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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    11 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    1300 - 1600
    Warm and muggy. AT 25ºC. River still with good levels for mid August!
    3 Chub: 3lb 13oz, 3lb 0oz and one of around ¾-1lb. 8 Roach & 8 Dace - all small. 2 Gudgeon. 1 Brownie- small.
    Friday afternoons - I am 'persona non grata'  at home as Mrs P has a coffee afternoon with her friends - a tradition that goes back over 30 years (it was originally her post-natal group!) so Friday's are going to be a regular fishing day now that I have retired. Today, however I did more tree surgery than fishing - as 2 willows had come down across my favourite swim. Thankfully I keep a hand saw in my fishing bag - but it still took 45 minutes to gain access to the water! When it was time to fish I reasoned the commotion would have put fish down so I rested the spot and started elsewhere. Returning an hour later - with a few tiddlers including a rare gudgeon to show for my efforts,  both 3lb chub came almost instantly followed by a steady stream of 'silvers'.
    A Kennet gonk - rarer than a 3lb chub!

  2. Chris Plumb

    10 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery - Milford
    1430 - 2300
    Hot and sunny with a warm southerly breeze all evening - very welcome as it kept the mossies and dew at bay. AT 25º and still 18ºC when I left.
    5 Crucians: 3lb 4oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 13oz. 9 Tench - various sizes from barely a lb up to a best of 4lb 14oz. 16 Rudd - all handsized with 3 netters of around 10-12oz. 5 Roach& 6 perch - all small.
    Fabulous evening's sport. Only my second trip over to Milford this season and whilst the pre-occupation with tench in one of my local club lakes has saved me a bit of petrol money this summer - it has been at the expense of catching another of my favourite species - crucians! So today was all about rectifying that - and the evening got off to a great start with the 2-10 the first on the scene - just as I was taking a first bite into a sandwich for my tea! I then had to wait a couple of hours for my next bite (from a fish!)- but it resulted in a new lake best Crucian for me! I have been fishing this lake since 2007 and had a 3lb 3oz fish on that first visit - which I haven't bettered from here since!
    There then followed a frenetic evening as it got dark and as the tench moved in - though there was still time for 3 more crucians - the last one (and smallest) part of a double hook up just before 11pm which got me into a bit of a tangle and prompted an end to proceedings - though I'd already said to myself 'pack up next fish or 11pm whichever comes first'!
     

  3. Chris Plumb

    7 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Overcast and breezy - clearing to cloudless skies as it got dark (the exact opposite to the forecast I watched in the morning!!) AT 19º-13ºC
    6 (!) Tench: 5lb 15oz, 5lb 12oz, 5lb 8oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 11oz, 4lb 7oz. 1 Carp 7lb 13oz. 1 perch (small)
    Another splendid evening's tench fishing. (And another 3lb of blackberries collected which are being converted into jam as I type!) All the action after 8pm (again!) save for the micro perch. The period from 9-10pm was particularly frenetic. Yet again gratifyingly few carp putting in an appearance and with the added bonus of the clear skies which afforded sight of a couple of early Perseids - including a particularly spectacular one which left a 2-3 second afterglow. (They peak this weekend so fingers crossed for some clear skies - conditions for viewing should be very good with a waning moon affording dark skies.)
    Pics of a couple of the 5lbs - a male of 5-08 (bottom photo) and a bigger female with a very impressive caudal fin...


  4. Chris Plumb

    3 August (Part 1)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Thatcham
    1130 - 1330
    Bright and breezy. AT 20ºC. River at normal levels and with a bit of colour.
    3 Chub; all small. 7 Dace & 4 Roach: ditto. 1 Brownie 1½lb
    First part of a chub hunting afternoon - and whilst it's always a good sign to see some juvenile fish in the river - I was hoping for something a little bigger!
  5. Chris Plumb

    3 August (Part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    1415 - 1615
    Mainly overcast and quite breezy. AT 20ºC. River up a good couple of inches and carrying a bit of colour. The Colthrop sluices are obviously open more than the Crookham ones' as there was a lot more flow here than a couple of miles upstream - before The Aldershot joins the river.
    3 Chub: 4lb 6oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 3oz. 5 Brownies, a 'pounder', the rest between 6-10oz with one a repeat capture!
    All chub from my banker swim which I fished twice - with a rest in between while I went blackberry picking! 4lber first cast after the usual bait and wait approach - made a pleasant change from a splashy trout grabbing my maggot first put in!
  6. Chris Plumb

    31 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Overcast and very breezy all evening after rain all afternoon - clearing to reveal a very bright full moon for last hour. AT 17ºC - 14ºC.
    5 Tench: 6lb 0oz, 5lb 9oz, 5lb 5oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 6oz. 1 Carp 9lb 4oz. 1 Perch; small.
    Very lively evening - with bites from the off - started with maggot while my prawns defrosted but that only took a few minutes and there after it was chopped prawn - float fished lift method, all evening. Gotta love the quality of the tench coming out of this lake this summer - of the 11 tinca's I've landed only 2 have been under 4lb. Bites stopped at 10pm when the moon rose (I know co-incidence is not causation 😏) 3lb of blackberries also harvested! 😀
    Biggest of the night:
     
     

  7. Chris Plumb

    28 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0730 - 1330
    Warm(ish) and overcast and quite muggy. AT 18ºC - 21ºC. River down a bit - more than I expected after another wet week....
    2 Bream: 3lb 3oz & 2lb 10oz. 3 Chub; 2 around ¾lb and another even smaller. 40+ Dace & Roach (in roughly equal nos - slightly more dace) - only one fish to trouble the net - a super dace of 10oz. 2 Bleak.
    A rare failure at finding decent chub - though a couple of hard fighting river bream were more than adequate compensation, plus there was the added bonus of NO trout! Nice to see so many silvers in the river too.
  8. Chris Plumb

    24 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Cool, overcast and drizzly with a more substantial shower as it got dark. AT 14ºC - 12ºC.
    2 Tench: 5lb 11oz & 4lb 4oz. 3 perch - all small.
    As expected, bites at a bit of a premium with conditions more akin to mid autumn than mid July. Pretty pleased then, to come away with 2 nice tincas and have an evening when I was NOT getting bothered by cyprinus carpio. And, as last week on Alders, 8pm appeared to be the 'witching hour' with the biggest tench arriving shortly after 2000 and the 4lber (a hard fighting male) 20 minutes later.
  9. Chris Plumb

    21 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    1330 - 1530
    Warm(ish) and overcast. AT 19ºC. River down quite a bit on Monday - at least 3 inches...
    1 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 6 Dace, 2 Roach (all quite small). 2 Brownies both 6-8ozs.
    Really surprised to see how much the river had changed since my trip here on Monday - the swim I wanted to target had a completely different 'feel' to it (and not in a good way!!). Managed to winkle out a solitary chub from it - but not the barbel I was hoping for!
  10. Chris Plumb

    19 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Warm and overcast with a stiffish breeze for the most part - which kept the mozzies at bay. AT 21ºC - 18ºC
    4 Tench; 3lb 11oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb, 2lb 13oz (all 3 smaller ones feisty hard fighting males). 2 Bream; 4lb 11oz & 4lb 8oz. 2 Perch, 2 Roach (all small)
    Well that was an entertaining evening! All the action between 8pm and 10pm - no bites at all before or after. I started off (as I usually do) alternating between chopped prawn and maggot on the hook - but when the bites arrived maggot just resulted in perch or roach so quickly reverted to a prawn only approach for the rest of the evening. I don't catch many bream on prawn so the two fish I caught will increase my confidence as a bait for them! First blackberries of the summer also collected.
    Note to self - remember to bring stink bag for my net when I expect/hope to catch bream or tench! 😉
  11. Chris Plumb

    17 July (Part 3)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Padworth
    1500 - 1630
    Bright and breezy. Quite warm out the wind. AT 21ºC. River quite full for mid July.
    1 Chub: small. 1 Roach, ditto. 2 Brownies both around 1½-2lb (definitely different fish - one had a growth on it)
    My day on the river was rounded off with a visit to a rarely visited venue - but one that has thrown up some nice roach from time to time - and that was sort of what I was after today. However and somewhat predictably, the only fish to put a serious bend in the rod came from trout. Saw the otter making its rounds as I packed up....
  12. Chris Plumb

    17 July (Part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    1135 - 1415
    Bright and breezy quite warm - 20ºC. River quite full with good flow - especially for July
    1 Chub 2lb. 6 Trout - various sizes from 6oz - 1½lb.
    Oh, how I detest spotties - they were in every swim I tried (I lost nearly as many as I landed!) and even resting and returning to my favourite chub hot-spot just brought more of the blighters! Dropped into the weir-pool for a solitary fish without an adipose!
  13. Chris Plumb

    17 July (Part 1)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0700 - 1100
    Bright and breezy. Felt quite cool to start. AT 12ºC - 19ºC. River up an inch or so on last week - after a very wet weekend!
    6 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 7oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 10oz & a 'pounder'. 4 Dace, 2 Roach - all quite chunky. 3 Brownies a fish of around 1¼lb and a couple in the 6-8oz bracket.
    Quick return to last week's venue hopeful that I could pull off another float caught barbel - so concentrated my efforts on a swim where I've had them in recent seasons - but it was full of chub!
  14. Chris Plumb

    13 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 0000
    Warm (ish), overcast with drizzly rain to start - clearing and becoming quite cool. AT 21ºC -> 12ºC.
    1 Carp 8lb 1oz, 1 Tench 3lb 8oz.
    A frustrating evening on the float. Lots of dithering, dips and rises and lots of striking at thin air for the first 3 hours! When I did eventually connect with something it was the right weight - but the wrong species! 8lb+ tench have been coming out of here this summer and I'd really like to get one as my PB is under that! Darkness eventually resulted in a tinca but it would prove to be my last bite of an otherwise disappointing evening!
  15. Chris Plumb

    11 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    1300 - 1600
    Warm, overcast and breezy - with a couple of very light showers (much lighter than was forecast!). AT 23ºC.  River still with good flow for mid July though down an inch or two on 3 weeks ago. 
    3 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz & a 'pounder'. 1 Barbel 2lb 2oz (hooray!), 2 Perch; 1¼lbs & a tiddler. 9 Dace, 4 Roach (nothing noteworthy), 1 Gudgeon, 3 Brownies two in the 12oz - 1lb class (possibly same fish!) and one half that.
    Normal service has been resumed with most of the fish from my two usual hot-spots - really nice to get a barbel trotting (and my first gonk of the season!)

  16. Chris Plumb

    8th Paul Goulbourn Memorial Trophy

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford
    0730 - 2315
    Hot, sunny and sultry. AT around 25ºC all day and still 18ºC when I drove off at a little before midnight.
    11 Tench: various sizes from quite small bars of soap up to 5lb - biggest 5lb 3oz. 2 Crucians 2lb 4oz & 1lb 2oz. 30 Rudd - most handsized - with a few a bit bigger, the one I deemed worthy of the scales went 14oz. A dozen roach - all small.
    Annual gathering of the Internet Angling Club - to remember our departed friend Paul and raise a few pounds for Duchess of Kent Hospice. Unusually for an IAC fish-in everyone caught fish - there were tench aplenty. Crucians on the other hand were thin on the ground with only 4 anglers catching them during the day (mine came after dark). Best crucian of the day fell to Howard with a fish of 2lb 9oz (closely followed by Glenn - who usually blanks! - with a fish an ounce lighter). Howard also won in 2020 and is now the first to win this twice - so I'll be accepting bribes to give him an unfavourable swim next year!😆 
    I caught 9 of my tench during the heat of the day but stuck it out with grim determination to get a cru and was rewarded with 2 in 2 casts a little after 2200 - the smaller fish followed by another exactly double that next cast - should have packed up there and then as all I got was more tench - and was then smashed in the lilies - prompting a pack up.

  17. Chris Plumb

    27 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Thatcham
    0930 - 1100
    Bright and breezy and a lot cooler. AT 18ºC. River surprisingly low (given how full other stretches are...)
    3 Brownies: 2½lbs, a pounder and one of around 8oz...
    Quick session to use up some maggot before I go to Devon on Friday. Surprised to find another angler in one of my banker swims - I rarely see another soul here - even less so on a week day! Could only winkle out spotties from my other 'bankers'...
  18. Chris Plumb

    26 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2300
    Fresher than recent days and cooler. Quite breezy.AT 21º-15ºC.
    1 Bream: 4lb 14oz. 1 Tench; 1½lb. 1 Rudd - a netter of around 8-10oz, 1 Roach - small. 5 Perch - handsized.
    Alders campaign gets off to a sluggish start - though it started promisingly with the nice rudd first cast. Dusk brought quivering lilies and raised expectations - fulfilled with the tench a little after 2200. The bream arrived an hour later just as I was packing up - resulting in a very wet and slimy net in the car home!
  19. Chris Plumb

    20 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1500 - 2230
    Warm with sunny spells - clearing at dusk with a nice southerly breeze to keep the mossies off. AT 21ºC or there-abouts for most of the afternoon.
    3 Tench; 6lb 8oz, 5lb 3oz, 1½lb. 3 Carp; 10lb 11oz, 7lb 8oz, 6lb 11oz
    News that the carp in here weren't showing very well (post spawning malaise?) had me chancing my arm for the tincas. Went all out with my default tench tactics - prawn sections float fished lift method style and it wasn't long before I was having my hook straightened by a muscular carp! The next time my float went under it resulted in the 10lber - and whilst I was rather pleased to land it on my float rod I thought I was going to be in for an evening of carp frustration. I need not have worried, as the sun sank behind the trees - putting my swim in shade - the tench showed up - with all 3 in quite quick succession. The first up being the 5lb male. The 6 my biggest for 4 years and my best from an NAA club water since 2010.



  20. Chris Plumb

    19 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    1700 - 2030
    Warm and sunny. AT 24ºC. River quite full for high summer - great to see so much water in it!
    6 Chub: (in order of capture) 2X ¾-1lbers, 2lb 5oz, 3lb 13oz, 4lb 3oz, 5lb 4oz (they got bigger as the shadows lengthened!). 4 Brownies, a 'pounder' and 3 in the 6-8oz class.
    Super evening's sport - though, as per usual, had to rely on the 'rest and return' policy after 2 splashy trout in the first 5 mins from my banker swim. Fished 5 swims in total but only had fish from 2 of them...
     


  21. Chris Plumb

    21 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Widmead (Bulls Lock)
    1200 - 1430
    Warm and mainly sunny. AT 23ºC. River good depth and flow.
    1 Chub - small. 1 Grayling 1lb 3oz, 9 dace all small save for one that needed the net.
    Quick lunchtime session in a swim that always flatters to deceive. Grayling was a nice bonus though.
  22. Chris Plumb

    16 June 2023

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0430 - 1200
    Warm and sunny. AT 13º -> 26ºC. River in good nick, nice depth and flow - still benefiting from a wet winter and early spring.
    3 Bream: 5lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 11oz. 2 Chub 2lb 13oz and a 'pounder'. 6 Dace - 2 gooduns that needed the net, 1 Roach - small. 1 Brownie - 2lber and 1 Rainbow - around 4lb.
    For the second year running my season opens with some nice river bream - the 5lber my biggest from here. Started in the weir-pool but struggled somewhat - with the only fish putting a significant bend in the rod having adipose fins. All bream and chub coming from the swims above the railway bridge.

  23. Chris Plumb

    17 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0430 - 0800
    Warm, muggy and overcast with a welcome heavy shower just after I packed up. AT 17ºC (but felt a lot warmer!). River quite full - especially for June!
    6 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 2lb 10oz and 4 between ¾-1½lb. 21 Dace - nothing especially noteworthy - though they weren't tiddlers either. 2 Roach (same!) and 2 Brownies c½lb.
    A morning's trotting and home for breakfast - gotta love June! And I really should follow my own advice - I recently re-worked this old article for AN for my club's quarterly newsletter - though gearing it more to summer chubbing. I was making the point that in June chub can be found in surprisingly fast water - and that was certainly true this morning. I'd blanked in my usual chub hot-spots and switched to a fast glide in search of some feisty dace - and whilst it was nearly fish a chuck - there was also a shoal of chub in residence at the tail of the swim where it shallowed up. The result - a great morning's sport!
  24. Chris Plumb

    Season's Bests 2022-23

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    And so endeth another season. And a pretty pleasing one - with some of my favourite Kennet swims producing good fish (mainly chub) throughout the season. The summer started off with a bang - in the shape of my first ever 4lb+ crucian - the biggest of 5 X 3+lbers in an afternoon - any of which would have been season's bests in recent years - a real Red Letter Day!
    Best Carp 14lb 5oz. 10 August  Free-lined bread flake - Willows. As usual I spent most of the summer trying to avoid carp in my quest for tench & crucians - this one was caught deliberately however, on an evening when the tincas weren't playing ball!

    Best Chub 6lb 5oz. 2 January Trotted maggot - River Kennet, Hambridge. Another super year for chub (I do luv em!) with over 100 X 1lb+ fish caught for the 3rd year running and whilst overall numbers were slightly down on last year - average sizes were up - I had 27 over 4lb - of which 7 were over 5lb - my best return on this front since 04/05. This rather washed out looking fish was caught when the Kennet was in full flood - hence its colouration I guess - and is a new venue best for me.

    Best Tench 5lb 14oz. 23 June. Float fished prawn section - Harris Lake, Milford. Had a few 5lb+ tench from Marsh Farm this summer and was rather pleased to hear my club had stocked one of our lakes with tench that are even bigger. This fat looking tinca looked like it should have been well over 6 - but the needle never lies!

    Best Bream 5lb 2oz. 21 September. Float fished maggot - Alders. The majority of my bream this season were river caught - occasionally turning up in some of my chub swims - and none of them left as much slime in the net as this specimen!

    Best Crucian 4lb 2oz (New PB) 20 June. Float fished prawn section - Johnsons Lake - Milford. This is my 9th season fishing this lake - with pretty much the sole intention of trying to catch a really big crucian - though now its been achieved it won't stop me from returning! When I started the quest my pb was 3-13 - from a club water in 2011. I added an ounce to this 4 years ago with a fish from here - and eventually hit the jackpot this summer.

    Best Perch 3lb 6oz 2 January. Float fished maggot - River Kennet, Hambridge. For the last couple of decades the majority of my big perch have come from the canal - not this season. All my 2lb+ stripeys came from the Kennet proper - this was my only 3lber - my first from this venue (next cast I caught the 6-5 chub - above!)

    Best Grayling 2lb 2oz 5 February Trotted maggot - River Frome, Wool. Still chasing that 3lb lady - though this was actually my first 2lber from the Frome since 2019.

    Best Barbel 2lb 1oz 31 August. Trotted maggot - River Kennet, Hambridge. Always pleased to catch a barbel these days - though might be putting in a bit more effort next season to find a bigger one than this!

    Biggest Roach 1lb 0oz. 20 June Float fished prawn section - Johnsons Lake, Milford. With all the excitement of big crucians I'd forgotten I'd started the session with a nice roach - which I never bettered all season!

    Best Dace 13oz 23 July. Trotted maggot - River Kennet, Marsh Benham. Had quite a few 'nice' dace this season and, as ever, was hopeful that the back end would produce a real biggy - alas nothing beat this summer caught fish from my syndicate stretch of the middle Kennet.

     
     
  25. Chris Plumb

    12 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
    1430 - 1730
    Mild, cloudy & quite breezy with drizzle at times. AT 10ºC
    2 Perch: 1lb 14oz & 1lb 11oz.
    A much milder day than recently, so decided to try for some stripeys on the canal. Suspect the water temps haven't caught up as bites were few and far between - with both fish in the last 45 mins before I then got bit off by a jack.
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