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Showing results for tags 'barbel'.
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River Kennet - Thatcham 1400 - 1700 Fine and sunny. 18ºC. River quite low. 1 Barbel; 5lb 6oz, 2 Chublets, 8 Dace, 3 Roach & 8 Spotties Unexpectedly had a ½ day so seemed a pity NOT to spend it up to my calves in river water trotting a loafer through various runs. Fished a number of swims and had dace a small trout from all of them. Barbel was a real struggle to get in - and spent most of the fight trying to get downstream of it to coax it out of a weed-bed, wasn't even sure I still had it on for most of the time!
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1800 - 2015 Warm and sunny. River quite low now after a dry summer. 1 Barbel, 3lb, 1 Chub, 2½lb, 4 Dace, 1 Roach & 9 Spotties - including 1 of nearly 3lb! Yesterday I took my bag of pellets out of my tackle bag to refill it, groove up some hook baits and flavour them up with some monster crab - the only flaw in that plan was forgetting to put said bag of pellets back into tackle bag - Doh! Didn't forget me maggots so had to make do with a couple of hours of daylight for a cracking session on the float. Fished 3 swims - following the bait downstream and had all the biggies (including the troot) in the 'bottom' peg.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 0930 - 1430 Warm and sunny. 1 Barbel, 4lb. 4 Chub - all between 8oz - 1lb. 18 Dace most really chunky - I weighed one at 11oz. 1 roach. A doz spotties most small save for a couple of pounders. A lovely morning's trotting - accompanied for the first hour by Jaq! Bin a few years since she came fishing with me - but it was a lovely summer's morning and she did have an ulterior motive. And that motive was Blackberries! I've never seen so many and such huge fruit - Jaq picked 6lb in just 45 mins - all now converted to bramble jelly (lovely!). The fishing weren't bad either - some really nice dace and chublets to start and after I bade the missus farewell I ended up in a familiar swim where I snaffled the barbel to finish off the session. We'll be back!
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River Kennet - Padworth 1930 - 2330 Warm evening with a nice breeze to keep the mossies off. Still 16ºC when I packed up. 1 Barbel; 5lb 11oz Unusually for me ledgered with two rods (and even more unsually left the trotting gear at home). One rod on boilie and one on halibut pellet. Pellet rod went off within ½ hour of arriving - a great start. Unfortunately it was then down to the crayfish to move in. Bait thieving activity died down for the last 45 mins - but it was false hope....
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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...
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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!
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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!
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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....
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!!
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River Kennet - Padworth 1815 - 0015 Cool and clear, rain for last hour. 11ºC. River up a bit (but not as much as I expected!) and carrying a bit of colour. 2 Barbel; 5lb 14oz & 5lb 2oz. With 3 inches of rain in the past 5 days I expected the barbel to be on the munch so a brace of 5lbers was somewhat below expectations!!! First fish whilst it was getting dark (2000) and the second fish coaxed me out from under my brolly to get wet at around 2315.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1815 - 0000 Warm, overcast and quite breezey. 16ºC at Midnight. River down a bit (on 3 weeks ago) with a little colour. 1 Barbel; 5lb 8oz. Return to the swim where I had a 7,8 & 9 recently (see entry for 28th July). Thought the weekend's rain might have gingered things up a bit but the river seemed pretty lifeless. Only one bite and even that was a very tentative plucky affair - thought I was into a Signal and just lifted the rod to remove the beasty when the fish took off - thankfully hooking itself. Quite a bit of debris in the river - mainly silkweed which gradually built up on the line - a real drag (quite literally).
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River Kennet - Newbury 1800 - 2330 Warm. muggy and overcast, 1 heavy-ish shower. 17ºC when I packed up. 2 Barbel; 6lb 10oz, 3lb 14oz. Very pleasant evening by the river - though not a lot of bites or activity. Some crayfish activity for first hour or so which then stopped - usually a good sign! 6lber at around 2100 and the smaller fish quite literally at the end - was leaning forward to grab the rod to wind in to end the session when it was wrenched from my hands! Both fish on ledgered halibuts.
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River Kennet - Thatcham 0745 - 1145 Warm & sultry, 22ºC. River at normal summer levels - carrying a tinge of colour. 4 barbel, 5lb 12oz, 4lb 3oz, 3lb 13oz, 1lb 14oz. 3 Chub, 4lb 4oz, 2lb 10oz, 1¼lb, 3 Brownies all small(ish). Pleasant morning's trotting. All fish from fast shallow water.
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River Kennet - Newbury 0415 - 0800 Clear and cool - only 7ºC when I arrived. 3 Chub - 2lb9oz, 2lb3oz ,1½lb. 1 Barbel, 3lb 2oz. 4 Perch (1 'pounder' of 1lb 6oz), 16 Dace, 14 Roach, 4 Gudgeon, 2 Brownies & 1 Grayling. After the frustrations of the opening day, a pre-breakfast visit to an old friend. A nice mixed bag all on trotted maggot - was hoping for some bigger chub but nice to see some 'silvers' showing. Barbel caught on the very last cast of the morning!
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River Kennet, Nr Newbury. 0700 - 1100 Torrential rain at dawn (I waited for it to clear! ), brigthening up. 15ºC. River low with LOTS of leaf litter - coloured up AND fined down in the time I was there! 7 Chub: 5lb 5oz, 4lb 7oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 7oz & a chublet. 1 Barbel 4lb 1oz, 1 Perch c¾lb, 4 doz roach dace & gudgeon in roughly equal nos. A pleasant morning's trotting (once the rain had stopped). All the big chub & the barbel caught in the last ¾hr.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1830 - 0100 Calm and mild with high cloud. AT 52ºF, WT 54ºF. 2 Barbel 4lb 15oz, 4lb 3oz. A very pleasnt evening by the river. Fished with Paul who packed up at 2230 having had 1 fish just under 6lb. My first fish came at 2350 and the 2nd 20 minutes later!
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1845 - 2300 Clear night, AT 11ºC. River VERY low and clear. 2 Barbel; 4lb 6oz, 3lb 13oz. A new swim - one with a bit of depth AND flow. No crayfish activity - always a good sign. Both fish on ledgered pellet, after 2100.
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River Kennet - Thatcham 0800 - 1130 Bright and sunny. River VERY low, clear and almost bare of rununculus. 2 Barbel: 4lb 14oz, 2lb 6oz, 3 Chub 3lb 11oz, 2lb 14oz & a chublet, 2 trout. A morning trotting double red maggot.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1815 - 2315 Overcast and very breezey. AT down to 13ºC - but felt chillier. River LOW - needs a flush through! 1 Barbel; 6lb 3oz. 1 bite , 1 fish - though the crays were out in force for most of the evening....
