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Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury 0800 - 1645 Drizzly. 7ºC. Little wind - though enough to blow my brolly into the river when my back was turned! River 'full' with quite a bit of colour - more than I expected - and more than is usual for here. 19 Chub: All over 1lb - though biggest 'only' 3lb 13oz and 'only' 8 over 2lb! Pike; 10lb 11oz. 3 Dozen Dace with many many fish in the 6-8oz class, 9 roach - all small and only 3 troot (2 brownies and a rainbow). A damp gloomy day in West Berkshire - though we got nothing like the amount of rain forecast just 24 hours earlier - thankfully the heavy stuff didn't arrive til after dark. I was quickly into the chub while Paul headed off in search of perch - only to have one snaffled by a very large pike - and he was distracted all morning by trying (and failing) to catch it! He did lose another smaller one which somehow threw the hook - a low to mid-double he said - confirmed when I hooked and landed it first cast on trotted lob (it was holed up in a favoured perch hotspot). Paul went on to get a couple of Pike to 8½lb and whilst he caught less than half the number of chub I did - he did manage the only 4lber of the day. All in all a most excellent days angling - followed up with a couple of pints and a curry at my local - Paul's trousers were literally steaming in front of the log fire! Lob gobbler! Paul's Pike and 4lb chub... Soggy Snowdrops!

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury 0830 - 1615 Wild morning - wet and windy. Rain stopped at 1130 to give a bright afternoon with the wind dropping. Mild, 10ºC. 7 Chub; 2 @ 5lb+ - best 5lb 4oz - the rest around 2½ - 2¾lb, one under 2lb. 9 Roach quite a few chunky ones up to 1lb. 1 Dace (8oz). 1 Gudgeon. 6 Brownies to 3lb. 8 Rainbows to 4lb 8oz Another day's fishing, another storm - and at least today I had the River Keeper to thank for staying reasonably dry! We were given permission to fish - providing we kept to the main river - and started at the bottom beats of the fishery. The carriers and the rest of the estate were out of bounds as they were being used for shooting. We were promised a call for when it was safe to progress upstream. All this meant Paul and I made base camp underneath the A34 - at least out kit would stay dry and whilst Paul ventured out to a known hotspot just upstream I decided to start trotting from the dry confines of the bridge! Whilst it may have been 'fairly' dry it was like fishing in a wind tunnel with my float regularly been blown upstream against the current. I was however more than gratified to get some fish from here - a couple of the chub AND the 1lb roach amongst the highlights. The forecast was for a dry afternoon - thankfully accurate - and with the call from the keeper giving us the all clear we made our way upstream. Paul had caught very little for his troubles - and we both fish another known chub slack - Paul getting off the mark and I baggsied another brace of schoolies. I then spent the rest of the afternoon working my way down a long deep run trotting red corn for chub (I remembered to bring copious amounts with me today). Unfortunately the trout/chub ratio was rather on the high side -but at least I was rewarded with a brace of 5lbers the bigger one my best of the season so far. A brace of 5s.

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0800 - 1600 Bright and very windy especially on the meadows. River high and carrying quite a bit of colour - much more than is usual for here. Mild, around 10ºC all day. 18 Chub (!!): Only 1 under 2lb, most around 3lb with 6 fish over 4lb - biggest 5lb exactly (over 63lb of chub). 2 Grayling 2lb 5oz (!) & 1lb 3oz. 9 Brownies to 3lb+. For some time now Paul and I have had 2 dates pencilled in over the Christmas period to go fishing - 23rd & 27th. Dates of 2013's pre & post Christmas storms!! As Monday's trip was cancelled we kept a very keen eye on the next weather system and were gratified at its early arrival - meaning the day would be at least dry - if somewhat windy! However Monday delivered over 2 inches of rain and last night another third of an inch. The river wasn't flooded but it would be very coloured up. The river keeper thought we were barmy - but permissions were granted!! We agreed that we'd at least turn up have a look and if need be get back in the car and go somewhere else (though we really didn't have a Plan B!)We were pleasantly surprised at the levels - not at all flooded and whilst it was quite coloured we could just make out the bottom in fast shallows runs. So we concurred it was not completely hopeless - and set off to find some sheltered (from the wind)swims. Expectations were lowered somewhat - Paul even said we wouldn't get any grayling today!!! Any worries that it would be a struggle we quickly dispelled - fishing float fished red corn in a known chub spot I had 30lb of them in the first hour! Paul got off to a slower start so I invited him to run a float through said swim and sure enough the float dipped at THE spot and he was soon bringing a chub to the net. Eventually the bites dried up and I agreed to rest it 'til then end of the day and for Paul to finish off there - though when he did there were rather more trout than chub in residence! After this fantastic start it was off to explore some of the other favoured swims at the venue. The place used to be excellent for big perch - though the hotspot for these hasn't produced a decent fish for a few years - as was the case again today. After this Paul and I went our separate ways until lunch - Paul seeking out dace me just fishing for whatever! Just above the 'perch' swim is a trot where I've had chub in the past so I decided to trot maggot through it for a few minutes. Sure enough I was immediately into a fish - taken just where I expected a chub to be laying. The fight was somewhat prolonged and I was beginning to think it was a trout when up through the milky waters popped up a rather large grayling. I've caught bigger ladies from the Itchen and Dorset Frome but this is my biggest ever Kennet fish. Most unexpected and most welcome! The rest of the day was spent on the windswept meadows trying to eek out my supplies of sweetcorn. Highlight of the afternoon was 4 X 4lb+ chub in 4 casts - again all on red corn - they were really having it today! Paul managed to find some dace - I think he had a round a dozen with fish upto 10oz plus his chub count got into double figures. I don't think either of us expected such a good day's angling! Some Pics. No Perch here! One of Paul's Dace. Despite blowing a hoolie - Paul finds a quiet spot!

Middle Kennet Estate 0715 - 1630 Bright sunshine all day after a frosty start. A lovely benign autumn day, temps up to 9ºC. River low - in fact very low given the amount of rain we've had in the last 6 weeks... 14 Chub; 11 over 1lb - most between 1½ and 2¾lb. 3 over 3lb, best 2 - 4lb 2oz & 3lb 15oz.11 Perch; 4 over 1lb all between 1lb 7oz & 1lb 15oz. 50+ roach and dace in roughly equal numbers (Slightly more roach) nothing worthy of the scales though a few of the dace were quite chunky. A gudgeon. 9 Brownies to 3¼lb and 2 Rainbow's to 2½lb. First Kennet estate trip of the winter saw Paul and me visiting this somewhat 'banker' venue. I was expecting the river to be a little on the low side but was surprised to see just how low it was. Thought we'd struggle given the bright sunshine and low water. However staying mobile and resting swims regularly did the trick. I caught chub from 7 different swims and Paul had a similar number with similar tactics. And nearly all mine were caught in bright sunshine as I spent the first couple of hours fishing for perch before the sun was on the water. Paul had a very similar return overall (minus any decent perch) but did snaffle some half decent roach with a couple of fish in the ¾lb bracket. My best chub of the day. And Paul's best roach. Threadbare back stream in need of some water. Autumn river - though this could be high summer from the greenery! A keeper's work is never done - the bank here had been undermined by signal crayfish.

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0715 - 1800 Cold and frosty start - bright and sunny morning with some cloud in the afternoon. Cool but light breeze. AT -3ºC->6ºC but felt much warmer out of the wind and in the sun! Almost spring like and a vast improvement on Monday (and last Friday!) 16 Chub; Only 1 under 2lb, most over 3lb, biggest 5lb 2oz. Over 55lb in total!. 3 dace - 1 goodun of 11oz, 1 Roach (small), 1 Grayling circa 12-14oz. 7 Brownies to 2½lb. 1 Rainbow c2lb. Ton Up!! Looking through my diary on Wednesday night I realised I needed 9 chub over 1lb to make it 100 for the season - the first time I've ever achieved this!! So today was an all out chub hunt - and I'd reached my target by lunchtime - though 2 of those had obligingly turned up in 'dace swims'! All chub caught trotting with about half caught on red corn and the other half on maggot. Paul's was after monster dace though in the bright morning sunshine he struggled somewhat and had only managed one when we met up for Jaq's Parsnip Soup. Fair play to him though as he stuck at it and managed some crackers in the afternoon - 3 fish totally 2¼lb! in an overall catch of 7 dace. Overall numbers of them seem well down something even the river keeper commented on - and again both of us failed to find any perch - big or otherwise - which used to be one of the highlights of fishing here.... Pic of my 5lber... Most of the dace Paul and I were catching were in spawning condition - males sandpapery, females pigeon chested. However big dace tend to spawn first - and this huge dace caught by Paul was very hollow and had clearly just done its thing - a pity because given the length of it it should have been bigger than the 12ozs it registered on both our scales - we'd love to have caught it a fortnight ago! More piccies from Paul's camera. Dace swim. Walkng the plank? Frosty start.

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury 0715 - 1745 Cold and RAW, with frequent snow flurries and a mini blizzard around lunchtime. Strong and dessicating NE wind. Temps 0ºC or below all day (line freezing to rod ALL day), wind chill must have been minus loads! Spring is here - NOT! WT a balmy 43ºF. 17 (!) Chub; Almost all over 2lb - biggest 3lb 14oz, 4 Perch; 2 'gooduns' at 2lb 2oz &1lb 14oz. 23 Dace - quite a few chunky ones and 2 real corkers; a female fish of 13oz and a male fish of 14oz. 6 Roach - all small. 2 Brownies 1½lb & 2½lbs. Brrrr We must be mad - any other venue and we probably would have cried off - but this is now the third time we've been here in sub-optimal conditions and the place has fished its socks off (see 19 Jan & 22 Feb). Certainly a day for several layers of thermals, hot soup (Jaq's Honey Roast Parsnip) and plenty of coffee. The keeper even unlocked the fishing hut for us - and what a palace it is, full kitchen, lounge, loo, heaters, spare kit. Trout anglers have it cushy! Yet again I won the toss and had first dibs at the chub hotspot and whilst I did get 6 chub from it - all the others, bar 1, came from a different swim in the afternoon - one that hasn't really produced for me in the past. So Paul having lost the toss decided to get his worming gear out and target the perch. Good luck with that says I (somewhat triumphantly it has to be said!) - I think you'll struggle to get perch today. Well what do I know - in the time it took me to get my first two chub Paul had snaffled a dozen stripeys with several fish over 1½lb and a best of 2lb 4oz. I dropped into the same spot in the afternoon and had my two biggies 1st & 2nd casts! Apart from more perch I think Paul's final tally was nearly identical to mine - slightly fewer 1lb+ chub and more trout (and I think he also worried the local bleak and gudgeon populations ). So worth getting out of bed for despite the conditions and whilst the 5lb+ chub appear a bit thinner on the ground here at present it's good to see SO many coming through. Also today I was particularly pleased with my chub to trout ratio - fewest number of trout I think I've ever had here in a day - so the cold did bring some good!!! Obligatory fish plus Witcher pictures. Some Pics from Paul. Our nets were doing this all day - frozen solid! Spring? Dace! From here!

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0730 - 1745 Cold and overcast with a raw easterly wind - though thankfully reasonably sheltered on most swims at this venue. Max temp all day was 2ºC though judging by the times the line was freezing in the rings it was close to or below freezing for all but 2 or 3 hours around midday. WT 43ºF River clear with good flow. 10 Chub; 8 over 2lb, best 3, 4lb 12oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz. 18 Perch; all small except for one clonker of 3lb 3oz!. 3 Pike; biggest 7lb 4oz. 22 Dace; 2 worthy of the scales one at 10oz and a really nice fish of 12oz. 1 Bream; 1lb 6oz, 6 Roach; 4 of which in the 6-8oz bracket, 1 bleak; 5 brownies to 3¼lb. Plan C! We had hoped to be fishing further upstream for big dace but we couldn't get the required permissions. We also considered a trip to the Itchen but in the end settled for this venue - which is becoming a bit of a go to when conditions are as sub-optimal as they were today (see also, blog entry for 19 January). The day started with a toss of a coin as both Paul and I wanted to begin fishing where the chub were all holed up last month. As it happened though they were spread throughout the fishery so whilst I won the toss and did get my biggest from the hotspot I also caught decent chubfrom 6 different swims - as did Paul who had a near idientcal return with 7 chub and the same number of 4lbers as me. As usual the day was spent wandering the fishery and dropping into pretty much every likely looking swim (at least twice!). And like last time we took a couple of hours out to hunt for preds - though this time it was me that was after a pike or two - as I'd not caught one this season. My big perch though was a bit of a fluke - caught trotting maggot when after chub - my 1st ever 3 from this venue! My best chub of the day. 3lb stripey Me in the swim where I had my big perch. Under the dogwood in this photo (far bank) was black with chub - we just couldn't tempt them out into the open!

Middle Kennet Estate 0730 - 1630 Light sleet/drizzle ALL day. 2ºC (ALL day). River high but in its banks (just) and with little colour. 5 Chub; 5lb 8oz, 4lb 9oz, 4lb 5oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 10oz. 3 Rainbows to 4lb 7oz, 2 Brownies to 2½lb A day Paul and I had pencilled in for some time (with very light pencil given current conditions!) and the plan had been to invite Chris & Steve and to target monster dace on another stretch of river. Alas permission to fish that bit wasn't granted so we had to 'make do' with this beat. My confidence wasn't high as Paul and I had struggled here once already this season. And this despite the fact the keeper had pointed out a new stretch for us to try. However that didn't dint our collective enthusiasm and I wasn't surprised to see 2 car headlights picking out the track ahead of us when we pulled into the estate - yup Chris (Rusty) and Steve (JV44) had arrived even earlier than us. Cold sleet and a high river was always going to make for a tough session - however flows were down a bit on December - so Paul and I put the other 2 off the scent and dashed up to the top of the fishery to where we'd had some (actually more than some) good roach last winter. Alas, it was still tanking through and the 'roach slack' wasn't slack. So we were quickly working our way down the main river - Paul had spotted a nice 'glassy' run which looked like it might contain chub and was soon putting a float through it. I joined him some 50m upstream though my swim was a lot more boily but at least I had a feature to cast to.... Looking upstream from Paul's swim Paul was trotting maggot - but I had a cunning plan - red/orange sweetcorn - and 2nd trot, 3 kernels on a size 8 was snaffled by my best chub of the season - 5lb 8oz. Don't I look happy! Coloured sweetcorn looks a lot like trout eggs and I reckon chub must see (and eat) a lot - its a bait I have a lot of confidence in on fisheries such as this! A rainbow soon followed and after Paul bade me farewell to go exploring (still fishless) I had the 4.09 rubber lips - which sicked up a goodly mouthfall of Paul's maggots in my net! By the time we met up for mid morning coffee I'd added a small brownie and a 4lb rainbow to my tally and Paul had managed to snaffle himself a chub of around 2 ¾lb. Me & Rusty After coffee Paul and I went to have a look (and fish) the new bit. I wasn't particularly confident as we'd fished the same stream (although further up) a couple of years ago without success. The hut is in the middle of the beat - and upstream looked pretty featureless. And downstream wasn't much better. Still we had to give it a go so we walked upto the top and spent an hour and a half leap frogging swims - for the grand total of a brownie - each! Lunch was then taken - with Jaq's Roasted Squash, Chilli & Almond Soup getting a big thumbs up from two damp anglers. So it was back to the main estate - and this time we re-located ourselves to the bottom of the fishery. To a swim featured in APFA - the one where CY poaches a chub from BJ's swim and gets a catapult of maggots for his trouble! Alas there was no chub here - and by mid afternoon I decided I'd trek back up to the top of the fishery to 'my' chub swim as I figured it would have had a good rest from this morning. The walk is a long one, about 1½miles - shorter as the crow flies - but I'm not a crow! However it was worth the effort. I bumped into Chris on the way - and even landed a chub for him. And what he didn't tell me was that 'my' swim hadn't had quite the rest I'd thought it had - below is the pic of it from his blog!!!! Thankfully Chris hadn't fished with magic beans (well kernels) and the last couple of hours saw me catch 3 more chub and another rainbow - before I ran out of bait - I did have another tin - but it was in the car and that was....1½miles away!

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0900 - 1600 Cold, overcast with snow laying to a depth of around 3-4inches. Temps hovering around 0ºC all day with frequent sporadic light snow flurries. No wind so wrapped up warm I was quite toasty all day - was actually rather a nice day to be out. River at near normal winter levels and quite clear. WT 42ºC 17 Chub(!); all over a pound with only 4 under 2¼lb, Biggest 4lb 2oz. Most fish in the 2½-2¾lb bracket. 10 Perch; Biggest 4, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 13oz. 16 Dace. 1 Roach, 2 Gudgeon. 4 Brownies including fish of 5lb 1oz and 4lb 5oz. 3 Rainbows to 2½lb. A session that defied logic or at least conventional wisdom as to what constitutes 'good angling conditions'. With air temperatures struggling to get above zero and water temperatures continuing to fall - we expected to struggle - how wrong can you be. I suppose we did have an overcast day and the road salt has yet to get into the rivers - but we considered these mere straws to be clutched! The date had been in Paul and my diaries for some time - we usually try and get a 'special' trip in sometime around my Birthday (which was last weekend). However it was touch and go whether, A we could find a venue that would let us on (or in the case of the Frome was within its banks) and, B we could actually get there. In the end we made the decison at 0700 on the day - and as a concession to the weather opted to arrive and leave in day light. (We usually arrive when it's still too dark to see a float - and leave under the same light conditions!!!!) Any fears that we had evaporated instantly. Paul probably spent most of the morning rueing his decision to turn down my offer to toss a coin for choice of first swim. We both had in mind where we wanted to start - but Paul said 'you can start there'. (well it is MY birthday!) And what a present the river delivered. In the first 1½hours of fishing I had 14 chub to 3¼lb plus the two biggest trout. I don't usually weigh the trout but these were 2 impressive fish. At times the fishing took on Mr Castwell proportions - with the float dipping at the same point in the swim every trot - and yet another 2½lb chub was brought to the net (as opposed to a similar sized trout in Skues' fable). A schooly 2½lber... By the time Paul joined me for mid-morning coffee, bites were begining to dry up - I was almost thankful!! We agreed that we'd rest the swim and that Paul would have first dibs to fill his boots in the afternoon - something he did with aplomb - snaffling another 8 fish including one of 5lb 3oz. I joined him right at the end of the day and was allowed to run a float through a few times. Paul had just announced that we hadn't caught a 4 lber today (a less than subtle ruse to draw attention to the fact he'd caught a 5 methinks!) when bang on cue I get one of just that size. Between the morning and late afternoon chubfests - Both Paul and I had some great predator action. Paul had spent most of the morning catching dace - something I joined in on after my chubby start but after lunch we both decided on seeing if we could get some predators. Paul had his pike gear with him and had seen a fish in the shallows - plus I'd lost a dace to a pike. My target was a perch or two - though that was more in hope than expectation. Sure enough my perch campaign got off to a slow start - chub in cold conditions is a bit of a staple but perch - I must be mad. These thoughts were going through my head after 15minutes of looking at a stationary float when all of a sudden it bobbed twice and slowly went under. A strike met with the briefest restistance and no lob - crayfish? a perch?. The answer wasn't long in coming as my next bait was snaffled even before the float cocked and a nice perch shot out from the slack into the main current - a nice fish of 2½lbs... I'd added 3 smaller ones to this when I had a call from Paul. He'd caught a big pike and could I come and take its portrait with its captor. It was a VERY nice pike short and very fat as trout fishery pike often are and at 17lbs exactly a new PB for Paul.. Paul then caught a couple of jacks and after the hiatus I returned to my Perch swim to continue where I'd left off with a couple more 2lb+ fish and half a dozen smaller ones upto 1lb. 4 O'clock and time to pack up as we wanted to be off the country roads while it was still light. Normally I'd be a bit regretfull at leaving a venue such as this while there was still fishable light - Paul too - but today we were well and truely sated!!!! Paul's 5lber - should be easy to identify again in the future... Winter Wonderland

Middle Kennet Estate(s) Newbury (am), Kintbury (pm) 0745 - 1615 Breezy with sunny spells. 7º->9º->7ºC. River 'full' and clear - though within its banks after recent (and very evident) flooding. 5 Chub; 4 over 2¼lb - best 2, 4lb & 3lb 10oz. 3 Grayling - 1lb 13oz, 1lb 2oz & 14oz. 5 Dace, 3 over 8oz - biggest 13oz. 2 roach, a gudgeon and 2 Brownies both circa 1½lb plus a 4lb bream which doesn't count as it was hooked in the dorsal - giving the most almighty battle in a fast current and doing a great impression of a huge chub. Bit of a grueller especially in the morning when we covered miles of bank trying to find fish - and when I did find a few - managed to hook one in the backside! More success after lunch and after a second move of the day - this time a couple of miles upstream!!! Paul struggled even more than me in the morning - but decided he would concentrate on trying to catch big dace in the afternoon - something he managed rather well with nearly a dozen over 8oz. Best comedy moment was seeing Paul trying to get into the 'Bob James Position' with thigh waders when really chesties were needed - he never did manage it - but it made amusing viewing! Some pics One of Paul's Dace - looks like a female already in breeding condition. 2, 13oz dace - both Paul and I caught 13oz dace at the same time - mine is the top one and although Paul's looks smaller in the pic it was a lot thicker... A welcome chub - caught 1st cast after the lunchtime move. Followed shortly after by a nice grayling. Paul gets all arty (again) looking upstream toward dace town! The chub that wasn't...

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0700 - 1630 Misty and murky all day, heavy showers for last 2 hours - 7-9ºC. 7 Chub; 5 over 2lbs biggest 3lb6oz. 7 Grayling (!) 4 over1lb (&3 over 1½), biggest 1lb 11oz. 9 Dace; 3 of which were 6oz+. 1 Roach. 7 Brownies to 3lb. Eagerly anticipated trip - nice to see the river full after 4+ years of low water. Of course it meant having to almost completely re-learn the venue! We half expected the fish holding areas in low water conditions might not be the same when the river was full - and so it proved. Our nailed on banker dace swim which has produced really good dace in each of the previous 3 seasons produced not a bite to me today! Paul and I had differing objectives for the trip - Paul wanted to get among the dace - something he achieved with 4 fish over 10oz a couple of which went 12oz. I wanted to get among the chub - preferably big ones - which didn't really show up - though lots of schooly ones for future years is a good omen (Paul had 10 but nothing over 3). The grayling were a very pleasant surprise especially their size. The perch on the other hand appeared to have done a disappearing act. (Maybe they've all moved to Gunters!) As we departed the car park at dawn - in opposite directions - I wished Paul good luck with a cheery 'break a rod' something he'd achieved by the time we met up for morning coffee!! Some Pics...(proabably!) Well that worked with postimage.org - though its now stubbornly refusing to upload any more! At last! Thanks to imageshack! 1lb 4oz dace was once caught here! (alas not by me!) Not a 1¼lb dace - one 8oz lighter! Snaggy dace swim - I had some gooduns from here... I actually don't know where this is - Paul??? Chub & Speedia Where have all the perch gone? Last knockings and not a stripey in sight...

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Newbury. 0700 - 1700 Bright and breezy morning after a frosty start. Clouded over mid afternoon and the wind dropped. (Glad we're not going today in all this rain!). River up on this time last year with good flow - still not as high as I thought it would be.... 9 Chub; All bar 1 over 2½lbs, best 2, 4lb 5oz & 3lb 14oz. 9 Perch; 2lb 3oz & 1lb 10oz the rest all small. 20 dace and a doz+roach (all small though a few of the dace were quite chunky). ½ doz brownies to 2½lb. VERY pleasant days angling. My aim was to get among the chub - achieved first cast with a 3lb fish and it seemed every swim I dropped into gave up a chub or two. Paul had a somewhat different day - many, many more roach than me including a few over ½lb and a best fish of 1lb 2oz (or it might have been 1-03 - I can't recall!), yet at lunch time (soup was roast parsnip) he was chubless - a situation he eventually put right with a couple of 3lbers late in the day. Best comedy moment came straight after lunch when we both took our lobs upto a banker perch hotspot. Nice and sociable we both made 1st casts at the same time - our floats coming into postion no more than a couple of foot apart. And bang on cue they both shot under. My strike met with heavy resistance as the 2lber shot off into the current. Paul's strike - a tiny perch - no bigger than the lob!!! To really rub it in I nearly had 2 for the price of one - we could both clearly see another big perch chasing the one I'd hooked - trying to get the lob that had been blown up the line - it nearly swam into the net as it's mate was landed! We both fished on - but the other biggy didn't return and our LAR (Lobworm Attrition Rate) shot up due to the legions of perchlets, forcing an abandonment to proceedings! Some pics below courtesy of the trips official photographer - Paul! Here be Chub! Autumn Colours A couple of Paul's fish... Paul gets all arty...

Middle Kennet Estate 0730 - 1800 Cool and overcast all morning, bright sunshine in the afternoon feeling quite warm despite the thermo only reading 10ºC. River VERY low. 4 Chub; 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 11oz and a chublet. 5 Perch; a couple of 'pounders' best of which was just under 2lb - the rest around 12oz. 25 roach - most fairly small though had one 'goodun' of 14oz. 9 Dace. 1 Bream 2¼lb. 10 gudgeon, 4 bleak & 6 brownies to 3¼lb. Usual mixed bag for our end of season jaunt to this prolific water - we couldn't find any of the bigger chub and perch - though Paul's only chub over a pound did go 4lb 3oz. Still twas a lovely spring day and we both found some new swims to fish - and ones we want to have a good go at next winter - perfect way to end the season - wanting more. Paul again had a similar return apart from the dace where he had around 4doz due to me spending most of the morning fishing the usual haunts of big chub here - but only snaffling a few of the smaller cousins! Day was rounded off with some great pub grub and talk of plans for next season!!! Fancy a dip? This 'peg' is called the swimming pool. Fat perch (one of Paul's captures) Where it came from... View from one of the 'new' swims!

Middle Kennet Estate - Newbury 0700 - 1800 Mild and overcast, breezy at times, temps around 10ºC all day. River still low - though up a tad (maybe a cm or so) on recently. 17 Chub, 6 over 1lb biggest 3lb 0oz. 24 Roach - biggest 1lb 4oz - though quite a few more needed the net. 15 Dace - best 2, 13oz & 12oz. 3 Gudgeon and 4 brownies. A knackering day as we walked the entire length of the fishery TWICE in order to find the fish. My plan was to start off in a known chub swim while Paul started in a nice eddy that requires wading to mid river to fish properly! Having expected chub I was somewhat shocked to start the morning with 2 stonking dace - the 12 oz fish followed next cast by one an ounce heavier - and whilst I caught some more gooduns throughout the day these were the only 2 I weighed. The trekking paid off as we caught in pretty much every swim we visited - and it did mean we could rest some of the hotspots - especially the roach one - where I finished the session with pretty much fish a cast - until Mr Pike decided he'd interfere - he kept returning to hold station right under my feet in order to get the best chance of grabbing a free meal! Paul had a near identical return to me - though his biggest chub was 11oz on from mine - and he did lose one a whole lot bigger. He also had a shed load of gudgeon and a couple of perch - one of which was 2lb. 1st fish of the day... In Bob's footsteps (20 years on) - me poaching Paul's swim with my worming gear (hence no CP!) Chub with an evil eye - Paul sticks his tongue out at a self take!

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1730 Cool and Sunny with broken cloud 2ºC->7ºC->2ºC. River very low. 9 Chub; 6lb 7oz (new PB ), 5-2, 3-15, 2-13, 2-10, 1-10 and 3 chublets. 47 Dace, of which less than a dozen were under 8oz!!!! 2 fish of 13oz, 3 fish weighed at 12oz but probably had a load more that were close,10 Roach; 4 of which were over 10oz - best 14oz. 10 Brownies and a Rainbow. This was supposed to be a club day on this lovely estate water - except no one turned up apart from me, Rusty and Steve !! Rusty and Steve explored down stream leaving me to have the whole upstream beat to myself!!!! My plan had always been to fish a chub swim that I fish quite a bit but which is otherwise relatively unknown - I've had a hunch for a few seasons that it could hold a quite special chub and this morning it turned out I was right. In the past I've only ever had one or two fish at a time from it so this morning I approached it a bit differently - taking my time - resting and feeding between fish. It certainly paid off as every time I ran a float through (with 3 kernals of red sweetcorn as bait) I had a bite straight away. The 2,2's were followed by the 5lber, in turn followed by the 3-15. Each fish put back some way downstream and each time I dribbled in more freebies for 10-15 mins before recasting. The 6 was the last fish of the morning and the constant feeding obviously paid off as it nailed the bait seconds after hitting the water - I hadn't even trotted down to the 'take zone'. The aggressive take was more akin to a trout but there was no mistaking this for a trout in the clear shallow water. Having already had a 5 I knew this was somthing special and was even muttering could be 7 as it hung in the fast water refusing to budge. The standoff was fairly brief and it was soon being coaxed into a waiting net where it promptly coughed up an enourmous gob of mashed up corn - could have been 6-08 if it had kept it down!! Still at 6lb 7oz it's a new PB by an ounce - I was well chuffed and all the more satisfying for being caught on the float. Next trot through produced a ruddy brownie = one 'killed swim'. I returned for an hour in the afternoon for 1 more chub before the brownies moved in again... If the morning had started splendidly what was to follow was equally awesome. My plan had always been to switch to dace after a morning's chubbing but I hadn't expected to get so many and such quality - and from a swim I hadn't planned to fish. However looking into the water with my poleroids as I stopped for a mid morning drink and chocolate I could see the swim was stuffed with dace - and by the looks of it some really quite big ones. (I don't think I caught anywhere near the biggest in the shoal!). I weighed the first 5 dace I caught, 3 were 12 oz the other 2, 9 & 10oz. Having got my eye in I only weighed anything that looked bigger - and popped a couple of later fish on the scales which both went 13oz but in truth nearly every fish was of the same stamp - I could see bigger dace in the swim - but never got past the 'schooly' 10ozers to catch one!!! All in all a fantastic days sport - feels like two days fishing in one!

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury. 0730 - 1700 Cool and overcast. -2º ->5ºC Positively balmy compared to recent arctic conditions - WT was a chilly 39ºF though. 8 Chub; 4 'pounders' to 2¼lb and 4 chublets. 19 Dace; most a 'nice' size - only one warranted the scales though; a lovely fish of 11oz. 6 Roach, 8 Brownies to 2½lb. Plan for today was to catch some chub in the morning and then move up to where we'd caught all those roach earlier in the winter. First part of the plan went err as planned with both Paul and I getting amongst the chub and whilst we would have liked a 5 lber or 2 it was actually quite nice to see some smaller fish to come through - I think between us we had 9 or 10 over 1lb yet the biggest was only a few ounces over 2. After lunch it was into the car and upto the top limit of the fishery - only for it to very quickly transpire that the roach had moved on - the 'roach' swim was devoid of anything without an adipose fin. By 1500 we were back where we started - and fishing the swim where I'd caught chub in the morning started to produce some nice dace - including my biggest of the day. Paul had only added 3 trout and a chub to his morning's total when we bumped into the river-keeper doing his rounds. A couple of hints (well one BIG tip really) had us both fishing the same pool for the last ¾hr. If you got the bait in the right place (this was the tip!) it was bite a chuck and Paul was quickly adding to his tally with ,ironically, some nice roach in the 6-8oz bracket - finishing the day with a bristling perch a couple of ounces shy of 2lb. Some pics from yesterday Small chub with a big tail. Paul's perch - looks bigger than 1-13 don't ya think! CY got catty'ed with maggots here... Paul goes all arty....

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0900 - 1630 Frosty and bright, temps around 2-4ºC all day. River low and clear 8 Chub; 4 chublets and 4 over 2lb, biggest 5lb 6oz. 16 Dace; half over 8oz, biggest 13oz & 12oz. 3 Roach, biggest 1lb on the nose. 6 Brownies - biggest 2, 4¼ & 3¾lb. NAA day on this lovely part of the Kennet so had to share the place with a couple of dozen other anglers! Highlight of the morning was seeing Rusty do an impersonation of Nigel Mansell as he raced off to bagsy the weedrack swim and seeing 2 other anglers pull in behind us on the Kintbury rd, unload their car in a blind panic and practicallly sprint off to their swims to ensure Paul and I wouldn't get them!! In truth we weren't at all bothered as we were pretty sure our secret dace swims were safe (as they were!!). All in all, a fairly slow day as you'd expect in such bright conditions. Paul and I both caught decent dace early on though I had much better success in the last hour when I had the 13oz dace and the 1lb roach in consecutive casts. Paul caught more dace overall - he having had a better 'middle' part of the day - again local knowledge playing a big part. Equally my 'banker' chub swim was unoccupied mid-afternoon and trotting 3 grains of corn on a size 8 quickly brought some decent chub to the net - the 5lber was first cast. Paul and I pride our selves in being last off the venue on such days - but Rusty outdid us - we were on our way home when I got a call from Chris - to say he was still fishing!!!!! Pics from Paul (apart from the chub)...

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0730 - 1630 Mild and overcast with light winds - a lovely benign winters day. 10ºC. River VERY low. 4 Chub to 2lb 10oz. 5 Grayling - all between 10oz - 1lb 6oz, 14 Dace - nearly all over 8oz - 5 over 10oz, best 12oz (had 3 at this weight!), 3 Roach, 6 Brownies to 2¾lb. A lovely day to be by the river - we were restricted by low water levels to where we could fish - but finding a shoal of big dace in the very first swim we dropped in took the 'pressure' off!! We ended up fishing and resting it in rotation all day! Paul had an identical number of dace - and like me nearly all were gooduns (ie ½lb+) his best though went a whopping 14oz. Some pics - all courtesy of Paul...

Middle Kennet Estate water. 0800 -1600 Cold, frosty and bright. -1ºC -> 5ºC. River very low 5 Chub; 5lb 15oz, 2lb 3oz & 3 chublets 2 of which were circa 1lb. 47 Roach; Most in the 6-8oz bracket - the 5 I put on the scales were 9oz, 10oz, 12oz, 14oz & 1lb 2oz but an awful lot weren't much smaller than the 9oz fish - probably had nearly 20lb of roach in all! 2 Dace & 6 Brownies biggest circa 2½lb. Chalk this one up to the river keeper who put us on to the fish - from a stretch of river Paul and I had never fished before. Probably my best ever day roach fishing on the Kennet (for numbers and overall average size of fish) Paul had fewer roach but the same stamp - and he managed to winkle out a couple of decent dace to 8oz. First couple of hours were a real struggle due to the rod rings freezing up - fishing (and catching) became a lot easier once the temps lifted enough for the line to run free. Largest chub was a bit hair-raising on light tackle! More pics to follow - once my 'Official Photographer' has sent them over! And here they are.... Twas a bit nippy when we started... But Dawn was spectacular! And Sunrise was pretty too... Nearly 6lbs.... No fish here! Dusk in the 'Roach' swim.

Middle Kennet Estate water 0730 - 1630 Mild and mainly overcast with some 'milky' sunshine at times. River VERY low. 7 Chub; 4 over 1lb - biggest 3lb 1oz. 8 Perch; 2 over 1lb - biggest 2lb 3oz. 2 Bream - both circa 1lb. 3 Doz+ Roach - most quite small though 2 warranted the scales - one at 13oz the other a lovely fish of 1lb 4oz. 2 Doz + Dace - all quite small. 20 + Gudgeon. 8 Brownies - most over 2lb - biggest 3lb 8oz. 1 Rainbow - 2¾lb. A lovely day wandering around this prolific water. Low water meant that the fish were shoaled up in the pools - also made them a bit spooky . We saw some really big chub and hundreds of bream but neither would take a bait. Paul caught even more than me and whilst he didn't get any respectable chub had loads of good dace - and was given the shock of his life when a hugemungous pike attacked one of his perch has he was bringing it to the net - alas neither of us had brought any pike gear! A couple of pics - unfortunately the roach is a bit over-exposed and Paul took a couple of arty landscape pics of the moon between the trees which are on the cutting room floor as they didn't come out very well! A couple of 'library' pictures - taken Nov 08 when there was a little bit more water in the river too!

Middle Kennet Estate 0630 - 1830 Bright and sunny after a cold start. -3ºC meant iced up rod rings for first hour or so and shirt-sleeves weather by mid afternoon - though a easterly upstream breeze was quite chilly at times. All in all a lovely spring day. River still a little on the low side. 7 Chub; Biggest 4lb 4oz, rest 3.03 - 1.10. 4 Perch; 2lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 14oz and a tiddler. 32 Roach; Best two, 1lb 3oz & 15oz with quite a few others circa 8oz. 35 Dace; no really big ones - just a couple of good-uns in the 8-10oz bracket. 2 Bream - skimmers. ½doz Gudgeon. 6 Brown Trout; best two, 7lb 2oz & 6lb 6oz ! . 3 Rainbow Trout to 4lb! Great last day of the season. Unusually for me, and this venue, spent nearly all day in the same swim (well the fish just kept coming!). Rather surprised to get some nice perch in what I consider a nailed on chub swim - certainly the first I've caught from this spot - meant the worms got a reprieve! All fish on trotted maggot. Biggest 2 trout in last 1½hr - fish in gorgeous condition and whilst not really what we came for - got to admit they put up one hell of a scrap and looked absolutely fabulous! Last hour as it got dark the roach really switched on - was the period I had my 'pounder' and over ½ of all the roach I caught in total. Paul had a similar day minus the perch and really big brownies.

Middle Kennet Estate 0830 - 1800 Bright and sunny after an overcast morning. AT 3º->8ºC, quite chilly in a stiff easterly breeze. 6 Chub; Biggest 2, 4lb5oz & 4lb 0oz, 2 Perch; 2lb 14oz & 2lb 7oz. 15 Dace; Biggest 10oz though nearly all the others weren't much smaller. 2 Roach, both small. 10 Brownies to 2½lb. Typical session wandering the banks searching for fish - walked even further than normal as it was tough going once the sun came out. Thankfully I'd bagged the brace of perch whilst it was still overcast and gloomy in the morning and most of the dace came in the last hour as the sun set. All chub on trotted corn. Perch on lobs.

Middle Kennet Estate 0900 - 1730 Cool, Overcast and Dry. AT around 5-6ºC all day. River at normal levels and carrying a tinge of colour - all in all neigh on perfect winter conditions! 10 Chub. 8 over a pound, biggest 3; 4lb 5oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 5oz. 13 Dace. Most a good size, best 4; 14oz, 11oz 10ozX2. 1 Grayling - 1lb 7oz. 8 Brownies to 2½lb. Typical day spent wondering the banks with rods in hand. Spent all morning searching out the dace and had caught just 4 by lunch time though it did include both 10oz & the 11oz fish. Post lunch the focus switched briefly to chub and I had ½doz in quick succession - half on maggot and half on corn. Then after a quick visit to poach Rusty's swim - forlornly as it turned out for a perch - it was a long trek down to a swim rumoured to hold really special chub - unfortunately when I got there I realised I'd left my sweetcorn at the top of the fishery. This meant changing up my dace tackle to something a bit stronger and fishing double white maggot. A small chub resulted quickly followed by the grayling - small compensation for the MUCH bigger lady I lost in the morning due to my own stupidity. I hooked what I firmly believed to be a brownie - and played it really hard - hoping it would get off. The plan worked in the same instance I realised I was connected to a really substantial grayling not a troot! Last hour was spent in a known dace swim - resulting in my last fish of the day being a rather special dace of 14oz. 3 of Paul's fish from Sunday....

Middle Kennet Estate - Nr Hungerford 0730 - 1715 Cold, mainly overcast with some sunny spells especially after noon. -1ºC->2ºC but felt MUCH colder in a raw NEly wind. River still quite low for late Jan. 42 Grayling; 15 over 1lb - best 3, 1lb11oz, 1lb10oz, 1lb 8oz. 3 Dace; small(ish!), 8 Brownies - biggest 2lb 10oz - but most were parrs, 7 Rainbows to 3¼lb. A chilly days grayling fishing with Paul. Tried and failed to find any big dace - water levels were too low for them - so concentrated on what this venue does best - the ladies. Paul fared even better with 59 (over 100 between us!) his biggest going 1lb 13oz. He even managed to get more dace than me despite spending less than ½ the time I did looking for them!!! Still thawing out! Paul's Biggest... Frosty Sunset

Middle Kennet Estate. 0800 - 1615 Overcast and breezy - drizzle for last hour, 10ºC. River still quite low - up maybe a couple of inches on our last visit here in November. Carrying quite a bit of colour - more than I expected to see! 6 Chub; 5 over 1lb, best 3:- 5lb 6oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz. 6 Perch; biggest 2lb 2oz, rest all small. 1½doz dace, 2doz+ roach - all small though a few of the dace were circa 6oz and one roach warranted the scales though it 'only' registered 12oz, ½doz gudgeon, 1 skimmer, 5 brownies to 3lb, 4 rainbows to 3¾lb. A morning spent playing find the chub finally came to fruition at around 1400 at the 8th swim of asking! Caught all 3 biggies in last couple of hours from a swim which looks like it was designed by Mr Crabtree for chub but which has never produced for me in the past - until now! Most fish on trotted maggot. Spent and hour or so perching with lobs which produced the 2lber - and not a lot else - though Paul lost a quite substantial stripey. Paul had many many more dace and roach - with some really decent dace gracing his net. Didn't find any substantial chub and did the honours removing a pike from my chub swim which was causing a nuisance - attacking my float on the retrieve! Big Mouth! Here be Dace - big Dace! Only an ounce bigger!