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Chris Plumb

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  1. Chris Plumb

    Season's Bests 2021-22

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    And so another seasons draws to a close - quite a good one on the numbers front with over 400 fish over a lb landed and 12 (14 including trout - which I'd rather not!) different species over a lb caught. The best returns since 14/15 season. Few fish came close to a PB however - so quantity not quality probably sums it up!
    Best Carp 12lb 14oz.  9 July  Freelined Bread flake - Willows. I rarely have carp as my primary quarry - but they are often a by-catch (usually unwelcome!) when I'm after tench etc. However if things are slow I sometimes I will resort to targetting them - if only to put a bend in the rod - this was just such a capture on an evening when the tincas were conspicuous by their absence!

    Best Bream 5lb 7oz 1 September Float fished maggot - Alders Lake, Thatcham. I caught quite a few river bream this year - and they all fought a lot harder than this slab - which, by an ounce, is a new lake best for me.

    Best Chub 5lb 6oz. 8 March Trotted red sweetcorn - River Kennet, Kintbury. Another good year on the chub front - numbers-wise at least, with 133 over 1lb, 2 up on last season and only 3 shy of my all time best return (14/15). Started the season with a 5lber in the first week - A fish I'd loved to have recaptured at its winter weight - but it eluded all efforts!

    Best Tench 4lb 9oz. 27 August Float fished prawn sections - Marsh Farm, Harris Lake. A VERY mediocre summer on the tench front - my first season since 97/98 when I didn't get a Tinca over 5lb!

    Best Pike 4lb 8oz. 4 September. Floating plug - River Kennet, Hambridge. Unusually I didn't get many pike on lobs this year though was plagued with them on my last day - Pike love lobs and are often a common by-catch when I'm perching! This one however was worrying the dace I was bringing in and grabbed the plug pretty much first run through.

    Best Barbel 3lb 15oz. 29 August Trotted maggot - River Kennet, Thatcham. A most welcome sight!

    Best Crucian 3lb 2oz. 27 August. Float fished prawn sections - Marsh Farm, Harris Lake. The reason I make the trip over to Godalming every summer!

    Best Perch 3lb 2oz. 16 October Float fished lobworm - Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne. Autumn perching campaign got off to a great start with this, my second 3lb+ fish from this stretch following my 3-10 fish from last February. Alas this proved to be the highlight of the season on the perch front!

    Best Grayling 1lb 11oz. 5 November & 26 November. Trotted maggot - Dorset Frome - Wool & River Lambourn - Shaw. A slightly disappointing season on the grayling front with trips to the Itchen & Frome failing to produce specimens. This weight is modest for the Frome - but exceptional for this stretch of the Lambourn!

    Best Rudd 1lb 10oz. 23 June. Float Fished Maggot - Johnsons Lake. Highlight of an otherwise disappointing trip - I don't catch many big Rudd and this one was the closest I came all season of getting a PB - being just an ounce shy of a fish I caught from the same lake four years ago.

    Best Roach 1lb 5oz. 8 March. Trotted Maggot - Kennet carrier, Kintbury. A very welcome follow-up to my 1lb dace (see below). Biggest roach for 5 years.

    Best Dace 1lb 0oz. 8 March. Trotted maggot - Kennet carrier, Kintbury. A dace a foot long - what's not to love! This was my 8th career 'pounder' but my first since 23 Jan 2005.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  2. 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.

     
     
  3. Chris Plumb

    Season's Bests 2023-24

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Another season comes to a close - my first one since retiring and as a consequence I got out a lot more especially in the autumn/winter though plans were somewhat thwarted by the high water levels in the rivers. Since I left work in June we have had 9 consecutive months of significantly above average rainfall. The springs of the Kennet 'broke' unusually early in mid-October (they typically start flowing late December/early January) and as a consequence many venues have been inaccessible  let alone fishable. This did at least nudge me to seek out some new swims - with some success!
    Best Carp 11lb 6oz. 25 September Free-lined bread flake - Willows Lake. As usual, I spent most of the summer trying NOT to catch carp in my pursuit of big tench. This was one of the few I caught deliberately on an evening the tincas didn't turn up.

    Best Tench 6lb 8oz. 20 June. Lift method, prawn sections - Willows Lake. A good summer on the tench front with 13 fish over 5lb and this was the best of 3, 6lbers. Rumours of an 8lber coming out of a club water had me putting in a lot of effort for the species!

    Best Chub 6lb 2oz. 9 February. Trotted maggot. River Kennet, Newbury -Whitehouse stretch. A venue I re-discovered as a result of trying to find bits of river I could actually get to in the floods! This particular swim became an instant favourite producing 3 chub over 5½lb in 3 of my first 4 visits to it. I wonder what it will fish like in normal levels! All in all though another great year for chub with 100 over 1lb for the 4th consecutive year, though average weights were down a little with 21 over 4lb of which 6 were over 5.

    Best Bream 5lb 2oz. 16 June. Trotted maggot. River Kennet - Marsh Benham. The majority of my Bream were river caught (same as 22/23 season) and this opening day catch was the only one over 5lb.

    Best Crucian 3lb 4oz. 10 August. Float fished prawn sections. Harris Lake, Marsh Farm Fishery, Milford. I only made 3 trips to Marsh Farm this summer - some quality tench fishing on club waters keeping me on 'home soil' - This super crucian however was a good reminder of why I make the effort - and was actually my biggest ever from Harris.

    Best Perch 3lb 1oz. 21 November. Trotted maggot. River Kennet, Hambridge. For the 2nd season running my season's best perch comes from the river as opposed to the canal though the K&A did throw up a number of big 2s this season.

    Best Grayling 2lb 6oz. 22 October. Trotted red sweetcorn. Lower Itchen. A feature this winter has been how well my local stretches of the River Lambourn have fished for Grayling. I've had over 70 1lb+ fish with quite a few 1½lb or better - including my first 2lber in 2 decades. My season's best however was this stroppy fish (twas a nightmare to try and photograph) from my only trip to the Itchen - my February trip being cancelled due to flooding.

    Best Barbel 2lb 2oz. 11 July. Trotted maggot. River Kennet, Hambridge. Always good to see barbel these days whatever the size and whilst there have been a smattering of half decent barbel coming out this season to other anglers, my only contribution, whilst float caught, was much more modest.

    Best Dace 1lb 1oz. 21 November. Trotted maggot. Kennet & Avon (flowing) canal, Thatcham. My best 'wow' moment of the season! A venue that has thrown up some big autumn dace in the past few years had me returning with the intention of trying to do just that again. Never expected anything of this calibre - my first 1lb+ dace since 04/05 season.

  4. Chris Plumb
    The Gigantic Book of Fishing Stories - Edited and Introduced by Nick Lyons, Foreword by David Halberstam.
     
    OK, I admit I'm a bit of a 'sucker' for angling anthologies - in fact I've just counted up the number of such volumes in my modest angling library and realise I already have 10 such books, not counting this one. Of these, my favourite 3 - and most comprehensive - are BB's, Fisherman's Bedside Book, The Magic Wheel, & Fish, Fishing & the Meaning of Life. I like anthologies as they are a great way of introducing yourself to the works of other authors (its how I discovered the delights of Sheringham's writing). It's not surprising, therefore, that I couldn't help but pick up this book when I happened to be in W.H.Smith's a couple of months ago and given its size it's unlikely to go unnoticed in any bookshop!
    What was a surprise was the range of authors and writers I hadn't even heard of - let alone read, before. I expected to flick through the book - see lots of familiar authors - with stories, oft repeated in other volumes - and lever the book back onto the display shelf. And whilst there was a few names I recognised and the odd article, most looked to be new material for me. A note on the back of the book stating that part of the proceeds were going to support ACA clinched my purchasing decision.
    The book its-self is literally a heavyweight. Measuring 9½ inches by 7¾ and 2¾inches thick, its 800 pages weigh in at wrist wrenching 3¾lbs. It's not the sort of book to slip into your hand luggage for a long flight. Which is a pity because the writing would keep any angler of any piscatorial preference absorbed for any number of hours. The book is not just expansive in sheer physical size but in its scope and range of articles. We have authors from across the centuries and across the Atlantic covering a multitude of topics in a wide variety of locations.
    This anthology differs from most others that I have (including the three mentioned above) in that it features only whole articles and stories - allowing its authors to ‘get into their stride'. Most other such books mix this up with much shorter contributions - sometimes no more than a paragraph or a quotation. Lyons' chooses to give us the whole narrative from each writer. The only shorter pieces being the odd bit of poetry.
    There are over 100 authors featured including such notables as Hemingway, Zane Grey, Kipling, Izaak Walton (of course) and many more besides. There are also many notable absences, no Yates, no Sheringham not even anything by Arthur Ransome (something from Rod & Line appears in every angling anthology - its compulsory!!). In many ways this makes the book more buy-able – not less – if you already have the volumes I’ve already mentioned. If, like me, you enjoy a good angling anthology then this still IS a good angling anthology - go buy and enjoy.
     

     
    ISBN 1873674120. Published 2007 by Skyhorse Publishing & Merlin Unwin Books. £20.00 (www.whsmith.co.uk currently have it for £13.20)
     
     
     
  5. Chris Plumb
    or Fate and the Fisherman. By John Aston.
     
    One of the best angling books to come out of 2012.
     

     
    "Message for Chris Plumb ...
    A Dream of Jewelled Fishes (recommended to me by C Yates) is not a little gem, but one of the finest angling books to have been written in modern times. A very BIG gem … Christ, wish I was on commission - have sold at least 30 of these in the past month. A wonderful book. Love his politics AND his views on 'modern carp fishing/carp anglers' ....
    James"
     
    It is fair to say that John’s first book - A Dream of Jewelled Fishes – received wide critical acclaim. I was given a pre-publication copy (John is a friend of a friend, though we have never met) to review for Anglers' Net (CLICK HERE to read the review). I loved it, and said so – yet still received the above email gently chiding me for not going totally overboard about it. Maybe it was my feeble attempt at a pun that wasn’t appreciated!
     
    So, when the publication of John’s second volume was announced last year (2012), it went straight to the top of my Christmas wish list. However, I didn’t make this totally clear to Jaq, my wife, and she 'held it back' for my birthday 3-weeks or so later, in January! Hence, I’ve not long finished it.
     
    For starters, I defy any angler to pick up The Glorious Uncertainty, read the foreword and then put the book down! Just read the first 5-and-a-bit pages and you know you are going to be in for a treat – as, indeed, you are.
     
    I said in my review of A Dream that I felt I shared John’s philosophy and views on angling. It seems we even share the same tastes in music. Any author that prefaces a chapter with Neil Young lyrics is OK in my book! There's more than a liberal sprinkling of John’s views in this work, too, and he’s not afraid to shoot from the hip, particularly if it’s to prick snobbishness, pomposity and elitism.
    Because of this observation, I suppose I could be accused of conferring on John the stereotype of a straight-talking Yorkshire-man, though, having myself spent three summers in the early 80’s having a working ‘holiday’ on a sheep farm in upper Wharfedale, I can confirm that I have witnessed the trait up close! And whilst he may be forthright in his views, they are usually keenly observed, eloquently made and well written down.
     
    There’s more, too. I’m sure many an angler has tried to explain to a non-angler why they do it, what they get out of it, and found they struggle for the words to adequately convey their passion to said individual. John’s prose does a fine job in doing just that.
     
    As you’d expect, most of the stories are based in the Yorkshire, especially Ryedale, so there’s a fair bit of fly-fishing, but in truth John is an all rounder, equally at home targeting a spate barbel on the Swale or a winter chub as he is casting a size 16 Klinkhamer. And, just as in A Dream, we also get a fair bit of autobiography, though he manages to avoid going over any old ground.
     
    A reader’s review on Amazon calls John the John Gierach of North Yorkshire – it is a fitting analogy and one I originally made myself when his first book came out! And, when Andrew Herd reviewed The Glorious Uncertainty in Waterlog (#81), he finished off by saying it should be an ‘almost compulsory purchase’. Again, a sentiment with which I heartily concur – though what’s with the ‘almost’?!
     
    As ever, published by those wonderful people at Medlar Press. £18.
     
    ISBN 978-1-907110-34-4
    CLICK HERE to view this book on Amazon UK
     
     
  6. Chris Plumb
    I well remember as a youngster hunting for tiddlers in my local (then) River Witham. Sticklebacks were brought home in triumph and saw out the summer in a tin bath by the back door - this book brought back those childhood memories....
     
    The Little Book of Little Fishes
    An Anglers Guide to Britain’s Smallest Fishes by Mark Everard
     
    If, like me, your formative fishing years were spent catching sticklebacks (usually with the same worm) or splashing through the gravels turning over stones in a quest for bullheads and stoneloach, then you probably have a bit of a soft spot for Britain’s mini-species. Even so they are not fish that are often heralded in print. Until now! The Little Book of Little Fishes is a delightful volume, a celebration of all things small. And reading it may well instantly transport you back to your childhood.
     
    Mark Everard is an aquatic biologist and as a writer is probably best known for his work on roach, though among his other books are volumes on barbel and dace (a species deemed too big for this book). This scientific knowledge come across well in the Little Book of Little Fishes – there is a thorough overview of the ecology of each species supplemented with an anthology for each. Mark has scoured the breadth of angling literature in a search for tidbits on tiddlers.
     
    A lot of the information unearthed I found quite fascinating. For example – the number of these fish that have attributed in the past as being good to eat. I expect a lot of today’s anglers will have heard of the Victorians love of gudgeon - to that Mark has found references to minnows, bleak and ruffe making good eating. And lampreys, whose reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac is even celebrated in verse in an eighteenth century poem.
     
    As a six and seven year old, I briefly lived in Grantham and well remember catching both kinds of British loach from the River Witham. What I hadn’t realised until I read Mark’s book was how rare is the Spined Loach – restricted as it is to just 5 river catchments in the East of England. And, staying in Lincolnshire – we also discover an economic use for sticklebacks – as a manure for the fields! The mind boggles at the numbers of this little fish there must have been to make this a viable proposition, though we are told they were often collected by the cart load!
     
    The book is produced to Medlar’s usual high production values. Hard-backed with glossy paper, and with colour prints throughout accompanying Mark’ excellent writing. It makes an ideal gift for anglers of all ages.
     
    ISBN 1-889-600-79-3
     
    Medlar Press 25 July 2008
  7. Chris Plumb

    The River Prince

    By Chris Plumb,

    Close season is the time for me to catch up on my other angling passion - books. Reading them and looking out for a bargain or two on ebay - oh, and banging out the odd review for Elton. This is a book I''ve wanted to read for some time so was pleased when Medlar re-issued it last October....
     
     
    The River Prince - ed. by Chris Yates
     
    Any readers of my previous book reviews on Anglersnet will know that it is now a well established fact that I like my angling anthologies. My little angling library is now not so little, numbering well in excess of 100 books of which over 20% are anthologies of some kind. I find it a great way to introduce myself to different authors and a wider variety of writing styles. The River Prince is no exception, and having read it there’s a few books of ‘source’ material that I will be looking out to buy on e-bay this spring!
     
    The River Prince is an anthology that I ‘missed’ when it first came out. Issued as a limited edition by Medlar in the late 1990’s it rapidly became a collectors item, available only to those with deep pockets on e-bay. Quite a few times I had bids open on a copy only to be ‘sniped’ at the death. It was therefore very welcome news to learn of Medlar’s re-issue of this volume last year (2009) as part of the Medlar Fishing Anthologies collection. (You’ll not be surprised to learn I already own a couple of other books in this series!)
     
    The book is a collection of Barbel stories spanning the entire 20th Century. (Quite literally - from 1900 - 1998 with only a couple of decades not ‘represented‘). Yates’ has drawn together some of the best angling writers of the age such as Fred J Taylor, Dick Walker, HT Sheringham, Arthur Ramsome, JW Martin & Bernard Venables and sprinkled in a few writers I’d never heard of. The choice of article however is unerringly good. A few stories I have read before in other books and anthologies most however were new and some like the Venables’ piece from the long defunct magazine Creel, I would probably have never got to read had it not turned up here.
     
    The 16 short stories are topped and tailed by 2 pieces written specifically for the book - the opening piece by Chris Yates himself - The Avon at Ibsley - a short taster for the rest of the book. The second, Walking Away From The Thames by John Ginifer nearly had me jumping in my car and driving up to Oxford - before I remembered that the tale would have been written well over a decade ago!!
     
    The re-issued book retails for £15.00 for a hardback copy. Very reasonable as it is printed and bound to Medlar’s usual exemplary standards. My heavy hints last autumn didn’t fall on deaf ears and a copy of the handsome little volume turned up in my Christmas stocking. It was devoured eagerly in a day or so - but now the close season is upon us it is being savoured again at a more leisurely pace - inspiration, if any were needed, for the long days of summer to come.
     
    The River Prince, Chris Yates: ISBN 978-1-899600-65-6. Medlar Press
     
  8. Chris Plumb

    Updated PB List

    By Chris Plumb,

    My PB List.
    Haven’t done one of these for a while (though it hasn't changed much in the last 5 years!) and as I had a query about my PBs I thought I'd put an updated list on here...
     
    Best Carp – 27lb 6oz. 15 August 2008. Blue Pool – Burghfield. Method feeder – hair-rigged hemp bogey.

     
    Blog Entry: http://www.anglersne...63-1415-august/
     
    Best Pike – 18lb 10oz. 10 February 2001. River Lambourn – Newbury. Free-lined Lamprey section.

     
     
    Best Barbel – 12lb 4oz. 27 July 2004. River Kennet, Arrowhead – Thatcham. Ledgered Halibut pellet.

     
    Best Bream – 12lb 2oz. 2 July 2011. Summer Pit – Yateley. Float fished (lift method) maggot.

     
    Blog entry; http://www.anglersne...ry-704-12-july/
     
    Best Brown Trout – 8lb 12oz. 14 March 2008. Middle Kennet Estate – Newbury. Trotted Maggot. (No photo)
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...y-222-14-march/
     
    Best Tench – 7lb 10oz. 18 June 2003. Wylies Lake – Thatcham. Float fished (lift method) black pudding.

     
     
    Best Chub – 6lb 7oz. 19 February 2012. Middle Kennet Estate – Nr Kintbury. Trotted Red Sweetcorn.

     
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...48-19-february/
     
    Best Salmon – 5lb 10oz. 13 October 2008. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo)
     
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...281-13-october/
     
    Best Rainbow Trout – 4lb 10oz. 5 March 2004. Barton Court – Kintbury. Trotted Maggot. (No Photo)
     
    Best Perch – 4lb 5oz. 28 October 2013. Kennet & Avon Canal – Thatcham. Float fished lobworm.

    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1140-28-october/
     
     
    Best Crucian – 3lb 13oz. 26 June 2011. Newbury AA Lake – Widmead. Float fished (lift method) bacon grill.

    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersne...ry-699-26-june/
     
    Best Grayling – 2lb 15oz. 6 January 2002. Lower Itchen Fishery. Trotted maggot.

     
     
    Best Roach – 2lb 11oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot.

     
     
     
    Eel - 2lb 1oz: 12/06/15, Ledgered prawn. Mill Farm, Pulborough

    Blog entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1299-12-june/
    Brown Goldfish - 1lb 14oz: 21/06/05, Float fished Bread, Pumphouse Lake, Yateley.
    Sea Trout - 1lb 12oz: 06/01/02, Trotted Maggot, Lower Itchen Fishery.
     
    Rudd - 1lb 11oz 18/06/18. Float fished prawn sections, Johnsons Lake - Milford. [/url]
    Blog Entry; http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1532-1819-june/
    Best Dace – 1lb 2oz. 7 February 2003. Middle Kennet Carrier – Nr Hungerford. Trotted maggot.

     
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