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NAA Stillwater - Thatcham 1300 - 0930 Hot and sultry (again!). Max 25ºC, Min 12ºC. 4 Carp (but see below!) ; 14lb2oz, 9lb 7oz, 5¾ & 4¾lbs. 3 Crucians; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 9oz. 4 roach & 2 rudd. A very quiet night - saved, for me at least - by a very productive last 2½hrs when I had the 14 (on floating crust from right under my feet) and all 3 crucians on float fished meat - hooray! Paul and I had set ourselves a target for the session of a double figure carp and a crucian each - so job done for me! Paul didn't manage a cru and his only couple of fish of note to show for nearly 19 hours on the bank, carp of 11¼lb and 7½lb were both caught on light float tackle rigged up for the crucians! I had a couple of more fish on the bank in slightly strange circumstances A 9lb mirror hooked in the tail on my light float tackle is perhaps not that unusual (though the fight was long and tiring - for me!) Paul was quick to point out that it didn't count as it was hooked at the wrong end! (Paul once had a 20 hooked in the derriere - he had 'fun' getting that in!). The 2nd capture was truely bizarre. I had a run on my method feeder rod - was fishing tight to the bomb - and after the usual 4/5 minute tussle landed a fiesty mirror of 11½lb. Put it on the unhooking mat and looked for the hook only to find that the fish had somehow managed to tangle itself up in the mainline - which was wrapped about 8-10 times around its lower jaw - and obviously had sufficient purchase for me to land the fish. Really struggling to understand how this could have occured - it was most weird. "That doesn't count either" retorts Paul - "You didn't hook it". "Ah - but at least it WAS caught with rod and LINE" replies me!

Bucklebury Ponds 0930 - 1300 Overcast and breezey, 17-21ºC. 1 Crucian, 1lb, 1 Bream 2¼lb, 1 Goldfish (!) 1lb 14oz. 4 roach, 1doz perch. Pleasant morning float fishing the margins with maggot.

Bucklebury Ponds 1030 - 1330 Warm, overcast and breezey. Max 21ºC 1 Carp; 2¾lb, 2 Crucians;1lb 5oz, 1lb 1oz, 2 Roach 1lb 2oz (!!) and a tiddler, 1doz perch. Short session with the sole aim (thankfully achieved!) of getting a crucian. Roach was a bit of a bonus! All fish on float fished maggot.

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham 0700 - 1300 Calm and cloudy with sunny spells, 11º - 15ºC. 8 Carp (best 2; 8lb 11oz & 8lb 6oz, rest 3½ - 5lb), 7 Crucians (Smallest 1lb 2oz, 4 over 1½lb, biggest 1lb 11oz), 1 small Tench, 9 roach, & a perch. At last, a decent crucian session!! All crucians caught between 0930 - 1130. All fish on float fished meat - lift method, except 3 carp - including biggest 2 - on freelined breadflake.

Newbury AA Stillwater - Thatcham 0500-1100 Showery and breezy 15ºC 2 Carp (3-4lb), 2 Crucians (both circa 1¼lb), 1 Tench (scraper pounder), a dozen roach & perch. Slow morning. Long periods without a bite interspersed with short bursts of activity - even struggled for bites on maggot at times. All fish caught float fishing

Marsh Farm 0730 - 1930 Sunny, becoming cloudy and breezy. Temp 10ºC -> 20º -> 16ºC. 5 Crucians (1lb 13oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 2<1lb), 4 Tench (1½lb - 4lb 11oz), 3 Bream (1½ - 2½lb), 2 Roach (best 1lb 2oz), 2 Perch, a dozen+ Rudd. Started on Harris and struggled all morning for bites (even using maggot) though did manage the bigger of the crucians from here. Paul started on Richardsons and faired much better so I joined him in the afternoon - just to see my float move occasionally! Most fish on 6mm S-Pellet, float fished TIGHT to the margins - lift method.

Summer Pit , Yateley 1900 - 0000 Cool, clear and still. Temp dropped from 18ºC - 8ºC 3 Tench - (6lb 11oz, 4lb 14oz, 3lb 3oz) 4 Crucians (2lb 10oz, 2lb 4oz, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 14oz) All fish caught after dark - 1st bite around 2045. Unusually, most fish to float fished meat (lift method as per usual!). 4.14 Tench and the 2.10 Crucian falling to bread. Biggest tench of the season and my biggest ever from this venue - had gorgeous, almost vermilion, colouration on its stomach. Biggest Crucian was a bit of a fluke - very much a last cast fish - in fact I had my back turned as I packed my stuff away. Rod got pulled from its rests and, 'what I took for a tench' headed for the tree roots in double quick time against the clutch. Really surprised for it to turn into a Crucian - who said they were shy biters??!!

Summer Pit 1930 - 0000 Overcast and calm17ºC>13ºC 3 Tench ( 5lb 9oz, 4lb 3oz X 2 (same fish???)), 2 Crucians (2lb 2oz, 1lb 13oz) 1 Rudd. Lake looked lifeless - no bubbles or rolling fish - can't judge a book by it's cover! Biggest tench first cast on meat - one other tench on meat. Other tench plus the 2 crucians on bread. Also fished 4mm pellet for a short while - though this was just an invitation to catch the tiny rudd! All fish caught with the Lift Method.

Warwicks Water 0600 - 1200 Warm and sunny (at last) 15 Crucians (all between 1¼ - 1¾lb), 7 Carp (2¾ - 6lb), a dozen roach/rudd. Fished meat, 4mm pellet and bread - all crucians on meat. Lift method - a couple of the carp on freelined bread.No bites for the first hour then the swim was really fizzing. Most fish caught before 1030 - final hour and a half switched to floating crust for the carp.

Warwicks Water 0800 - 1200 Rain, drizzle and more rain! 10 crucians (All 1lb+, best 1lb 11oz) 6 roach. All caught on float fished meat - lift method.

Warwicks Water 0730 - 1030 Dry and overcast 7 Crucians (all over 1lb - best 1lb 10oz), 3 carp (best 3½lb) 1½doz roach and a few perch. Fished meat or 4mm pellet on the lift method - most fish to meat.

Marsh Farm - Harris Lake 0730 - 1730 Dry but breezy - becoming VERY breezy. 13 Crucians (smallest 2lb 6oz, 4 over 3lb - biggest 3lb 3oz) 1 tench (small) 1½ doz Roach and Rudd. Fished 4mm pellet or single red maggot - most of the Crucians fell to pellet. Wind made bite detection a nightmare - would have had a significantly bigger haul without it. Ended up fishing very tight to the bank in 18inches of water (fish were there though!) Paul had 5 Cruey's - with a PB of 3lb 6oz.