Chris Plumb

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River Kennet - Newbury 1100 - 1330 Cold, bright and sunny with snow on the ground AT -2ºC -> 3ºC. River up a couple of inches but running gin clear. 2 Chub: 2lb 9oz, 2lb 2oz. 3 Grayling - all 8-10oz. 3 Brownies to crica 1lb. Lovely crisp winter's day (though I got stuck in snow in the car park and some kind souls dug me out and gave me a push!) Chub and grayling are reliable quarry when the thermometer is close to zero and I wasn't disappointed despite the very bright conditions!

K&A Canal - Woolhampton 1400 - 1615 Mild, overcast and breezy with drizzly showers turning to rain. AT 10ºC. WT 9.1ºC 3 Perch; 1lb 9oz, 1lb 4oz, 13oz. 1 Pike 2lb 4oz. 2 Chub(lets) Mild snap had me heading for the canal in pursuit of stripeys. Didn't get a bite until 1530 then a flurry of fish around 4 o'clock - usual pattern for winter perching on the canal!

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1045 Mild and overcast. River low. 19 Grayling. Over half a couple of ounces either side of 1lb with the biggest, a lovely jet black fish of 1lb 10oz. 2 brownies - both small. Usual catch a couple and move on trotting tactics.....

River Kennet - Brimpton 1015 - 1515 Cold, bright and sunny. River low - very low for mid Jan 2 Chub; 3lb 1oz & 1½lb. 1 Brownie 2½lb A bright sparkly day though not ideal conditions - perseverance paid off - didn't get a bite until 1430 then 3 fish in half an hour from swims that appeared devoid of fish a couple of hours earlier (sun was off the water!)

River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham 0930 - 1530 Overcast, mild and quite breezy. River down on a fortnight ago (well we have had zero rainfall in that time). 3 Chub; 4lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz & 2lb 11oz. 1 Pike 2lb 10oz, 4 doz Roach & Dace (roughly 2 -1 ratio). Biggest roach 12oz with a lot more circa 8oz. 2 Brownies 4lb 14oz & a pounder, 2 Rainbows - both 3lbers (possibly same one!) Chilled out birthday trip! Carrier was very low so fish were very spooky - though did land the pike from here which had clamped down on a dace and didn't let go - steered it into the net before it realised what was happening! Most of the time spent trotting the weirpool. Big brownie was actually a bit of a disappointment - didn't fight at all like a troot - kept deep, hugging the bottom radiating gigantism, thought it had to be a huge chub - though I even entertained the notion it might be a barbel - didn't see it till I brought it to the net. Stunning fish but not what I was after!!

Just ignore it - I've uploaded some pics this morning - and they're showing in my blog! C.

Seems Photobucket have relented - all the pics are back on my blog - all be it with a Photobucket watermark...... C.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1300 - 1600 Mild, cloudy and benign - perfect perching weather. AT 10ºC 9 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz - the others all around 8-10oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb and a Rudd(!) The CRT have made it very difficult to locate big stripeys on the canal - by removing pretty much every bit of over hanging vegetation from miles of bank - however conditions were ideal for winter perch so a roving approach - travelling light and giving swims 30 mins or so before moving on was the plan for the afternoon - and 5th swim - bingo! Biggest perch for 3 seasons - delighted!

River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham 0930 - 1430 Cool and misty morning with bright sunshine after 1200. River lower than I expected and quite clear. 8 Chub; Biggest 3lb most of the rest 1¾ - 2¾lb. 1 Bream 2lb 15oz, 3 Doz Roach - all quite chunky but nothing over ½lb. 2 Dace, 1 Rainbow 2½lb and a Brownie of 3lb + Lovely winter's day in West Berkshire. Chub were very obliging even if my biggest of the day was caught first cast. Bream fought harder than any bream I've ever hooked before - was convinced I was into a large chub very surprised to see a bream eventually come to the surface - and not that big either!

River Kennet - Thatcham 0945 - 1145 Cool and bright. River up a touch with some colour. 1 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 1 Grayling; 1lb 9oz. 2 Dace, 1 Perch Quick session while Mrs P hit the sales. Super grayling for this part of the river - my biggest from here.

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1100 Mild and overcast - river still quite low and gin clear as always.... 22 Grayling; Biggest 1lb 8oz with around half the rest a couple of ounces either side of a pound. 1 Roach: 1lb 2oz. 2 Brownies - a 2lber and a parr. Quick trotting session usual catch a couple and move on tactics - nice to get another decent roach from here.

River Kennet - Newbury 1015 - 1315 Cool, cloudy and calm. River up a couple of inches after yesterday's rain but not carrying much colour. 8 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 10oz & 3 X 1-2lbers. 1 Grayling 1lb 1oz, 1 Dace, 1 Roach & 5 Brownies - to 2¼lb. Another super winter's chubbing - first 3 trot throughs all produced fish (after spending 10 mins feeding) and thereafter the fish came in 'bursts' 20-30 mins without a bite followed by another 2 or 3 fish in quick succession. Great to see the chub back in numbers here!

River Kennet - Brimpton 1045 - 1415 Bright and sunny after a brief but torrential shower. River lower than I expected after a wet week and carrying a tinge of colour. 6 Chub: 6lb 4oz, 5lb 6oz, 4lb 7oz, 3X 1-2lbers. 1 brownie circa 1lb. I've fished Brimpton regularly since I joined NAA in 1982 and whilst I catch 5lb+ chub most seasons I've never had a 6 until today! Thing is I didn't even plan to fish here today but I turned up at Hambridge to find my 2 favoured swims surprisingly occupied - so a quick change of plan was called for. Fished 5 swims in total giving each around 40mins - and had the fish from 3 of them - and didn't even drop into what I usually consider to be my banker chub swim - didn't seem much point after such a splendid return!

K&A Canal Thatcham & River Kennet - Arrowhead 0730 - 1315 Mild, breezy with light drizzly showers. 8 dace - all a 'nice' size (6-8oz class), 1 chublet & a gudgeon. Another fruitless perch hunt, not a bite (at least from something that didn't have claws!) on the canal so finished off with an hour on the river.

K&A Canal Enborne (& Speen Moors) 0715 - 1230 (with an hour at Speen in the middle) Cool, overcast with drizzly rain for a couple of hours. 1 Chub; 2lb 9oz. Fruitless search for a perch - not a single bite on the canal - and not a lot of interest on the river after the first cast chub!!

River Frome - Wool 0730 - 1330 Overcast with a cool easterly breeze - brightening up as I packed up. River low with (dropped over 40cm since last weekend) 67cm on the East Stoke River Gauge. 7 Grayling; 3 over 1lb went 2lb 5oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 8oz. 1 Bream 7lb 14oz (!), 1 Roach 8oz, 6 Brownies - all quite small. I ummed and ahhhed about renewing my DDAS card this winter - the last 2 seasons have been very scratchy and its a long way to travel to catch grayling that I could catch within 10 miles of home... Reports from this season (the venue opens on 1st Nov) also weren't hopeful - but I reasoned that last weekend's flush through might have livened things up a bit - and so it proved. It's never a prolific venue but thankfully 2 of my first 3 grayling were the 2lbers. Both caught on trotted orange corn that had been soaked in salmon oil, I reason that they're a good imitation for salmon eggs - whatever I have confidence in it as a bait. Bream also caught on it - and not entirely a surprise as a 7lb+ slab came out a couple of winters ago - and I was talking to its captor not 20 mins before landing my bream (probably the same fish!). ps How did the demise of Little Chef pass me by - both of my options for an Olympic breakfast are now Subways - despite still being advertised on the Little Chef website - the Bere Regis one even boasts as having been refurbished. Had to make do with a cheese and bacon melt - not happy!

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2018-11-13/norfolk-tv-and-fishing-legend-john-wilson-dies-in-thailand/ C.

Northcroft Stream 0730 - 0915 River Lambourn - Shaw 0930 - 1145 Bright and sunny after early morning rain (just stopping as I started to fish) Rivers (especially the Lambourn) surprisingly unaffected by recent rains (unlike the Dorset Frome which was Plan A for today! Northcroft: 2 Chub, 3lb 8oz & 2lb 11oz. 4 Dace and 3 Roach. Shaw: 11 Grayling to 1lb 3oz & 2 small brownies. Both chub from weir pool at Northcroft - pretty much my only bites from there. Shaw was hard going low water, spooky fish and 3 other anglers didn't help!

River Lambourn - Newbury 0700 - 0930 Bright and sunny - milder than recently (no frost). River very low. 21 Grayling; Nearly all fish in the 10-14oz bracket - with quite a few just over 1lb too. Biggest 1lb 5oz. 2 Brownies. Catcha couple and move on downstream tactics - though in the low water it was often sight fishing - watching the fish take the bait - and trying to get the biggest in each shoal!

River Kennet - Newbury 0930 - 1345 Bright and cold start, clouding over. AT no higher than 5ºC all day. River at normal autumn levels (actually slightly up on some previous autumns) and carrying a LOT of leaf litter. 4 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz. 5 Grayling; Best 1lb 3oz. 13 Dace (quite a few in the 6-8oz bracket), 5 Roach and 5 small brownies. A morning's trotting in the cold - this venue is starting to return to it's old productive self (just need some barbel to show!)

River Kennet - Padworth 1800 - 2200 Cool and clear (down to 5ºC when I packed up - but came better prepared this time!) Blanked Not enough daylight for a blank saving trotting session so it was straight out with the ledgering rods for 4 hours at staring at static isotopes. Again no crayfish activity and YET AGAIN saw an otter come through just after setting up. Also had a barn owl swoop between the trees not far above my head!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 0700 - 1100 Cool, bright and sunny. 5 Perch - all around 6-10oz. The CRT really are a bunch of ****s! I rocked up at first light and made my way to a spot I knew held good perch - a nice bush and fallen branch on the far bank which produced 1lb+ perch (and some nice chub) for me last season - but which also produced a 3lb stripey last year (I've seen the pics!). This feature is on the widest part of the canal on the outside of a slight bend, a LONG way from the 'shipping line' and has caused boat users no problems for years. So why have the CRT seen fit to grub it out? I wonder how much revenue CRT get each year from angling clubs - coz they don't appear to give a **** about the aquatic environment - ALL my favourite perch spots on the K&A from Woolhampton to Marsh Benham have now been destroyed by these environmental terrorists over the past 2-3 years!

River Kennet - Brimpton 1730 - 2230 Cool, clear evening, lovely for spotting the conjunction of the moon and Mars but not great for sitting on the riverbank with insufficient clothing! River at normal autumn levels. 4 Roach & 2 Dace. Another fruitless attempt at a Kennet barbel without the hoped for trotted chub as hors d'oeuvres! No crayfish activity at all (there's been extensive trapping here recently) but an otter came through my swim just as it got dark - and returned downstream a couple of hours later.....

Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1830 Warm (still 19ºC when I got home at 2030!), overcast and very windy - rainy for the first hour or so. River very low and weedy with lots of leaf litter and detached weed coming down. 50+ Grayling - nearly every fish in the 12oz-1lb class with a lot just over 1lb too. Nothing substantially bigger - alas - best went 1lb 7oz. 2 Chub; 3lb 5oz & 2lb 14oz. 1 Roach (13oz) & 10 brownies to 2½lb. A very blowy day in Hampshire - upstream wind, so by and large it helped presentation - though on one occasion my 4ssg loafer got blown upstream - impressive considering the speed of the flow here! Nearly lost my hat on more than one occasion too! Rotated between red corn and maggot hoping to find some bigger fish and found the bottom of the fishery (between the M27 and concrete bridge) particularly productive - possibly because it appeared to have had less angling pressure (I didn't see anyone else on that stretch!). Tired limbs and tennis (fishing!) elbow this morning!