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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    17 February - Part 2

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal, Woolhampton
     
    1500 - 1715.
     
    Mild and mainly cloudy.
     
    3 Perch: 2lb 4oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 7oz.
     
    Had to make the most of this mild spell with a dusk session for stripeys. Thankfully they'd read the script and whilst bites were at a premium every one resulted in a nice perch.
  2. Chris Plumb

    17 February - Part 1

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet (& carrier) Marsh Benham
     
    0930 - 1400
     
    Mild and bright, clouding over by the time I left. River still not very high for mid Feb.
     
    3 Chub; all 2lbers. A dozen roach, biggest 1lb exactly with nothing else remotely close to that!. Half dozen dace, 3 Brownies between 2-3lb & 4lb+ Rainbow.
     
    Most fish from the weirpool - though started with a 2½lb chub from 'Chub Corner' first cast - turned out to be the biggest of the day!
  3. Chris Plumb

    9 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    Lower Itchen Fishery
     
    0830 - 1700
     
    Bright and breezy (very at times), River well up and coloured from yesterday's heavy rain - though conditions gradually improved throughout the day.
     
    9 Grayling; best 1lb 8oz. 2 Brownies - 2½lber and a parr.
     
    4th IAC Paul Goulbourn memorial grayling day - so it was nice to catch up with some old friends. Fishing was a challenge for all though as the river fined down I think most caught a few. Gary, who I fished with all day, was the star of the show with 5 ladies over 1lb - and the 2 best fish of the day at 1-10 & 1-15. He also managed to embed a size 14 deep into his finger and had to drop into minor injuries unit on the way home to have it extracted!
  4. Chris Plumb

    3 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1100 - 1330
     
    Cold, bright and sunny with snow on the ground AT -2ºC -> 3ºC. River up a couple of inches but running gin clear.
     
    2 Chub: 2lb 9oz, 2lb 2oz. 3 Grayling - all 8-10oz. 3 Brownies to crica 1lb.
     
    Lovely crisp winter's day (though I got stuck in snow in the car park and some kind souls dug me out and gave me a push!) Chub and grayling are reliable quarry when the thermometer is close to zero and I wasn't disappointed despite the very bright conditions!
  5. Chris Plumb

    26 January (part 1)

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0830 - 1045
     
    Mild and overcast. River low.
     
    19 Grayling. Over half a couple of ounces either side of 1lb with the biggest, a lovely jet black fish of 1lb 10oz. 2 brownies - both small.
     
    Usual catch a couple and move on trotting tactics.....
  6. Chris Plumb

    20 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Brimpton
     
    1015 - 1515
     
    Cold, bright and sunny. River low - very low for mid Jan
     
    2 Chub; 3lb 1oz & 1½lb. 1 Brownie 2½lb
     
    A bright sparkly day though not ideal conditions - perseverance paid off - didn't get a bite until 1430 then 3 fish in half an hour from swims that appeared devoid of fish a couple of hours earlier (sun was off the water!)
  7. Chris Plumb

    27 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham
     
    0930 - 1430
     
    Cool and misty morning with bright sunshine after 1200. River lower than I expected and quite clear.
     
    8 Chub; Biggest 3lb most of the rest 1¾ - 2¾lb. 1 Bream 2lb 15oz, 3 Doz Roach - all quite chunky but nothing over ½lb. 2 Dace, 1 Rainbow 2½lb and a Brownie of 3lb +
     
    Lovely winter's day in West Berkshire. Chub were very obliging even if my biggest of the day was caught first cast. Bream fought harder than any bream I've ever hooked before - was convinced I was into a large chub very surprised to see a bream eventually come to the surface - and not that big either!
  8. Chris Plumb

    26 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    0945 - 1145
     
    Cool and bright. River up a touch with some colour.
     
    1 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 1 Grayling; 1lb 9oz. 2 Dace, 1 Perch
     
    Quick session while Mrs P hit the sales. Super grayling for this part of the river - my biggest from here.
  9. Chris Plumb

    16 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1015 - 1315
     
    Cool, cloudy and calm. River up a couple of inches after yesterday's rain but not carrying much colour.
     
    8 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 10oz & 3 X 1-2lbers. 1 Grayling 1lb 1oz, 1 Dace, 1 Roach & 5 Brownies - to 2¼lb.
     
    Another super winter's chubbing - first 3 trot throughs all produced fish (after spending 10 mins feeding) and thereafter the fish came in 'bursts' 20-30 mins without a bite followed by another 2 or 3 fish in quick succession. Great to see the chub back in numbers here!
  10. Chris Plumb

    2 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal Thatcham & River Kennet - Arrowhead
     
    0730 - 1315
     
    Mild, breezy with light drizzly showers.
     
    8 dace - all a 'nice' size (6-8oz class), 1 chublet & a gudgeon.
     
    Another fruitless perch hunt, not a bite (at least from something that didn't have claws!) on the canal so finished off with an hour on the river.
  11. Chris Plumb

    11 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Northcroft Stream
     
    0730 - 0915
     
    River Lambourn - Shaw
     
    0930 - 1145
     
    Bright and sunny after early morning rain (just stopping as I started to fish) Rivers (especially the Lambourn) surprisingly unaffected by recent rains (unlike the Dorset Frome which was Plan A for today!
     
    Northcroft: 2 Chub, 3lb 8oz & 2lb 11oz. 4 Dace and 3 Roach.
    Shaw: 11 Grayling to 1lb 3oz & 2 small brownies.
     
    Both chub from weir pool at Northcroft - pretty much my only bites from there. Shaw was hard going low water, spooky fish and 3 other anglers didn't help!
  12. Chris Plumb

    3 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0700 - 0930
     
    Bright and sunny - milder than recently (no frost). River very low.
     
    21 Grayling; Nearly all fish in the 10-14oz bracket - with quite a few just over 1lb too. Biggest 1lb 5oz. 2 Brownies.
     
    Catcha couple and move on downstream tactics - though in the low water it was often sight fishing - watching the fish take the bait - and trying to get the biggest in each shoal!
  13. Chris Plumb

    29 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington
     
    0645 - 1200
     
    Frosty start with bright sunshine. AT -1ºC when I arrived, 14ºC when I packed up.
     
    2 Chub; both just shy of 1½lb, 7 Skimmers; one of 2lb+ the rest a few ounces either side of 1lb, a doz small roach, 4 micro perch and 3 gudgeon.
     
    First autumn perching trip - but I guess a first proper frost and bright sunshine do not perfect perch conditions make. Even so persisted with lobs for the first 3 hours but every time the float went under it resulted in a bream (and both the chub). When I did get a perch they were smaller than the lob they had somehow managed to gorge! An annoying amount of boat traffic (unusual for here) also didn't help!
  14. Chris Plumb

    25 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Hambridge
     
    0900 - 1200
     
    Bright and sunny after a frosty start, had to scrape ice off the car which was a shock to the system after a week away in Lanzarote! River up a touch and with a bit of colour.
     
    6 Chub; Best 2, 4lb 15oz & 3lb 14oz all the others between 1¼lb - 2lb 6oz. 10 Dace - with 4 in the 8-10oz bracket, 2 Roach, 3 Brownies - all over 1lb - biggest nearer 2.
     
    Cracking little trotting session was hoping for a chub or 2 so to get half a dozen was great. Was intending to rove the whole section - but ended up just fishing one swim.
  15. Chris Plumb

    15 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    0900 - 1200
     
    Bright and sunny - quite warm.
     
    1 Chub 2lb 3oz, 2 Dace, 1 Roach & 5 Brownies (2 circa 1lb)
     
    Off to Lanzarote tomorrow and didn't want to leave maggots in the bait fridge whilst I was away (not that I need an excuse!)
  16. Chris Plumb

    10 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Bulls Lock
     
    1800 - 2300
     
    Warmish and overcast.
     
    3 Dace and a chublet.
     
    Another fruitless barbel session on a rarely fished stretch of river. As per usual started off trotting for not a lot - and once ledgering the only rattles came from the crayfish of which there were A LOT!
  17. Chris Plumb

    3 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2230
     
    Warm and quite breezy.
     
    2 Tench; 2lb 6oz and a pounder. 4 Perch.
     
    Yet another new swim - feel I've given this lake a proper go now and whilst not blanked hasn't been as productive as last summer - when I caught mainly bream and hardly any tench - complete opposite to this summer!
  18. Chris Plumb

    31 August/1 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Willows Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 0600
     
    Cool clear night down to 7ºC at dawn and very misty and damp with dew.
     
    9 Tench: All over a pound with 3 fish over 2lb. 7 Carp biggest 2, 12lb 2oz & 8lb 15oz all the others between 3½ - 6½lb. 1 Crucian 2lb 2oz. 4 perch.
     
    A return to the swim of a fortnight ago hoping for - and getting - a similar return for what will probably be my last overnighter of the summer. As before, started off float fishing maggot but the micro perch were in residence nailing the bait before the float even settled - so a switch to meat was swiftly called for which they ignored. Really pleased to snaffle another of the lake's elusive crucians. Hopefully the tincas will put on a bit of weight in the coming seasons......
  19. Chris Plumb

    29 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1800 - 2245
     
    Warm and overcast evening though clouds cleared and temps started to plummet in the last half an hour.
     
    7 very chunky dace - all 6-8oz. 1 Roach, 2 brownies to 1½lb.
     
    First serious attempt of the season for a barbel - but of course I started out with a trotting rod for the first hour or so. Once I switched to the ledgering the only indications were from bats and crayfish - LOTS of crayfish - A pattern I'll see a lot of in the next couple of months!
  20. Chris Plumb

    25 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
     
    0600 - 1300
     
    Cool (6ºC when I arrived) and sunny - with a nippy northerly breeze. River lower than my last visit 4 weeks ago.
     
    1½doz+ Chub, Biggest 3lb 5oz, the rest all chublets. 1 Pike; 3lb 10oz, 2doz+ Roach, 5 Dace (2 of around 8oz), 1 Perch, 1 Bleak, 1 Gudgeon.
     
    Ledgered meat for the first couple of hours or so - 45 minutes each in 3 different swims - but the only pull resulted in a meat munching pike again - possibly the same one that I had here last month! Nice to see so many chublets in the river - augurs well for the chub population in the future.
  21. Chris Plumb

    20 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2300
     
    Warm and overcast.
     
    3 Tench - all between 1-2lb.
     
    Another Monday evening and another new swim (bin working my way around the lake this season trying a different swims each trip.) Bites at a bit of a premium - much as expected - but at least when they cam they produced and end result - unlike last week!
  22. Chris Plumb

    13 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    1830 - 2230
     
    Warm and breezy.
     
    1 Tench - c1lb, 1 perch.
     
    Frustrating evening - as I was getting loads of bites which I couldn't hit - quite unusual for here - as was seeing other anglers on the water! Still another 2½lb of blackberries picked!
  23. Chris Plumb

    30 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2230
     
    Bright and breezy.
     
    1 Tench - unweighed but around a pound.
     
    Hopeful that the recent rain might have pepped things up a bit - though the opposite looked likely as the water appeared quite lifeless. Thankful for a solitary bite - which I missed - but the tench belied its size by nearly pulling my rod in!
  24. Chris Plumb

    20/21 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Willows Lake - Thatcham
     
    2000 - 0500
     
    Warm (min 16ºC), overcast and drizzly most of the night especially early on.
     
    8 Carp; biggest 18lb 5oz - all the rest between 5¾lb - 9¼lb. 1 Tench - circa 1lb and a skimmer.
     
    A night of 2 halves - started float fishing the margins targetting the lake's rare but large crucians - and sure enough had crucians rolling in my swim repeatedly as it got dark - so hopes were high! Alas the carp kept getting to the bait first and when I didn't connect with a fish that went screaming off it was the wrong species. Still - my first tench from here in yonks - think a few must have been stocked in the winter. By midnight I'd had enough of trying (and sometimes failing) to bully carp in on inappropriate tackle so it was out with the feeder rod. First up was a lovely large mirror - which at over 18lb is my biggest from this lake in 37 years of fishing it! First light and the rain had stopped so it was off for a couple of hours kip and a late breakfast!
     
     
  25. Chris Plumb

    15 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Northcroft Stream - Newbury
     
    0430 - 0815
     
    Warm with cloudless skies. River looked in surprisingly good nick - still reasonable flow.
     
    2 Chub - both circa 1lb (and possibly same one - caught nearly 3 hours apart!), 2 doz dace & 9 Roach.
     
    Pre breakfast trotting session - hopeful for some ( bigger) chub which didn't show up.
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