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River Kennet - Thatcham 0645 - 1045 Warm and overcast - river in good nick with good weed growth this year. 2 Chub; 3lb 11oz & 1lb 14oz. 1 Barbel; 2lb 5oz. 7 spotties - all small except for 1 'pounder'. Fished a number of swims in rotation - number one banker swim produced just trout (all of them bar 1!) but dropping downstream produced the 3lb chub. Other 2 fish up in the fast shallows. No sign of any dace which is a shame!

River Kennet - Newbury 1100 - 1400 Overcast with drizzle. AT&WT both 49ºF. River still high with little colour - has dropped very little in the last month. 2 Barbel; 2¼lb & 3½lb. 2 Grayling; both 8-10oz. 14 Dace a few chunky ones but nothing particularly big. 1 Roach ½doz Gudgeon. Trotting session for what ever comes along - but hoping a barbel or a chub or two would put in an appearance - so jolly happy with a brace. Could have been so much better - as I had a much bigger one beaten on the surface (circa 7lbs) and was guiding it to the net when the hook pulled - the perils of using a size 18 I guess but bit of a bugger when I'd done all the hard work!......sigh! Barbel and Witcher is always a pleasing sight!

River Kennet backstream Padworth 2000 - 2300 Overcast, breezy with showery rain at times. 16ºC River down a touch on when I last fished here in August (see 8th August entry) 1 barbel 4lb 11oz Yet again a fish first cast, followed by not a lot. Well nothing with fins - the signals were insatiable. Probably should have fished a couple of swims in rotation like last time, though I rather suffered from 'swim inertia' being tucked snug under my brolly on a rainy evening...

River Kennet - Padworth 1945 - 2345 Clear and misty evening, with a near full moon - very ethereal! River at normal summer levels (ie higher than last year!) 2 Barbel: 6lb 3oz & 6lb 0oz Quite a few bumps and rattles - but didn't get a proper bite until around 2230 - with the second fish arriving on the scene ½hr or so later - would have thought it was the same one if I hadn't weighed them!

River Kennet - Padworth 1945 - 2315 Clear and breezy after heavy rain earlier in the day - river rose 4 inches whilst I was there - chair started off on dry gravel - seat was under water by the end (had me chesties on so didn't matter!). 1 Barbel 5lb 10oz. Only bite (and fish - clearly) 1st cast. Not a touch afterwards!

River Kennet backstream, Padworth 1900 - 2330 Warm, yet clear evening. Lovely night to be out - got to see some early Perseids. 3 Barbel; 8lb 7oz, 5lb 3oz, 4lb 6oz. Bit of an exploratory session - fished a couple of new swims - and got stung to blazes by the nettles - clearly 2 spots that have not seen an angler this season!! Fished in rotation - plan was to give each spot an hour or until I caught - whichever was soonest then switch. As it happened both swims produced a fish first cast (the 2 smaller ones) with the 1st swim then producing the 8 after being 'rested'. A useful and informative session - well worth the extra effort (and the stings!)

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1945 - 2345 Clear warm evening. River full and looking in very good nick with a little colour. Shirtsleeves all evening - lovely!!! 1 Barbel; 4lb 14oz. 2 Dace and a spottie of a round ¾lb. Took the trotting rod - to save Rusty from having to compose another headline - though in truth the dace weren't exactly playing ball either. Not helped by the troot wrecking my first and favourite swim with its airbourne antics. Only bite on the lead came quite late - after 2300 just as I was begining to doubt whether I'd picked the right swim again....

River Kennet - Newbury 2000 - 2330 Breezy with clearing skies after (yet another) rainy day. Min 15ºC - felt very pleasant. River looking in superb nick, fuller than I've seen it for many a summer and running quite clear too. 3 Barbel; 3lb 15oz, 3lb 4oz, 2lb 6oz. 2 Chub 1lb 13oz, 1lb 10oz. So maybe not the biggest fish in the river but after last Monday's monotony of looking at a stationary quiver tip it was a pleasant change to see the rod rattle (chub) or thump around (barbel). All fish caught in the first couple of hours - no bites after 2230 - so could have had an extra hour in bed!! All fish on pellet. Just noticed that this blog has now had over 50000 views!

River Kennet - nr Thatcham 0830 - 1230 Cool (for June) and overcast - with heavy rain for last ½ hour which persuaded me it was time to pack up early and go home for lunch. Heavy overnight rain - but the river was in good nick with good clarity and down a bit on the 16th. 1 Chub; 4lb 10oz. 2 Barbel; 2lb 13oz, 2lb 1oz. 13 Dace. 4 Brownies - 2 circa 1lb. (Rusty's going to hate me!) A quick return to the venue we visited briefly on the opening day in order to get Paul a float caught barbel. Paul had to work today so I was going solo. My choice of todays venue was influenced by 2 factors. 1, I knew it would be pretty quiet and I should get my first choice swims and 2 -, said swims have recieved 6 pints of Rusty's maggots over the previous 48 hours - thanks for the baiting up - Chris!!! I started in the swim I put Paul in last Saturday and within 5 minutes of starting - the float dipped and I was met with solid resistence. A battle, as much with the current as the fish ensued and it wasn't long before I had the chub subdued in slightly quieter water - my biggest from here for over 2 years. I was saying to Paul yesterday at Padworth that it's a pity this venue didn't produce more dace - so of course today I started to catch some - interpersed with the odd trout. My starter swim produced no more rod benders - so I followed the bait downstream and fished another favourite - the Bridge swim. Again success was almost instantaneous - with a hard fighting fish stripping line off the centre-pin on the strike - when I eventually got it under control I couldn't believe how small it was! Half an hour later and the trick was repeated - this barbel being even smaller - great fun though. Chub Baby Barbel

River Kennet - Padworth 1630 - 2230 Warm (ish) and overcast becoming quite breezy and rather cool. River 'full' and looking in very fine fettle. 3 Barbel; 9lb 11oz, 9lb 0oz, 5lb 3oz. 21 Dace. A game of 2 halves! Again I found myself introducing Paul to a new venue on his recently acquired TAA book. The plan was to have 3 hours trotting in order for Paul to have a good explore then fish into darkness on the lead. A plan that was nearly executed to perfection. We both found lots of silver fish - dace were of a good stamp and Paul's catch (he had an identical number of dace) was added to with a roach or 2, a couple of chublets and some gudgeon. The 2 swim's I'd earmarked for our more sedentary half of the evening were both gratifyingly free. These are both swims where I've done well in the past, are quite close together and I really couldn't decide which I wanted, so being the gentleman ( ) I let Paul have first dibs. Unfortunately for him it was an incorrect call! Withing 5 mins of casting out I was into a 9lb barbel - with Paul, still with trotting rod in hand, summoned to witness and assist. Another 9lber next cast, followed within the hour by the smaller fish - with still 2 hours before we were due to pack up (and - usually the best time) I was thinking I could be on for quite a haul - but I had no more bites. Paul, alas, had no bites at all!!

River Kennet, Newbury & Thatcham 0400 - 1230 Cool, overcast and very blustery. River quite coloured and very full for the time of year - highest it's been in the summer for many a year.... (well since 2007 now I come to think about it!!) 2 Chub; 2lb & 1¼lb. 1 Barbel 3lb. 57 Dace, 7 Roach, 3 Grayling, 1 Perch, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & a 1¾lb spottie. Pleasant start to the season with plenty of fish to put a bend in the rod - we had planned an overnighter on a local lake put had been put off by the weather forecast which wasn't half as bad as predicted in these parts. Paul also had a good haul of silvers but nothing big so we moved venues for the last couple of hours to one of my favourite parts of the river for a float caught barbel. This is Paul's first year on this book - so he was getting his first sight of the venue. I plonked him in one of my favourite swims and thankfully my gillie-ing paid off as it wasn't too long before I heard the ratchet go on his pin and he was drawing a fighting fit 4lb+ barbel to a waiting net. I couldn't repeat the trick to add to my earlier barbel only catching the troot after the move - though I did suffer a smash up fishing at very long range... Some pics from Paul - as per usual. Gudgeon! (Paul's entered the annual IAC species race!) Paul's first barbel of the season. Me.

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1800 - 2330 Mild, overcast with a soft southerly breeze - really lovely night to be out. River low and carrying quite a bit of leaf litter as you'd expect. WT a balmy 56ºF. 1 Barbel; 9lb 0oz. 1 Carp; 15lb 9oz!! Trick or Treat? Never been so disappointed to get such a lovely looking carp - as for nay on 10 mins I thought I was connected to the mother of all barbel!!! This is my 30th season barbel fishing this stretch of river and in all that time I've never caught a carp - until last night! Barbel caught at 2015 - carp 1½hrs later.

River Kennet - Newbury 1715 - 2215 Overcast and breezy. 14ºC. River low with a fair amount of leaf litter. 1 Barbel, 4lb 0oz. Barbel in the first hour - thereafter it was a case of 'Welcome to Crayfish City' the blighters were on the pellet within seconds at times. Also saw the otter 3 times and whilst I had planned to stay until midnight at least - I knew it wasn't going to be my night when it rolled in my swim a little after 10 o'clock - maybe it was after the crayfish!

River Kennet - Newbury 1830 - 2330 Warm, still evening - really surprised to see the thermometer in the car down to 11ºC when I left as it felt MUCH warmer under the trees - quilted shirt and coat both remained 'unworn' all evening. River LOW (now the norm for this time of year - alas ) and carrying quite a bit of colour. 4 Barbel; 6lb 15oz, 6lb 10oz, 5lb 2oz, 4lb 1oz. Nice to get amongst some 'schooly' sized barbel! Got off to a cracking start with 3 fish by 8 o'clock - basically first 3 casts all produced fish. Had to wait until 2230 to bank the next one but did inexpicably 'miss' a couple of 3 foot twitches in the intervening period. No sign of the otter - which probably explains why the barbel were in residence! Last night's biggest...

River Kennet - Padworth 2015 - 0145 Cool & clear. AT down to 10ºC. 1 Barbel; 8lb 0oz*. Out later than usual as I'd agreed to pick up one of my son's from a party at 'stupid o'clock' - any excuse to get out on the bank. Just as well, as I've I'd kept my usual hours I'd have been looking at a blank - only bite came on the stroke of 0100 when I'd have usually been tucked up in bed! No other excitements save for seeing a truely spectacular meteor - I half expected to see on the news that the ISS had de-orbited! *I'm almost certain this was the same 8lber I caught from this swim on 24th August!

River Kennet - Thatcham 1000 - 1200 Warm and sunny - lovely early autumn morning. 17ºC but felt a whole lot warmer.... River very low 1 Barbel; 4lb 15oz. 1 Chub; 2lb 2oz. 2 dace, 2 brownies and a grayling. Meant to be mowing the lawn today and as I type this while having some lunch I 'spose I better get out there. My excuse this morning was that it was too wet to cut (heavy dew last night) - so with a pint of maggots in the fridge, a trotting rod made up in the quiver I was on the bank (or rather IN the river) within ½hr of deciding on this short impromptu trip. Barbel pretty much first cast - and I wrecked the swim coaxing it out of some rununclus (waded down to get below it) so left the swim alone and had a wander - picking up the odd fish here and there. Returned for the last 20 mins and immediately had the chub - which pulled off the same trick as the barbel - necessitating the same solution! And with that it was home for lunch!

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1130 - 1500 Cool and overcast. 15ºC. River at near normal summer levels carrying it usual tinge of colour. 1 Barbel; 3lb 13oz, 1 Chub; 3lb 2oz. 4 Grayling, 1 dace, a gudgeon and 3 brownies. Bit of a recce session with a lot of walking involved - Paul and I are planning an evening trip tomorrow and we're undecided where to go (or even whether to fish a river or a lake!). Fished 6 swims in total so didn't spend long in any one spot. All fish on trotted maggot and most fish (everything bar one of the grayling and 2 of the trout) from the last but one swim I dropped in....might be back there tomorra night! Chub & a Chris Lythe... ps - Rusty - the 'other' grayling was from your 'banker' swim

River Kennet - Padworth 1815 - 2345 Mainly cloudy and quite breezy. 15ºC - Though felt chillier in the wind. River up a couple of inches (judging by the grass growing under water!) 4 Barbel; 9lb 7oz, 8lb 0oz, 5lb 6oz, 4lb 11oz. Smallest one 1st cast - within 10 minutes of arriving! Then followed by 2 hours of crayfish activity - attacking the bait within miuntes of it settling. It stopped at dusk - obviously the fish had gone on the munch, as I quickly had the 5lber a little after 2030. Followed this with the 9 at 2200 and the 8, 45 mins later. Had planned to stay longer - but the crays returned at around 2330 so took this as my cue that action was over for the night!!! The 9 - nice fat specimen - looked all the world as if it would be a double - but lacked a bit of length!

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1830 - 2330 Cool, overcast, breezy and drizzly (well it is July!). 13ºC. River lowish and quite coloured. 1 Barbel; 6lb 11oz. 1 Chub 2¾lb. A pleasant evening despite the conditions! Both fish in 1st couple of hours - chub first cast. Enjoyment of session somewhat tempered by the sight of a really big dog otter - 1st time I've ever seen one here - and pretty sure its a different animal to the one I've seen further upstream - had a good long look at it as it swam upstream at around 9.00pm - not surprisingly the swim went a bit quiet after that!

River Kennet - Padworth. 1700 - 0000 Bright and breezey start with clouds clearing and temps dropping. 20ºC->12ºC when I packed up. River at near normal summer levels (perhaps a tad on the low side) and carrying its usual summer colour... 1 Chub; 6lb 6oz (Equals my PB! ). 2 Barbel; 9lb 7oz & 4lb 4oz. Well, well, well! For the 2nd year running my first 'static' barbel session of the summer throws up a 6lb+ chub. From the same venue as last year too - though from a swim several hundred metres downstream. Whereas last years 6lb was a beat up old warrior who fought more like a bream on diazepam last nights was in great nick, fought very well for a chub and gave a very good imitation of a barbel - was real surprised when it eventually surfaced. Don't get many chub here - to put it into context - in 10 years of regularly fishing this venue this is only my 3rd chub of any size - and 2 of them have been over 6lb! Chub was caught 2nd cast (about and hour after starting). Smaller barbel around 2130 - which didn't fight half as well as the chub and the 9lber just as it got properly dark at 2300. The 9lb 'radiated gigantism' fought like fury and I had real difficulty shifting it from the bottom - usually the sign of a good fish. Thought all the world it would be a double - long and lean though - needs to pack on some post spawning weight!!!!!

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 0700 - 1000 Cool, breezey and overcast. One sharp shower followed by an absolute downpour just after packing up!! Max 15ºC 3 Barbel; 7lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz, 2lb 9oz. 1 Chub (unweighed but circa 1lb). 3 Dace, 1 Gudgeon & 2 Brownies one of which went 2lb 14oz. A return to the venue I visited on opening day and as I hoped I had the place to myself! This meant I could fish all ½ doz swims in rotation. Biggest barbel from 2nd swim other 2 from 5th one I dropped in. Brownie was chasing in minnows - so 'spinning' a red/white maggot past its lair induced a take! Session was curtailed by the river suddenly turning to the colour of chocolate with loads of debris coming down. Wandering upstream to investigate - there was a JCB in the tail of the weir re-modelling the the river bed! Given the subsequent rain I'm not too displeased! Pic of the 7lber - which put up a merry battle on the Harrison!

River Kennet - Newbury 0815 - 1115 Mild and overcast. Battery flat in thermometer so no temps. River up a bit to normal levels and carrying a bit of colour. 1 Barbel; 3lb 14oz. 3 Chub; 3lb 9oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 13oz. 2 Perch 1lb 12oz and one just shy of a lb. 2 Dace & 3 Gudgeon. An 'insurance' session!! Meant to be having a day on the middle Kennet tomorrow - but if the weather forecast is accurate I'll probably get up, check the rain radar and go straight back to bed!! So this morning, on the excuse that I had to pop over to Tony's to get some maggots anyway, I thought I'd sneak in a couple of hours or so on the bank as I suspected the river would be in good nick - and so it proved. A barbel on the pin at any time is to be welcomed - all the more so in mid-February. All the chub and the barbel on trotted lobs (and one of the dace!). The rest including both perch on double red maggot.

River Kennet - nr. Thatcham 1830 - 2330 Mainly overcast and quite breezey. AT54ºF, WT52ºF and both rising. Positively balmy compared to last Monday evening, despite the wind! 4 Barbel: 10lb 7oz, 9lb 5oz, 7lb 4oz, 5lb 15oz Cracking evening in a swim not a million miles from where John, Chris & Steve have been in the last 72 hours! 9lber first cast - all be it ¾hr after casting out and the double right at the end of the session. Biggest barbel for 3 years. All on hair-rigged halibuts. 9lb 5oz 10lb 7oz Just realised I haven't reset the clock on my camera!

River Kennet - Thatcham 0800 - 1130 Bright and sunny. AT 54ºF, WT 52ºF - up 7ºF on Monday evening! 1 Barbel 4lb 11oz, 1 brownie 1¼lb, 5 dace & a roach. Slowish morning's trotting - started out with lobs for 1st hour hoping for a chub or two but nothing doing. Then an hour's trotting maggot before the barbel showed up - target for the morning was a barbel so at least that box got ticked! Rather a lot of minnows in residence - more than I've seen for a long time!

River Kennet - Padworth 1830 - 2300 Clear and misty evening. 15º -> 10ºC. River at normal summer levels - though carrying a bit more colour than usual after the weekend's rain. 2 Barbel: 8lb 11oz, 4lb 14oz. Both fish in first 1¼hrs - smaller one 1st cast. Was also greeted by a Barn Owl flying within 10-15' of my head - probably hunting for the legion of rats scurrying around on the bank behind me after it got dark!!