Chris Plumb
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Posts
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Joined
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Days Won
198
Everything posted by Chris Plumb
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 0700 - 1200 Bright and blustery with Storm Lillian slowly abating. AT 16ºC - 20ºC. River at usual (low) summer levels. 3 Perch: all ¾-1lb. 3 Chub; all small. 29 Roach; mainly small. 1 Dace: - a good-un of around 8oz. 7 Gudgeon. 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies - a 'pounder' and one of around 10oz. For the second Friday running I find the river stuffed with small roach - lets hope they grow on to be big roach in a few years time ! Started out with lobs - hoping to find some decent perch - but got no interest at all on them. And yet when I switched to trotted maggot I got a stripey of around a lb straight away - from the same spot! Fished a couple of swims - with usual rest and return tactics!
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Marshall's Mere (aka Willows) - Thatcham 1800 - 2230 Bright and very breezy to start. Clear evening becoming quite cool. AT 20ºC - 12ºC 1 Carp 12lb 6oz. 2 Bream - one circa a lb, one way smaller, 4 perch - all small. An evening's fishing by the light of the Sturgeon super-moon - though the angling itself was a tad on the frustrating side. Loads of knocks and liners - which I took to be carp as I bumped a couple - but no sign of my hoped for tench. The swim was briefly fizzing with bubbles - but this corresponded with the capture of both skimmers. Ended up in 'if you can't beat them join them' mode dapping a piece of bread crust in the margins and hanging on!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 0600 - 1300 Bright and sunny. AT a cool 11ºC to start, 21ºC when I packed up. River at normal summer levels and with a tinge of colour. 4 Chub: a couple of 2lbers (best 2lb 10oz), one of around 1¼lb and one half that. 4 Perch: 1lb 1oz, 14oz and a couple of tiddlers. 40+ (!!) Roach - most quite small with just a couple needing the net. 14 Dace - all quite chunky but nothing especially noteworthy. 2 Gudgeon. 2 Brownies both c½lb. Super morning's trotting - can't remember when I caught so many silvers from here - fished the length of the venue and had small roach from every swim. What will you give me for this - Martin?
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Harris Lake, Marsh Farm, Milford. 1500 - 2315 Warm and mainly sunny. AT 23ºC - 18ºC. 6 Tench: various sizes, from bars of soap up to a biggest of 4lb 6oz. 3 Crucians - all over a lb, best 1lb 11oz. 8 Roach, 7 Rudd and 3 Perch - 2 tiddlers and one of nearly a lb. A 'sporadic' kind of session with little action during daylight - apart from the roach and rudd snaffling my float fished prawn sections on the drop and a single small tench on the feeder rod. Then had a manic 45 mins from 8.30pm when I had the rest of the tench and one of the crucians. Only 2 bites after 21:15 (when I really expected the most action!) resulted in 2 further crucians - both caught mere inches from the bank!
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Yeah, still early days and the hatchery is on a steep learning curve, they also lost a lot of roach in the floods!
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Eeek - glad I have avoided the trout - hate the blighters! Just chub fry have been introduced this year in a couple of locations (Hambridge and Padworth I believe - but don't quote me!) The new Kennet hatchery only got a miniscule number of barbel eggs (around a 1000 I think) and these are going to be grown on for a couple of years before release. Next spring they'll need to get the barbel earlier - most of the ones electro-fished this year for stripping had already spawned!.
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River Kennet - Newbury (Whitehouse) 1300 - 1500 Warm, bright and breezy. AT 21ºC. River at normal summer levels. 1 Perch 1lb 13oz. 17 Roach - all small. 9 Dace - most quite chunky. Pleasant couple of hours trotting for silvers. I dropped one of the roach back in and realised I had a shoal of perch by my feet - some good-uns too by the glimpses I got! Dropped a bait in and it was snaffled immediately - and not by the biggest of the shoal by any means! Alas, it was my only chance as they all scattered when I hooked it.
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Warwick's Water - Thatcham 1830 - 2230 Warm, overcast very breezy with some light drizzle at times. Perfect conditions, pity no one told the fish! AT 18ºC 1 Tench 3lb 5oz. 2 perch - small. Another crepuscular session - though this was a bit of a struggle compared to my previous two trips here this summer. Bites at a premium despite the swim absolutely fizzing at times. The tench eventually took my bait just as it got dark at a little after 2130 and being a male punched way above its weight! Had planned to fish longer but the drizzle started to become thoroughly unpleasant despite my shelter!
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Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham 0530 - 1230 Warm and overcast with rain at times. AT 19ºC. River at normal summer levels. 9 Chub: 4 over a lb, best 2, 3lb 7oz & 3lb. 1 Bream: 1lb 15oz. 4 Doz Roach and Dace (more dace), roach were all small around half the dace were quite chunky. 2 Brownies c2-2½lb. Pleasant morning's trotting with all the fish from just 2 swims on the main river - which I fished in rotation - giving each an hour while I rested the other.
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Graham Thorpe Aged 55 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c06kkkkjmz6o
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1300 - 1500 Warm and sunny. AT 25ºC. River quite low but coloured up somewhat after yesterday's thunderstorms. 2 Chub: 4lb 5oz & 2lb 3oz. 3 Dace - all quite chunky with one good-un in the 8-10oz class. 9 Brownies; 1 'pounder' most of the others 6-10oz. Makes a change for a first cast trout NOT to put the kibosh on my chub chances. Fortunately the fish - which would be my biggest spottie of the afternoon kept deep and didn't thrash the surface to a foam. The 4lb chevin arrived a couple of casts later. Resting and returning worked again as I had the smaller chub straight away after a 45min hiatus followed by some very welcome dace. Picked nearly 4lb of blackberries from just the car park too!
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Still got a lot more to draft - prepare to be introduced to rhodopsin & porphyropsin!!
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Ha-ha - after only 2 trips this season (and only 2 the whole of last) I could hardly be described as an expert on the venue. Members keep telling me its a hard venue - though I've managed 7 tench in 2 trips this summer - to my usual float fishing tactics! Anyways I'm half way through a piece on perch for the autumn newsletter. Still a long way from being finished but will include a long discourse on their rather unique eyesight!
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Warwick's Water 1830 - 2245 Hot and sultry. AT 29ºC when I arrived and still 23ºC when I left. 4 Tench: 8lb 2oz (new PB), 6lb 0oz, 4lb 7oz, 4lb 3oz. 4 Perch - all small. Wow - second PB of the summer (after my opening day chub) and after a rather unpromising start too. As earlier in the month I began by float fishing worm - but the small perch started depleting my meagre stock of lobs at an alarming rate so I switched to the prawn that I'd put in my bait bucket as a last minute after-thought as I'd left home. The result was almost instantaneous with the 2, 4lbers in quick succession. The 8lber came along a little after 9.30pm and in the gloom I had no clue as to its weight until it was in the net and I tried to lift it out the water! Beats my previous PB of 7-10 by ½lb - a fish I caught back in 2003! There was still time for a bit more action - it was just past 10.30pm and I was thinking I'll pack up at 11pm or next fish when the starlite disappeared one more time resulting in the feisty 6lber - which put up a much more resolute fight than the 8!
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 1100 - 1500 Warm and mainly overcast with some sunny spells - quite muggy. AT 21ºC. River quite low - normal summer levels. 8 Perch: 5 over a lb - best 3, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 15oz & 2lb 3oz. 4 Chub: 4lb 12oz, 3lb 4oz, a 'pounder' and a chublet. 7 Roach; all fairly small save one that needed the net and was circa 10-12oz. 3 Dace - all good-uns in the 6-8oz class. 6 Gudgeon. Super afternoon's sport, my first trip to Speen this season - all fish from one swim on the big weirpool - which I rested for half an hour or so while I had some lunch and went for a bit of a wander. Did the trick as I had the 3lb chub and 2 more perch after the brief hiatus. Biggest chub from Speen in 4 seasons and this fish will be much heavier in the autumn - was very hollow and spawned out.
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Marshall's Mere (aka Willows) - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm, mainly overcast with quite a stiff southerly breeze wafting in the vinegary aromas of the English Provender Company's (makers of Paul Newman salad dressings) factory at Greenham. Kept the mossies and dew at bay. AT 23º - and still 18ºC when I packed up. 2 Tench; 5lb 10oz (a male too) & 5lb 6oz. 3 Carp: 10lb 4oz, 8lb 13oz, 6lb 0oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 1 perch - small. An evening playing (and largely failing) at 'Avoid the carp'! They were pretty insatiable for the first couple of hours. I also lost one after an extended fight - though 3 landed out of 4 on a size 14 is OK - I 'spose - just not what I was after on float gear. Darkness at least brought an easing off in carpy activity allowing the tench to get a look in - though the 5lb male tinca fought as hard as any of the carp. Alternated between maggot and prawn on the hook - though both tench fell to prawn. Feisty 5lb male . 10lb torpedo!
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Middle Kennet weir-pool - Marsh Benham 1230 - 1500 Hot and sunny. AT 27º - 30ºC. River at normal summer levels. 1 Bream: 2lb 3oz. 8 Dace: all quite chunky with 4 in the 8-10oz class. 2 Roach; small. 1 Bleak. 1 Brownie c1¼lb. Surprisingly decent session given the bright and hot conditions. Fished the south bank, pillbox swim which allows me to cover pretty much the whole weir-pool. All fish caught trotting (of course).
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First batch of 2024...
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I must have been the only member that was disappointed when the club grubbed out the brambles from around the car park here, a couple of years back!
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Alders Lake - Thatcham 1830 - 2300 Warm(ish) and mainly overcast - clouds clearing as it got dark. AT 19º - 15ºC 2 Bream: 4lb 0oz, 3lb 5oz. 2 Roach - handsized. 1 Perch: small. It's that time of year again! The blackberries around these lakes must be an early fruiting variety - the brambles nearer home are still in flower yet I picked nearly 3 pounds in no time at all. Last summer we made over 40lb of jam - this first batch is already on the stove for the start of our 2024 bramble jelly production! The fishing itself was rather sluggish - with bites few and far between. Both bream came within 5 mins of each other at around 9.30pm when I shoal passed through the swim - alas they didn't return.
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HAHA - maybe the beer was from the Wye valley!!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1530 Warm(ish), mainly overcast with sunny spells. AT 18ºC. River at normal summer levels. 2 Chub: 2lb 7oz & 2lb 2oz. 25 Dace - most quite chunky. 10 Roach: all small apart from one 'netter' of around 10oz. Pleasant afternoon's trotting. All fish (including the chub) from the faster water. Was getting buzzed by a family of Kingfishers (2 parents and 2 juveniles) all session!
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Warwick's Water - Thatcham 1900 - 2300 Warm and sunny. 21º - 15ºC. 3 Tench: 4lb 11oz, 4lb 8oz, 3lb 11oz. An evening float fishing worm - hoping for a tench but hedging my bets for one of the pond's fabled big perch. What I hadn't reckoned on was one of the water's rogue carp. They are not meant to be in this venue but one grabbed my bait within ½hr of starting and pulled my rod off the rests - a desperate lunge saved the day as I just about grabbed the butt in time before my rod disappeared into the drink - but the fish had already found freedom in the lilies. All went quiet until it got dark and then on the stroke of 10pm - the dinner bell must have rung as I had all three tinca's in quick succession and by 2215 it was all over! Still no sign of those perch but 3 tench is a good return from here!
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Middle Kennet - Marsh Benham 0500 - 1100 Cool and overcast after a bright clear start. AT, a decidedly chilly 6ºC to start rising to 15ºC. River at normal levels with a bit of colour after the weekend's downpours. 8 Chub: 3lb 3oz, 3lb 0oz & 6 chublets. 1 Bream 2lb 7oz. 18 Dace - nothing especially noteworthy. 11 roach - small. 1 Perch, c6-8oz. 2 Brownies 2½lb & 3lb. Scratchy start - not helped by my first ever sighting of an otter on this stretch - in the swim I had all my chub from last time out - so no surprises that I didn't get a bite from here. Then walked down the tow path to fish the pill box swim on the main weirpool which accounted for most fish caught apart from a few dace and roach from the carrier.
