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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    25 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Bucklebury Ponds
     
    0945 - 1215
     
    Cool and overcast
     
    1 Carp; 4lb 9oz. 5 Skimmers, 15 Roach & 5 Perch (all small).
     
    Short session before the latest band of rain swept through....Was hoping to snaffle a slightly bigger bream. Carp took an age to land on light tackle!
  2. Chris Plumb

    14 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham.
     
    1930 - 0000
     
    Overcast with light rain, temps around 16ºC all evening. River up a tad and with a little colour after an inch of rain in the previous 36 hrs.
     
    1 Chub 1lb 14oz.
     
    A damp, drizzly evening saw me leave the trotting rod at home and opt for the comfort of my brolly from the off (and to hell with a blank!). As it turned out I needn't have worried - an 'chub rattle' in the first hour resulted in a modest fish. Snailz boilies yet again proving a favourite with the chevins (after trying them for a season and a half I'm still to get a barbel on them!). Alas it proved to be my only bite!
  3. Chris Plumb

    10 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Newbury
     
    1830 - 2300
     
    Warm evening with clearing skies after heavy rain during the day - giving perfect Perseid spotting opportunities - saw around half a dozen. River was quite coloured up - much more than I expected to see.
     
    1 Chub 2lb 9oz. 8 Dace; 3 in the 6-8oz bracket. 1 Gudgeon.
     
    First evening trip to this swim - and might be my last - ledgering pellet produced nothing but crayfish rattles all evening. An hour and a half's trotting produced the usual blank saving fish - and nice to get a chub here too.
  4. Chris Plumb

    7/8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA Stillwater - Widmead
     
    1830 - 0545
     
    Cool, clear and calm. AT down to 10ºC at dawn.
     
    5 Carp: 9lb 5oz, 8lb 7oz, 8lb 0oz, 7lb 11oz, 6lb 4oz. 1 Perch (small).
     
    Slow, slow night which got off to a very fast start! Had one of the 8's on the bank within a couple of minutes of starting - hadn't even got my second rod out of the quiver when the alarm went off. Pity then, that my next bite was shortly after midnight! In truth I was really after trying to get a bream or even a tench from here - though in the end I had to make do with the mini flurry of activity between 0000 and 0200 culminating in the 9lber. No bites after 2 o'clock prompted an early pack-up and a few hours kip before a late brekkie at home...
  5. Chris Plumb

    20 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1900 - 2330
     
    Warm, overcast and breezy. River very low.
     
    1 Chub; 2lb 7oz. 20+ Dace, 9 Roach.
     
    5 Weeks into the season and not a hint of a barbel so far! At least there appears to be an abundance of silver fish in the river and a bonus chub provided a modicum of action on the ledger rod. No otter sightings this evening - just a family of mink - 4 of them rampaging along the far bank margins!
  6. Chris Plumb
    River Kennet - Bulls Lock
     
    0700 - 0830
     
    1 Perch; 1lb 6oz, 3 Dace, 1 Roach and a Grayling.
     
    First time I've fished this bit of river - trotted a nice long glide which looks like its the sort of swim you can 'build up' - though I didn't really have enough maggot for that. Was hoping for a chub or 2 but quite happy with the perch.
     
    River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    0900 - 1100.
     
    1 Chub; 3lb 6oz, 4 Dace, 3 Brownies to just on 1lb.
     
    So having re-stocked with bait it was off to have a 2nd attempt at a chub - gratifyingly achieved within 5 minutes of starting to fish! Trout as ever were a pain fighting hard and trashing swims with their jumping - though with low water getting more than one decent fish from a swim was never very likely.
     
  7. Chris Plumb

    13 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    1030 - 1300
     
    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1315 - 1530
     
    Overcast after this morning's drizzle.
     
    Lambourn; 22 Grayling; 5 over 1lb, best 1lb 9oz. 1 brownie
    Kennet; 6 Perch; 2 'pounders' best 1lb 7oz. 6 Dace, 4 Roach, half doz Gudgeon and a Grayling.
     
    A take it easy day after the exertions of Weds & Thurs (and I'll no doubt be on the bank for 12 hours tomorrow as well)! Biggest 3 grayling all caught 'by sight'. seeing fish come up in the water I fished with the bait 6 inches below the float and watched the fish take the bait!
  8. Chris Plumb

    7 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet/flowing canal - Thatcham
     
    1530 - 1815
     
    Bright and breezy. Mild. WT a very encouraging 51ºF.
     
    2 Perch; both 'pounders' - biggest 1lb 14oz. 6 Dace - all chunky ones with a couple of corkers at 12 & 10oz. Pike 5lb 5oz.
     
    Plan was to have a dusk session after stripeys,though arriving in very bright sunshine I decided to start by trotting maggots and immediately found some really nice dace (biggest 2 were the first two fish I caught). The 2 perch soon followed and though I switched to lobs for the final hour, with high hopes the only bite on worm resulted in the jack.
  9. Chris Plumb

    24 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0900 - 1130
     
    Cool (1 - 4ºC) bright and sunny. River quite full and looking in great winter shape.
     
    26 Grayling; 6 'pounders' to 1lb 6oz.
     
    Had to go out for some maggot for Monday's trip so perfect excuse to have a couple of hours by the river (not that I normally need a reason!). Normal catch a couple and move on trotting tactics....
  10. Chris Plumb

    27 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne. River Kennet Speen Moors
     
    0630 - 1030 Canal
    1045 - 1230 Speen
     
    Mild, calm and overcast. River low
     
    5 Perch - biggest 1¼lb from the canal
    1 Chub ;1lb 15oz, 2 dace, 2 roach, 3 gudgeon and a brownie from Speen.
     
    Frustrating morning's perching - made so by lots of scattering fry but limited action on lobs. If I didn't get a bite straight away the signals snaffled the worm.
    Had meant to fish longer at Speen but couldn't get access to the swims I wanted to (locked gate).
     
     
  11. Chris Plumb

    17 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet, Nr Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2300
     
    Warm, overcast and muggy - shirtsleeves all evening!
     
    1 Chub 3lb 7oz, 8 Roach - all small save for one which was circa 8oz, 5 Dace - 2 gooduns at 8oz. 1 Grayling, 1 Gudgeon, 4 Brownies - 3 between 1¾- 2¼lb!
     
     
    Familiar pattern of the summer - an hour's trotting for a good mixed bag - including the hoped for chub followed by 4 hours of crayfish rattles and bat line-strikes (and no barbel!!!). Trout were a bit of a menace - making good imitations of small barbel as they bore deep whilst trying to bring them up in the current. More silver fish in the river than for many a year which is some small comfort!
  12. Chris Plumb

    5/6 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Harris Lake, Marsh Farm fishery, Milford
     
    1900 - 1000
     
    Warm, becalmed and overcast night - don't know what the minimum temperature was but it must have been min-teens ºC. Simply a lovely night to be out fishing - could've got away with shirtsleeves ALL night if it hadn't been for the odd persistent mossie!
     
    12 Crucians; 7 over 2lb (!) best 2lb 7oz. 6 Tench; all over 3lb - best 2, 4lb 7oz & 4lb 14oz. A roach (small).
     
    Last hurrah at this venue for another summer and it didn't disappoint! Action picked up after a slow start - then followed the usual pattern of 2 or 3 fish in quick succession followed by a bite-less hour or so. Sun breaking through the cloud cover at dawn, slowed action even further and I had just 2 fish in the last 3 hours - though one of them was my biggest tench of the session. All my fish float fishing the margins - or a rod length out - most fish on chopped prawn - though I also had 3 fish on meat and 3 on cockle. Paul in the next swim had a near identical but opposite return. 18 fish as well - though his was made up of 13 tench to 5lb and 5 cruicans to 2¼.
  13. Chris Plumb

    3 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    1815 - 2230
     
    Warm sunny evening becoming quite cool quickly with a very heavy dew.
     
    21 dace - a dozen of which were 8oz or better - best weighed in at 10oz. 2 roach (small) 3 gudgeon and a brownie.
     
    Cracking evening trotting - really good stamp of dace from a stretch of river I've not fished in over a decade. Darkness saw me switch to the lead for a couple of hours - alas the only interest I got was from the signals. Definitely a swim that I will return to soon on the float though!
  14. Chris Plumb

    30 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    0930 - 1330
     
    Breezy with hazy sunshine.
     
    20+perch
     
    Reports that the tench were at last beginning to show up in this lake - which was restocked with non-carp species after a total fish kill 8 years ago - had me returning for a recce session. Fished a couple of swims which both had enough bubbling activity to give me cause for optimism but regardless of what bait I tried (maggot, prawn, cockle, meat or pellet) the only fish pulling the float under were perch - and not very big ones at that!
  15. Chris Plumb

    23 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Thatcham

    Warm and sunny. River down to normal summer levels.
     
    0700 - 1015
     
    1 chub 1½lb, 9 dace, 1 grayling and 6 brownies to 1¼lb
     
    1045 - 1300
     
    7 dace, 1 roach, 2 grayling and a brownie.
     
    Pleasant's morning trotting on a couple of my favourite venues. Funny how grayling suddenly turn up every couple of years (the 2 caught at my 2nd swim being particularly surprising!). Chub first cast, augured well - pity a bigger one or a barbel didn't show up. A pair of canoeists paddling through my second swim 20 minutes after arriving didn't help matters either!
  16. Chris Plumb

    15/16 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA Lake - Widmead
     
    1930 - 0645
     
    Mild night despite clearing skies - very pleasant under the stars (and some late Perseids). No morning dew either.
     
    7 Carp - all between 4lb 14oz & 9lb 7oz. 1 Tench; 4lb 14oz. 2 roach and a rudd.
     
    Steady session with a 5lb+ carp 1st cast and a fish every hour or so thereafter until it got light when bites dried up completely. Had intended to fish a different lake - but it was rather busy (school holidays - sigh!) so dropped into a swim that I'd walked past on my way to the swim I'd wanted to fish, which was seething with bubbles.
    4 fish on the feeder (2 on pellet, 2 on boilies), and 4 fish on the float in the margins (3 on chopped prawn - including the tinca, the other on maggot).
  17. Chris Plumb

    20 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Bucklebury Ponds
     
    1000 -1400
     
    Warm, overcast and muggy.
     
    6 Bream to 1½lb. 1 Carp 2½lb. 5 roach, 5 perch.
     
    Another weekend dominated by athletics (up in Loughborough yesterday watching Sam), so another quick 'snatched session at my local. Bites not as prolific as last Sunday (when it wasn't as bright) but still enough to keep me amused for a few hours...
  18. Chris Plumb

    13 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Bucklebury Ponds
     
    1030 - 1430
     
    Overcast, muggy with light drizzle at times.
     
    2 Tench; 2lb & 1lb 6oz, 8 Bream most ± 1lb. 1 Carp 2lb 13oz. 10 roach & 4 perch.
     
    Pleasant session watching my float dither, dip and disappear with satisfying regularity. Most fish on pellet apart from the tench which fell to maggot - had to switch to pellet when the perch moved in!
  19. Chris Plumb

    9 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    1830 - 2230
     
    Sunny and breezey. Temp 16ºC when I packed up but felt much, much cooler in the stiff breeze - intended to stay longer but was under dressed!
     
    1 Chub 2lb 5oz, 2 dace and a brownie of about a pound.
     
    Another evening of not catching barbel - looks like I'm gonna have to start stalking Viney! took the trotting rod as always and spent the first hour eeking out a few fish from a couple of swims. Then spent 3 hours getting increasingly cold watching 2 isotopes do nothing in particular save bounce up and down a couple of times when a bat hit the line!
  20. Chris Plumb

    29 June

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    0500 - 0930
     
    Overcast and cool - with sunny spells for last hour.
     
    1 fantailed goldfish (!) 2lb 3oz. 6 Rudd (4 really chunky ones in the 8-10oz bracket), 4 perch, 1 roach.
     
    Breakfast session after crucians - so somewhat disappointed with a goldfish - think its the 3rd time I've caught it (last time was Oct 2010 when it was a couple of ounces heavier!). Some nice rudd were a bonus however - wasn't too aware of them even being IN this lake!
  21. Chris Plumb
    River Kennet - Newbury
     
    1830 - 2300
     
    Sunny with temps dropping quite quickly after sun down - but perfectly pleasant under the trees! River still very full.
     
    1 chub 1lb 11oz, 10 dace, 1 roach, 1 gudgeon and a brownie of 2lb 4oz!
     
    A quick return to the swim where I had a barbel on the float yesterday - reasoning that where there's one....! However it was a case of watching the float dip with satisfying regularity for an hour and a half, followed by three hours staring at stationary isotopes - which only moved when bats flew into the line which happened every few seconds for 20 minutes or so around 10.00pm.
    So all the fish on the float - the trout gave a good impression of being a barbel - really quite disappointed to coax it all the way up in the current only to see spots and an adipose fin when I eventually got it to the surface! Had intended to stay till midnight - but my first sighting of an otter in nearly 2 years (it nearly ran over my feet!) decided me on an early exit!
  22. Chris Plumb
    NAA still water - Widmead
     
    0430 - 0900
     
    Overcast and cool (ish)
     
    Doz+ rudd, 1 perch.
     
    A morning that didn't get off to the best of starts as I couldn't even get into the venue I wanted to fish - the latch on the gate was jammed - looks like someone had vandalised it! So this was very much plan B - and a not very successful plan at that - the rudd were a pain - even when fishing meat and I couldn't even tempt a carp off the top....
  23. Chris Plumb

    13 March

    By Chris Plumb,

    0630 - 1000 K&A Canal, Enborne
    1015 - 1130 Speen Moors
    1330 - 1800 River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    Foggy morning - clearing by midday to give a bright sunny afternoon. River HIGH and clear.
     
    Canal - 5 Perch, 2lb & 1lb 8oz plus 3 little-uns. 1 Chub 1¼lb. Successful dawn raid after a stripey or 2. Chub sicked up a massive gob of brown bread (locals feeding the ducks!)
     
    Speen - 2 Brownies 1½lb & 2½lbs More of a walk than a fishing session - but spent 20mins running a float through the little weirpool (though river still so high you wouldn't know it was a weir!)
     
    Thatcham - 1 chub - 2lb 9oz. Only fish in the first 20 mins thereafter not a lot despite Rusty arriving to offer tea and encouragement! Missed a few half chances - including an unseen fish I played nearly to the net after he had bade me farewell - but which then somehow threw the hook - ho hum!
     
  24. Chris Plumb

    2 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Newbury (plus an hour or so blanking on the canal)
     
    0730 - 1215
     
    Bright and Sunny 5-7ºC. River high though not carrying a lot of colour.
     
    4 Perch; 2lb 0oz, 1lb 6oz, 1lb 3oz, 12oz. 5 Dace, 3 Roach & 9 Gudgeon.
     
    A morning spent 'sharing' a large Kennet flood slack with Paul. In truth we rather expected more action (Paul only managed ½doz dace and a gudgeon) and hoped a chub or two would have put in an appearance. Still I'm not complaining with 4 fat perch - all of them were particularly plump! Three perch on maggot, one on lobs (the 2 was on double red mag).
  25. Chris Plumb

    11 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0830 - 1245
     
    Bright and sunny 7ºC. River high as you'd expect but clear.
     
    22 Grayling. 4 over 1lb - best 1lb 5oz. 9 Brownies - biggest 2½lb.
     
    As ever the default venue when the Kennet is in flood. Paul and I leapfrogged swims all morning and when we compared notes afterwards had had a near identical day - Paul had 21 ladies, also getting 4 over 1lb - his best 1lb 7oz - also had a bonus roach of around ½lb. Very pleasant morning....
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