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K&A Canal Thatcham 1300 - 1600 Bright and breezy. 9ºC. WT 47ºF Canal very high, over the banks in several places when I arrived - but dropped over a foot during the afternoon. 4 Perch; 2lb 12oz, 2lb 3oz, 1lb 14oz and 1 sub pounder (but not by much). 2 Chub (lets), 15 Roach, 1 dace and a bleak (1st of the season!) Plan was if I can't find the perch - maybe they can find me! Plonked my self in one spot and sparingly fed maggot all afternoon - with a single red on the hook - and planned to switch to lob as it got dark. In the end I didn't really need to. Bites were slow at first but after an hour or so the float dipped with satisfying regularity and every so often a strike met with solid resistance. Very pleasing afternoon's sport!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0745 - 1400 (With 1½hrs out to wander round Speen Moors looking at the floods before returning for the final 45 mins) Dull, mild and overcast 9-10ºC. A lovely, benign winter's day - perfect perching weather. WT 47ºF 13 Perch. 12 over 1lb with 4 X2lbers - biggest 2lb 7oz Every May Paul and I have what we call - "A Wander". We take a day out to look at a few venues and plan our campaign for the opening week - just an excuse to go out for a beer really! Last May I wanted to look beyond June and we tramped a couple of canal banks looking for likely swims to replace the autumn Perch hotspots that are hot no more on the Thatcham stretch due to habitat loss. Based on that recce we had pencilled in a visit to this water - somewhere I'd not fished since 2007. However, our two previous attempts this autmn/winter at fishing here had been aborted due to bad weather. So it was 3rd time lucky - and worth the wait. The 2 of us covered a fair bit of water fishing ½ doz swims in total - though most of the fish came from just 3 (and all the 2's from 2 spots). Conditions were such that fish fed throughout the day - in fact my biggest was the last fish caught. Paul finished on 7 perch with a brace of 2s and did manage a 3lb+ fish - though this was a surprise - but most welcome winter tench. All fish falling to lobs - though Paul had a few minutes fishing maggot and picked up a couple of roach as a result. All photo's courtesy of Paul (as per usual) A couple of my perch... Paul's Tinca Water, Water Everywhere... At the small weir - but where is it? This is where we usually park the car - field beyond had sheep in it last winter!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 1300 - 1730 Mild, overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. 10ºC. WT bouncing between 44/45ºF when I arrived rising to 46ºF when I packed up. 1 Perch; 4lb 2oz! (New PB ), 1 Chub; 5lb 10oz. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! It is a quest that started in 2005 with an eavesdropped conversation in Tony's tackle emporium when a guy at the till was describing in some detail the capture of a 4lb 11oz perch from the canal while I hung on his every word. I have never stared at wagglers so intently!! Whilst he didn't go on to descibe the swim the general area was given away - and I resolved to give the stretch some serious attention. At the time I'd been following up rumours of 4lbers from Speen and whilst I'd had a smattering of 3s and pushed my PB to 3lb8oz, I'd come to the conclusion that low 3s appeared to be the top weight I could realsitically hope for from there. So it is somewhat ironic that this season has seen me switch back a little bit to Speen and to the canal at Enborne for my perching. In the 8 years since that piece of intelligence I have had 38 perch over the 3lb mark from the Thatcham stretch (I've just looked back in my diaries counting them!) and my PB had edged up to 3lb 14oz - a mark I've achieved twice. But last winter the canal authorities saw fit to rip out ALL the swims on this stretch. Every overhanging bush, branch and tree has been cut down and grubbed out - every holding area for big stripeys gone. Consequently finding the fish this winter has been a real challenge and whilst I have few decent fish - I was still going into the last month of the season not having caught a 3lb perch for the first time in over a decade. So part 2 of yesterday's adventure was to try and make up for the fact I hadn't had a 3lb perch this season (which now I come to think of it I still haven't! ). My season's best before today being a 2lb 14oz fish from Speen back in Oct (see blog for entry 13 October). The swim I had in mind is one that Paul has 'discovered'. He's fished it a couple of times and had a 3lb 8oz perch just the day before. It's also not a million miles away from where Rusty has been catching 3lbers this winter too - so if you can't beat them..... I arrived in quite bright sunshine and the first puzzle was to find the swim - it wasn't at all apparent I was in the right spot - little evidence on the bank so a quick call to Paul to get my barings. I was also surprised that Chris wasn't in his swim - I would have bet money on him perching today - and sure enough a couple of hours or so after I arrived he showed up! I wasn't expecting much action until late afternoon - so the first couple of hours were quite lesuirely - despite arriving at 1 o'clock it was gone 2 before I put a lob out into the swim. The time was spent having some lunch, trickling some maggot into the swim - and even trotting maggot to see if there were any bait fish around (there wasn't!) Eventually I cast a worm out but really wasn't expecting much - in fact sitting on the mossy bank I was actually starting to nod off (the result of a lunchtime beer no doubt) when suddenly my float disappeared and my rod tip wrapped around as a fish headed for the tree roots. This was clearly no perch - I briefly thought it might be a tench before I saw those lips surface - a big chub - by far and away my best ever from the canal - and my biggest of the season. Most unexpected. An hour after this Rusty arrived and shortly after he was installed in his swim I had my second bite of the afternoon - this alas didn't meet with success - a pike, whose love of lobs I have oft chronicled, shot off across the canal with the line parting as I gave it some resistance. And then it happened. Bob, bob, under, strike. It's happened a hundred times before and thankfully it didn't enter my head that this was any different. It did feel like a good un and I was simply feeling pleased that I would have my 3 for the season. As I netted it I even shouted 'a big 3' in response to the enquiry from the angler fishing downstream on the opposite bank. On the bank though it was clearly bigger than any perch I'd ever seen in the flesh, deep and incredibly fat the needle on my scales initially bounced down to nearly 4½lbs before settling on just over 2oz above the 4lb mark - I'd done it! Even better I had Chris on hand to act as official photographer. There was still an hour of daylight left and with Chris quickly getting a decent stripey too we thought we might be in for something really outstanding - especially as there was fry scattering in the margins next to my swim. Alas our floats remained stationary and the surface activity quickly died down so whilst I could have fished on for another 20 minutes or so I reasoned that perch dinner time had come and gone and it was time for my dinner and a celebratory glass or three of Rioja!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0600 - 1030 Mild, overcast with continuous drizzle. AT has averaged over 9ºC for the last 48 hours and the WT is catching up (48ºF) which is 9ºC in new money! 2 Perch; 3lb 15oz (and a bit - if it had swallowed the lob and not spat it out it might have tipped 4!), 2lb 2oz. 1 Pike 2¼lb. 1st part of a 'Reverse Rusty' session (Dawn on the canal - midday on the river). And conditions absolutely screamed perch so it was back to the scene of my triumph last month (see 16 Feb part 2). Could lighntening strike twice - well it ruddy well nearly did! I arrived in almost total darkness - such was my keen-ness and huddled under the brolly waiting for it to be light enough to see a float - there was suddenly some commotion at my feet - fry scattering and a large swirl. So I quickly lowered in a lob and it was snaffled immediately - a 2lber before it was even light enough to cast out to me chosen spot - a good omen. Pic - with obligatory welly. Next bob of the float produced a pike - landed somewhat flukely - it bite through the line in the net. However I then had to wait nearly an hour for my next bite - but it was worth the wait. Just like my 4 from 3 weeks ago I didn't appreciate its weight until I had it on the bank - this one was stuffed with spawn and as fat as a football - and no matter how long I looked at the dial on my scales it just wouldn't get to 4lb. Touching the mark but just the wrong side of it - ! And that was it - All the action in the first hour and a half. I moved swims a couple of times but by mid-morning everything was quiet - so it was off to the river to see if the rising temps might have got the barbel on the feed.... (See 7 March part 2!)

Flowing Canal (Kennet & Avon) Nr Thatcham 1500 - 1715 Bright, VERY breezy, with a very heavy shower to finish - temps cooler than of late at 10ºC 3 Perch; 4lb 5oz (!!!) New PB , 3lb 8oz and a smallun of around 12oz. 1 Chub 3lb 6oz. Blimey! Autumn perching campaign gets off the mark at last in spectacular fashion. Unexpectedly had the afternoon off so with the St Jude's storm easing away it was off to do some more prospecting on the canal. And yet another swim I've never fished before - though this time I think I'll be back before too long!!!! The wind was a bit of a mare especially as it was downstream - but thankfully with a bit of flow here presentation was still manageable. The small perch was pretty much first cast - a hopeful start followed by the 3lber some ¾hr later. The chub soon followed - though hooked much further downstream than where I'd taken the 2 perch. Then the heavens opened and I put my brolley up and just plonked the float rig in the margins by my feet - with the lob no doubt fluttering gently in the current - not really fishing just waiting for the shower to pass. The rain was in full lash when the float just shot off. My first thought was that it was a jack - as the fight was a series of long 'pike like' runs. However it soon showed its true colours and I was out of cover getting drenched in a flash when I saw the size of it - and that it was only just hooked! Gingerly guided to the net with no further alarms - my second 4lber! Hooray! (I wonder what it will weigh in March ? ) So, a helluva fluke - but who cares, I've walked a lot of miles this autumn sussing out potential new swims - I'll take that bit of luck thank you! Still had time to hook and lose a pike before it was too dark to see my float. Pics unfortunately aren't brill - camera was getting very wet very quickly which didn't help but meant it was all a bit hurried BIG. BIGGER.

Kennet & Avon Canal, Thatcham (and an hour on the river proper) 0630 - 1300 Warm, overcast, murky and muggy - perfect low light conditions for perching! Temp 17/18ºC 8 Perch; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 7oz and a couple of pounders. 2 Chub 1lb 14oz and a chublet. 1 Roach; 12oz (took a whole lob worm). 5 dace and a grayling (from the river in the last hour) Plan was to do some prospecting for new perch swims so Paul and I covered quite a bit of towpath looking for likely spots - and I reckon we've found half a dozen which are deserving of a 2nd visit. (or in the case of the swim that produced the 3 & the 2) a 3rd,4th & 5th visit. Paul didn't manage any big perch but had a few pounders and some chub of similar size - plus he bagged a few nice roach and dace. Pic of the 3 - a bit blurry - think there must have been a bit of condensation on the camera - it was a very damp morning!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington 0730 - 1130 Mild, overcast and drizzly. WT 53ºF. AT 55ºF. 2 Perch; 2lb 0oz & 1lb 11oz. 18 Roach: some really chunky ones with 2 over 1lb - best 1lb 2oz. 1 Chub <1lb (just). 2 Skimmers to 1lb 6oz. 1 Gudgeon. First time I've ever fished this bit of club water - and it was the whispers of big perch showing last winter that had me pulling into the car park whilst it was still dark. I'd recce'd the water a couple of times during the summer and had my eyes on a likely looking area. However, after an hour my float fished lobworm remained 'un-bothered' so I switched to float fished maggot - just to see if there were any bait fish around. Of course I'm sure you can guess what happened - I had the bigger perch pretty much first cast on maggot! There followed a slow but steady return - never quite sure what would turn up next - though it was mainly roach. Excellent stamp of redfins too - a nice and unexpected bonus! Bonus Roach

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0715 - 1015 Overcast and cool (9/10ºC), with a 'fresh' Easterly making it feel even cooler. 6 Perch; 2lb 13oz, 2 'pounders', 3 tiddlers. 1 Brownie - 2lb (!!) Near perfect conditions for perch (apart from the wind direction) had me bankside before it was light enough to see my float. And as soon as it was light it wasn't long before I had my first decent perch of the autumn on the bank. Alas the boat activity started rather sooner than I'd hoped (first barge came through before 0800) so wasn't until I had a lull that bites returned. Brownie was a real surprise (and a disappointment!). Perch looks like it's escaped the jaws of a rather ambitious pike!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 1230 - 1600 Cool, with milky sunshine. AT 8ºC WT 12.1ºC 1 Pike; 5lb 6oz. 5 Roach, 2 Dace, 2 Bleak. Blank perch trip! Spent the first couple of hours fishing (and feeding) mag - hoping to attract prey fish - but the only bite I had on lobs resulted in the pike.

Kennet & Avon Canal, Avington 0645 - 1200 Cool and overcast. AT 2º -> 8ºC. WT 10.6ºC 4 Perch; 2lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 10oz and a tiddler. 2 Chub 1lb 13oz & 2lb0oz. 14 Roach, 2 Dace and 5 Skimmers. Thought I was taking a bit of a gamble after the first proper frosts of the autumn - but a quick reading of the WT on arrival gave me cause for optimism. As it turned out the only takes I had on lobs were from the chub - with the perch arriving late in the morning on float fished maggot.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 0700 - 1200 Warm and overcast. 5 Perch; 3 over 1lb - best 1lb 11oz. 1 Pike; 3¼lb, a doz+ Roach, 1 Chublet, 1 Dace, 1 Rudd, 4 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak (8 different species!) New venue for me and one which might be promising on the perch front! Boat traffic was a total PITA - way busier than I experience on other parts of the canal.... ?

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0700 - 1300 Calm and overcast. 15 perch'; 3 over 1lb, best 1lb 9oz. 1 Pike 3lb 11oz. A morning exploring likely spots along the length of the lower section - fished around half a dozen swims and had fish from most of them. All fish on lobs.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne * Northcroft Stream^ 0700 - 0945* 1000 - 1230^ Cold and bright start - clouding over by the time I left. 0ºC - 8ºC 7 Perch; 4 over 1lb, best 2 1lb 9oz & 2lb 0oz (hooray!)* 6 Dace, 4 Roach, 1 Gudgeon and a brownie.^ A lovely crisp morning - not the most ideal conditions for stripeys thankfully no one told the fish that. Had to contend with some really inconsiderate dog owners - one even threw a stick in for there dog right where I was fishing - stopping bites for nearly an hour. Another dog peed on my bag - I ended up having to hang it in a tree as pretty much every dog after that wanted to scent it as well!!! NOT impressed! Once my swim was bathed in full sun I wandered down to Northcroft in a fruitless hunt for some chub - glad to get away from the sodding dogs!

K & A canal, flowing canal & River Kennet - Thatcham 0700 - 1700 Mild, overcast and VERY blowy for most of the day. AT 54ºF, WT 48ºF. River quite 'full' though with surprisingly little colour. 8 Perch: 3lb 12oz (SB ), 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 14oz. (Nearly 22lb of perch ) 2 Chub; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Dace & 2 Roach. After last week's chub fest I wanted to take advantage of the return to mild weather and target some stripey's. So the plan was for a dawn and dusk session on the canal with a peripatetic visit to some river swims sandwiched in between. By mid-morning I was beginning to wonder why I'd bothered - certainly didn't pay to be at the water at first light. Didn't get a bite until lunchtime when I eventually managed to winkle out a chub (the bigger one) from my 2nd river venue. By 1330 I was back on the canal - a different stretch to my early morning swims but way earlier than I anticipated - so I started off just float fishing maggot - and quickly got the other chub followed by one of the 2lb perch. I got no more bites until 1615! By now I was float fishing lobs and in a manic ¾hr then brought 7 perch to the net. They just suddenly switched on - a couple of fish snaffling the bait before the float even cocked. Been a few years since I had a session like this on the canal. (2011 to be precise!) Biggest two. Over half the fish caught had some kind of damage to their flanks - all appeared to have escaped the jaws of over-ambitious pike!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 1400 - 1600 Mild, overcast with drizzly rain clearing to a rather lovely sunset (see crap picture below!) AT & WT both 50ºF. 5 Perch; 3lb 10oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 12oz & 2 small-uns. 1 Roach - small but still somehow managed a whole lob! Boss has very kindly given me a few days off work following Paul's passing and having spent the morning making a couple of calls, reading condolences and eulogies - and Clare's heart wrenching blog I needed to clear my head (and dry my eyes!). What better way to honour his memory than a couple of hours on the bank - especially with conditions spot on for winter perching. To add to the poignancy I headed to the last spot we ever fished together (see blog for 26 Sep). Both of us failed to catch perch that day - bright conditions and frequent boat traffic not helping the cause. This afternoon felt different, with fish topping and priming all over the canal and scattering from the attention of predators (which I hoped weren't pike) on the far bank, I felt supremely confident of success. Confidence which was starting to wane - as after 1¼hours fishing all I had to show was a solitary roach - which in length was shorter than the lob it took. I needn't have worried with 45 mins of daylight left the perch suddenly came on the feed. The 3lber was first up - though at first I thought I'd hooked a pike - really glad to see those stripes as I brought it to my side of the canal. The others quickly followed in the next half an hour and by a quarter to four it was all over, bites ceasing as quickly as they'd started. Fat Perch Winter Sunset

Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0715 - 1045 Mild (9/10ºC) with broken cloud - to bright sunshine at end. A lovely benign autumnal morning. Canal very clear (no boat traffic for a month due to maintenance work upstream) WT a 'balmy' 50ºF. 6 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 14oz, 1lb10oz & 3 tiddlers. A session that got off to a very slow start with only 2 tiny perch to show for the first hour. A move 100m or so upstream brought instant rewards - and the remaining 4 fish were all caught in the next hour - no bites at all after 0915 - with light levels increasing. Paul was fishing the river not far downstream of me (had a solitary chub of 2½lb). But did take a nice sunrise photo...

Kennet & Avon Canal - Avington 0645 - 1230 Bright start, rain from 1000. 6 Perch: 1¼lb & 5 small uns. 1 Chub - small. 7 Skimmers to 1lb, 2 doz roach - to 1lb, 2 Gudgeon and 3 Ruffe! First autumn perching session - which whilst it got off to a good start with the pounder first cast - didn't get any better. Loads of pred activity too - think they were pre-occupied with fry and ignoring my lobs. First EVER ruffe from the Kennet system - only other time I've caught the species was from the Loddon back in the 70's!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1300 - 1600 Mild, cloudy and benign - perfect perching weather. AT 10ºC 9 Perch; 2lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz - the others all around 8-10oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb and a Rudd(!) The CRT have made it very difficult to locate big stripeys on the canal - by removing pretty much every bit of over hanging vegetation from miles of bank - however conditions were ideal for winter perch so a roving approach - travelling light and giving swims 30 mins or so before moving on was the plan for the afternoon - and 5th swim - bingo! Biggest perch for 3 seasons - delighted!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1545 - 1700 Dull & drizzly. 8ºC. 5 Perch; 3 tiddlers and a couple in the ¾-1lb class. Short session at the 'witching hour' hoping for a big stripey to come out to feed - alas not to be. All bites between 1630-1645.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 0700 - 1100 Cool, bright and sunny. 5 Perch - all around 6-10oz. The CRT really are a bunch of ****s! I rocked up at first light and made my way to a spot I knew held good perch - a nice bush and fallen branch on the far bank which produced 1lb+ perch (and some nice chub) for me last season - but which also produced a 3lb stripey last year (I've seen the pics!). This feature is on the widest part of the canal on the outside of a slight bend, a LONG way from the 'shipping line' and has caused boat users no problems for years. So why have the CRT seen fit to grub it out? I wonder how much revenue CRT get each year from angling clubs - coz they don't appear to give a **** about the aquatic environment - ALL my favourite perch spots on the K&A from Woolhampton to Marsh Benham have now been destroyed by these environmental terrorists over the past 2-3 years!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Enborne 0800 - 1630 Cool and overcast morning, bright sunny afternoon. AT 4º - 8ºC but felt cooler in the breeze! 9 Perch; Most around 12+oz but nothing over 1¼lb, 1 Pike; 2lb. 1½doz Roach, 2 Dace & a Gudgeon. Another session after big stripeys and just like most of my catches further downstream fish of a remarkably similar stamp. Started off with Pike trouble - got bitten off first cast - and landed it (same one!) second - so I got my hook back. ALL perch dawn and dusk.

K&A Canal - Woolhampton 1330 - 1615 Bright & breezy - with one very lumpy shower. AT 10º ->6ºC 7 Perch; 5 over 1lb, best 3, 1lb 9oz, 1lb 11oz & 2lb 2oz. Similar conditions to Friday's session though slightly LESS windy. Fished a different swim and had all 3 bigger ones in the last half an hour - getting progressively bigger. All 3 had damaged flanks, seems they've all escaped the attentions of the local pike!

Kennet & Avon Canal - Woolhampton 1345 - 1615 Dull, calm and cool. AT 7ºC despite forecasts promising double figures! 7 Perch; 1lb 8oz, 1lb 5oz & 5 smalluns. Lovely benign afternoon on the canal - near perfect winter weather for perching - though would have preferred it to be a bit milder. Biggest 2 on the dinner bell time of 4 o'clock!

K&A Canal - Woolhampton 1400 - 1615 Mild, overcast and breezy with drizzly showers turning to rain. AT 10ºC. WT 9.1ºC 3 Perch; 1lb 9oz, 1lb 4oz, 13oz. 1 Pike 2lb 4oz. 2 Chub(lets) Mild snap had me heading for the canal in pursuit of stripeys. Didn't get a bite until 1530 then a flurry of fish around 4 o'clock - usual pattern for winter perching on the canal!

K&A Canal - Enborne 0730 - 1230 Dull, mild and calm. Ideal weather for perch. Canal however was very coloured up which was less than ideal. 1 Perch - small - barely longer than the lob it gorged on! 2 Roach. Bit of an epic fail. Had high hopes for today - milder weather and reports of big stripeys had me setting off full of expectation. Hadn't planned on the canal being so coloured however - and somewhat strangely above Guyers Lock it was clear - enough to see the bottom. Only decent bite of the day proved to be a jack which bit me off as I was bringing it to the net - ho hum!