb 1oz, 19/6/15. Float fished meat. Johnsons Lake, Milford.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1303-1819-june/

     
    Best Grayling; 2lb 5oz, 13/2/16. Trotted red corn. Lower Itchen Fishery.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1377-13-february/

     
    Best Eel; 2lb 1oz (new PB), 12/6/15. Ledgered prawn, Mill Farm.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1299-12-june/

     
    Best Roach; 1lb 2oz, 24/10/15. Float fished maggot, K&A Canal, Avington.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1344-24-october/

     
    Best Dace; 13oz , 31/12/15. Trotted maggot, Kennet Carrier, Kintbury.
    http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1366-31-december/

     
  23. Chris Plumb
    My PB List.
    Haven’t done one of these for a while and it seems an appropriate way to ‘celebrate’ my 400th blog post. And I’ve even dug out and scanned a few old photos (rather crappy ones I have to admit!) which are appearing on the WWW for the 1st time.
     
    Best Carp – 27lb 6oz. 15 August 2008. Blue Pool – Burghfield. Method feeder – hair-rigged hemp bogey.

    I usually spend all summer trying to avoid carp as I pursue tench and crucians but this was caught on an IAC fish-in – a 24hr booking around half a dozen of us had on this CEMEX water. I was getting plagued by carp knocking the feeder but not taking the hook offering (pellet or boilies) so I figured I’d give them something EXACTLY the same as was in the feed and made up a ball of hemp with Kryston bogey and hair-rigged that instead. Above was the result!
    Blog Entry: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-263-1415-august/
     
    Best Pike – 18lb 10oz. 10 February 2001. River Lambourn – Newbury. Free-lined Lamprey section.

    An opportunistic capture – and one of the few pike I’ve ever ‘stalked’. I saw the fish laid up in a small weir-pool and was able to lower a bait within a couple of feet of its nose. As soon as the bait hit the bottom I could see the pike’s gills ’flare’ but it still took nearly 20mins to edge up to the offering before engulfing it – exciting stuff!
     
    Best Barbel – 12lb 4oz. 27 July 2004. River Kennet, Arrowhead – Thatcham. Ledgered Halibut pellet.

    A bit of ‘prospecting’ which paid off at the time – but despite repeat visits a swim that never produced another fish despite also getting an 8lber and a river carp of similar size the same evening. Still the only 3 fish I’ve ever had from the swim.
     
    Best Bream – 12lb 2oz. 2 July 2011. Summer Pit – Yateley. Float fished (lift method) maggot.

    Really a venue I used to visit for its tench and crucians – but I was actually after bream when I caught this and had a number of 8lb+ fish that summer from the same venue.
    Blog entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-704-12-july/
     
    Best Brown Trout – 8lb 12oz. 14 March 2008. Middle Kennet Estate – Newbury. Trotted Maggot. (No photo)
    I rarely weigh trout let alone photograph one – especially when like this they are caught right in front of the keeper’s cottage. I Usually spend the winter trying to avoid them and hoping they get off when I hook one – though was rather pleased to land this on light-ish tackle in fast water.
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-222-14-march/
     
    Best Tench – 7lb 10oz. 18 June 2003. Wylies Lake – Thatcham. Float fished (lift method) black pudding.

    Black pudding (it needs slicing and frying up first to give it a skin) is one of my favourite tench baits – and one that was first suggested to me by reading the very first printed book on angling. Published in 1496, The Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle (also from which the woodcut of an angler float fishing is my Anglersnet Avatar) is attributed to one Dame Juliana Berners – though there is scant evidence such a person ever existed. In it a recommended bait for tench, is described as a paste made from black sheep’s blood, honey and flour – which must have looked like (and smelt like) black pudding.
     
    Best Chub – 6lb 7oz. 19 February 2012. Middle Kennet Estate – Nr Kintbury. Trotted Red Sweetcorn.

    Patience rewarded. A swim I had a hunch held big chub but which I think I’ve rushed at too much in the past – often getting a few schooly ones before killing the sport. This fish was the last one of half a dozen caught in a morning where I rested and fed the swim after each capture. Just in time too – this winter’s floods have changed this swim significantly – washing away the bush that used to create the slack that held the chub – I didn’t get a bite here from 2 visits this (12/13) winter…ho hum.
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-848-19-february/
     
    Best Salmon – 5lb 10oz. 13 October 2008. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo)
    Again a species I’d rather not be catching when I’m fishing for grayling – was still nice to get my first ‘proper’ one though!
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-281-13-october/
     
    Best Rainbow Trout – 4lb 10oz. 5 March 2004. Barton Court – Kintbury. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo)
    A species I rather wished wasn’t in the Kennet at all!
     
    Best Perch – 4lb 2oz. 16 February 2013. Kennet & Avon Canal – Thatcham. Float fished lobworm.

    Don’t think I need to say any more about this!
    Blog entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1017-16-february-part-2/
     
    Best Crucian – 3lb 13oz. 26 June 2011. Newbury AA Lake – Widmead. Float fished (lift method) bacon grill.

    One of my favourite summer species.
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-699-26-june/
     
    Best Grayling – 2lb 15oz. 6 January 2002. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted maggot.

    One of my first winters at LIF – and looking through my diary I’d forgotten just how awesome the grayling fishing was back then. In just 2 trips in 01/02 I had 27 grayling over 2lb of which 9 were over 2½lb. This 2.15 was the biggest – over a decade later and I’m still hunting a 3!
     
    Best Roach – 2lb 11oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot.

    A red letter day to end all red letter days. 7 Feb 2003 is now hard-wired into my consciousness. I had a 1-15 roach pretty much 1st cast and this beauty last cast. In between these 2 redfins I had….
    Best Dace – 1lb 2oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot.

    …3 dace over 1lb including this fat pigeon chested female (plus 5 more between 13-15oz). Martin Bowler catches a 1-02 dace from the same swim in Catching the Impossible (filmed sometime after my capture I have to add!)
     
    And finally some odds ’n sods…
    Brown Goldfish - 1lb 14oz: 21/06/05, Float fished Bread, Pumphouse Lake, Yateley.
    Sea Trout - 1lb 12oz: 06/01/02, Trotted Maggot, Lower Itchen Fishery.
    Eel - 1lb 6oz: 11/10/03, Trotted Maggot, River Test, Timsbury
    Rudd - 1lb 6oz: 27/07/91, Float fished Maggot, NAA Lake, Widmead.
  24. Chris Plumb
    or Fate and the Fisherman. By John Aston.
     
    One of the best angling books to come out of 2012.
     

     
    "Message for Chris Plumb ...
    A Dream of Jewelled Fishes (recommended to me by C Yates) is not a little gem, but one of the finest angling books to have been written in modern times. A very BIG gem … Christ, wish I was on commission - have sold at least 30 of these in the past month. A wonderful book. Love his politics AND his views on 'modern carp fishing/carp anglers' ....
    James"
     
    It is fair to say that John’s first book - A Dream of Jewelled Fishes – received wide critical acclaim. I was given a pre-publication copy (John is a friend of a friend, though we have never met) to review for Anglers' Net (CLICK HERE to read the review). I loved it, and said so – yet still received the above email gently chiding me for not going totally overboard about it. Maybe it was my feeble attempt at a pun that wasn’t appreciated!
     
    So, when the publication of John’s second volume was announced last year (2012), it went straight to the top of my Christmas wish list. However, I didn’t make this totally clear to Jaq, my wife, and she 'held it back' for my birthday 3-weeks or so later, in January! Hence, I’ve not long finished it.
     
    For starters, I defy any angler to pick up The Glorious Uncertainty, read the foreword and then put the book down! Just read the first 5-and-a-bit pages and you know you are going to be in for a treat – as, indeed, you are.
     
    I said in my review of A Dream that I felt I shared John’s philosophy and views on angling. It seems we even share the same tastes in music. Any author that prefaces a chapter with Neil Young lyrics is OK in my book! There's more than a liberal sprinkling of John’s views in this work, too, and he’s not afraid to shoot from the hip, particularly if it’s to prick snobbishness, pomposity and elitism.
    Because of this observation, I suppose I could be accused of conferring on John the stereotype of a straight-talking Yorkshire-man, though, having myself spent three summers in the early 80’s having a working ‘holiday’ on a sheep farm in upper Wharfedale, I can confirm that I have witnessed the trait up close! And whilst he may be forthright in his views, they are usually keenly observed, eloquently made and well written down.
     
    There’s more, too. I’m sure many an angler has tried to explain to a non-angler why they do it, what they get out of it, and found they struggle for the words to adequately convey their passion to said individual. John’s prose does a fine job in doing just that.
     
    As you’d expect, most of the stories are based in the Yorkshire, especially Ryedale, so there’s a fair bit of fly-fishing, but in truth John is an all rounder, equally at home targeting a spate barbel on the Swale or a winter chub as he is casting a size 16 Klinkhamer. And, just as in A Dream, we also get a fair bit of autobiography, though he manages to avoid going over any old ground.
     
    A reader’s review on Amazon calls John the John Gierach of North Yorkshire – it is a fitting analogy and one I originally made myself when his first book came out! And, when Andrew Herd reviewed The Glorious Uncertainty in Waterlog (#81), he finished off by saying it should be an ‘almost compulsory purchase’. Again, a sentiment with which I heartily concur – though what’s with the ‘almost’?!
     
    As ever, published by those wonderful people at Medlar Press. £18.
     
    ISBN 978-1-907110-34-4
    CLICK HERE to view this book on Amazon UK
     
     
  25. Chris Plumb
    I well remember as a youngster hunting for tiddlers in my local (then) River Witham. Sticklebacks were brought home in triumph and saw out the summer in a tin bath by the back door - this book brought back those childhood memories....
     
    The Little Book of Little Fishes
    An Anglers Guide to Britain’s Smallest Fishes by Mark Everard
     
    If, like me, your formative fishing years were spent catching sticklebacks (usually with the same worm) or splashing through the gravels turning over stones in a quest for bullheads and stoneloach, then you probably have a bit of a soft spot for Britain’s mini-species. Even so they are not fish that are often heralded in print. Until now! The Little Book of Little Fishes is a delightful volume, a celebration of all things small. And reading it may well instantly transport you back to your childhood.
     
    Mark Everard is an aquatic biologist and as a writer is probably best known for his work on roach, though among his other books are volumes on barbel and dace (a species deemed too big for this book). This scientific knowledge come across well in the Little Book of Little Fishes – there is a thorough overview of the ecology of each species supplemented with an anthology for each. Mark has scoured the breadth of angling literature in a search for tidbits on tiddlers.
     
    A lot of the information unearthed I found quite fascinating. For example – the number of these fish that have attributed in the past as being good to eat. I expect a lot of today’s anglers will have heard of the Victorians love of gudgeon - to that Mark has found references to minnows, bleak and ruffe making good eating. And lampreys, whose reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac is even celebrated in verse in an eighteenth century poem.
     
    As a six and seven year old, I briefly lived in Grantham and well remember catching both kinds of British loach from the River Witham. What I hadn’t realised until I read Mark’s book was how rare is the Spined Loach – restricted as it is to just 5 river catchments in the East of England. And, staying in Lincolnshire – we also discover an economic use for sticklebacks – as a manure for the fields! The mind boggles at the numbers of this little fish there must have been to make this a viable proposition, though we are told they were often collected by the cart load!
     
    The book is produced to Medlar’s usual high production values. Hard-backed with glossy paper, and with colour prints throughout accompanying Mark’ excellent writing. It makes an ideal gift for anglers of all ages.
     
    ISBN 1-889-600-79-3
     
    Medlar Press 25 July 2008
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