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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    26 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Speen Moors
     
    0730 - 1645
     
    Mild, overcast and quite breezy. River low.
     
    4 Chub; a 2lber and 3 chublets. 9 Perch; 4 over 1lb, best 1lb 15oz. 20 Roach & Dace. 30+ gudgeon and a brownie of around ¾lb.
     
    First time in years that Paul and I have spent a whole day at Speen and it meant we had time for a good wander - though the best of the action was had in the first couple of hours which accounted for all my decent perch (and the 2lb chub) and a fine brace of stripeys for Paul - a 2lb fish was followed next cast with one of 3lb 5oz - his biggest from Speen in AGES! (edit - his biggest EVER from the venue - and the 1st 3 I've seen since I had a 3.06 in Oct 09 http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-377-3-october/ )We both wanted to find some decent chub - though the only one I saw was a simply hugmungous chevin laying up tight to the bank as I made my way back to the car at dusk - will definitely have to have a go at it next time!
     
    Pics courtesy of Paul as per usual!
     
    Jungle fishing...

     
    Paul decided on a rest and some quiver tipping for roach (he had quite a few up to 10oz)


    Paul's 3lber - as fat as a football!

  2. Chris Plumb

    9 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate
     
    0730 - 1645
     
    Bright and sunny - a lovely, benign autumn day - glad we didn't go yesterday! River still low and clear despite yesterday's monsoon!
     
    12 Chub; Most around the 2½lb stamp - biggest 3lb 11oz. 60 Roach & Dace (2/3 roach,1/3 Dace). 8 Perch; a 1lb fish and 7 smalluns. A gudgeon, 2 Brownies to 3lb and a 3lb+ Rainbow.
     
    First 'estate' trip of the winter and it didn't disappoint - there were fish everywhere - though we failed to connect with some of the venue's bigger specimens. (I blame the bright sun and low water for that!). Paul and I put quite a bit of effort into snaffling a big stripey - but without success (Paul also had a pounder) despite there being a LOT of predator activity for the first hour or so. My other aim for the day was to get amongst the chub so that box got ticked - and Paul wanted to snaffle a pike or 2 - and he managed a jack of around 4lb. All in all a cracking day.
    Misty Morn

    Autumn Gold

     
  3. Chris Plumb

    14 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0830 - 1630
     
    Bright and sunny after biblical amounts of rain in the 1st hour (and the preceding hours of darkness). River though was clear and still quite low!
     
    8 Chub; All over 2lb with half over 3lb. Best 4lb 4oz. 4 Dace; All gooduns - biggest a shade over 12oz! A doz+ brownies to 3½lb and a rainbow.
     
    A day that was booked off work with the intention of heading down to Dorset in search of a monster grayling. A plan that was abandoned mid-week after the Frome rose 51cm in under 48hrs! So Plan B was quickly tee'd up and Paul obtained the required permissions to fish this stretch of the Kennet (with certain restrictions as to where we could go). The forecast was for a wet start followed by bright sunshine - which is exactly what we got - and we arrived in monsoon like conditions - so waited in the car for half an hour on arrival waiting for it to stop.
     
    With the rain easing we were soon trekking across the fields to our chosen swims only for the heavens to open again - and we fished the first hour in lashing rain. I daren't even get my maggots out in such conditions - so trotted red corn for the 1st hour - which brought the first of the chub. Eventually the rain desisted and within 20mins I had warm sunshine on my back!
     
    The morning was spent wandering from swim to swim - and the highlight was a first trot through a small pool where we have found big dace in the past - and sure enough it produced again - my 12oz fish imitating a small trout - until Paul exclaimed that I had a big dace!
     
    After lunch we decided to move down to the bottom of the fishery - and I was surprised to see the famous weedrack - is no more - though it has been replaced by a smart new bridge.
     
    All in all a good day - all my chub fell to trotted red corn. Paul managed a bigger variety - getting some roach and even 4 grayling to over 1lb in his tally for the day - though he was somewhat frustrated at losing a big chub at dusk.
     
    A Kennet Chub

     
    No Weedrack!

     
    More pics to follow (including , hopefully my big dace!)
     
    And here they are:

     
    View upstream from the 'old' weedrack.

     
    Where Paul lost his chub.

     
    Sunset over West Berkshire.

  4. Chris Plumb

    22 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome - Wool
     
    0800 - 1630
     
    Very mild (14ºC), overcast and quite breezy with the very occasional drizzly flurry. NOT at all what was forecast - which was pretty much rain all day! River quite pacey (0.97m at East Stoke river gauge) and carrying a bit more colour than I'd have liked.
     
    14 Grayling; 8 over 1lb (6over 1½lb). Best 3; 1lb14oz, 2lb0oz, 2lb1oz. 2 Dace; best 10oz. 1 Roach; 9oz. 9 Brownies to 2¼lb. 3 Salmon parr.
     
    A trip that we nearly aborted at the last minute due to an increasingly dismal forecast but because little rain had fallen in the run up to the trip we decided to chance it. As it turned out the river was in a slightly worse state than we expected while the weather was way better - in fact we got the weather that had been forecast on the Wednesday when I bought Paul's guest ticket!
     
    As ever though the Frome makes you work hard for your fish - and Paul and I caught slowly and steadily throughout the day. I had way too many trout - many of them doing a good impression of a big grayling in the fast current - so I was repeatedly disappointed to see a spotty flank when I got a fish on the surface. I'd heard of some nice dace showing - and they were very much a secondary target after the grayling.
     
    A first for me was one of my grayling (a fish of 1-10) sicking up a half digested bullhead in the net! First time I've ever seen evidence that they predate on smaller fish (and this bullhead wasn't a whole lot smaller than its mouth)!
     
    Apart from the brownies I think Paul had a near identical return - a dozen grayling to 2lb 1oz (not the same fish as mine!) and a brace of 10oz dace.
     
    As ever grayling will simply refuse to pose for a photo - my 2-01 in mid flick!

    My other 2 behaved itself just long enough for Paul to get a shot off!

    Cut off Oxbow. Last year this was bank - from the grasses in the bottom left corner - out to the island - last winter's floods have created a short cut!

    Compare with this picture taken last December - where I'm standing is now the middle of the river!
     

  5. Chris Plumb

    29 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    0715 - 1045
     
    Mild (9/10ºC) with broken cloud - to bright sunshine at end. A lovely benign autumnal morning. Canal very clear (no boat traffic for a month due to maintenance work upstream) WT a 'balmy' 50ºF.
     
    6 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb10oz & 3 tiddlers.
     
    A session that got off to a very slow start with only 2 tiny perch to show for the first hour. A move 100m or so upstream brought instant rewards - and the remaining 4 fish were all caught in the next hour - no bites at all after 0915 - with light levels increasing.
     

     
    Paul was fishing the river not far downstream of me (had a solitary chub of 2½lb).

    But did take a nice sunrise photo...

     
     
  6. Chris Plumb

    7 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Newbury
     
    0815 - 1600
     
    Cool, bright and breezy, with showers for first couple of hours. River quite low.
     
    10 Chub; All over 2½lb, with the majority in the 3lb+ class. Best 2, 4lb 1oz & 4lb 4oz. 7 Roach, 2 Dace. Around 10 brownies to 3lb & half a dozen rainbows to 4lb.
     
    A fine days chubbing in the company of Paul & Chris (Rusty). Rusty was travelling up from Devon and we didn't expect to see him til mid morning so of course I got a call when we were 10 mins away from the venue to say he'd already arrived!!
    His keen-ness was well warranted - and the day turned into something of an unofficial chub match between him and me which I just shaded 10-9. Rusty however will no doubt invoke a 'Perch count double ruling' to claim the spoils - as he definitely had bragging rights with a large stripey in the morning.
    Paul also had a good haul of chub and found more silver fish in a rarely fished carrier - which the keeper said had thrown up big perch the previous week though they didn't appear to be in residence today!
    All in all a great days angling.
    A couple of my biggest chub..


    No chub here! A real Mr Crabtree swim - but one of the few NOT to throw up a chub!

    The rarely fished carrier.

     
  7. Chris Plumb

    13 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0915 - 1215
     
    Bright, crisp and cold. -2º->3ºC. A lovely winter's morning. River low and clear (as always!)
     
    20 Grayling; 3 over 1lb - best 2; 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz. 2 Dace. 4 trout parr.
     
    A great way to kill time while my car was having its MOT! Had arranged to meet up with Paul (who provided a lift back to the garage) and we leap frogged our way down the fishery - for near identical returns. Think Paul ended up with 21 grayling to 1lb 10oz (6 over 1lb) had a solitary dace and a bonus roach of 13oz.
     

     
    A couple of arty pics from Paul - plus a roach which looks like it's been crossed with a fantail goldfish!!!

     

     

     
     
  8. Chris Plumb

    30 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome - Wool
     
    0830 - 1600
     
    Cold, and very bright with everything white in a very heavy hoar frost - very picturesque. -3ºC -> +3ºC - though in negative territory for most of the day (certainly all morning) by the way the line was freezing in the ferrules. River looked in good nick - down a few inches on our last trip in Nov (85cm by the East Stoke gauge)
     
    11 grayling: 4 over 1lb - 2lb 0oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 3oz.
     
    Bit of a grueller of a session. Bites at a real premium - especially in the morning - though I did get my 2 early doors. 7 fish in the last hour and a half resulted in a slightly more respectable final total. Paid to rest swims and revisit - which resulted in a LOT of walking - good a way as any to stay warm - though in the sun we were really quite toasty for most of the day. We did blame the bright conditions for the lack of action - but then learnt it had been heavily fished the day before - so we're blaming that!Paul struggled too and I think ended up with half a dozen - with nothing over 1¼lb gracing his net.
     
    Frosty Frome.


    Hoar Frost

    2lb lady!

  9. Chris Plumb

    11 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0800 - 1345
     
    Cool , bright and sunny with a stiff breeze - clouding over for the last hour or so. River in good winter nick - quite pacey with a bit of colour.
     
    7 Chub: 6 over 2lb though only 1 over 3 and that not by much. 7 Roach, 2 Gudgeon and 2 spotties.
     
    Bin a few years since I had that many chub in one visit from this venue. Unusually for me spent the first 4 hours in one swim - which produced all the chub - every time I thought about moving I hooked another fish. In truth I was hoping for something a little bigger - but they gave a great account of themselves in a pacey swim. In fact moving produced not a lot else so I probably should have stayed there the whole day!
     
    Chub Slack.

     
  10. Chris Plumb

    18 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0830 - 1645
     
    Cool (1º - 4ºC), overcast with sunny spells in the afternoon. River quite 'full' and carrying more colour than is usual for here - quite 'milky' in appearance - possibly the result of springs 'breaking' on the downs.
     
    11 Chub; Biggest 5lb 7oz with only 3 under 3lb. 32 Dace; Biggest two 14oz & 12oz with around another dozen in excess of 8oz - I weighed another 4 at 9, 10, 10 & 11oz - but quite a few of similar size went un-weighed! 2 Grayling, a doz brownies to 3lb.
     
    Birthday outing! And the plan was to go all out for Chub and Dace - so both those boxes got well and truly ticked. Dusted out my 'short' float rod which hasn't seen the light of day since the 80's to fish the small streams and carriers for the dace. And fished some of my favoured swims on the main river for the chub. All chub caught on trotted corn except the smallest of the day - a 1½lb fish which turned up in one of my dace swims 10 minutes after slipping the 14oz fish back - never been so disappointed to see a chub in the bottom of my net! Paul had a similar return in terms of numbers - though I think his best chub was a 3lber and best dace around 11oz.
     
    Safely in the Net!

     
    Big Gob!

     
    5½lb Chub

     
    Typical Dace swim.

     
     
    Nice Dace

     
  11. Chris Plumb

    26 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1300 - 1530
     
    Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham
     
    1600 - 1800
     
    Becoming bright, cool and breezy after a mild rainy morning. AT dropped from 11->6ºC. WT 10ºC (50ºF). River and canal 'full' with little colour.
     
    River; 1 Chub 2lb 10oz, 2 Perch; small, 8 Roach, 7 Dace. 1 Grayling and around 10 Gudgeon.
    Canal: 1 Perch 3lb 4oz. 1 Chub 3lb 13oz.
     
    Day off to use up some hols (use it or lose it!) and as I had to get some bait for tomorrow's trip I thought I'd drop into a favourite winter flood slack on the river and have a dusk session on the canal. Catching started at breakneck speed on the river - with nearly all the fish caught in the first 30mins! A pike swirling at fry a couple of times soon put paid to that!
     
    The switch to the canal looked like being fruitless - until the low light levels persuaded a fish or two to feed. Had my only 3 bites (and 2 fish) in the last 20 minutes.
     
    3lb 4oz stripey...
     

  12. Chris Plumb

    27 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0715 - 1800
     
    Bright (very) at first with some welcome broken cloud in the afternoon. AT around 8ºC all day after early frost. River not quite as full as expected and no colour despite yesterday's rain.
     
    12 Chub; Biggest 3lb 14oz, 19 Dace - though only 2 real gooduns - biggest 13oz. 7 Roach, 4 Grayling. A doz+ brownies - biggest over 4lb - though also had quite a few parr fish.
     
    Given the time of year - the plan was to go all out for a big dace (after some early chub fishing). Everything went according to plan in my banker chub swim - but Paul's was occupied by nothing but trout - so I let him run a float through my swim so that he knew what a fish without an adipose looked like. (The swim duly obliged with a 3lb 10oz chub).
     
    We knew the bright conditions would make the dace in the shallow carriers spooky and hard to tempt - but were hopeful that the increasing cloud cover and setting sun would make them bolder. In truth though I don't think we found them - certainly not in the same numbers as our visit here in January.(See blog entry of http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1273-18-january/ ). Paul and I both had a decent fish or two for our efforts - but it wasn't quite what we were hoping for.
     
    13oz Dace

    Paul the Poacher!(of 'my' chub swim!)

    Rickety Bridge.

    Here be Dace?

     
  13. Chris Plumb

    11 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet
     
    0730 - 1800
     
    Mild, bright and sunny morning clouding over after lunch with some light drizzle at times. river lower than expected and very clear.
     
    16 Chub; All 'schooly' sized; biggest just over 3¼lb. 6 Perch 1¼lb and 5 around the 10-12oz mark. 3 Doz Roach and Dace - in roughly equal numbers 2 Biggest roach 1lb 2oz & 1lb 1oz (!) no others troubled the scales. Most of the dace were quite chunky - but none were over 8oz. 2 Grayling (1st ones ever from this venue!), 1 Bream (skimmer), 3 Gudgeon and just a couple of Brownies to 2lb.
     
    First day of my end of season extravaganza got off to a slow start - bright morning sunshine certainly put the fish down and when Paul and I met up for lunch we'd had less than a dozen fish each (though I had caught the bigger of my 2 roach by then). Thankfully the sun went in (and the forecast rain stayed away) resulting in a great afternoon's sport. Think final tallies were very similar Paul shading the dace and roach numbers - and me doubling his chub tally!
     
    Dawn

    A Keeper's work....

    Paul's Best Chub of the Day (3-10 I think)

    A nice brace of roach...


  14. Chris Plumb

    12 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet, K&A Canal, 'Flowing' Canal, Thatcham
     
    0630 - 1800
     
    Mild, neigh, warm at times under a milky sun (and out the wind). Clouding over mid afternoon. WT 51ºF.
     
    4 Chub; 5lb 11oz, 5lb 4oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 2oz. (4 fish for 20lb give or take an ounce!) 6 Dace; ALL over 8oz (!) biggest 11oz. 2 Grayling; 1lb and the other was not far shy. Pike 5lb 1oz. Trout 3lb.
     
    A peripatetic day with 5 venue changes and over a dozen swims fished - yet all the time within earshot of Thatcham level crossing! Swims new and old both came up trumps. Biggest chub of the day was from a swim I'd never fished before (and just after I'd scaled down to an 18 after the dace). In fact all the chub were from different swims - with 2 old favourites producing one a piece and 2 new swims also throwing up a fish. Dace were very much in full spawning condition - and mainly sandpapery males (5/6 were definitely males). Spent last hour hoping for a big stripey - but just as last Saturday could only manage a 5lb pike.
     
    A Pair of Fives.


     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  15. Chris Plumb

    14 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet
     
    0700 - 1700 (yes we packed up an hour early to have a pint on the way home!)
     
    Cold easterly wind - bright sunshine for first few hours then cloudy. Temps around 6ºC most of the day.
     
    6 Chub; Biggest 3lb 8oz. 1 Pike; 5lb 15oz. 3 Perch; (all small). 4 Roach; 1lb, an 8oz fish and a couple of tiddlers. 15 Dace. 6 Brownies to 3lb. 1 Rainbow of 4lb 2oz.
     
    Something of an anti-climatic end to the season. Fish clearly weren't feeding - though things improved slightly when the sun went in. We also started by exploring some new swims - me in a swim which screamed chub - and which I thought had produced when a good fish dived for the tree roots - alas it suddenly transformed into a Rainbow Trout at the net! Pike on lobs meant for perch - and the 1lb roach WAS a nice way to finish off the day. We also witnessed Phil catch one of 1½lb - the biggest roach I've seen from here for since 2007! Paul ended up with more of everything (chub, dace & roach) though I don't think he managed a chub over 3lb.
     
    A couple of pics from Paul. I think the reel is a Speedia???


  16. Chris Plumb

    14 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
     
    0630 - 1830
     
    Bright sunshine, cool (circa 5ºC) with a 'fresh' North-easterly blowing all day - very challenging conditions for trotting a gin clear chalk-stream!!
     
    3 Chub: Biggest 4lb exactly the other 2 were 3lbers. 5 Grayling to 1lb 2oz. 14 Dace; 5 over 8oz best 3; 2X10oz & an 11oz fish. 7 Roach (all small). 10+ brownies to 3lb+.
     
    End of season bash to a lovely part of the world - even if the fishing was a bit challenging at times. Though actually getting on the venue was a challenge!! I'd checked in with the keeper the previous day and agreed where we would park and when - only to find the access gate was still padlocked - alternate access was also barred - and I got stuck in the mud trying to reverse out - not an auspicious start. Eventually we found a gate that was open - which gave us access to completely the other end of the fishery from where Chris (Rusty) and I had intended to start.
    As it turned out it was probably for the best - though my first bite of the morning was from a very large rainbow which quickly smashed my light dace tackle but not before trashing the small pool I'd started in.
    We both quickly turned our attentions to a couple of couple of known Chub hotspots and both had a brace of fish before the sun was too high in the sky - Rusty getting a fish of 4lb 10oz on ledgered bread whilst both of mine fell to trotted corn.
    A call to the keeper to confirm the gate was now open and we were on our way to our first choice swims...
    We weren't to stay there very long. Rusty dropped into a lovely looking run which had produced chub for him previously and one of the few swims all day that was aided by the breeze (coz it was at his back). I fished the famous weedstop swim -though the rickety death trap from APFA days has been replaced by this smart looking bridge.
     
    Old and New

     
    I quickly realised that conditions here were hopeless and after an early lunch moved a kilometre upstream to a fast riffle which the keeper said he'd spotted some nice grayling in the summer. Sure enough they were still there and I managed 3 in all from this spot.
     
    By now Rusty had abandoned his chub banker not having had a touch and we were on the move again - to the middle of the fishery! I wanted to check out another chub spot whilst Chris's plan was to drown a worm or two in a spot Paul and I used to call the perch hole. But primarily I wanted to show Chris the carrier that usually produces the big dace.
     
    My Chub spot produced a 3lb chub first cast whilst the perch hole appears to be a misnomer these days! so eventually it was off to explore the dace stream - and we had a pleasant surprise to find the keeper had cleared a lot of the bank making some cracking looking swims accessible for the first time....And so at last we both started catching with a bit more frequency small stuff at first (plus the occasional nuisance trout) - though I was hopeful that the low light levels would entice the bigger fish to come out. Which is just what happened!
     
    Rusty elected to pack up at 5.00pm whilst I was determined to fish till it was properly getting dark - and he'd not even got as far as Waitrose to buy his tea when I was on the phone to tell him I'd just caught an 11oz dace - from one of the new 'cleared' swims too. 4 other good dace all followed in that final half an hour - a nice end to a tough day.....
     
  17. Chris Plumb

    28 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome - Wool
     
    0815 - 1515
     
    Cool, overcast with a stiff and very chilly easterly breeze. AT 1-6ºC. River still dropping and a little coloured. East Stoke EA Gauge reading 1.12m.
     
    19 Grayling; 5 'pounders' to 1lb 8oz. 1 Brownie.
     
    Penultimate day of the season and at last the river has dropped enough to gamble on a visit. The river has fallen from a high of 1.49m (as measured at E Stoke) in the last 10 days - though was still carrying a bit more colour than I would have liked. As it turned out it was still a bit of a struggle though it got off to a good start with the 1½lb fish in the first 10 minutes - pity I didn't better it and it also turned out to be the only fish I caught on corn all day - all the others falling to maggot. Last swim of the day produced 9 fish in the last hour bringing up a respectable final tally (though I was greeted with 'That's a long way to catch tiddlers!' by my wife when I arrived home!)
     
    Spot the Float!

     
  18. Chris Plumb

    Updated PB List

    By Chris Plumb,

    My PB List.
    Haven’t done one of these for a while (though it hasn't changed much in the last 5 years!) and as I had a query about my PBs I thought I'd put an updated list on here...
     
    Best Carp – 27lb 6oz. 15 August 2008. Blue Pool – Burghfield. Method feeder – hair-rigged hemp bogey.

     
    Blog Entry: http://www.anglersne...63-1415-august/
     
    Best Pike – 18lb 10oz. 10 February 2001. River Lambourn – Newbury. Free-lined Lamprey section.

     
     
    Best Barbel – 12lb 4oz. 27 July 2004. River Kennet, Arrowhead – Thatcham. Ledgered Halibut pellet.

     
    Best Bream – 12lb 2oz. 2 July 2011. Summer Pit – Yateley. Float fished (lift method) maggot.

     
    Blog entry; http://www.anglersne...ry-704-12-july/
     
    Best Brown Trout – 8lb 12oz. 14 March 2008. Middle Kennet Estate – Newbury. Trotted Maggot. (No photo)
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...y-222-14-march/
     
    Best Tench – 7lb 10oz. 18 June 2003. Wylies Lake – Thatcham. Float fished (lift method) black pudding.

     
     
    Best Chub – 6lb 7oz. 19 February 2012. Middle Kennet Estate – Nr Kintbury. Trotted Red Sweetcorn.

     
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...48-19-february/
     
    Best Salmon – 5lb 10oz. 13 October 2008. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo)
     
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...281-13-october/
     
    Best Rainbow Trout – 4lb 10oz. 5 March 2004. Barton Court – Kintbury. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo)
     
    Best Perch – 4lb 5oz. 28 October 2013. Kennet & Avon Canal – Thatcham. Float fished lobworm.

    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1140-28-october/
     
     
    Best Crucian – 3lb 13oz. 26 June 2011. Newbury AA Lake – Widmead. Float fished (lift method) bacon grill.

    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...ry-699-26-june/
     
    Best Grayling – 2lb 15oz. 6 January 2002. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted maggot.

     
     
    Best Roach – 2lb 11oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot.

     
     
     
    Eel - 2lb 1oz: 12/06/15, Ledgered prawn. Mill Farm, Pulborough

    Blog entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1299-12-june/
    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.
     
    Rudd - 1lb 11oz 18/06/18. Float fished prawn sections, Johnsons Lake - Milford. [/url]
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1532-1819-june/
    Best Dace – 1lb 2oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot.

     
  19. Chris Plumb

    28/29 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Jubilee Lake - Thatcham
     
    1900 - 0430
     
    Glorious might to be out - warm (min 15ºC) with a balmy southerly breeze to keep the dew off - fantastic view of Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky too!
     
    7 Carp; 15lb 8oz, 9lb 14oz, 9lb 3oz, 8lb 7oz, 8lb 2oz, 6lb 15oz, 5lb 8oz.
     
    Not one of my favourite venues - too busy and noisy - which probable explains why I struggled to get a single bite in the margins. All fish during darkness on the feeder - the biggest two topping and tailing the session.

  20. Chris Plumb

    19/20 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Johnsons Lake - Milford
     
    1100 - 2315 & 0300 - 0900, with a 3 hour kip in the car sandwiched in between!
     
    HOT! Sunny and Sultry - temps hit over 30ºC. Finding a shady spot was a (THE) major factor in considering swim choice!
     
    8 Crucians: 3lb 9oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz. 21 (!) Tench - a dozen over 4lb; best 2, 6lb 13oz & 6lb 1oz. 1 Roach; 1lb 10oz (!) and, somewhat ironically, the only fish under a pound was a tiny (smaller than my hand) common carp.
     
    WOW! Wasn't expecting that! Given the conditions I thought I'd be in for a bit of a struggle - hence the plan to have a dusk AND dawn session here. However first cast resulted in the roach - a real surprise - and the bright conditions clearly didn't put off the tench - I'd had 11 by tea time when the crucians, which I was really here for, at last put in an appearance. Dawn continued in the same manner though catches were slightly more evenly split between the species. By 0700 I was bathed in full sunshine and beginning to feel hot and bothered - so was almost glad that this seemed to correspond (at last) to cessation in bites.
     
    I rotated baits between prawn, meat, hookable pellets and maggots (started by giving a hour on each) and nearly all fish fell to prawn (with the exception of the roach and a couple of tincas on maggot). All fish caught float fishing a rod length out!
     
    A trio of beauties (Crucian is my 3rd biggest)

     

     

  21. Chris Plumb

    21 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    0445 - 1200
     
    Hot! 17º at 0430 when I left the house 31º when I got home. River quite coloured as it always is in summer and at near normal summer levels.
     
    7 Chub: 5lb 10oz, 5lb 4oz, 4lb 7oz, 4lb 2oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 8oz, 2lb 15oz. 4 Dace, 2 Grayling, 10 Brownies - half over 1lb to 1lb 9oz.
     
    Standing in the middle of the Kennet watching the sunrise on a warm, still June morning whilst trotting under the far bank trees - what's not to love! Chub we're very much the target today so that boxed got well and truly ticked - a brace of 5lbers was way more than I could have expected - though the bigger one was very hollow - sure to be a 6 in the winter! Was hoping to get amongst the dace a bit more but the trout were a bit of a nuisance at times - more so for jumping and trashing swims! Fished 7 swims in total - none of which had seen an angler in the opening week - jungle fishing - the first one had head high nettles!
     
    A brace of 5's


     
  22. Chris Plumb

    4/5 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Jubilee Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 0600
     
    Warm overcast night - despite the forecast which predict a cool night - temp didn't drop below 13ºC.
     
    2 Carp; 8lb 5oz & 6lb 7oz. 1 Bream 6lb 8oz.
     
    Slow, slow night. Venue was VERY busy with lots of noise on the bank meant I didn't get a solitary bite all night on my margin rod - and fishing at range wasn't much better. All fish on pellet (was alternating with boilies).
  23. Chris Plumb

    16 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington
     
    0645 - 1230
     
    Bright start, rain from 1000.
     
    6 Perch: 1¼lb & 5 small uns. 1 Chub - small. 7 Skimmers to 1lb, 2 doz roach - to 1lb, 2 Gudgeon and 3 Ruffe!
     
    First autumn perching session - which whilst it got off to a good start with the pounder first cast - didn't get any better. Loads of pred activity too - think they were pre-occupied with fry and ignoring my lobs. First EVER ruffe from the Kennet system - only other time I've caught the species was from the Loddon back in the 70's!
  24. Chris Plumb

    18/19 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    Johnsons Lake - Milford
     
    1200 - 2315 & 0300 - 0900
     
    Warm and overcast and quite breezy. Quite the best night to be out - no need of warm clothing - or a shelter!
     
    8 Crucians - best 4: 3lb 11oz, 3lb 8oz, 3lb 5oz, 3lb 4oz, 2X2lbers & 2X1lbers. 9 Tench; 3X5lbers to 5-15 and 6 of various sizes. 5 Rudd, 1lb 11oz & 1lb 8oz and 3 smalluns. 1 Roach.
     
    Wait 27 years for a decent rudd and then 2 come along at once. 1-06 was my previous best rudd - from way back in July 1991! The 1-08 held the crown for no more than a couple of hours before a stunning looking fish of just under 1¾lb graced my net.
     
    The thinking was that the evening would be relatively quiet with the footy on - but I didn't expect to get the place to myself - I was the only angler on the railway bank in the evening! Cracking haul of crucians which mostly fell to float fished prawn as did the bigger rudd ( the smaller one was on maggot)
     

     

     

     
  25. Chris Plumb

    6 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2245
     
    Warm (as ever) - still 22ºC when I left.
     
    2 Bream: 4lb 14oz, 4lb 10oz.
     
    3rd Monday evening on the trot here and as before the fishing was preceded by 30 mins of blackberry picking and as a result we now have a dozen or so jars of bramble jelly - which should see us through to next spring! Back to the fishing - both fish caught in the first hour with the sun still on the water - which augured well for the twilight hours - but I didn't get another bite!
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