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River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0630 - 1130 Bright sunny morning. AT 12º -> 23ºC. River very low with a hint of colour. 14 Chub: A 'pounder' and a baker's dozen of small-uns. 30+ Roach & 25 Dace: nothing particularly note-worthy apart from 3 or 4 dace of around 8oz, 5 Perch; all fairly small. 6 Bleak. A trip to my syndicate stretch in the hope that Thursday's rain may have gingered the river up a bit and whilst it was still very low there was a little bit of colour. Loads of 'silvers' in every swim I dropped in though the bigger chub must still be sulking somewhere inaccessible. Great to see lots of juvenile ones again - bodes well for a few years time!

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0530 - 1130 Bright and sunny. 13ºC -> 22ºC. River very low with a tinge of colour. 2 Chub; one just over a pound the other even smaller. 40+ Dace and Roach - in roughly equal nos (slightly more dace). None of the roach were noteworthy but several of the dace were - the two I weighed went 13oz & 11oz and had another 3 or 4 over 8oz. 2 Bleak. 1 Rainbow; 2½lb. A 'scratchy' morning, failing to find any big chub or any bonus bream backups! Started with the rainbow which didn't help! Big dace were a welcome surprise and when I hooked the pound+ chub a few minutes after the bigger dace (and from the same spot!) I was harbouring thoughts of a new dace PB until I had it in the net and realised the dace had a few juvenile chub as swim partners!

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0415 - 1145 Hot, sunny and sultry. 26ºC when I packed up but thankful for the fleece I put in my tackle bag at the last minute, when I arrived at first light! River low and clear. 2 Bream; 4lb 7oz, 4lb 4oz. 6 Chub; a couple of 2lbers with the rest all between ½-1lb. 3 Doz Dace & Roach (roughly 2 dace for every roach) nothing very big though a couple of the dace were half decent. 3 Bleak. 2 Brownies - both over 3lb with spectacular markings. Glorious morning - on my favourite weirpool - which is thankfully in shade for all of the morning. Both bream had me convinced I was into decent chub - they fight soooo much harder than their still water cousins (and are a lot less slimey!!!). Was hopeful of finding some bigger chub though I think they may have been spawning in the shallows below the weirpool (something certainly was!).

Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0900 - 1630 Damp, murky and drizzly all day. AT 9/10ºC. River low for mid January. 22 Chub: 12 over 1lb, with 9 over 3lb. Best 2 went 5lb 2oz & 4lb 10oz. 3 Dace; a 10oz fish and a couple of tiddlers. 1 Roach - small. A doz+ brownies from 2½-4lb. It's my birthday tomorrow and as I've got the week off (and being whisked away from tomorrow by Mrs P to an unknown (to me) destination) I thought I'd treat myself to a bit of all out chub fishing. I headed straight for the the spot I bagged up in last March - and whilst there were plenty of chub in residence it proved to be a bit of a battle to keep the trout count down. Switching to another swim at the top of the venue after lunch proved a good move (and worth the long walk) - both my biggest two chub came from here plus a couple more (and no brownies!). All the big chub on trotted red corn - got through 3 tins of the stuff. Last ¾hr on the carrier trotting maggot in search of big dace - though found mainly ½lb chub which did a very good imitation of big dace... Biggest of the day.

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).

Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1200 Bright and sunny. Frosty start - but felt quite warm by lunchtime - a lovely spring day though not ideal angling conditions! AT -1º - 12ºC. River up a bit on last weekend - close to usual winter levels. 1 Chub; 4lb 3oz. 18 Roach - quite a few 'netters' with the biggest a smidge over 1lb - my first (and last!) from here this season. 2 Dace - Small. 2 Perch - ditto. 1 Brownie - 2½lb. Wanted to end the season where I started it! Began on the main river - but only had 1 bite from the 5 swims I tried - though that did result in the chub. Then I worked my way up the carrier - looking for the shady swims - which definitely produced more bites. Ended up in the swim that produced all the chub 9 days ago - but didn't get a bite this time!

Kennet carrier - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1400 Cool, overcast and breezy with showers to finish. AT 4º - 6ºC (but felt much chillier in the stiff breeze). River up a couple of inches but still at the bottom end of normal! 6 Chub; 3X3lbers 3lb 13oz (yes I had another one shortly after you left - Steve!) and a brace at 3lb 8oz - possibly same fish - caught 90mins apart from same swim - though chub are not usually so careless!, 2lber and a couple of 'pounders'. 1 Roach - small & a Rainbow of circa 3lb. Started off on the main river in high hopes that the extra water will have brought the fish out - but all my usual haunts were bereft of fish - not so much as a bite. So all fish from the carrier - in fact most from a shallow run at the top of the fishery - catching chub from the shallow-est part of the venue - not at all what I expected!

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1430 Overcast morning, brightening up after lunch (to the detriment of the fishing!) and quite breezy. AT 5º -> 9ºC. River low and clear (at normal summer levels!). 3 Chub; 4lb 0oz, 3lb 4oz, 2lb 2oz. 1 Bream; 3lb 10oz. 17 Roach; most around 6-8oz with a couple of biggers ones. 1 Bleak. Whole session on the main river of my syndicate stretch. Had a first cast trout - which got eventually off but only after totally trashing my first swim! Nearly all the fish from a 'new' swim - or at least one that has been opened up by the removal of some branches by last week's little working party - (thanks chaps!). Meant I can now get a cast across the river to run a float under the far bank trees....

River Kennet (& Carrier) Marsh Benham 1000 - 1530 Mild and very breezy (too breezy for good float control). AT 9ºC. River low and looking a little threadbare after 3 consecutive months with below average rainfall. 5 Chub: 4lb 10oz, 2lb and 3 between ½-1lb. 16 Roach - various sizes but nothing to warrant the scales. 11 Dace; most small with a couple of clonkers - best weighing in at 12oz. 1 Rainbow; 3lb & a Brownie c2lb. A trip to my syndicate stretch with Martin (Bayleaf The Gardener - of this parish) as my guest. Alas, I couldn't put him on a big chub - though I at least managed to show him they DO exist! Started on the main river - where I had my 2 bigger chub (& the Rainbow - which was a first cast fish in one of my chub swims and was another non-triploid fish as she emptied her eggs into my landing net!). All the silvers from the carrier where Martin also fared much better - see his blog for the full story! Rare pic of me actually holding a fish - courtesy of BTG!

River Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1400 VERY mild (14ºC) and cloudy morning - brightening up for last couple of hours. River still on the low side but up a couple of inches on 3 weeks ago and carrying a bit of colour. 4 Chub: 4lb 1oz, 2lb 2oz and a couple of chublets - one of around a pound the other half that. 1 Bream; 5lb 2oz. 40+ Roach and Dace - mainly roach in an approx ratio of 2-1. Nothing particularly newsworthy - though they weren't tiddlers either - a couple of the dace were over ½lb. 2 Bleak. 2 Brownies - both 2lb+. 1 Rainbow - unweighed but close to 4lb. A morning on my syndicate stretch - as I reasoned that all the Christmas rain - and the springs bursting on the downs might have wakened the river up! And so it proved - the first 3 fish were the 2 bigger chub and the bream before - alas - the trout turned up to wreck things! Spent a couple of hours on the carrier which produced the 2 smaller chub and most of the roach and dace. My biggest bream from here.

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1315 Mild, mainly overcast - with a few bright spells. 10-12ºC. River very low for mid December - but then we have had less than an inch of rain since the 1st Nov. 3 Chub: 5lb 3oz (SB ) and a couple of chublets of around ¾lb - 1lb. 2 Doz Roach - of various sizes - the one I deemed worthy of ths scales pulled the needle round to 13oz - looked bigger!). ½ doz Dace - all bar one 6oz+. 1 Bream; 1lb 14oz, 1 Bleak. 1 Rainbow trout; 2¾lb. A morning's trotting on my syndicate stretch - the carrier may be weed free - but is in desperate need of some more water so I headed down to the main river. As per usual, I made 'base camp' at the weirpool and fished 4 or 5 swims in rotation - searching for the chub - the big one coming from the last swim I visited. Planned to return to it but Steve turned up with his pike gear - so I left him to to it - though he was Esox-less when I left!

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0745 - 1315 Cool, calm & cloudy. AT 1º - 3ºC. River quite full - though somewhat surprisingly (and contradictory!) the carrier was on the low side. 4 Chub; 4lb 10oz, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 2oz and a chublet. 18 Roach - few of any size bar one which went 12oz. 4 Dace, 1 Perch, 8 Brownies - 2½ - 3½lb & 2 Rainbows 2½lb & 4+lb. Pleasant morning's trotting - chub as ever were the target - though most of my 'banker' swims were full of trout. Did eventually find a swim where the chub got a look in and had all 3 decent fish in quick succession before the bully boy brownies muscled in again!

Middle Kennet Weirpool - Marsh Benham 0500 - 1100 Warm, sunny and quite humid - temps already 15º C when I pulled into the car park at 0430. A lovely summer's morning - though the mossies were out in force! 10 Chub; 7 over pound, with 2 over 4lb - biggest 4lb 9oz. 2 doz Dace and Roach - in roughly equal nos - slightly more dace than redfins - nothing particularly big, though most of the roach were 'hand-size' or better. 1 Perch; under lb but needed the net, 1 Rainbow - c3lb. Throughout my teens and early 20s - 16th June was always spent on a weirpool on the lower Kennet - and this is now the 2nd year running I've started my season here - on a nice quiet spot above Newbury. Chub, as always, were a first day target and they didn't disappoint - nice to get a brace of 4s - they looked in fine condition too. Took a ledgering rod - and again not a sniff on ledgered meat - they clearly prefer maggot!

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0500 - 1400 Bright and breezy with heavy showers. River with good flow and a tinge of usual summer colour. 4 Chub to 3lb, 1 Bream; 4lb 3oz, 5 Dace, 4 Roach & a Perch. And so another season begins - a nice quiet secluded start on my syndicate stretch. All fish on trotted maggot despite ledgering for several hours (during the rain) with meat - which didn't produce a jot of interest - not even from the cray fish!

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 Kennet/Carrier, Marsh Benham 1000 - 1230 Overcast, warm and breezy. A brace of 3lb chub and a dozen chublets. 18 Roach, all small. 6 Dace, 1 Perch, 1 Brownie and 1 Rainbow. A venue that will see more of me in the winter months when there's a bit more water in it - but as I now have unfettered access wanted to see it in its summer finery!! had been told to expect lots of weed - but still found plenty of spots to drop into. Was hoping to pick up something a little bigger on the roach front but it was good to see so many fish present. Both bigger chub from the main river.

River Kennet/Carrier, Marsh Benham 0900 - 1300 Warm, muggy and overcast. River low. 8 Chub; a 3lber and 7 chublets, 30+ roach, a doz dace, 5 perch, 2 bleak and a 3½lb rainbow.

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 - Kintbury 0730 - 1730 Cool (5ºC or thereabouts all day) and very blowy with frequent squally showers of rain,sleet or hail! River VERY VERY high - highest I've ever seen it here - many swims needed waders just to get to the'bank'. 21 Chub; 7 over 4lb - biggest 6lb 3oz - a real lump! 4 Dace; 2 that were weighed went 14oz & 12oz - the other 2 weren't much smaller. 2 Roach - small and only 3 Brownies - all 3lb + A wild day on a wild venue - thankfully though, despite the huge volumes of water everywhere, the chub were in their usual haunts. Spent until mid afternoon just trotting red corn (got through 3 tins of the stuff) before switching to one of the carriers for a succesful dace hunt. My first 6lb chub from this venue since my PB from here back in 2012.

Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham 0645 - 1145 Mild with sunny spells AT 12ºC when I packed up. River VERY full but with little colour. 17 Chub (!): 8 over 3lb - best 4lb 4oz, the rest all over 2lb. 6 Brownies to nearly 5lb & a 2lb Rainbow. Start of my 4 day end of season extravaganza when I hope to fish 7 or 8 venues in the next 4 days. First up was 'my' syndicate stretch of the middle Kennet and for the first time this winter 'Chub Corner' lived up to its moniker. First 7 fish I landed were all without an adipose and whilst the 8th fish was a 2lb brownie the scene was set for a bit of a chub fest! Seems half the syndicate had the same idea - usually have the place to myself but 5 other anglers turned up this morning - including Rusty with a cunning plan to try and avoid the troot - which wasn't exactly working when I left him!!!?

River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1430 Overcast and fairly warm (18ºC). River low and clear. 6 Chub: Biggest 3lb 15oz the rest all less than half that! 3 Doz Dace and Roach in roughly equal nos. A couple of really nice dace of 10 & 11oz and quite a few roach in the 6-8oz class with a couple bigger ones (best went 12oz). 3 Perch - best nearly 1lb, 1 Bleak. Lovely day's trotting. Did try a couple of hours ledgering - with no returns (not even a crayfish!)

River Kennet (and carrier) Marsh Benham 0930 - 1530 Overcast, mild and quite breezy. River down on a fortnight ago (well we have had zero rainfall in that time). 3 Chub; 4lb 1oz, 3lb 3oz & 2lb 11oz. 1 Pike 2lb 10oz, 4 doz Roach & Dace (roughly 2 -1 ratio). Biggest roach 12oz with a lot more circa 8oz. 2 Brownies 4lb 14oz & a pounder, 2 Rainbows - both 3lbers (possibly same one!) Chilled out birthday trip! Carrier was very low so fish were very spooky - though did land the pike from here which had clamped down on a dace and didn't let go - steered it into the net before it realised what was happening! Most of the time spent trotting the weirpool. Big brownie was actually a bit of a disappointment - didn't fight at all like a troot - kept deep, hugging the bottom radiating gigantism, thought it had to be a huge chub - though I even entertained the notion it might be a barbel - didn't see it till I brought it to the net. Stunning fish but not what I was after!!

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0830 - 1430 Warm, bright and breezy with a couple of lumpy showers. River still higher than anticipated and carrying quite a bit of colour. 2 Pike; both 3lbers, 7 Chublets, 1½doz Roach. 1 Doz Dace, 1 Perch, 1 Gudgeon, 2 Bleak and a Trout. First trip of the season to 'my' syndicate stretch of river - both pike on ledgered meat from the weirpool - had me thinking I hooked small barbel both times!

Middle Kennet - Nr Newbury 0800 - 1700 Overcast, mild (9-10ºC) with some milky sunshine at times after a drizzly first hour. A lovely benign winter's day. River quite pacey and carrying a little colour. 14 Chub: 6 over 3lb - best 4lb 13oz. 3 Pike; All jacks - biggest just under 7lb. 7 Perch; all small, save for one goodun of 2lb 8oz. 2 Dozen Dace & Roach. 3 Brownies all around 2lb+. Cracking day's sport (as always from here). Plan was to do a bit of piking for a change (hoping to meet the monster of the weirpool from 2 seasons ago), as well as go after the usual glut of chub. Paul spent more time chasing dace than me so didn't end up with so many chub (but had twice as many dace). A very satisfactory chub to trout ratio too!! Smiling for once!

Middle Kennet Estate 0715 - 1730 Mild (max 15ºC) with sunny spells after early morning drizzle. River high with more colour than I expected. 15 Chub; all over 1lb - best 4lb 7oz, most between 2-3lb.15 Roach - quite a few 'chunky' ones with the best 2 going 1lb 2oz & 15oz. And err 15 dace. 7 perch; all small except one 'pounder' & 'only' 3 brownies to 2½lb. Usual 'chub fest' at this ever reliable venue though Paul and I started out trying to snaffle the weirpool monster - a large pike that Paul was briefly connected to last time we came here. Alas, whilst we saw loads of pike today - none were playing ball so we were soon into our usual mode here of wandering from swim to swim. Paul had a similar catch return - though reflecting his slightly differing priorities to me - getting more dace and roach (including some really chunky dace) and less chub. Though he did manage the biggest chub of the day at 4lb 11oz. Oh and he even caught a pike - by accident! a small jack snaffled a dace he was bringing in and managed to hook itself! My biggest roach & chub (more pics expected from Paul!) Think I've worked out why I often catch more than Paul - he spends half the time taking pictures! A selection that he took yesterday!  And he even took one of a fish - presumably his biggest chub!