Chris Plumb

Harris Lake - Marsh Farm Fishery - Milford 1430 - 2300 Hot and sunny with a warm southerly breeze all evening - very welcome as it kept the mossies and dew at bay. AT 25º and still 18ºC when I left. 5 Crucians: 3lb 4oz, 2lb 14oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 13oz. 9 Tench - various sizes from barely a lb up to a best of 4lb 14oz. 16 Rudd - all handsized with 3 netters of around 10-12oz. 5 Roach& 6 perch - all small. Fabulous evening's sport. Only my second trip over to Milford this season and whilst the pre-occupation with tench in one of my local club lakes has saved me a bit of petrol money this summer - it has been at the expense of catching another of my favourite species - crucians! So today was all about rectifying that - and the evening got off to a great start with the 2-10 the first on the scene - just as I was taking a first bite into a sandwich for my tea! I then had to wait a couple of hours for my next bite (from a fish!)- but it resulted in a new lake best Crucian for me! I have been fishing this lake since 2007 and had a 3lb 3oz fish on that first visit - which I haven't bettered from here since! There then followed a frenetic evening as it got dark and as the tench moved in - though there was still time for 3 more crucians - the last one (and smallest) part of a double hook up just before 11pm which got me into a bit of a tangle and prompted an end to proceedings - though I'd already said to myself 'pack up next fish or 11pm whichever comes first'!

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Overcast and breezy - clearing to cloudless skies as it got dark (the exact opposite to the forecast I watched in the morning!!) AT 19º-13ºC 6 (!) Tench: 5lb 15oz, 5lb 12oz, 5lb 8oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 11oz, 4lb 7oz. 1 Carp 7lb 13oz. 1 perch (small) Another splendid evening's tench fishing. (And another 3lb of blackberries collected which are being converted into jam as I type!) All the action after 8pm (again!) save for the micro perch. The period from 9-10pm was particularly frenetic. Yet again gratifyingly few carp putting in an appearance and with the added bonus of the clear skies which afforded sight of a couple of early Perseids - including a particularly spectacular one which left a 2-3 second afterglow. (They peak this weekend so fingers crossed for some clear skies - conditions for viewing should be very good with a waning moon affording dark skies.) Pics of a couple of the 5lbs - a male of 5-08 (bottom photo) and a bigger female with a very impressive caudal fin...

River Kennet - Brimpton 1415 - 1615 Mainly overcast and quite breezy. AT 20ºC. River up a good couple of inches and carrying a bit of colour. The Colthrop sluices are obviously open more than the Crookham ones' as there was a lot more flow here than a couple of miles upstream - before The Aldershot joins the river. 3 Chub: 4lb 6oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 3oz. 5 Brownies, a 'pounder', the rest between 6-10oz with one a repeat capture! All chub from my banker swim which I fished twice - with a rest in between while I went blackberry picking! 4lber first cast after the usual bait and wait approach - made a pleasant change from a splashy trout grabbing my maggot first put in!

River Kennet - Thatcham 1130 - 1330 Bright and breezy. AT 20ºC. River at normal levels and with a bit of colour. 3 Chub; all small. 7 Dace & 4 Roach: ditto. 1 Brownie 1½lb First part of a chub hunting afternoon - and whilst it's always a good sign to see some juvenile fish in the river - I was hoping for something a little bigger!

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Overcast and very breezy all evening after rain all afternoon - clearing to reveal a very bright full moon for last hour. AT 17ºC - 14ºC. 5 Tench: 6lb 0oz, 5lb 9oz, 5lb 5oz, 4lb 14oz, 4lb 6oz. 1 Carp 9lb 4oz. 1 Perch; small. Very lively evening - with bites from the off - started with maggot while my prawns defrosted but that only took a few minutes and there after it was chopped prawn - float fished lift method, all evening. Gotta love the quality of the tench coming out of this lake this summer - of the 11 tinca's I've landed only 2 have been under 4lb. Bites stopped at 10pm when the moon rose (I know co-incidence is not causation ) 3lb of blackberries also harvested! Biggest of the night:

Looks like you've found a suitable substitute for Willows!

Haha! No chub was more of a surprise - though a tree across one of my banker swims didn't help!

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0730 - 1330 Warm(ish) and overcast and quite muggy. AT 18ºC - 21ºC. River down a bit - more than I expected after another wet week.... 2 Bream: 3lb 3oz & 2lb 10oz. 3 Chub; 2 around ¾lb and another even smaller. 40+ Dace & Roach (in roughly equal nos - slightly more dace) - only one fish to trouble the net - a super dace of 10oz. 2 Bleak. A rare failure at finding decent chub - though a couple of hard fighting river bream were more than adequate compensation, plus there was the added bonus of NO trout! Nice to see so many silvers in the river too.

Sinead O' Connor https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66318626

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Cool, overcast and drizzly with a more substantial shower as it got dark. AT 14ºC - 12ºC. 2 Tench: 5lb 11oz & 4lb 4oz. 3 perch - all small. As expected, bites at a bit of a premium with conditions more akin to mid autumn than mid July. Pretty pleased then, to come away with 2 nice tincas and have an evening when I was NOT getting bothered by cyprinus carpio. And, as last week on Alders, 8pm appeared to be the 'witching hour' with the biggest tench arriving shortly after 2000 and the 4lber (a hard fighting male) 20 minutes later.

River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1530 Warm(ish) and overcast. AT 19ºC. River down quite a bit on Monday - at least 3 inches... 1 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 6 Dace, 2 Roach (all quite small). 2 Brownies both 6-8ozs. Really surprised to see how much the river had changed since my trip here on Monday - the swim I wanted to target had a completely different 'feel' to it (and not in a good way!!). Managed to winkle out a solitary chub from it - but not the barbel I was hoping for!

I add a small handful of porridge oats to mine if I want to absorb some moisture....

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm and overcast with a stiffish breeze for the most part - which kept the mozzies at bay. AT 21ºC - 18ºC 4 Tench; 3lb 11oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb, 2lb 13oz (all 3 smaller ones feisty hard fighting males). 2 Bream; 4lb 11oz & 4lb 8oz. 2 Perch, 2 Roach (all small) Well that was an entertaining evening! All the action between 8pm and 10pm - no bites at all before or after. I started off (as I usually do) alternating between chopped prawn and maggot on the hook - but when the bites arrived maggot just resulted in perch or roach so quickly reverted to a prawn only approach for the rest of the evening. I don't catch many bream on prawn so the two fish I caught will increase my confidence as a bait for them! First blackberries of the summer also collected. Note to self - remember to bring stink bag for my net when I expect/hope to catch bream or tench!

Do you have the lid on? I keep mine in a large bucket in the fridge - with the lid off so they don't sweat. Providing they stay dry - and I have them on a very cold setting too - to keep them torpid - they won't climb up the sides....

River Kennet - Padworth 1500 - 1630 Bright and breezy. Quite warm out the wind. AT 21ºC. River quite full for mid July. 1 Chub: small. 1 Roach, ditto. 2 Brownies both around 1½-2lb (definitely different fish - one had a growth on it) My day on the river was rounded off with a visit to a rarely visited venue - but one that has thrown up some nice roach from time to time - and that was sort of what I was after today. However and somewhat predictably, the only fish to put a serious bend in the rod came from trout. Saw the otter making its rounds as I packed up....

River Kennet - Brimpton 1135 - 1415 Bright and breezy quite warm - 20ºC. River quite full with good flow - especially for July 1 Chub 2lb. 6 Trout - various sizes from 6oz - 1½lb. Oh, how I detest spotties - they were in every swim I tried (I lost nearly as many as I landed!) and even resting and returning to my favourite chub hot-spot just brought more of the blighters! Dropped into the weir-pool for a solitary fish without an adipose!

River Kennet - Hambridge 0700 - 1100 Bright and breezy. Felt quite cool to start. AT 12ºC - 19ºC. River up an inch or so on last week - after a very wet weekend! 6 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 7oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 10oz & a 'pounder'. 4 Dace, 2 Roach - all quite chunky. 3 Brownies a fish of around 1¼lb and a couple in the 6-8oz bracket. Quick return to last week's venue hopeful that I could pull off another float caught barbel - so concentrated my efforts on a swim where I've had them in recent seasons - but it was full of chub!

And I couldn't even get a carp off the top in the margins - usually when it gets dark - and the wildfowl go to roost - a few thumbnail sized bits of bread flicked in gets some response within 20-30mins - not a single slurp last might!

Willows Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0000 Warm (ish), overcast with drizzly rain to start - clearing and becoming quite cool. AT 21ºC -> 12ºC. 1 Carp 8lb 1oz, 1 Tench 3lb 8oz. A frustrating evening on the float. Lots of dithering, dips and rises and lots of striking at thin air for the first 3 hours! When I did eventually connect with something it was the right weight - but the wrong species! 8lb+ tench have been coming out of here this summer and I'd really like to get one as my PB is under that! Darkness eventually resulted in a tinca but it would prove to be my last bite of an otherwise disappointing evening!

Certainly was - 3rd season running I've had baby barbel from here - must try and find some bigger ones this year!

River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1600 Warm, overcast and breezy - with a couple of very light showers (much lighter than was forecast!). AT 23ºC. River still with good flow for mid July though down an inch or two on 3 weeks ago. 3 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz & a 'pounder'. 1 Barbel 2lb 2oz (hooray!), 2 Perch; 1¼lbs & a tiddler. 9 Dace, 4 Roach (nothing noteworthy), 1 Gudgeon, 3 Brownies two in the 12oz - 1lb class (possibly same fish!) and one half that. Normal service has been resumed with most of the fish from my two usual hot-spots - really nice to get a barbel trotting (and my first gonk of the season!)

Final sum raised for Sue Ryder was £400 (including Gift-aid)

River Kennet - Thatcham 0930 - 1100 Bright and breezy and a lot cooler. AT 18ºC. River surprisingly low (given how full other stretches are...) 3 Brownies: 2½lbs, a pounder and one of around 8oz... Quick session to use up some maggot before I go to Devon on Friday. Surprised to find another angler in one of my banker swims - I rarely see another soul here - even less so on a week day! Could only winkle out spotties from my other 'bankers'...

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Fresher than recent days and cooler. Quite breezy.AT 21º-15ºC. 1 Bream: 4lb 14oz. 1 Tench; 1½lb. 1 Rudd - a netter of around 8-10oz, 1 Roach - small. 5 Perch - handsized. Alders campaign gets off to a sluggish start - though it started promisingly with the nice rudd first cast. Dusk brought quivering lilies and raised expectations - fulfilled with the tench a little after 2200. The bream arrived an hour later just as I was packing up - resulting in a very wet and slimy net in the car home!