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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    5 February

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Frome - Wool
    0800 - 1430
    Bright and sunny. Cool 3º-6ºC. River bank high - but not in the fields any more! Still with a slight tinge of colour. 1.27m on the E Stoke river guage (I've only fished the river once before when it's been this high!).
    14 Grayling; 9 over a lb. Best 4: 1lb 12oz, 1lb 13oz, 2lb 0oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Brownies; a 3lber, another half that and a couple of smalluns. 1 Sea Trout; 1½lb - a bar of silver - still covered in sea lice!
    The Frome coarse season is only 4 months (Nov - Feb) and for most of the last 2 months it has been well over the banks and only been remotely fishable in the last week or so. The river was still very pacey and today's tactics were about finding slightly quieter water. All fish from just 4 swims with 2 of them producing nice ladies after lengthy rests. I also spent nearly ¼hr connected to a decent salmon! I'd started to get the better of it and was wondering how the hell I was going to get it in the net when the hook pulled. Next trot through and it took my maggot again resulting in another 5 minute battle - with the same result ! 
    Nice to see some large ladies returning - not had a 2lber from here since 2019.
     
     

  2. Chris Plumb

    5 February (Part 2)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet and Avon Canal - Woolhampton
    1500 - 1700
    Overcast and very windy with occaisional (and un-forecasted!) drizzly showers. AT 9ºC. Completely different weather to earlier in the day.
    3 Perch; 1¼lb, another one half that and a tiddler.
    Bites at a premium and a very stiff downstream wind didn't help one bit! No 'witching hour' switch on either.
  3. Chris Plumb

    5 February (Part1)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0900 - 1200
    Cool, with milky sunshine. AT 2ºC ->9ºC. River still low though up an inch or so on my last visit at the begining of Jan.
    5 Chub: Best 3lb 11oz, the others all ½-1½lb. 7 Dace - one netter of around 8oz. 1 Roach; small. 2 Grayling. 2 Brownies - both ¾-1lb (Possibly same one!)
    A quick sesh at my favourite chub swim - and to check out the recent efforts of the working party here (nice work chaps!). I'm still hoping to make a winter acquaintance of the 5lber I had from this swim back in the summer - but the only decent one was well shy of that stamp - and kept me waiting until well into the session to make an appearance. Usual bait and wait tactics turned up grayling and dace first and second trot!
  4. Chris Plumb

    5 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0745 - 1315
     
    Showery/bright/showery. River up and carrying a little colour after overnight rain (forgot my thermometer).
     
    1 Chub, 3lb 14oz and 8 chublet. 4 perch 2lb 3oz, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 6oz. 3 doz dace,roach & gudgeon.
     
    Spent 1st 2 hours searching the usual spots for perch with float fished lobs without a touch. Switch to maggot brought all the silvers and the chub. Switched back to lobs for the last ½hour and had all 4 from a swim I haven't caught a perch from for 4/5 years!
  5. 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!

  6. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    0500-1100
     
    Showery and breezy 15ºC
     
    2 Carp (3-4lb), 2 Crucians (both circa 1¼lb), 1 Tench (scraper pounder), a dozen roach & perch.
     
    Slow morning. Long periods without a bite interspersed with short bursts of activity - even struggled for bites on maggot at times. All fish caught float fishing
  7. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    NAA Still Water - Thatcham
     
    0430 - 0815
     
    Overcast and mild. AT 63ºF at 0430. WT 73ºF
     
    Blanked!
     
    And blanked in some style too!! This is the 'easiest' water in the NAA portfolio - the one where they hold junior fish-ins. And yet for nearly 4 hours I couldn't buy a bite - despite fishing a single red maggot for most of that time - suicidal tactics usually if you wanted to avoid being plagued by small stuff. Paul did at least manage a couple of bites resulting in a carp & a crucian - and despite poaching in his swim for that last couple of hours no more bites came. I suspect the high WT and possibly low DO levels may be to blame!
  8. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley
     
    1800 - 2330
     
    Clearing skies - cooler than of late - down to 14ºC.
     
    2 Tench; 7lb 0oz, 3lb 2oz. 1 Crucian 2lb 13oz. 1 Bream 2½lb.
     
    Well, I'm certainly on a roll at the moment! My biggest ever Tinca from this venue and my 2nd best ever Crucian from here. After a really barren few seasons on the Crucian front this is now my 3rd, 2½lb+ fish from 3rd different venue! Lots of bubbling and activity - but nothing but line bites until it got dark. First fish - the big tench on the stroke of 10pm (quite literally - I could hear the church clock chiming as the float went flat). The next 3 fish followed in the next hour culminating in the Crucian caught to the sound of the church clock striking 11pm! All fish on meat around 2 rod lengths out - no activity at all on the margin rod...
     

     

  9. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Wylies Lake - Newbury
     
    0430 - 1200
     
    Warm and mainly overcast. 10º->25ºC
     
    8 Perch!
     
    Not fished here for some seasons - after it recieved a rather severe scalping which took out all the margin vegetation. However I had heard of good tench catches this season - and even whispers of some half decent crucians showing up. A recent recce confirmed that it hadn't received another haircut recently - in fact it looked just as I remembered it - so with some anticipation I was setting up in a favoured swim of old at first light. I needn't have bothered! The lake looked very quiet and out of sorts - the odd fish topping but very very few bubbles - and those patches which did show looked too big for feeding tench. As for the fishing, I was very quickly between a rock and a hard place. Starting with meat and/or black pudding (my PB tench was caught on this from this pit back in 2003) quickly brought in the crayfish. Maggot was instantly nailed by the legions of perch. I fished most of the morning with 6mm hookable pellets - which at least avoided the attentions of the crays and the perch - and everything else! By the end I was on sub 2lb bottoms and size 18s and still couldn't buy a bite.
     
    Ho hum - can't win them all!
  10. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal - Enborne
     
    2000 - 0000
     
    Hot and sultry - shirtsleeves all evening - still 16ºc when I packed up
     
    3 Perch; a tiddler and a couple of 'nice ones' best circa 1lb. 7 dace and 2 chublets.
     
    Had a notion and a plan to try and get a canal tench or two from here - thinking that if Paul can get one in January - July should be doddle! Wrong! Only gratifying thing was the number of fingerling dace and chublets - which IS good to see (there were loads and was quite difficult NOT to catch them!)
  11. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Colthrop & Brimpton
     
    1000 - 1500
     
    Cool (ish), overcast with drizzly rain at times. River down an inch or two - but still at a good level for this time of year.
     
    4 chub; Best 3lb 6oz. 6 dace. A doz + brownies to 3lb 2oz!
     
    Jungle fishing! Travelled light and covered quite a bit of water - looks like I'm the first to visit Cothrop this summer - had to cut my way in through the brambles on at least 5 swims! Trout were a bit of a pain - especially the big one as I thought I was into a barbel! Nice to get a few chub, biggest was from Brimpton - the other 3 all in the 1-2lb bracket from Colthrop.
  12. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,

    Bucklebury Ponds
     
    1100 - 1415
     
    Warm (20º+), overcast and quite breezy.
     
    1 Carp; 3lb 11oz, 2 Skimmers. A dozen+ Roach & Perch (in roughly equal nos.)
     
    Short session to my nearest water. All fish on float fished maggot...
  13. Chris Plumb

    5 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    0930 - 1330
    Warm, overcast with drizzle AND sunny spells. AT 17º-20ºC. River at normal summer levels.
    2 Chub: 3lb 10oz & 2lb 13oz. 5 Brownies - one of around a lb the others 6-12oz.
    'Banker' chub swim produces a brace - the second and bigger one after resting it for 90 mins. The interim was spent exploring new swims and failing to catch anything else without an adipose fin.
  14. Chris Plumb

    5 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet carrier - Marsh Benham
    0900 - 1400
    Cool, overcast and breezy with showers to finish. AT 4º - 6ºC (but felt much chillier in the stiff breeze). River up a couple of inches but still at the bottom end of normal!
    6 Chub; 3X3lbers 3lb 13oz (yes I had another one shortly after you left - Steve!) and a brace at 3lb 8oz - possibly same fish - caught 90mins apart from same swim - though chub are not usually so careless!, 2lber and a couple of 'pounders'. 1 Roach - small & a Rainbow of circa 3lb.
    Started off on the main river in high hopes that the extra water will have brought the fish out - but all my usual haunts were bereft of fish - not so much as a bite. So all fish from the carrier - in fact most from a shallow run at the top of the fishery - catching chub from the shallow-est part of the venue - not at all what I expected!
  15. Chris Plumb

    5 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Lambourn - Shaw
    1000 - 1400
    Cool and mainly cloudy. AT 7º-9ºC. River VERY high but as clear as gin. 1.96m on the Shaw gauge (21cm above top of normal range) - first time I've ever seen sandbags on the Lambourn!
    6 Grayling - a couple of pounders (though not by much). 5 Brownies - biggest 3lb+ with another around half that and the rest all small.
    Scratchy morning on a very pacey river. No swim gave up more than 2 fish and resting and returning was largely unsuccessful - though the last hour was a lot brigther which didn't help!
  16. Chris Plumb

    5 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0700 - 1100
     
    Dull and overcast - some very light drizzle. AT 52ºF, WT 50ºC. River up a couple of inches - some colour but fining down.
     
    7 Perch (2lb 13oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz, 1¼lb and 2 small-uns), 1 Trout (2¾lb), 1 Chub (small), ½doz Roach, 3 Gudgeon.
     
    Perfect conditions for perch - 2lbers all came in a rush between 0800 - 0900 - all caught on lobs. Smaller perch and trout form the weirpool on trotted maggot.
  17. Chris Plumb

    5 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal, Avington
     
    0645 - 1200
     
    Cool and overcast. AT 2º -> 8ºC. WT 10.6ºC
     
    4 Perch; 2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 10oz and a tiddler. 2 Chub 1lb 13oz & 2lb0oz. 14 Roach, 2 Dace and 5 Skimmers.
     
    Thought I was taking a bit of a gamble after the first proper frosts of the autumn - but a quick reading of the WT on arrival gave me cause for optimism. As it turned out the only takes I had on lobs were from the chub - with the perch arriving late in the morning on float fished maggot.
  18. Chris Plumb

    5 November

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne *
    Northcroft Stream^
     
    0700 - 0945*
    1000 - 1230^
     
    Cold and bright start - clouding over by the time I left. 0ºC - 8ºC
     
    7 Perch; 4 over 1lb, best 2 1lb 9oz & 2lb 0oz (hooray!)*
    6 Dace, 4 Roach, 1 Gudgeon and a brownie.^
     
    A lovely crisp morning - not the most ideal conditions for stripeys thankfully no one told the fish that. Had to contend with some really inconsiderate dog owners - one even threw a stick in for there dog right where I was fishing - stopping bites for nearly an hour. Another dog peed on my bag - I ended up having to hang it in a tree as pretty much every dog after that wanted to scent it as well!!! NOT impressed! Once my swim was bathed in full sun I wandered down to Northcroft in a fruitless hunt for some chub - glad to get away from the sodding dogs!
  19. Chris Plumb

    5 November

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Dorset Frome - Wool
    0730 - 1400
    Clear frosty start with rod rings icing up for the first hour or so - proper grayling weather! Sunny morning, clouding over by lunchtime. AT -1º -> 11ºC. River at near normal winter levels - 1.01m on the East Stoke gauge.
    9 Grayling; 3 'gooduns', biggest 1lb 11oz. 8 Brownies - all around 6-8oz.
    A scratchy sort of day on a venue that is never prolific (but which can throw up some huge ladies which is why I keep coming back!) most fish from just a couple of spots - rest and return being the order of the day!
    There was meant to be a rare pic of me actually holding (well juggling) a fish. I was chatting to another member when I hooked the biggest one of the day - and he kindly landed it for me and offered to take our portrait - he said he took several shots - but there were none on the camera when I got it home this evening! Thankfully his netsmanship was better than his photography!
  20. Chris Plumb

    5 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Somewhere in Hampshire (guess the river!)
     
    0815 - 1815
     
    Bright and sunny morning after overnight rain. Clouding over after lunch with more (quite heavy at times) rain after 1530. Temps. 11º-14º-11ºC.
     
    26 Grayling; 12 over1lb, best 3, 2lb, 1lb 14oz, 1lb 13oz. 7 Chub between 2¾lb to 4lb 5oz (2,4lbers). 13 Brownies to 3½lb.
     
    Enjoyable (despite the late rain) session where persistence was rewarded. Paul and I only found one prolific swim (and that was mainly full of chub) but if you stuck at it and kept trying something a little new you were usually rewarded with a fish or two. Resting and returning was also a good tactic. Most of my fish were caught on red corn - though not all - the 1-14 was on red maggot. Paul had an almost identical return fishing mainly red maggot. 2 doz grayling to 1¾lb, 6 chub - though 5 of these were 4lbers! and he did better than me at shaking off the trout before landing them - only having to net 6! Oh and he also managed to find a few roach - though I don't think they were particularly big...
     
    As usually trying to get a grayling to pose for a pic was neigh on impossible - this was my 5th (and best!!!!!) attempt at my 2lber.

     
    Chub on the otherhand are much more accommodating - this is the 'smaller' of my 4lbers.

     
    and my bigger one>

  21. Chris Plumb

    5 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    0745 - 1000 (a)
    1030 - 1230 (b )
     
    Bright and sunny after a chilly start (ice on the car for the first time this autumn). River low and carrying a tinge of colour.
     
    (a) 1 Chub (circa 1lb), 16 Roach, 5 Dace, 4 Grayling, a bleak and 2 brownies - biggest circa 1½lb.
    (b ) 3 Chub; 5lb 6oz, 4lb 13oz 4lb 9oz. 6 Dace biggest 10oz (the other 5 weren't much smaller!)
     
    A couple of hours trotting in a couple of swims half a mile apart. Good to see so many silver fish in the river - and very pleasing to find the chub in residence at my second swim - also had time to lose something VERY substantial (possibly a carp). All fish on trotted mag.
     
    Pic of the 5.

     
  22. Chris Plumb

    5 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton
     
    0700 - 1430
     
    Mild, overcast and becalmed - perfect perching weather - pity no one told the perch!
     
    5 Chub to 2lb 2oz. 1 Perch - small, 8 Roach - with a couple needing the net - both just shy of 12oz. 4 Gudgeon & 2 Bleak.
     
    Another frustrating day on the canal - this time I had incessant boat traffic to contend with - had hoped to get at least a couple of hours peace but the first boat came through at 0710 when it was still nearly dark! and thereafter it was constant all morning - can't believe it's this busy in the height of summer! So no interest at all from the stripeys, in a swim that proved a bit of a banker last winter, with just the occasional chub (and roach!) snaffling my lobs.
  23. Chris Plumb

    5 October

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
    0700 - 0900
    Warm, calm and overcast. A lovely, benign autumn morning - perfect perching weather! AT 11º-14ºC
    10 Perch: 7 over 1lb (6 over 1½lb). Best 3: 2lb 13oz, 2lb 6oz & 2lb 4oz
    After Monday's false start (on the Perch front at least) it was a first visit of the season to a more reliable perch venue - though one that didn't produce a 2lber for me last season. That was all put right in the first ½ hour when I had 6 perch from my first 6 casts - including all 3, 2lbers. Bites then suddenly stopped - and it was soon apparent why - Mr Esox - which chased in one of the smaller perch and then bit me off precipitating a, slightly earlier than planned, pack up!
    Biggest of the morning.
     

  24. Chris Plumb

    5 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet, Newbury
     
    0600 - 1030
     
    Bright and sunny. 10 -> 15.5ºC. River lowest I've seen it all season and clear despite rain in the week.
     
    6 Chub: 5lb 2oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 10oz & 2 chublets (circa ¾lb), 1 Perch; 2lb 9oz, 9 Dace, 1 Grayling, 1 doz Roach, 2 doz Gudgeon.
     
    A very satisfactory morning's trotting. Perch just about last fish caught - from low, clear water bathed in bright sunshine - who says they feed best in low light levels!!!
  25. Chris Plumb

    5 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    K & A Canal (flowing), Thatcham.
     
    0615 - 1115
     
    Cool and overcast with the odd spot of drizzle.
     
    1 Chub; 2¼lb, 1 Perch; 1lb 1oz. 21 Dace - to 10oz, 5 Roach, 6 Gudgeon and 2 Brownies - biggest 2½lb.
     
    A morning's trotting - fished half a dozen swims in total, some new and some familiar ones. As ever dace were of a good stamp - though I was also hoping to find some decent chub - especially after getting one first cast!
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