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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    7 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Itchen
     
    0800 - 1815
     
    Mainly cloudy with sunny spells. 11ºC -> 15ºC -> 9ºC.
     
    41 Grayling; 18 over 1lb, best 5 - 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 14ozX2. 2 Chub 4lb 6oz, 3lb 7oz. 10 Brownies to circa 1¾lb.
     
    A 2lb crucian and a 2lb grayling in the same week!! River was low and consequently the fish were quite spooky so it was a case of catch a couple and rest the swim - my biggest 2 fish both came from swims that had already been fished 3 or 4 times. About half my fish on trotted red corn - including most of the bigger fish, the rest of single red maggot. Paul had a frustrating morning - but did much better in the afternoon once he changed down his hook size (!) - think he ended up with a couple of dozen ladies to 1lb 14oz....(and a couple of chub too )
    Piccies of one of my 2lbers, one of Paul's chub and a belligerent cow who took exception to where Paul wanted to fish and refused to budge!



  2. Chris Plumb

    7 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    Lower Itchen Fishery
     
    0730 - 1800
     
    Cool, calm and cloudy. A lovely benign autumn day. River quite low.
     
    70 Grayling (!): Best 1lb 12oz with nearly half the fish over 1lb - I weighed the first 6 fish I caught (to get my eye in!) and 5 were over a lb (but not by much!) pretty much every fish caught was of a similar stamp. 10 Brownies; 1½ - 2½lb. 1 Chub 2lb 5oz.
     
    Cracking days sport - which reached Mr Castwell proportions by the end of the day (yet another 1lb grayling) - tried as I might I couldn't find any really big ladies - the only 2lber turning out to be a chub! Still twas nice to see the river so full of fish. Most fish on trotted red corn (I got through nearly 4 cans of the stuff!).
     

     
     
     
  3. Chris Plumb

    7 October

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Speen Moors
     
    0645 - 1300
     
    Bright after a chilly start - river quite low despite yesterday's rain.
     
    2 Chub; 3lb 6oz & a chublet, 3 Roach, 1 Gudgeon & 3 brownies - all pounders.
     
    Not so much a fishing session as a hike with full pack. Walked pretty much the entire fishery - covered 9.7km in the process which is over 6 miles in old money! And there's been a few changes since last I was here - the top of the fishery has been scalped - a whole wood as been felled and bankside vegetation removed on one of my favourite stretches - bit of a shame though I understand they were mainly Ash which were diseased - still a shock to see - looks completely different. Mainly struggled for bites all morning (I spent the early hours fishing lobs hoping for a perch or two) but the only fish that put a bend into the rod were ruddy trout. Eventually dropped into a favourite swim of old and snaffled a nice chub.
     
  4. Chris Plumb

    7 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham
     
    1830 - 2300
     
    Cool and very breezy. Continuous rain & drizzle from 2000. 12ºC. Autumn has arrived! And to think I even brought a pair of binoculars with me last night hoping to take a peak at the supernova in M101 - fat chance with 100% cloud cover.....
     
    6 Chub; 2 'pounders' and 4 chublets. 3 Dace, 3 Roach (1 over ½lb), 3 gudgeon.
     
    Similar session to last week - though a few hundred yards downstream. Paul had spotted a couple of nice looking swims which he insisted we had to have a go at. And indeed they did look good. Also found a very nice trotting swim just upstream which will definitely get more attention - especially next summer. Good thing I brought the float rod last night. Had the 2 'bigger' chub first and last casts - and have a strong suspicion they were the same fish! A switch to the lead at dark produced nothing - a crayfish put in an early appearance and its brothers and sisters showed sparodic interest after that - but the biggest problem was the rafts of weed coming downstream - made it very difficult to keep a bait in one place for more than 10 mins. Paul suffered a similar fate and when the rain eased slightly at 11pm we took that as our cue to call it a night.....
  5. Chris Plumb

    7 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Alders Lake - Thatcham
     
    1800 - 2315
     
    Warm, still evening. 16ºC when I packed up.
     
    3 Bream ; 5lb 6oz (again!), 5lb 0oz, 4lb 2oz.
     
    A lovely benign September evening. Bites not as prolific as last Friday (not that prolific is ever an apt adjective here!), but caught enough bream to get well and truely slimed!
  6. Chris Plumb

    7 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham
     
    0900 - 1430
     
    Overcast and fairly warm (18ºC). River low and clear.
     
    6 Chub: Biggest 3lb 15oz the rest all less than half that! 3 Doz Dace and Roach in roughly equal nos. A couple of really nice dace of 10 & 11oz and quite a few roach in the 6-8oz class with a couple bigger ones (best went 12oz). 3 Perch - best nearly 1lb, 1 Bleak.
     
    Lovely day's trotting. Did try a couple of hours ledgering - with no returns (not even a crayfish!)
  7. 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...
  8. Chris Plumb

    7/8 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Horseshoe Lake, Yateley
     
    1930 - 0630
     
    Clear night - misty morning, Temp 22ºC ar dusk---->12ºC at Dawn
     
    1 bream 4¼lb
     
    Well that was a good nights sleep!!! Had only bite (and fish) within 1½hrs of arriving (on ledgered pellet) and hardly another touch all night. No further bites on pellet. Float fished meat, black pudding, broken up Meteor boilies in the margins. A few half-hearted bites on BP and the boilies but nothing hittable.
  9. Chris Plumb

    7/8 September

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    1930 - 0730
     
    Clear, still night, quite chilly (5.5ºC) by dawn.
     
    5 Carp; 12lb 10oz, 11lb 15oz, 11lb 6oz, 11lb 3oz, 10lb 10oz.
     
    A repeat of last weekend for Paul and myself - hoping for a repeat performance on the crucian front. Alas, they were conspicuous by their absence with little evidence of fish rolling. Paul and I did both suffer some curious bites on the float which neither of us could connect with - and for me at least I had to content my self with feeding bits of bread in the margins and waiting for them to start disappearing before offering one with a hook in it! Last carp and smallest did come on float fished prawn - meant for the crucians. As last week Paul had many more carp (he did fish the method OR the pellet waggler!) - but when I left still hadn't managed a double!
     
    Sunrise over Willows Lake...

     
    X marks the spot?

  10. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham
     
    0530 - 0830
     
    Bright and sunny - 12-15ºC
     
    2 Carp: 3 & 4¼lb. 1 skimmmer, ½doz perch & roach.
     
    Float fishing - aledgedly for crucians! Lake very quiet.
  11. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Nr Thatcham.
     
    0630 - 0930
     
    Overcast and muggy with a little drizzle at times. River down a few inches on a month ago but still in fine nick with little colour.
     
    2 Chub; 2lb 2oz, & 1¼lb, 6 Dace - all really chunky specimens, 2 Gudgeon & 4 brownies biggest 1¾lb.
     
    Pleasant early trotting session - spent a fascinating 10 minutes watching a barbel feeding no more than 3 feet from my waders - obviously taking grubs and whatever I was disturbing with my feet - tried to handline a maggot to it - but that spooked it!
  12. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - Colthrop
     
    1000 - 1100
     
    Warm and muggy.
     
    6 Dace, 4 Roach & 3 brownies - biggest around 1¼lb.
     
    Quick trotting session while Jaq picked blackberries. (Blackberry crop not a patch on last year!)A couple of the dace and one of the roach needed the net.
  13. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    ​River Kennet, Newbury.
     
    1800 - 2315
     
    ​Cool, overcast evening. River down to usual summer levels.
     
    ​1 Barbel; 6lb 2oz. 1 Chub 1½lb. 30+ Dace. 1 Roach.
     
    Hurray, a barbel at last! Started off with the trotting rod as per usual - and again found a bit of river with stacks of silver fish. Then expected to spend a few hours looking at near static quiver tips (apart from the odd bat crashing into the line). However, just as it got properly dark the pellet rod (fishing a boilie on the other rod) nearly got pulled in and I was in to my first barbel of the summer - and a very welcome one it was too!
  14. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,

    Middle Kennet Weirpool - Marsh Benham
    0600 - 1200
    Hot and sultry - 19º -> 27ºC. River a little on the low side but not as bad as it can be in August!
    12 Chub: 6 over lb, best 2 both went 4lb 3oz (different fish) - nice to see some small ones. 3 Bream; 2¾ to just under 4lb. 30 Dace. 20+ Roach. 4 Bleak. 1 Brown Trout - 6lb 1oz (!!) & 2 Rainbows of 2½ & 3½lbs.
    Cracking morning's trotting - though the big brownie was on ledgered meat and had me convinced I was into a barbel for a few minutes! 
    Don't usually take pics of troot - usually try to avoid them - but this was one impressive spottie.

    And Rusty will be pleased to see I've done some 'gardening'...

    Bream pic (makes a change from Chub), this was the biggest - all 3 fought surprisingly hard in the flow!

  15. Chris Plumb

    8 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0630 - 1230
    Torrential rain for first 90 mins or so followed by showers (some quite lumpy!). Cool for August (13ºC) and quite breezy - sun eventually appeared for the last hour or so.
    2 Chub: 3lb 13oz & a smallun. 1 Bream; 3lb 14oz. 4 Doz Roach & Dace (mainly roach - nothing of any size). 3 Bleak. 1 Rainbow Trout - 3½lb.
    I read 3 weather forecasts on Friday evening and whilst all predicted a showery weekend they all also said that Sunday would be the drier day. PAH! Didn't get a drop of rain yesterday morning - first shower appeared at lunchtime - and yet this morning it was like sitting through a monsoon. Thankfully I'd just about got set up before the heavens opened and quickly abandoned my trotting for a couple of hours sitting under a brolly, ledgering meat - and almost thankful that I didn't get a bite! Eventually the rains abated enough to resume running a float through various swims. Was hoping for a few more chub - though the bream was a nice bonus and didn't half put up a scrap in the fast current! Also harvested my first blackberries of the summer!

  16. Chris Plumb
    River Kennet backstream, Padworth
     
    1900 - 2330
     
    Warm, yet clear evening. Lovely night to be out - got to see some early Perseids.
     
    3 Barbel; 8lb 7oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 6oz.
     
    Bit of an exploratory session - fished a couple of new swims - and got stung to blazes by the nettles - clearly 2 spots that have not seen an angler this season!! Fished in rotation - plan was to give each spot an hour or until I caught - whichever was soonest then switch. As it happened both swims produced a fish first cast (the 2 smaller ones) with the 1st swim then producing the 8 after being 'rested'. A useful and informative session - well worth the extra effort (and the stings!)
     

  17. Chris Plumb

    8 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Newbury
     
    0730 - 1030
     
    Rain, continual unrelenting rain! 5ºC
     
    5 Grayling (2 'pounders', best 1lb 7oz), 12 roach, 2 Brownies (biggest 1¾lb)
     
    Rather hoped I'd sneak an hour of so of daylight before the rains came but the 1st drops started to fall on my 1st trot through. A couple of roach were ½ decent - around 8-10oz. All grayling a decent size (10oz+).
  18. Chris Plumb

    8 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet - nr Thatcham
     
    0745 - 1015
     
    Cool, overcast and breezy with some light drizzle. Travelling light so forgot thermometer (in other bag!). River low and looking rather threadbare.
     
    2 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 2lb 15oz. 3 Grayling 10 - 12oz+. 1 Brownie c12oz
     
    Every year I try and get a chub in every month of the season - so that's December ticked off! In truth I was hoping to make a re-acquaintance with the 5lb+ fish I caught from this swim back in the summer but given the low water a brace of 3lbers will do just fine!! Grayling are packing on some weight - second one I caught was close to a pound - hope they're still around this time next year.....
     
    Big gob...
     

  19. Chris Plumb

    8 December

    By Chris Plumb,

    K&A Canal - Woolhampton
    1330 - 1615
    Bright & breezy - with one very lumpy shower. AT 10º ->6ºC
    7 Perch; 5 over 1lb, best 3, 1lb 9oz, 1lb 11oz & 2lb 2oz.
    Similar conditions to Friday's session though slightly LESS windy. Fished a different swim and had all 3 bigger ones  in the last half an hour - getting progressively bigger.  All 3 had damaged flanks, seems they've all escaped the attentions of the local pike!
  20. Chris Plumb

    8 December

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0945 - 1415
    Cool with a bright start - clouding over (thankfully). AT 4º-10ºC.  River VERY high - highest I've seen it this winter - yet with surprisingly little colour considering it rained most of yesterday!
    2 Chub: 3lb 10oz, 3lb 3oz. 2 Perch: 3lb 0oz , 2lb 7oz. 1 Roach (small), 1 Grayling (ditto). 1 Brownie - c2lb.
    Started off in my downstream flood swim - as it is more shady and had both chub from it (plus the red-fin, lady and brownie). Moved upstream after lunch as it was clouding over and my first swim had been trashed by the trout. Only 2 bites in the afternoon but they both produced quality stripeys including a second 3lber from this swim this winter.
    A fat 3lber!

  21. Chris Plumb

    8 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Lambourn - Shaw
     
    1130 - 1430
     
    Bright, sunny and cool - 4ºC. River 'full' and clear - travelled very light so no thermometer.
     
    19 Grayling - 5 over 1lb, best 2 of 1lb 6oz each. 5 small Roach 3 Brown Trout (½ - ¾lb).
     
    Pleasant afternoon in the snow - all fish on trotted red maggot.
     
    Snow fish......

     

     
  22. Chris Plumb

    8 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Frome - Wool
     
    0800 - 1500
     
    Bright and sunny after a frosty and misty start. River in great nick - clear with good pace - 0.94cm on the East Stoke river gauge.
     
    10 Grayling; Half over a lb. Best 3; 2lb 3oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 9oz. 1 Sea Trout; c2lb.1 Salmon parr, 1 Trout parr.
     
    A 'sparkly' day in Dorset which got off to a real flyer - with the biggest 3 grayling listed above all on the bank by 0830!. Once the sun was up for the day the fishing turned into a bit of a grueller, catching wise - though was a very pleasant days angling in the sun. First time I've actually caught on sweetcorn from here too - so the experiment of soaking orange corn in salmon oil met with limited success (I had 2 fish on it - though the 2lber was on maggot). In the past the Frome fish have turned their noses up at my red corn (which catches me plenty of fish on the Itchen) so today was an opportunity to try something different.
     

     
     
  23. Chris Plumb

    8 February

    By Chris Plumb,

    River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham
    0745 - 1200
    Bright and mild. River down an inch or two on last visit (10 January)- and quite clear.
    3 Chub; All 1¾ - 2½lb. 1½doz Roach - all a 'nice' size but nothing over 8oz. 8 Dace - most small with one chunky one of 8oz. 8 Brownies 1-2½lb & 3 Rainbow's to 4½lb
    Another morning failing not to catch trout! Fished all the usual chub banker swims - but they were mainly full of trout. The rainbows as ever gave a very chubby like fight so was doubly disappointed to see that flash of pink as I got them to the surface.
  24. Chris Plumb

    8 January

    By Chris Plumb,

    ​K&A Canal Enborne
     
    ​ 0800 - 1115
     
    ​River Kennet - Thatcham
     
    ​1200 - 1430
     
    ​Murky, mild and drizzly.
     
    ​Canal; 7 Perch to circa 1lb, 1 Pike 4lb 11oz.
    ​River: 1 Chub; 1½lb, 5 Grayling, 2 Dace, 2 Perch, 4 Brownies to 2lb+
     
    ​Had planned to spend all morning hunting stripeys on the canal - but there was way too much boat (or rather canoe) activity for good sport. So switched to a couple of hours on the river - rather surprised to get so many grayling from here....
  25. Chris Plumb

    8 January

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet carrier - Marsh Benham
    0915 - 1345
    Cold, calm and cloudy. Temps hovering around 0ºC all day (-1º when I arrived, +1º when I packed up). River in fine winter condition - gin clear and at normal levels.
    9 Chub; 6X2lb+ - best 3lb 3oz (first fish caught!). A doz Roach - all a 'nice' size but nothing to trouble the scales. 5 Dace; best a clonker of 13oz. Half a doz Brownies - most around the 2lb mark - with one nearly double that.
    Got a few days off either side of this coming weekend as I have a 'big' birthday coming up. Original plans had been to get away somewhere (Jaq won't tell me where!) but those were scuppered by Tier 4 restrictions before Christmas. At least I can get out on the bank I thought - so REALLY pleased at the efforts of the Angling Trust this week in lobbying to allow us to fish during the current lockdown. I've been an individual member since the early days of the AT and its nice to see them exercising some clout!
    A benign if somewhat cold winters chubbing - always an obliging species when the mercury is down - and thankfully they just about outnumbered the trout today. Merv had said he'd had some good dace from here when I bumped into him at Speen recently - and he wasn't wrong - I thought it was another chub as I'd had a couple of that stamp - one of my biggest ever from this bit of water.
     
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