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River Kennet - Newbury ('Whitehouse' stretch) 1230 - 1430 Mild, overcast and windy. AT 12ºC. River full and clear. 8 Roach - all quite chunky - in the 6-10oz class. 1 Dace: a good-un - worthy of the scales at 13oz. Been yonks since I last fished here - but rumours of good silver fish catches (including big dace) had me investigating on a recent visit to B&Q and vowing to return with rod in hand. Had originally intended to fish down the length of the Lambourn again - but instead decided to switch plans for an exploratory session here to finish off my maggots prior to my bait fridge getting its annual clean and pressed into Christmas duties. As it turned out I didn't move from the first swim I dropped into - the fish coming in a slow and steady fashion - I also bumped something much bigger so a return trip and a longer stay will be a priority in the New Year!

K&A 'flowing' Canal - Thatcham 0900 - 1200 Cool, overcast and drizzly at times. AT 8ºC. River VERY full, flowing quite hard (for a canalised section) but clear. 2 Dace: 1lb 1oz (!!!) & 11oz WOW! I visit here quite infrequently as it isn't a particularly prolific stretch - though it has thrown up some big autumn dace in recent years - and that sort of what I was hoping for - but wasn't expecting anything quite so jaw dropping. I'd started on The Arrowhead - for old times sake - (I haven't caught a decent fish from it in a decade) and after a bite-less hour dropped down onto the canal proper. 'Smaller' dace was first cast followed almost immediately by the pounder which I assumed was a small chub until I got it to the surface. My biggest dace for 20 years.

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1330 Warm and sunny (after a cool start) and with a very helpful couple of hours overcast from 9-11am - bites at a premium once this burnt off! AT 11º - 24ºC. River at normal levels with a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 4lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz, 1lb 13oz. 7 Perch - 1lb 15oz the rest all quite small. 2 doz+ Dace - various sizes with quite a few chunky ones - biggest went 12oz and had another 4 or 5 around the 8oz mark. 15 Roach - all small. 1 Bleak. 1 Brownie - unweighed but easily over 3lb - probably pushing 4.... Super morning's sport - wandered around quite a bit and had fish from several different swims - smaller chub from the carrier - largest one plus the biggest perch from the weir pool. Had a curious little episode - when landing the bigger perch - one of it's smaller brethren swam into the net with it!! One of the maggots had been blown up the hook length and I think it was chasing that !

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).

River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1600 Bright and sunny. AT 12ºC. River 'full' and gin clear. 2 Chub 2lb 7oz & a 'pounder'. 5 Dace - 3 real clonkers (for dace!) the one I weighed went 11oz the other 2 probably an ounce or so under that. 2 Grayling - both small. Had to make the most of what might be my last chance at the Kennet this season - if the forecast for tomorrow is to be believed! 6 fish in the first 10 minutes followed by nearly two hours without a bite! (bright sun and a clear river are hardly ideal conditions). Thought that there'd be more action once the sun was off the water - but only managed to winkle out the 2 ladies and the smaller chub.

Kennet & Avon Canal (flowing), Thatcham 1100 - 1330 Dull and breezy. AT 11ºC. River at normal levels and quite clear. 6 Dace; 5 over 8oz - biggest 15oz !! 1 Gudgeon. Another trip to an infrequently fished (and less than reliable) venue but one which has thrown up decent dace and chub in the past. Nothing quite in this class however - a female almost in full breeding condition (3 months early). My biggest dace for 11 years, since this day.

River Kennet - Widmead 1015 - 1215 Sunny spells and still cool - 14ºC. 1 Chub: 1½lb. 13 Dace: most a really nice size - biggest 12oz. 1 Roach. A real pain getting through the minnows - but once you did there were some quality dace on offer - still hoping this swim will produce decent chub - but had just the one modest sized one early in the session to show for my efforts. Best dace of the season (so far!)

River Kennet - Hambridge 1800 - 2030 Cool (14ºC or there-abouts), overcast with drizzly rain at times for the first hour. River down and inch or so on 3 weeks ago but still with good flow for this time of year. 3 Chub: 2lb 15oz, 1lb 11oz & a chublet. 30+ Dace & Roach - in roughly equal numbers - slightly more roach. Nothing particularly big - a couple of the dace were in the 6-8oz bracket - but good to see so many 'silvers' in the river. 3 Gudgeon (also a welcome sight - they seem to be getting rarer!). 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies (small) and a 2lb+ Rainbow. Bigger chub first cast - followed by a good hour or so of a 'fish a chuck'. Great sport - though of course a barbel on the float from the fast gravel runs (which is what I might have hoped for a decade ago!) would have been an even more welcome sight!

River Kennet - Widmead 0845 - 1145 Warm & Sultry. 1 Chub: 1lb 10oz, 21 Dace - with around a third 8oz or better - weighed a couple, both at 10oz and had another 4 or 5 that weren't much smaller. 1 Grayling - small. 3 Brownies - a pounder and 2 tiddlers. Having exhausted my first swim it was off to another spot a mile or so downstream - and a haul of cracking dace. This swim 'looks' very chubby so it was nice to have that confirmed - all be it right at the end of the session - it was the last fish caught - a good 30 mins after my last dace.

River Lambourn - Newbury 0730 - 1000 Overcast and mild. River VERY full - over a foot up on normal winter levels, BUT clear as always. 22 Grayling - most in the 10-14oz class with a few slightly bigger. 1 Dace - 11oz (another sandpapery male). 2 Brownies. Usual fall back after another week of rain has pushed the Kennet into full flood again. Fish of a remarkably similar stamp - dace was a real bonus.

River Kennet - Speen Moors 0745 - 1315 Mild and Windy, VERY VERY Windy! River in the fields - but with only a little colour. 1 Chub: 2lb 10oz, 3 Dace: 13oz, 10oz & 8oz. 1 Roach - small. 1 Rainbow Trout 4lb 4oz. A WILD day in West Berkshire. Couldn't get to most of the swims I'd usually fish because of the flooding and when I could it was way too windy - had trouble just standing let alone holding a rod! However was keen to fish here as the venue's been closed all winter for bridge repairs and extensive tree felling. Thankfully found a couple of slightly sheltered spots which at least had the wind at my back. Chub was first cast which somewhat cemented confidence for the morning but bites generally were few and far between - however when they did come a lovely trio of chunky dace was the result - biggest one is my season's best - a male in full sandpapery breeding condition!

River Kennet - Thatcham 1500 - 1700 Cool and sunny AT around 4ºC. River quite full with most colour dropped out. 2 Doz dace - with over half in the 8-10oz range !! 2 Brownies to circa 1lb. With a really crappy weather forecast for Saturday AND Sunday - bunking off work early and snatching a couple of hours on the river was the order of the day - though I didn't expect to still be able to see a float at 5pm - spring is just around the corner (maybe!). Was hoping for a chub or 2 but there was a tree down in one of my banker swims and the other one produced nothing. A clutch of really chunky dace was more than adequate compensation however!

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 0500 - 0830 Cool (9/10ºC), clear and misty. River up a couple of inches. 3 Chub: 4lb 15oz, 2lb 14oz, 1lb 8oz. 20 Dace and half a dozen brownies to circa 1lb. Pre breakfast trotting trip - and another fine chub from here - and many of the dace were a good size too - biggest I put on the scales went 10oz with another ½ doz not much smaller.

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury 0800 - 1600 Overcast with drizzle at times becoming increasingly windy. AT 10ºC. River very low. 14 Chub: Biggest 4lb 9oz. 2 Dace: - 1 a real lump of 12oz. 4 Roach. A doz+ Rainbows - all 2-2½lb & a couple of small Brownies. A day playing avoid the trout - which was difficult as they appeared to be sharing the same swims as the chub! Did eventually find a couple of swims with fewer of the menaces - which produced the big dace and the biggest chub of the day.

River Frome - Wool 0745 - 1500 Cool, bright (too bright!) and very breezy. River very low (lowest I've ever seen it). 56cm@ East Stoke. 19 Grayling; 7 over 1lb, best 1lb10oz. 1 Dace, 9oz, 7 Brownies. A bit of a struggles in challenging conditions - though the lure of a 3lb grayling will keep me coming back here! Fish very spooky in the low water so it paid to rest 'hot spots'. Dace was a nice bonus.

I've dropped out of angling pretty much for the past two seasons due to a serious cycling habit - but the allure of the rivers is drawing me back. Once June 16 hits I hope to wet a line. Unlike my my inventive fishing partners who employ a range of fishing techniques for a range of species, I will invariably drop into a trotting session with float and fixed spool reel (my centrepin days never really took off). I guess my hopes for next season include a summers day, sun shining (yes I know that knocks my chance of catching), hearing the water burbling past and my float smoothly edging down the swim, across gravel beds between streamer weed. I'll probably lug my gear along by train and public transport. Happy to cough up a few spondoolies for a day ticket. But where? Countryside or urban I don't care. I don't want you to put me on your fish. But somewhere interesting where I'll have a sniff. Thanks folks Tiddler Tamer

River Kennet - Thatcham 0930 - 1230 Overcast and mild with squally showers. 9ºC. River up 3-4 inches on last visit (Boxing Day) and quite coloured up. 1 Chub; 4lb 4oz. 8 Dace - most normal dace size with a couple of clonkers that warranted the scales - 12oz & 10oz. Possibly my biggest ever from here. 1 Roach, 1 Grayling. Plan was to get a chub - achieved within 10 mins from a reliable spot but unlike 2 weeks ago I couldn't winkle out another one - this is probably the same 4lb Rusty's had out recently! Then found a nice slack where I had all the rest of the fish from. Three other anglers here and none of them had caught a thing - so feeling quite smug! Same as your's Chris?

Middle Kennet - Kintbury 0745 - 1530 Bright and very breezy with a couple of very brief but very lumpy showers. Torrential rain curtailed proceedings half an hour early. River quite coloured and milky (much more than is normal for here) - the product of the springs breaking on the downs and not yesterday's rain. Middle and upper river has been like this for the past week according one of the keepers I was chatting to. 12 Chub; 9 over 3lb, but only 2 over 4 - best 4lb 7oz. 14 Dace - most quite chunky with 3 really good fish of 10,12 & 13oz (season's best). 4 Grayling, 3 Roach. ½doz+ Brownies to 3½lb. All out chub quest in the morning with 3 out of my 4 chub 'banker' swims producing fish - though 7 came from one spot. All chub on trotted red corn - I hardly used maggot all day. Shame the really big chevins didn't show up - the one swim I blanked in was the one I had my PB from (6.07) in 2012. Last hour and a half was devoted to snaffling a big dace from the carriers - and whilst I had a season's best I also lost a much bigger fish (maggot had folded over the hook point - poo!). Biggest Chub of the day: Biggest dace of the season (so far!)

River Kennet - Newbury 0900 - 1400 Warm (for late October) and mainly sunny. 15ºC. River very low and threadbare. 6 Chub; 5 over 1lb. All in the 1-2lb range save for a 4lb 4oz fish. 30+ Dace most quite small apart from one clonking fish of 12oz. A doz+ Roach with around half in the 6-8oz bracket (nice!), 4 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & 3 Brownies to a pound and a bit. Unexpectedly had a free day and with Jaq out all day it seemed the perfect excuse for a bit of autumn chubbing! I fished 6 swims in total, starting at the spot which has produced my only float caught barbel of the season and quickly had a 1¾lb & 2lb chub. Low water meant spooky fish so moving swims was the order of the day and this was the only swim that produced more than 1 chub. Lots of silver fish atm which is very pleasing especially the stamp of some of the roach - and no pike trouble which also helped matters! Nice Dace - will be even nicer in 3-4 months!

The original plan was to go and spend the whole day at a new venue, after the large bream that inhabit the lake. However, as happens quite a lot in our family life at the moment, cunning plans sometimes fall at the first hurdle! So, plan A fails when the hospital ring to say they have a slot for me to come in and be measured up for a dose of radio-therapy. This is because my cancer has decided to start invading me a bit further, my bones this time. The thought of what Kim might do if I turned this down by saying that I was going fishing did not paint a pretty picture, so booking accepted, plan B was decided upon. I settled on a morning visit to a couple of sections of the Kennet, first the river at Rainsford Farm, to be followed by a couple of hours on the canalised section at Thatcham and then off to hospital. Arriving at the river I was greeted by the sight of a very low water level and a kingfisher darting off downstream in its characteristic flash of blue, far too fast for me to get a picture, but the view in itself was worth a snap. Reports from fellow Kennet anglers had not filled me with a massive amount of confidence, but if you don’t try, you don’t find out for yourself, so armed with a bait-smock full of maggot and hemp I went off in search of a fish or two. Wandering upstream from the car, I was shocked to see how much things had changed since my last visit, but, checking my diary later that evening I found it had been three years previously, so maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised! I believe the significant changes had been down to the floods of a couple of winters ago, it was almost like fishing a new venue!! One example was what had previously been a nice steady deep run down to some trees was now a gravel bar!! I quickly established that cancer is having a significant impact on my ability to spend hours wandering river banks armed with rod, bait, net and a handful of tackle. It is all turning into a bit of a vicious circle, the cancer saps the energy, and the associated pain makes you less likely to try to undertake anything energetic to build up the stamina, but the body needs to be in the best possible state to combat the disease. So, after just 20 minutes fishing which involves being stood up, knee deep in fast flowing water, constantly trotting a float, and feeding bait, I’m knackered!! One thing I had forgotten was how active minnows are in the summer! Apart from the minnows I found the only other species that was eager to feed was trout, and after catching this one for the second time I decided a change of venue was called for. A two minute drive followed by a five minute walk along the canal path found me with an hour to spare before pack up time so a few maggots were thrown in every 30 seconds or so whilst I had a drink and forced a bar of chocolate down before the trotting gear was again in use. A significant side effect of several of my medications is the change in behaviour of the taste buds. This one has hit me really hard, being a lover of all things edible, and drinkable! As a result, gone is the appetite, which has led to further weight loss, and rapidly disappearing is the liking for many old favourites, such as beer!! Most foodstuffs, and drinks, at times, taste either metallic, or too strong, or too salty, or all of those at the same time. My all time best beers, Fullers ESB and Theakstons Old Peculiar, I’d currently struggle to drink an egg cup full let alone a pint! I suppose looking on the bright side, at least the weekly shopping bill has gone down at bit! Anyway, back to fishing, the canal proved to be a tad more productive before the arrival of three barges in quick succession put the fish off the feed. Prior to their appearance I was able to catch several very nice roach, and dace, with the best of the session being a very chunky 9 ounces! I’d like to catch this one again in the winter when it has put on a bit of weight in the lead up to spawning time….mind you, I’d also like to be still fishing this coming winter!! Whilst my cancer currently seems fairly determined to prevent this, I am just as determined to try and make sure I get to write at least a few winter fishing blog entries! Postscript – I get home from fishing, to find a message on the answerphone, from the hospital, postponing todays appointment, ho hum….the bream will have to wait for another day.

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0715 - 1800 Bright (very) at first with some welcome broken cloud in the afternoon. AT around 8ºC all day after early frost. River not quite as full as expected and no colour despite yesterday's rain. 12 Chub; Biggest 3lb 14oz, 19 Dace - though only 2 real gooduns - biggest 13oz. 7 Roach, 4 Grayling. A doz+ brownies - biggest over 4lb - though also had quite a few parr fish. Given the time of year - the plan was to go all out for a big dace (after some early chub fishing). Everything went according to plan in my banker chub swim - but Paul's was occupied by nothing but trout - so I let him run a float through my swim so that he knew what a fish without an adipose looked like. (The swim duly obliged with a 3lb 10oz chub). We knew the bright conditions would make the dace in the shallow carriers spooky and hard to tempt - but were hopeful that the increasing cloud cover and setting sun would make them bolder. In truth though I don't think we found them - certainly not in the same numbers as our visit here in January.(See blog entry of http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/blog/82/entry-1273-18-january/ ). Paul and I both had a decent fish or two for our efforts - but it wasn't quite what we were hoping for. 13oz Dace Paul the Poacher!(of 'my' chub swim!) Rickety Bridge. Here be Dace?

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1645 Cool (1º - 4ºC), overcast with sunny spells in the afternoon. River quite 'full' and carrying more colour than is usual for here - quite 'milky' in appearance - possibly the result of springs 'breaking' on the downs. 11 Chub; Biggest 5lb 7oz with only 3 under 3lb. 32 Dace; Biggest two 14oz & 12oz with around another dozen in excess of 8oz - I weighed another 4 at 9, 10, 10 & 11oz - but quite a few of similar size went un-weighed! 2 Grayling, a doz brownies to 3lb. Birthday outing! And the plan was to go all out for Chub and Dace - so both those boxes got well and truly ticked. Dusted out my 'short' float rod which hasn't seen the light of day since the 80's to fish the small streams and carriers for the dace. And fished some of my favoured swims on the main river for the chub. All chub caught on trotted corn except the smallest of the day - a 1½lb fish which turned up in one of my dace swims 10 minutes after slipping the 14oz fish back - never been so disappointed to see a chub in the bottom of my net! Paul had a similar return in terms of numbers - though I think his best chub was a 3lber and best dace around 11oz. Safely in the Net! Big Gob! 5½lb Chub Typical Dace swim. Nice Dace

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1630 Bright and sunny after biblical amounts of rain in the 1st hour (and the preceding hours of darkness). River though was clear and still quite low! 8 Chub; All over 2lb with half over 3lb. Best 4lb 4oz. 4 Dace; All gooduns - biggest a shade over 12oz! A doz+ brownies to 3½lb and a rainbow. A day that was booked off work with the intention of heading down to Dorset in search of a monster grayling. A plan that was abandoned mid-week after the Frome rose 51cm in under 48hrs! So Plan B was quickly tee'd up and Paul obtained the required permissions to fish this stretch of the Kennet (with certain restrictions as to where we could go). The forecast was for a wet start followed by bright sunshine - which is exactly what we got - and we arrived in monsoon like conditions - so waited in the car for half an hour on arrival waiting for it to stop. With the rain easing we were soon trekking across the fields to our chosen swims only for the heavens to open again - and we fished the first hour in lashing rain. I daren't even get my maggots out in such conditions - so trotted red corn for the 1st hour - which brought the first of the chub. Eventually the rain desisted and within 20mins I had warm sunshine on my back! The morning was spent wandering from swim to swim - and the highlight was a first trot through a small pool where we have found big dace in the past - and sure enough it produced again - my 12oz fish imitating a small trout - until Paul exclaimed that I had a big dace! After lunch we decided to move down to the bottom of the fishery - and I was surprised to see the famous weedrack - is no more - though it has been replaced by a smart new bridge. All in all a good day - all my chub fell to trotted red corn. Paul managed a bigger variety - getting some roach and even 4 grayling to over 1lb in his tally for the day - though he was somewhat frustrated at losing a big chub at dusk. A Kennet Chub No Weedrack! More pics to follow (including , hopefully my big dace!) And here they are: View upstream from the 'old' weedrack. Where Paul lost his chub. Sunset over West Berkshire.

Flowing Canal (K&A), Nr Thatcham 0645 - 1000 Foggy start, brightening up. 7º - 10ºC 9 Dace - all good uns, biggest 11oz! If the last 2 hours of daylight produced a red letter day - would the first 2 hours be the same? The answer a categorical NO! A couple of half-hearted bites on lob was all I had to show before getting the trotting rod out for the last 45 mins and immediately getting among a really good stamp of dace - though even these stopped biting when the sun came out!

Hello all, I am new on this forum although not new too the coarse angling scene, although I have been away a while chasing the saltwater species around the beautiful coasts of South Wales! However I am now looking to recapture the magic, how I learned to love this sport, trotting a little stick down a secluded small river or stream for Gudgeon, Dace, maybe even a bonus Chub, Brownie or Grayling! Is there anyone on here from the Swansea/Neath/Port Talbot area with any idea's of little streams that I may chase my quarry in, I would, of course obtain all the correct permissions to fish any of those venues. Many Thanks.