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Chris Plumb

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Plumb

  1. Chris Plumb

    24 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2230
    Warm and muggy despite clear skies - though there was a few large spots of rain as I left. AT 26->19ºC.
    4 Tench; 4lb 15oz & 3 around 1¼lb ± a couple of ounces . 1 Bream 4lb 7oz. 1 Roach; 'half decent' at around 6oz. 2 Perch; small.
    A game of 2 halfs with all the action coming after 2030 as it got dark and not a hint of movement to the float before then -at least there were no crayfish around! Pleased to see the tench putting on a few ounces, very nearly my first ever 5lber from here! Also had time to bump a couple - one of which I'm pretty sure was a foul hooked carp (my hook came back with a scale 🙂).
  2. Chris Plumb

    20 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Thatcham
    0630 - 1000
    Bright and sunny. AT 14º -> 20ºC. River VERY low.
    10 Chub; 3 over a lb (two not by much - the other around 2lb) all the others small - 4-6oz. 6 Roach - all around the same size as the small chub (and occupying the same swim). 2 Gudgeon - a rare sight in these parts. 1 Ruffe - a MUCH rarer sight. 3 brownies - all small.
    I first fished the Kennet in 1969 at the age of 8 when I was taken to a weirpool on Lower Benyons by my Great Grandfather. Using a tank aerial rod and a wooden starback reel I caught a 1½lb perch - needless to say I was in heaven! The following season after some very intensive sessions of swimming lessons I was allowed out on my own! (I have a propensity for falling in to this day!) I've fished the Kennet every year since and in all that time I've never caught a Ruffe from the river - until today! In fact  I've only caught the species on two occasions before, once in the mid 70s (8th Oct 1976 to be precise) when Paul and I bunked off games at school to 'guest' on the Loddon and more recently on the canal at Avington.
    So a lively and productive morning - great to see some juvenile chub in the river again - has been a feature of the last couple of seasons. And was rather hoping against hope to see a barbel on the bank as I've heard of the odd one being caught from here this year (plus I had one myself from here last August). I guess that was just being greedy!

  3. Chris Plumb

    14 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Harris Lake - Milford
    1530 - 2330
    Hot, overcast and sultry - though the clouds parted somewhat after dark to allow me to see a couple of long streaky Perseids. AT 33°C on arrival and still 20°C when I pulled into my drive at home, at a little before 0100.
    7 Crucians; 4 over 2lb - biggest 2lb 15oz - with all the other 2lbers around 2-04 - 2-06. 10 Tench;  all over 3lb - with half over 4lb - best 2, 5lb 11oz & 4lb 11oz. 4 perch - small, 3 rudd - micro small - all took a bare hook as I was shotting my float at the start of the session.
    A crucian first cast was followed by a slow but steady afternoon -which in itself was a surprise as I didn't expect any bites until dusk. The hour from 9-10pm was frenetic however - with bites and fish coming thick and fast! The 5lber was the last fish landed - and then, suddenly the swim went completely dead. Fished on for 90 mins without a hint of a bite and whilst I had intended to stay until the early hours - I can take a hint! 😀
  4. Chris Plumb

    15 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1900 - 0000
    Warm, calm evening with high cloud clearing enough to have a good view of the International Space Station which passed overhead twice whilst I was on the bank. AT 25º -> 15ºC. Shirtsleeves all evening though copious amounts of DEET was required to keep the mossies at bay!
    6 Tench: best 3lb 4oz, with another just shy of 3lb the other 4 around 1¼lb ±4oz. 1 Crucian; 1lb 7oz. 2 Carp; 8lb 4oz & 7lb 13oz. 1 Perch - small.
    A super evening, successfully NOT catching carp! Defaulted to my usually MF tactics of float fished prawn segments fished just off a lily bed and expecting to be annilihated by a carp at every cast. But every time the float dipped or (more usually) lifted (as I was using the lift method!) it resulted in a welcome tinca - or an even more welcome crucian. Nice to see the stocking of these a few years back starting to pack on some weight - first one I've had of this batch over 1lb - a super little fish with a typical high back demonstrating the phenotypic plasticity this species is famous for. By 2230 bites on the float had dried up (opposite to what usually happens) and I started to flick bits of bread into the margins by my feet. It wasn't long before there were slurps and swells as it got mopped up and it was simply a matter of dapping a bit of bread with a hook in and hanging on!
     


  5. Chris Plumb

    10 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Willows Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2230
    Hot and sultry. AT 30° -> 20°C. Shirtsleeves evening - with a glorious full moon (nearly - it's actually tonight!) rising in the SE. 
    1 Tench; 2lb 1oz. 2 Carp; 14lb 5oz, 6lb 7oz. 1 perch - small.
    A torpid evening watching a mainly stationary float - and not even avoiding a float caught carp - though, thankfully, the 6lb common decided to motor out toward the island rather than dive into the lilies a mere couple of feet from where it was hooked!! The only time I got a classic lift bite did at least result in a hoped for tench. Dusk brought out my bread crust in the margins strategy and the dapping of a piece with a hook in resulted in my biggest carp for 4 years. Another 3 jars of bramble jelly was also the result of this evening's excursion!😀

  6. Chris Plumb

    25 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Padworth
    1715 - 2145
    Warm, overcast and very breezy. AT 22º -> 16ºC. River low and threadbare!
    13 Roach and 7 Dace. Nothing particularly noteworthy - though all the roach were a handsized or slightly bigger.
    A lively hour catching 'silvers' followed by 3 hours sat behind a couple of stationary quiver tips for the inevitable blank targetting a barbel (and to think this place used to be called 'Barbel Alley'). Had intended to stay a bit longer - but an early pack up was precipitated by the arrival of the otter - who actually dived over one of my baits (probably spooked by seeing me)!
  7. Chris Plumb

    6 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0530 - 0730
    Cool and clear. AT 7º (!) -> 13ºC (Was thankful for my fleece!). River VERY low - can't remember when I last saw it this threadbare.
    2 Chub; 1lb 10oz & 1lb 7oz. 11 Dace - all small. 5 Roach - ditto apart from one of around ½lb. 2 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak
    A couple of hours trotting and home for breakfast! Doesn't look like anyone's been here since I came in June, place was a jungle! Banker chub swim was full of bleak & and small dace - so pleased that my 'back-up' produced a brace of 'schoolies'.
  8. Chris Plumb

    3 August

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1800 - 2230
    Warm and overcast. AT22º->20ºC
    1 Tench; 1lb 11oz. 1 Roach, 4 Perch - all small ( but not micro-small!)
    A very frustrating evening as I repeatedly had sail-away, unmissable bites which had me striking at thin air! Still can't decide whether it was signals or small fish taking the shot - suspect the latter as the bait came back unmolested! Dusk eventually saw some fish actually hooked but the only one to put a decent bend in the rod was a feisty male tinca which punched well above its weight! A very, below average evening!
  9. Chris Plumb

    30 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    0530 - 1000
    Warm, muggy with hazy sunshine. AT 15º -> 22ºC. River very low.
    2 Chub; 4lb 9oz, 4lb 4oz & 2 chublets. 9 Dace; 5 absolute chunks all 8-10oz, 7 Roach - variety of sizes but nothing over 6oz. 1 Perch: small, 1 Bleak. 1 Brownie: 1¼lb.
    For the second river trip in a row I get to see an otter and this one defintely wasn't shy! I'd eased into position mid-river to get a run through a favourite chub swim, only to get the flippin trout pretty much 1st cast and was thinking I'd better rest this swim and come back, when the family of swans 100m downstream of me started kicking off big time. I guessed it might be an otter chancing its arm with a cygnet - as I've witnessed a swan/otter fracas on this stretch before. My assumption was correct as a minute later the otter popped up in the middle of my swim and proceeded to nonchalantly work its way up the very trotting line I'd just been feeding! Thankfully I didn't see it surface with a fish and as it passed me by, heading upstream, I could have patted it on the head, it was that close!
    Hopes of anything from this spot were now zero - however an hour and a half's rest and 20 minutes of standing in mid river dribbling in very small quantities of maggot did the trick. The bigger chub was first trot and a further 30 mins rest and more dribbling of bait produced the second 4lber of the morning! Some super dace from the weirpool at the top of The Aldershot was a nice way to round off the session....

  10. Chris Plumb

    28 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1830 - 2230
    Warm, overcast and muggy (for the most part - skies clearing and getting cooler and dew-y when I packed up). AT 22º -> 16ºC
    1 Tench; 4lb 2oz. 1 Carp: 2lb 8oz. 1 Roach - handsized.
    It's that time of year when venues are chosen for the quality of the blackberry picking! 3lbs picked in a little over ½hr - which has already been converted into Jaq's wonderful bramble jelly this morning - was followed by 4 hours watching a mainly stationary float! Did at least land 3 of the 4 bites I had - the 4th resulted in a rather unequal battle with a largish carp who plodded up and down the central channel for quite a time. I could make no impression on it and eventually it decided enough was enough and headed for the lillies where it threw the hook - which I miraculously got back!
     

  11. Chris Plumb

    23 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0530 - 1130
    Bright and sunny. 13ºC -> 22ºC. River very low with a tinge of colour.
    2 Chub; one just over a pound the other even smaller. 40+ Dace and Roach - in roughly equal nos (slightly more dace). None of the roach were noteworthy but several of the dace were - the two I weighed went 13oz & 11oz and had another 3 or 4 over 8oz. 2 Bleak. 1 Rainbow; 2½lb.
    A 'scratchy' morning, failing to find any big chub or any bonus bream backups! Started with the rainbow which didn't help! Big dace were a welcome surprise and when I hooked the pound+  chub a few minutes after the bigger dace (and from the same spot!) I was harbouring thoughts of a new dace PB until I had it in the net and realised the dace had a few juvenile chub as swim partners!

  12. Chris Plumb

    13 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Alders Lake - Thatcham
    1930 - 2300
    Warm with high broken cloud - affording a super view of the Super 'Buck' Moon when it got dark. AT 25º -> 17ºC.
    2 Bream: both 3lbers but not by much. 1 Tench 1¼lb. 2 Perch: small
    An evening with a slow start and a livelier finish! I nearly packed up after an hour or so as I was being totally plagued by crayfish and whilst they did a quick disappearing act - usually a good sign that something that would find a signal a tasty snack has appeared on the scene - by the time 10.00pm rolled around I just had the 2 modest perch to show for my perserverance. Thankfully the ever increasing gloom brought some action from my target species - 2 bream, 5 minutes apart were topped off by a last cast tinca turning a poor evening into a par one!
  13. Chris Plumb

    9 July

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Thatcham
    0645 - 1115
    Warm and mainly overcast - though clearing. AT 19ºC. Quite breezy. River low.
    5 Chub: best 3lb 5oz with another close to a lb - the other 3 quite small. 1 Dozen Dace & ½ Dozen Roach - all small apart from one of the roach which was around 6-8oz. 1 Perch; a 'netter' and circa 1lb. 1 Gudgeon. 3 Brownies - all over 1lb but under 1½ (think I caught the same one, twice!)
    Very pleasant morning's trotting - fishing half a dozen swims in rotation with a couple getting their first visit by an angler this season - judging by the state of the banks! Biggest chub coming from a 2nd visit to a favoured swim after resting it due to it being trashed by one of the troot on my first visit! Nice to see some 'silvers' in this part of the river - and (again) some juvenile chub.
  14. Chris Plumb
    Harris Lake - Marsh Farm, Milford
    0600 - 0000
    5 Tench; biggest 5lb 4oz the others 3-4lb. 7 Crucians; 5 over 1lb with a couple over 2 - best 2lb 4oz. A dozen+ rudd - most tiny with one of around 4-6 oz.
    Annual IAC get together in memory of Paul - a chance to catch up, raise some money for Duchess of Kent Hospice and this year, put a face to a name - Stephen Jackson  who has been on the IAC list forever ventured down from Carlisle for his first IAC fish-in. 
    A slow day angling wise - however and somewhat unusually for an IAC event most people actually caught a few - tench admitedly for most, but even Crucians turned up in quite a few different nets. Even Glenn caught - a tench AND a crucian! I had a few daylight fish as well so didn't have to rely on fishing on after dusk for angling redemption (which was just as well as it wasn't as reliable as expected!)
    The winner of the trophy for the biggest crucian was decided early doors with Geoff's first cast fish of 2lb 12oz though this was nearly eclipsed by a fish from Alex in the next swim just fractions of an ounce lighter! Even the weather behaved itself!
     
    Geoff's winning fish.
     

  15. Chris Plumb

    23 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Harris Lake - Milford
    1500 - 0030
    Warm, overcast and muggy - though the promised thunderstorms never materialised - thankfully. 26ºC and still 15ºC when I packed up - though felt cooler in the breeze that had picked up in the evening which did at least keep the dew and mozzies away.
    12 Tench: 8 over 4lb including 2 over 5 - biggest 5lb 14oz. 6 Crucians; all 2lbers best 2 - 2lb 13oz & 2lb 10oz - the others between 2-02 & 2-06. 2 perch and 6 micro rudd.
    Back over to Milford and with the crucian box well and truely ticked on Monday I was on a different lake with tincas' as my quarry. Bites slow but steady during daylight hours - but I knew things would pick up at dusk. By 2130 I'd caught 5 tench - in the next 2 hours I added 7 more plus all the crucians - frenetic angling with the 5-14 the last fish caught! Then at 2330 bites suddenly stopped. And whilst I had intended to stay a liitle longer - an hour without a bite was a big enough hint that the 'main event' had come and gone!

  16. Chris Plumb

    20 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Johnson's Lake - Milford
    1430 - 2315
    Bright and sunny with a cooling NEly breeze which did a great job of keeping the mozzies at bay! AT 20º -> 10ºC.
    5 Crucians - in order of capture: 3lb 7oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 8oz, 3lb 1oz, 4lb 2oz (NEW PB!) 😁 8 Tench - biggest around 2½lb the rest less than half that! 1 Roach (1lb) (!), 4 Rudd - all between 6-10oz and a micro perch!
    WOW! Annual pilgrimage here pays off spectacularly - my first ever 4lb crucian and the first time I've ever had 5X3lbers in a session. All caught on small chopped prawn segments and all during daylight hours (the 4lber was landed just before 7pm) which meant I had even higher expectations for dusk. Alas, the tench moved in and proved to be a bit of a menace! (the carpers were complaining about them when I arrived!)
    A real Red Letter Day. Tired but elated this morning!

  17. Chris Plumb

    22 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Brimpton
    0430 - 0900
    Bright sunny morning - lovely to be out before the heat of the day set in - shared my morning with the local wildlife - deer, heron and kingfishers. River low and clear
    7 Chub: best (by a very long way!) 5lb 11oz (!!!) with a couple of around a lb and all the rest 6-8oz  - nice to see some juvenile fish. 7 Dace, 2 Roach (all fairly small). 4 Brownies - 3 over a lb one of which was nearer 2lb.
    Well I wasn't expecting that - especially after a rather unpromising start. I'd fished my 2 more reliable chub spots without so much as a sniff and in my 3rd one had a couple of splashy trout to wreck things before at least getting off the mark with a small chub and a couple of dace. So it was very much in hope rather than expectation when I revisited one of my earlier swims - not at all confident as the sun was now on the water. Thankfully there was still some shade under the far bank trees - and within a couple of minutes  of running a float through connected with an absolute lump which I first mistook for a snag - took an age to coax up in the current and very thankful to get it in the net!
     
    I'll do very well to get a bigger one all season!

  18. Chris Plumb

    17 June

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Hambridge
    0430 - 0830
    Warm and sultry - already 23ºC when I packed up - had planned to move to another venue after starting here but the heat decided me otherwise. River low and clear.
    2 Chub: 2lb 12oz & 2lb 3oz. 20 Dace; all small. 10 Roach: ditto. 1 Bream - a large-ish skimmer which had me more than a little excited for a minute as thought I was bringing in a rather nice roach! 2 Gudgeon (hooray!) 2 Brownies - a 'pounder' and a parr.
    I did a recce here a couple of weeks ago - turned up with my 'lasher' to scythe through the head high nettles to a couple of my favourite swims in preparation for an early season visit. So was more than a little disappointed to note that in the intervening period a tree had come down across one of them. A spot I often do quite well in low water (see entry for last Sep) now alas all but unfishable as the fallen tree has knocked the tree opposite into the river as well.😒 So had to make do with my usual banker swim - both chub turning up on cue after trickling in maggot for 10 minutes while I waited for it to get light enough to see my float followed by the usual mixed bag.
    Pic of the Gonk for BTG!

  19. Chris Plumb

    16 June 2022

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Kennet - Marsh Benham
    0415 - 1145
    Hot, sunny and sultry. 26ºC when I packed up but thankful for the fleece I put in my tackle bag at the last minute, when I arrived at first light! River low and clear.
    2 Bream; 4lb 7oz, 4lb 4oz. 6 Chub; a couple of 2lbers with the rest all between ½-1lb. 3 Doz Dace & Roach (roughly 2 dace for every roach) nothing very big though a couple of the dace were half decent. 3 Bleak. 2 Brownies - both over 3lb with spectacular markings.
    Glorious morning - on my favourite weirpool - which is thankfully in shade for all of the morning. Both bream had me convinced I was into decent chub - they fight soooo much harder than their still water cousins (and are a lot less slimey!!!). Was hopeful of finding some bigger chub though I think they may have been spawning in the shallows below the weirpool (something certainly was!).


  20. 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.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  21. Chris Plumb

    11 January

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
    0900 - 1630
    Damp, murky and drizzly all day. AT 9/10ºC. River low for mid January.
    22 Chub: 12 over 1lb, with 9 over 3lb. Best 2 went 5lb 2oz & 4lb 10oz. 3 Dace; a 10oz fish and a couple of tiddlers. 1 Roach - small. A doz+ brownies from 2½-4lb.
    It's my birthday tomorrow and as I've got the week off (and being whisked away from tomorrow by Mrs P to an unknown (to me) destination) I thought I'd treat myself to a bit of all out chub fishing. I headed straight for the the spot I bagged up in last March - and whilst there were plenty of chub in residence it proved to be a bit of a battle to keep the trout count down. Switching to another swim at the top of the venue after lunch proved a good move (and worth the long walk) - both my biggest two chub came from here plus a couple more (and no brownies!). All the big chub on trotted red corn - got through 3 tins of the stuff. Last ¾hr on the carrier trotting maggot in search of big dace - though found mainly ½lb chub which did a very good imitation of big dace...
     
    Biggest of the day.

  22. Chris Plumb

    8 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury
    0830 - 1800
    Bright and sunny morning - clouding over after lunch (thankfully!). AT around 10ºC all day after a frosty start. River slightly on the low side.
    22 Chub: Only 3 under 2lb and 8 over 4lb. Best 3 went 5lb 6oz, 5lb 2oz & 4lb 15oz. 7 Roach; 1lb 5oz, 12oz and 5 tiddlers. 7 Dace: 1lb 😀, 12 oz 2@ 10oz and the other 3 weren't much smaller! 1 doz+ Brownies 2½lb - 4lb. 2 Rainbows both around 2½lb.
    My now annual end of season 'chubfest', though in truth this was very much a game of 2 halfs!. The bright morning sunshine and low river did not make for good sport and by the time I'd abandoned my usual banker stretch and headed upstream after an early lunch I'd caught 'just' 2 chub and 6 brownies. Thankfully conditions were much more conducive in the afternoon - heavy cloud cover and a stiffish breeze to put a ripple on the water and with judicous baiting and regular resting I caught chub pretty  continously from the same long trot all afternoon. The rest periods were spent fishing a carrier that I've long suspected could hold big dace - though in previous visits over the past decade or so has failed to produce any (though I did once get a brace of 2lb perch from it!). Today they were in residence - all sandpapery males in breeding condition (would love to have found a pigeon chested female - they can be even heavier!) and a couple of lovely roach as swim mates. My first 1lb dace for 17 years (which was also from this venue - though further downstream).



  23. Chris Plumb

    14 March (Part 1)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham
    0700 - 1200
    Bright and sunny. Frosty start - but felt quite warm by lunchtime - a lovely spring day though not ideal angling conditions! AT -1º - 12ºC. River up a bit on last weekend - close to usual winter levels.
    1 Chub; 4lb 3oz. 18 Roach - quite a few 'netters' with the biggest a smidge over 1lb - my first (and last!) from here this season. 2 Dace - Small. 2 Perch - ditto. 1 Brownie - 2½lb.
    Wanted to end the season where I started it! Began on the main river - but only had 1 bite from the 5 swims I tried - though that did result in the chub. Then I worked my way up the carrier - looking for the shady swims - which definitely produced more bites. Ended up in the swim that produced all the chub 9 days ago - but didn't get a bite this time!
  24. Chris Plumb

    14 March (Part2)

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne
    1300 - 1800
    Bright and sunny - with broken cloud. AT 12º - 7ºC
    15 Perch; 10 over 1lb - most around 1lb 8oz/1lb 12oz. 3 over 2lb though not by much - biggest 2lb 4oz (also had a 1-15). 2 Pike; 2lb 10oz and the other half that!
    Lively afternoon. I was here really to be ready for when the sun went down - but the action was steady all afternoon - even when the swim was bathed in sunshine. Was very hopeful that the witching hour would produce a real biggy or 2 - but alas the pike turned up - the bigger one bit me off twice before I was third time lucky in landing it (and getting my 2 hooks back!) I slipped it back a LONG way upstream only for next cast to produce a real tiddler of an esox!
  25. Chris Plumb

    12 March

    By Chris Plumb,


    Coarse Fishing
    River Lambourn - Shaw
    0900 - 1030
    Bright and breezy with a couple of light showers. AT 10ºC. River quite low and, as is usual, gin clear.
    14 Grayling; Most around 8oz with 3 or 4 bigger ones. 3 Brownies; 1¼lb and a couple half that.
    I hadn't planned on going again until Monday - but when Mrs P announced she was out all morning at the hairdressers I thought it would be the perfect excuse to christen Rusty's Harrison that I have recently acquired. Unusually for the Lambourn a dozen of my fish came from the same spot - found a shoal boiling at the freebies and just holding back meant most hooked themselves (though quite a few bumped off too!) Cover pic was the first fish caught...
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