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Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2200 3 Bream; Biggest 3lb 10oz. 3 Perch - one of about 10oz and 2 tiddlers. First of what will be a series of evening sessions here this summer after the bream and (hopefully) tench. All fish on maggot despite fishing for half he time with meat.

Alders Lake 1830 - 2230 Hot and sultry - a shirtsleeves and DEET evening! 2 bream both a couple of ounces either side of 2lb, 1 Tench circa 1lb and a roach. First soirée here of the summer. All fish came in a 45 period from 2100 as it started to get dark.

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2230 Clear evening and quite breezy - good evening for spotting early Perseids (saw 3). 2 Bream; 5lb 6oz & 4lb 14oz. 1 Tench (circa 1½lb). Catch reports on the NAA forum had me visiting this venue with a smidgen of optimism for a change - and despite bites being at a premium, the tench early doors removed any doubt!. Both bream as it got dark and both on meat - alternated between maggot and meat - giving each an hour in rotation.... My biggest slab from this lake!

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham. 1930 - 0600 Mild night, quite breezy at times - temp didn't really get below 15ºC 2 Crucians, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 10oz. 3 Carp; a Common of 10lb 1oz and 2 Mirrors of 9-10 & 9-06, 1 Bream 2½lb. Paul set the bar rather high for this trip as he visited this swim on Tuesday night and caught 6 crucians of similar stamp to my 2, a fan-tailled goldfish (an old friend, we've both caught it before!) and 3 carp to 14+lb. So expectations were high and during the early part of the night looked like being delivered in full - especially as both crucians came in the first couple of hours of darkness and my swim had lots of fish topping and rolling. Bites and activity came to an abrupt halt at around 0200 - really quite sudden, like a switch had been flicked - and the last 4 hours we spent staring at a stationary float. Had intended to stay a bit longer but a kip and some brekkie rapidly became the preferred option! Would love to know why they suddenly switched off like that! Piccie of the 10lb common...

Horseshoe Lake - Yateley 1400 - 1030 Warm and Breezy - stayed dry - JUST! 5 Bream (7lb 9oz, 5lb13oz, 5lb10oz, 4lb4oz, 4lb2oz) 2 Perch A night of '2 halfs' - all fish caught between 1800 - 0000. Bream on 14mm Halibut Pellets (Perch on Sweetcorn!). No bites after midnight and we moved onto Pumphouse for a few hours in the morning - I bumped a couple of tench here and Paul winkled out a PB Bream of 5lb 15oz last cast of the session.

Pumphouse Lake, CEMEX Yateley. 2000 - 0700 Clear night, min temp 13ºC. 2 Bream: 6lb 15oz, 4lb 10oz, 2 Tench - biggest 4lb exactly, ½doz small perch. All fish caught float fishing under rod tip - biggest tench on black pudding, all other fish on maggot and all caught during darkness. Not a touch on the lead - fished out in the middle (with a variety of baits!)

Middle Kennet Estate 0800 - 1645 Drizzle/rain ALL day! Mild 7-8ºC. River at normal winter levels - carrying some colour - more than is usual for here. 3 Chub; 5lb 7oz, 3lb 14oz, a chublet, 1 Perch 1lb 10oz, 1 Bream; 4lb 4oz, 1 Pike; 14lb 2oz, 2 doz Dace - biggest 2 - 12oz & 11oz, ½ doz Brownies - biggest 2lb. Belated birthday trip - loads of cracking dace - hardly a fish under 6oz and loads around the 8-10oz mark. 2 smallest chub and the bream on trotted corn. Pike and perch on lobs. Everything else on maggot. Pike is biggest ever worm caught esox - and biggest fish ever landed on my Harrison float rod ! It was laid up in my favourite perch hole and was subdued on 6lb B/S bottom and a size 8 - very lucky to hand it - it bit through the line in the net!!! Paul had a similar return of nice dace and a nice perch of 2¼lb and despite starting the day with a 1lb chublet couldn't find a bigger one!

Middle Kennet Estate 0730 - 1815 Cool overcast and showery. 5-9ºC. River clear and at normal levels. 6 Chub; Smallest 2lb 0oz, Biggest 4lb 5oz. 7 Grayling; biggest 2lb 2oz, the rest all between 12-20oz. 1 Bream; 5lb 6oz. 12 Dace; biggest 11oz. 1 Perch; circa ¾lb. 8 Brownies to 3lb. A great mixed bag from a very pleasant days roving in the company of Paul, Merv & Dave. Spent most of the day to 3.00pm trotting corn which resulted in the chub AND the 2lb grayling (which nailed 3 kernels on a size 8). Biggest ever lady from the Kennet and 1st ever 2lber from this venue. Bream a bit of a shock! Merv caught his 1st ever 1lb Dace and Dave had a nice haul of Perch.

NAA Stillwater - Widmead 1200 - 0800 Warm day (25ºC), balmy night with light southerly breeze keeping the dew off - lovely night to be out. 11 Carp - all commons, best 9lb 3oz most circa 5lb, 7 Bream - best 4lb 14oz, most circa 4lb, 3 Tench - 6lb 9oz and a couple of 2lbers, 4 roach (one of 13oz) and 3 rudd. A productive session fishing with Paul - who had avery similar return after a slow start. Most carp and all the bream & tench caught float fishing meat under my rod tip. 6lb tench was very obviously a male - quite possibly my biggest ever male tinca!

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley Complex 0000 - 1000 Warm, still and overcast night (14ºC). Torrential rain after 0700 - and cooler. 5 Tench; 7lb 7oz, 5lb 10oz, 3X3lbers (3.13,3.12,3.03). 1 Bream 8lb 11oz, 2 perch. Nice socialable start to the season - permit not valid till midnight so arriving in the dark gave it that special feel of the 16th. Paul and I shared a swim - one we've both fished before - hence our name for it - 'Doubles'. Alas though Paul hardly had a bite - not helped by the fact he missed most of the feeding time from 0500 - 0700 as he had to go home to take wifey and daughter to work. Bites stopped after the rains came - and boy did they come. Spookily we were talking at the begining of the session of the potential for big bream in the water - I was relaying a story I'd heard last season of it producing doubles - though neither of us really believed it - as it hardly ever produces bream of any kind - so to get one of nearly 9lb - maybe just maybe. All fish caught on meat - except the perch which fell to maggot. 7lb tinca is my 3rd biggest ever and my best from this water. Pics to follow - though not alas of the bream - was so shocked to get it it went back before we realised we hadn't taken its portrait.... Summer Pit at Dawn... The Same an hour later.... My 7lb 7oz Tench..

Summer Pit - Cemex Yateley 2030 - 0600 Still, balmy night with high cloud - temps 20ºC->13ºC but felt a lot milder under the trees! 3 Bream; 12lb 2oz - another PB , 8lb 7oz, 4lb 15oz. 2 Tench; 4lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz. 3 Perch & 2 Rudd. I'm utterly gobsmacked - 2 PBs and 1 = PB in a week! I said last weeks crucian would take some beating - this might just be the fish for me, that does! My first ever double figure bream - previous PB was 9lb7oz - so this has annihilated it!!! What's even sweeter I was tring to catch bream too!!! On our visit here on the opening day Paul and I suffered quite a few liners - I had a hunch that these were caused by bream - not tench as we might have supposed. So last night I just wanted to fish the dark hours and fish maggot on my lift method float rigs. During the day this is suicide as the bait gets massacred by the micro rudd and perch - but I guess these are feeding by sight as I didn't get bothered by them at all during the night (but did as soon as it got light again). First fish (the small tinca) just on 1100 - and thereafter bites were slow but steady - also bumped a couple - probably striking at liners. Big Bream caught at 0100 - the 8lber a couple of hours later as the first traces of dawn streaked the eastern sky in front of me. Pic shows a rather scarred and beat up looking slab - I wonder if this is spawning damage - no sign in the mouth that this has ever been caught! I cannot believe the amount of slime on my landing net when I packed up!

River Kennet, Newbury 1600 - 2300 Overcast and breezy with some drizzle. 20º->15ºC but felt a LOT chillier where I was sitting in the breeze! River at normal summer levels and carrying quite a bit of colour 1 Bream; 2lb 10oz An evening barbelling session with Paul to this (once) prolific section of river. Over the years I have come to call this swim THE Banker - I can't remember coming here in high summer and NOT catching a barbel. These days the only certainty about the place is that your almost gauranteed to see an otter! Paul and I saw it here last summer and we saw it 3 times last night. It swam upstream through our swims at around 2000. It did the return journey a little before 2200 and at 2300 poked its head out right underneath my feet - I could have leant down and stroked it - if I'd been quick enough! Given all this its amazing we caught anything! My bream was caught in the fastest stretch of water and gave a very good account of itself - taking line against the clutch. Paul managed a solitary barbel of 7lb 2oz between the 1st 2 otter sightings. So we didn't blank - but 5 years ago we might have reckoned on 10 to a dozen barbel between us from such a session - with perhaps the odd chub thrown in as well - a species which appears to have completely disappeared from the stretch! Home of the otter! Paul's 7lber...

NAA Stillwater - Widmead 1500 - 0700 Overcast and breezy with light drizzle most of the night after a warm sunny afternoon. Min 15ºC - mild despite the breeze! 6 Carp - all commons - biggest 9lb 13oz, smallest 6lb 8oz. 1 Bream 4lb 8oz. 1 Tench 2lb 8oz. 2 Doz+ Roach and Rudd. It comes to something when the highlight of your fishing trip is breakfast!!! However the pork and bramley apple sausages, fried egg sandwiches and mugs of steaming fresh tea were much anticipated! The fishing again was slow - Paul and I were after tench and bream - but again were thankful for the occasional carp showing up to put a bend in the rod. And at least these were a little more respectable than last time. Shame, as it started so promisingly - Paul had a bream first cast (he wouldn't get another!) and I spent nearly 20 minutes in mid afternoon battling what we were convinced must be a 20 on my float rod - only for it to turn out to be a 7lb+ common hooked in the derriere - which as Paul was quick to point out doesn't count!!! Still at least the overnight rain wasn't as heavy as forecast - and I was prudently home and dry before the heavens opened. Paul who fished on to try and add to his tally of 5 carp and the bream wasn't quite so lucky but thanks to keeping an eye on the rain radar on his Blackberry missed the worst of it! Pic (ala Rusty ) of the sausages!

Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead. 1500 - 0800 Warm and overcast. Mild night, temps didn't go below 14ºC 4½* Carp, biggest 8¼lb, 1 Bream 4¼lb, 20+ Roach & Perch - in roughly equal nos. Another "Breakfast was the highlight of the trip" trip! Spent the first couple of hours fretting over my swim choice which saw me move swims and immediately get a bite which resulted in the bream - thereafter bites at a premium. Paul had had an identical return when I packed up having joined me 4 hours after I started. He fished on for another hour or so and added a 2nd bream to his tally plus the rather unusual looking carp below. He thinks it might be a Koi? Strange looking critter - note the lack of dorsal fin! *The ½ was a fish I landed on Paul's rod - he was dealing with a snagged up method feeder when his other rod went off - I struck and landed the fish - a carp of 8lb exactly - I reckon it should be mine!

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley 1930 - 0130 Overcast and very breezy - this lake is so sheltered it's unusual to feel any wind at all - not last night! Mild - min 15ºC. 1 Bream; 8lb. 1 Tench; 3lb 7oz. 2 rudd & a perch. Fished a new swim for the first time - at other end of the lake to usual haunts! Both fish caught just as it got completely dark - tench on meat at 2200 and the bream on maggot ½ hour later. No bites at all thereafter - though a few liners and fish topping which kept me bankside longer than I intended!!!

Summer Pit - CEMEX Yateley Complex 1900 - 0200 Warm, muggy evening - despite clear skies - really lovely night to be out. Temps down to 13ºC when I left but felt MUCH warmer under the trees - this place has its own micro-climate it seems! 1 Bream; 8lb 4oz. 1 Tench; 3lb 0oz. An evening which started optimistically as there was quite a bit of activity when I arrived - a few fish bubbling and topping and the fry were getting hammered by preds - mainly perch I think. However dusk came and went without a hint of a bite on either rod and I was starting to make plans for an early night (and excuses for my 1st ever blank here) when at 2230 my margin rod was pulled in with a savagery which belied the size of the fish. Male tincas do punch above their weight and I was fortunate that I was able to grab the butt of the rod before I lost it! My renewed alertness was soon eroded as further bites came there none! I had planned to fish till around midnight and the church clock had struck 12 when I was starting to gather my things together for a 'slow pack up'! I was just about to reel in when I started getting liners. The float dithered and dipped for ages (well around ½ hour) before it suddenly disappeared and I was into that deadweight 'fight' that could only be a bream! Yet another 8lber - 4th of the summer (plus of course that 12lber back in July). Of course this was then a cue to fish on - but with coffee supplies exhausted and no further bites, 2 chimes on the church clock meant it was time for bed! ps - Saw 2 really spectacular meteors last night - one was a string of 'globules' burning up in the atmosphere the other a really long bright streak!

Alders Lake - Thatcham 0930 - 1330 Bright and Breezy. 17ºC 3 Bream - 3lb 4oz & 2 skimmers. 3 perch & 1doz+ rudd. A short session to check up on the 'progress' of this lake which suffered a total fish kill 6 years ago. And my verdict would be is that it seems to be thriving on neglect!!! Since 2005 it has been re-modelled and stocked as a non-carp venue (though a few snuck in during the floods of 07). Because of this it is much clearer than most other club waters and as a consequence much weedier - this appears to have put a lot of anglers off fishing it - I rarely see another angler here - but in truth all one needs to do is fish to or create a hole in the weed. Whilst crucians and tench were really my target for today I was actually quite pleased to get a snotty and I did see a reasonable sized tench roll. The rudd were insatiable - even on float fished meat but once you got a bait on the bottom they seemed to lose interest! Only other bit of excitement was being briefly connected to a goodish perch which snatched one of the micro-rudd as I brought it in. Definitely a venue I'll be giving more attention next season. I wouldn't normally take a 3lb bream portrait but as its my biggest fish from the 'new' Alders....

Newbury AA Stillwater - Widmead 1700 - 0730 Cool and breezy (very) with short sharp showers to start. Overnight felt very chilly in the wind (temps were down to 10ºC) so the quilted, thermal one-piece suit made a rare appearance. I went from feeling chilled to toasty in a matter of minutes (though that might just have been struggling to get in it!) 1 Tench; 4lb 3oz. 2 Bream, 5lb 2oz & 4lb 3oz. 1 roach & 1 perch. A session that failed to live up to early promise as all my fish were caught in the first couple of hours. However that was it and I didn't get another bite after 2100 - just the odd bleep on the lead and bloddy crayfish worrying whatever bait I fished in the margins. Paul had a similar experience - catching 3, 6lb+ carp before it got dark - then nothing. Though he did get a bream just as I was packing up. Sausage du jour was Pork and Bramley Apple, accompanied with a couple of fried egg sandwiches and a mug of tea - lovely!

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm, overcast and quite breezy at times. Temp still 19ºC when I packed up. 5 Bream; best 2, 4lb 15oz & 4lb 6oz. A busy little session with loads of activity, bream porpoising, liners etc. All fish on float fished maggot - lift method - yet again meat garnered zero interest. Still no sign of any tench.

Jubilee Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0600 Warm overcast night - despite the forecast which predict a cool night - temp didn't drop below 13ºC. 2 Carp; 8lb 5oz & 6lb 7oz. 1 Bream 6lb 8oz. Slow, slow night. Venue was VERY busy with lots of noise on the bank meant I didn't get a solitary bite all night on my margin rod - and fishing at range wasn't much better. All fish on pellet (was alternating with boilies).

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2245 Warm (as ever) - still 22ºC when I left. 2 Bream: 4lb 14oz, 4lb 10oz. 3rd Monday evening on the trot here and as before the fishing was preceded by 30 mins of blackberry picking and as a result we now have a dozen or so jars of bramble jelly - which should see us through to next spring! Back to the fishing - both fish caught in the first hour with the sun still on the water - which augured well for the twilight hours - but I didn't get another bite!

Dobsons Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 0500 Cool clear night. Temp down to 5ºC when I packed up! 4 Carp: 9lb 12oz, 8lb 2oz, 7lb 15oz, 6lb 9oz. 1 Bream 5lb 12oz. 1 roach. Brrrr - a slow but steady night looking out for Perseids as much as fishing! Surprised how cool it was at dawn - compounded by a very heavy dew!

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!

Alders Lake - Thatcham 1800 - 2300 Warm, overcast, very muggy with occasional light drizzle. Still 19ºC when I packed up! 2 Bream - a couple of ounces either side of 4lb. Lovely evening to be out - wished I could have stayed longer! Both fish within 10 mins of each other just as it got properly dark at 2130.

​Alders Lake - Thatcham ​1800-2300 ​Coolish - with a heavy shower. ​4 Bream; all between 2lb 12oz & 3lb 8oz, 1 Roach 1lb 2oz (!!), 2 Perch. Still no tench from here this summer - but the bream as ever were very obliging and the roach was a real surprise - first redfin I've had from here in ages and it was a real beauty!