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  1. Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 1315 - 1715 Cold & sunny - AT 5ºC (± 1ºC!) Water quite coloured - and this section of canal around 10-12 inches lower than last visit in December. WT 42ºF. 2 Perch - 3lb 5oz, 2lb 8oz. 1 Chublet Biggest perch at 1530 - just as the sun left the water. 2lber last cast in the gloom. Both on lobs. Biggest perch of the season so far.
  2. River Kennet - Speen Moors 0715 - 1115 Overcast start then bright and sunny. 5º -> 11ºC. River at normal levels - little leaf litter or debris. 5 Perch (1lb 14oz, 1lb 12oz, 1lb 10oz, 1¼lb and one of around ¾lb), 2 Pike (10lb 14oz, 5lb 13oz), 5 Dace (a couple close to 8oz), ½doz Chublets, Roach & Gudgeon. Early morning dawn raid for some perch with Paul. Shared the same swim and Paul had a nice brace (2lb 13oz & 1lb 15oz). My 3 biggest perch came in the first ½hr, Paul's though came out in full sunshine either side of 1000! (see pic below). 2 smaller perch after P had left. All perch and both pike on lobs.
  3. Middle Kennet Estate 0800 - 1645 Drizzle/rain ALL day! Mild 7-8ºC. River at normal winter levels - carrying some colour - more than is usual for here. 3 Chub; 5lb 7oz, 3lb 14oz, a chublet, 1 Perch 1lb 10oz, 1 Bream; 4lb 4oz, 1 Pike; 14lb 2oz, 2 doz Dace - biggest 2 - 12oz & 11oz, ½ doz Brownies - biggest 2lb. Belated birthday trip - loads of cracking dace - hardly a fish under 6oz and loads around the 8-10oz mark. 2 smallest chub and the bream on trotted corn. Pike and perch on lobs. Everything else on maggot. Pike is biggest ever worm caught esox - and biggest fish ever landed on my Harrison float rod ! It was laid up in my favourite perch hole and was subdued on 6lb B/S bottom and a size 8 - very lucky to hand it - it bit through the line in the net!!! Paul had a similar return of nice dace and a nice perch of 2¼lb and despite starting the day with a 1lb chublet couldn't find a bigger one!
  4. Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0645 - 0915 4 seasons in 2½hrs! Heavy rain stopped just as I arrived - followed by and hour of calm overcast conditions, then an hour of bright sunshine, with heavy rain/hail to finish off. AT dropped from 7ºC to 4.5ºC. WT 46ºF Water 'up' and carrying some colour. 6 Perch - in order of capture: 2lb 13oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 10oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz. 6 fish for 16½lbs! The plan for this morning was meant to be - a couple of hours easy trotting on the Lambourn - followed by the purchase of a couple of pints of maggots in readiness for tomorrow's drenching on the Middle Kennet. However on waking and checking the conditions - and seeing that temps had been steadily rising overnight I was out to the garage check my lobs were still alive. Thankfully they were - and it was off to the canal in double quick time!! Caught steadily through out the morning, 2-13 1st cast and the 3-11 in bright sunshine. The dilema is do I go tomorrow or not! Not very good self portrait of the 3-11 below....
  5. Middle Kennet Estate. 0845 - 1745 Heavy drizzle all morning, dry afternoon, temps around 4/5ºC all day. River carrying some colour - more than is usual for here. 3 Chub; 3lb 14oz, 3lb 12oz, 1½lb, 2 Perch; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 10oz. 1 Roach 1lb 2oz. 3 Grayling; biggest 14oz. 21 Dace - best 2 - 13oz & 12oz. 4 Brown Trout - biggest just on 4lb (caught twice!!) A day on the river with Paul (& Rusty ) nearly didn't go - thankfully the predicted monsoon was anything but. I said to Paul as we drove to the venue that I was perched out after yesterday so would be concentrating on snaffling a big dace or 2 . We started in a new swim which neither of us have seen before - but which was rumoured to hold big dace. My first couple of trots produced - you guessed - 2 nice perch - on a single white maggot to a size 18! After resting the swim I returned for ½ doz good dace and the roach. However biggest dace of the day was also the last of the day - just as the light was fading. Paul also lost something substantial at dusk which might have been a really good dace - though he'll mark it down as 'probably a chub' so save his sanity! All fish on trotted maggot except the two smaller chub on trotted sweetcorn. 2-14 Perch.
  6. River Kennet, Nr Newbury 0630 - 1030 Breezy, mild (17ºC) and drizzly with heavier showers. River lowish - but not as low as last September. 1 Chub; 4lb 7oz, 13 Perch; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 5oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 7oz - the rest all around ½-¾lb with a couple just under 1lb. 18 dace, 9 roach & ½ doz gudgeon. Rather surprised to find a shoal of perch in one of my favourite chub swims! Chub first cast which augured well but everything else to put a serious bend in the rod had spines! Trotted red maggots as per usual!
  7. K&A Canal, Thatcham 0715 - 1115 Mainly overcast, some sun just after dawn and a couple of light showers. AT 50ºF, WT 47ºF. 10 Perch: 3lb 9oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 3oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 15oz, 2lb 9oz, 2lb 8oz, 2lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 8oz. 27lb of fish!!!!! Brilliant morning's perching!! 3lb 3oz fish first cast and thereafter caught steadily upto 1030 when 3 barges came through in quick succession and killed the swim. First ever time I've had 4X3lbers in a session (had 3 a couple of times) - one of the rare times I take a keepnet. Even had time to lose a rather nice carp! Pic was meant to be of all 4, 3lbers - alas the 4th one flipped back into the water when my back was turned to pick up the camera and ruined my 'mirror image' shot!
  8. Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0700 - 1200 Overcast with drizzle. AT6ºC. Near perfect conditions except for the fact that WT was only at 45ºF. 2 Perch: 3lb 3oz & 3lb 2oz. 1 Chub 1¼lb. Chub very first cast - hit the lob as soon as it was in the water - thereafter bites at a premium - a fish at 0830 and another 2 hours later - but well worth the wait! Paul had a small chub and a 2lb 6oz stripey. The 3-3 Peas in a pod...
  9. 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!
  10. Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0815 - 1215. Overcast, mild and very breezey. WT 49ºF 4 Perch; 3lb exactly, 1lb 10oz and a couple of tiddlers. Slow morning - 3lber in the 1st 15 minutes. Would have liked to have started ¾hr earlier but had to take Sam into work. Stiff upstream breeze made accurate casting and presentation difficult. (And when I did get it right a ruddy canoeist would come along - had to reel in 37 times for them - yes I counted!) Little & Large!
  11. River Kennet - Newbury 0815 - 1115 Mild and overcast. Battery flat in thermometer so no temps. River up a bit to normal levels and carrying a bit of colour. 1 Barbel; 3lb 14oz. 3 Chub; 3lb 9oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 13oz. 2 Perch 1lb 12oz and one just shy of a lb. 2 Dace & 3 Gudgeon. An 'insurance' session!! Meant to be having a day on the middle Kennet tomorrow - but if the weather forecast is accurate I'll probably get up, check the rain radar and go straight back to bed!! So this morning, on the excuse that I had to pop over to Tony's to get some maggots anyway, I thought I'd sneak in a couple of hours or so on the bank as I suspected the river would be in good nick - and so it proved. A barbel on the pin at any time is to be welcomed - all the more so in mid-February. All the chub and the barbel on trotted lobs (and one of the dace!). The rest including both perch on double red maggot.
  12. 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.
  13. River Kennet - Speen Moors 0700 - 1230 Mild, mainly overcast and VERY breezy. 17ºC. River very low. 1½+ doz Perch, 4 over 1lb (though 3 not by much!) biggest 2lb 12oz. 1 Chub, 1lb 14oz, 1 Bream 1½lb. 1doz roach, 3 dace and 10 gudgeon. First trip here this season so was a case of having a good wander around - fished 6 swims in total - and had perch from 5 of them. A lot of perch in the 10-12oz bracket - big enough to snaffle a whole lob - small enough to be annoying!!! Was hoping to find some bigger chub - bin a couple of years since I had a decent one from here. Wind made trotting a real nightmare - and as for trying to cast accurately to bushes/trees on the far bank.....
  14. Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0700 - 1200 Mild/warm, still and overcast - 13ºC -> 17ºC. Neigh on perfick! 18 Perch: In order of capture: 2lb 14oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 8oz,*, 2lb 6oz, tiddler, ~, 2lb 6oz, 1lb 6oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 6oz (again! all different fish I think!), 1lb 7oz, 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 3lb 14oz (equal PB!), 2lb 13oz, 1lb 3oz, tiddler,tiddler,~. !!! Nearly 40lb of perch ! 1 Tench*: 4lb 3oz. 2 Chub~; 1¼lb and a chublet. WOW - make hay while the sun shines. Or rather catch perch while its a dull overcast day!!! Never been so disappointed to catch a 4lb tench - for a couple of minutes I was convinced I was connected to a huge perch. I knew it wasn't a pike - never even entered my head that it wouldn't be a perch! Most fish caught by 1030 - and the run of 4, 3lbers in 4 casts was just after a couple of barges had come through the swim. Often the death knell for sport but not today! Had planned to do a lot of wandering and did fish one new swim on the way back to the car - did mean I didn't have a keepnet with me - which I have taken to bringing for perch sessions - putting them back 40/50yards upstream didn't seem to affect the swim, mind! First time I've ever had 5, 3lbers in a single session! Pics below are of the 3 biggest & the tinca...
  15. K&A Canal - Nr Thatcham 0720 - 1100 Still, overcast and mild - with the sun breaking out for the last ¾hr and the breeze picking up. WT 52ºF. 6 Perch; 3lb 5oz, 2lb 10oz, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz, 2lb 0oz, 1lb 12oz. A perfect perch morning got off to a perfect start with the 3lber first cast! The biggest 2lber followed soon after and I thought I was going to be in for another morning's haulin! However there then followed nearly an hour of crayfish activity and my 'lobworm attrition rate' shot up - was worried I was going to run out. Thankfully bites from stripeys returned - but they were never really having it, probably as there was also a pike feeding in the swim. My smallest perch clearly showed signs of having been grabbed by one and I was briefly connected to an Esox before it bite through my hooklength. A couple of piccies - first, and last fish caught just after the sun came out...
  16. River Kennet - Speen Moors 1230 - 1600 Bright and sunny start followed by a heavy shower. AT 5-7ºC. Forgot to take WT! 1 Pike; 15lb 3oz (!!!). 4 Perch 1lb 9oz and 3 smalluns. 2 Roach. 2 Dace. 8 Gudgeon. Rather hoped that the weather would have held to what we'd had in recent days (mild and overcast). Bright sunshine and a sudden drop in temperature is not what the angler ordered and I ummed and ahhed all morning about whether or not to go. However with opportunities somewhat diminished for the next couple of months at least (yes a job at last!) it was a case of you won't catch owt mooching about at home. So rather than the canal I thought I'd have a wander round Speen - drop into a few favourite spots and with ½ pint of maggots left over from last week was sure to catch something. The plan was then to spend the last hour of daylight trying to winkle out a perch or two from a couple of spots that used to be very productive (but have been less so for the last couple of seasons). Part one went as planned, fishing one of the weirs I had 3 of the perch including the bonus 1lber - but was somewhat gudgeoned out. I was really after a chub so moved down to the APFA swim but only caught more gudgeon! Then who should I meet - but Rusty who was just finishing off a bread based blank in the larger weir. I walked back with him and dropped into a swim en route which quickly produced another perchlet, followed by a roach - and after Chris had bade his goodbyes, 2 dace and a further roach. Having arrived and fished the first couple of hours in bright sunshine, the skies suddenly blackened and for 20 minutes it absolutely tipped it down. I very nearly packed up there and then - but a bright line on the horizon signalled that it was to be just a shower so it was off to the 'perch' swims.... The low water levels didn't fill me with much anticipation but I thought fading light should encourage any fish to feed. The first swim produced nothing and I'd made around ½doz casts in the second swim when the float bobbed once and just slid away purposefully. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. I struck and realised in an instant that this was no perch. Pike love lobs and are a bit of an occupational hazard when perching - and I was seriously out gunned by this beasty! My record on landing pike on worm is pretty good providing you have hooked it clear of teeth - however I really didn't expect to get this one in. The initial strike had turned it away from danger only for it to shoot off down stream in the current. Again I managed to turn its head and headed up stream. In the shallow water I could see it clearly - and realised it was going to be a challenge for my 24' pan net - however on its next pass I placed the net behind it and it turned tail and shot straight in with the current. A really fine fat specimen hooked in the outside of the scissors - how lucky is that. Tis my biggest ever worm caught pike - beating the 14lb I had 2 years ago, my biggest ever from Speen, and my biggest since my PB of 18-10 in Feb 01. Landed on a size 8 to 6lb mono and my trusty Harrison float rod! Having photographed and slipped her back I returned to my perch fishing. Alas the perch weren't in residence and the next 2 bobs of the float both produced crayfish - so whilst there was still some daylight left I decided it was time to call it a day!
  17. K&A Canal - Thatcham 0700 - 1000 Overcast with rain/drizzle for ¾hr from 0830. AT & WT 48ºF. 2 Perch; 3lb 2oz & 2lb 7oz. Unexpectedly had a free morning due to Sam deciding on a lay in after partying last night rather than go training. Dad's taxi still had to take Matt to work for 0630 which was the time I'd have rather have been making my first cast. So I arrived 30 or so minutes later than I would have liked to get a couple of nasty surprises. The first - cows!! A herd of them (well ½doz) on the public towpath - stubborn buggers too very disinclined to get out of the way - making a right mess as well! The second was more of a shock - my banker perch swim is no more For over a decade the low bushes and scrubby willow on the far bank have proved a refuge for some big perch. Alas some official at the BWB has obviously decided that they posed a hazard to shipping and the whole lot have been completely grubbed out - not just cut back and pruned but completely ripped out! Thankfully over the years I've sussed out some 'back-up' swims here and fished 3 in total - both perch taken from the second one I dropped into - from the only 2 bites I had all morning (apart from the crayfish!) Bigger one below...
  18. River Kennet - Speen Moors 0630 - 1100 Bright and sunny after a cool start - not quite a frost but down to 3ºC. River running low and clear. 7 Perch; 3 over 1lb (though 2 by not much) best 2lb 2oz. 2 Chublets, 1½doz roach - including some 'gooduns' 3 in the 8-10oz bracket and a 12oz fish, 5 dace, a doz gudgeon. A pleasant mornings trotting and exploring familiar haunts. First hour or so on lobs switching to maggot once the sun was up. Fished 10 swims in total and had fish from 8 of them......
  19. River Kennet - Speen Moors 0700 - 1130 Sunny spells. 3->10ºC. River up a touch with a little colour after this week's rain - looks in really good nick. 3 Perch; 2lb 14oz, 2lb 11oz and sub pounder, 5 Chub all between ½-1lb - good to see!, a doz dace, roach & gudgeon all small! Successful dawn perching session - both caught from a new swim - or at least a swim that hasn't produced big stripeys in ages, followed by an hour's trotting maggot. Nice to see some juvenile chub coming through.... 2-14 2-11 (plus camera strap )
  20. Kennet & Avon Canal - Thatcham 0700 - 1100 Cool, calm and murky/foggy - very autumnal!. 5->10ºC 3 Perch; 2lb 1oz and a couple of tiddlers, 1 chublet and 6 roach. Better conditions for prospecting for perch - though 2 hours with lobs produced a couple of missed bites and 2 small perch who weren't much bigger than the lobs used to catch them! Switched to maggot as I could see silvers snaffling my freebies just under the surface - so of course 2nd cast I had the 2lb perch! First decent perch from the canal this autumn - looks like it's escaped from a rather ambitious pike...
  21. 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...
  22. 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!
  23. 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!
  24. 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
  25. 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!
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