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Showing results for tags 'river kennet'.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1745 - 2215 Cool, clear evening under a bright half moon. New thermal trousers made their debut - so was quite toasty! River quite low and clear. 1 Barbel 10lb 4oz, 6 Dace (all around 6oz), 1 Brownie of 2¼lb. Quick half an hours trotting - rather hoping to get a chub followed by the expected long hours of staring at stationary isotopes - so somewhat surprised to see the boilie rod wrap around after ¾hr of casting out. Had intended to stay longer but thought that would be pushing my luck!
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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.
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 1000 - 1400 Bright and breezy - though thankfully nowhere near as windy as yesterday. AT upto 12ºC. River flooded but clear. 1 Chub; 2lb 7oz, 3 Dace - all smallish. 2 Brownies a pounder and a parr. Late start after yesterday's exertions - and a scratchy session really just killing time before a dusk raid for stripeys on the canal (see part 2).
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 0745 - 1315 Mild and Windy, VERY VERY Windy! River in the fields - but with only a little colour. 1 Chub: 2lb 10oz, 3 Dace: 13oz, 10oz & 8oz. 1 Roach - small. 1 Rainbow Trout 4lb 4oz. A WILD day in West Berkshire. Couldn't get to most of the swims I'd usually fish because of the flooding and when I could it was way too windy - had trouble just standing let alone holding a rod! However was keen to fish here as the venue's been closed all winter for bridge repairs and extensive tree felling. Thankfully found a couple of slightly sheltered spots which at least had the wind at my back. Chub was first cast which somewhat cemented confidence for the morning but bites generally were few and far between - however when they did come a lovely trio of chunky dace was the result - biggest one is my season's best - a male in full sandpapery breeding condition!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 0930 - 1230 Cool, bright and quite breezy at times. AT 5-7ºC. River very high - highest I've seen it this winter - though with minimal colour. 1 Chub 2lb 13oz. 3 Grayling - one close to 1lb the other 2 half that. 1 Dace. 2 Brownies a 2lber and a tiddler. Fished for over an hour for my first bite - just starting to doubt my sanity and planning a move around the corner to fish the Lambourn when the bigger grayling turned up. Clearly the slow trickle of maggot worked as the chub was next cast and thereafter had slow but steady sport in unpromising conditions.
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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!)
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River Kennet - Widmead 0900 - 1200 Bright and breezy. River at 'normal' summer levels. 1 Chub: unweighed but needed the net! 1 Grayling 1lb 1oz. 2 Doz Dace & a bleak. Swim I've not fished for 35 years! (last time was Sep 1985 - and I had stacks of dace then too!). Grayling was first cast which was unexpected thereafter it fish a chuck for the first 45 mins.
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River Kennet - Newbury 0430 - 0800 Clear and sunny. River at near normal summer levels and carrying its usual summer colour... 11 Chub; All quite small with a couple slightly bigger (just over 1lb). 3 Doz+ Dace, 1 Roach. 4 Brownies to 1lb. Lovely morning's trotting and home in time for brekfast. Really nice to see some juvenile chub in the river - augur's well for the future....
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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!!
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River Kennet - Brimpton 0530 - 1130 Hot and sultry. AT 19ºC when I left home at 0445! River still seeing the benefits of a wet spring. 6 Chub: 4lb 3oz, 4lb 0oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 10oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 2oz. 10 Dace - 4 over 8oz - best 10oz. 10 Brownies - mostly small - with 3 over lb. Lovely morning'c chubbing - the more so as I spent most of it up to my thighs in cool Kennet water. Nice stamp of fish which came from 3 separate swims.As ever, these days the trout were a bit of a pain - often killing a swim with their antics when hooked.
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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!
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 0500 - 0830 Cool (9/10ºC), clear and misty. River up a couple of inches. 3 Chub: 4lb 15oz, 2lb 14oz, 1lb 8oz. 20 Dace and half a dozen brownies to circa 1lb. Pre breakfast trotting trip - and another fine chub from here - and many of the dace were a good size too - biggest I put on the scales went 10oz with another ½ doz not much smaller.
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River Kennet - Brimpton. 0500 - 0930 Lovely summer's morning - sun rising therough the valley mist - temps a warm15º - rising to a muggy 21ºC when I packed up. River a little on the low side as is usual at this time of year. 2 Chub; 5lb 4oz & 1½lb. 11 Dace - with half a dozen over 8oz (!!) best went 10oz. 4 Brownies - all over 1lb - biggest 2lb 10oz. Cracking morning's trotting - nice to find a pod of big dace - or rather 2 pods as the fish came from different swims.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1800 - 2330 Warm and breezy evening - still 15ºC when I packed up. River quite low. 1 Barbel; 9lb 1oz. 1 Chub c1½lb, 7 Dace, 1 Roach, 3 Brownies to 2lb 4oz. A barbel for the 2nd river trip in a row - and a decent one too! Was hoping today's rain would have gingered the river up a bit and so it proved! As usual, I started off with the trotting rod until it was too dark to see my float, but within ¾hr of settling down over my ledger rods the upstream rod baited with a snailz boilie was wrenched from the rod rests and I was into a battle royal. In truth I was a little disappointed with the size when I eventually got it to the surface - was convinced it would be a good double - but, none the less, really just pleased to see it on the bank!
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River Kennet - Newbury 0430 - 0800 Cool and overcast - but dry. River surprisingly high with some colour. 4 Chub; 3lb 2oz, 2lb 10oz and a couple of fish circa 1½lb, 13 Dace, 2 Grayling, 2 brownies So begineth another season - I have been umming a ahing over whether or not to continue with this blog - but someone asked if I was and I said yes so will carry on for the time being - pity the view counter's been broken for months - was hoping to celebrate 1M views by now! This was just a short trotting session before the main event at Marsh Farm later in the day. Nice to see some chub in residence and the grayling put on a good disguise - I thought they were small barbel by the way they fought - alas I thing of the past from this stretch - still nice to see grayling approaching a pound coming out. First Chub of the Season:
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River Kennet, Nr Thatcham 0830 - 1315 Bright start, clouding over - quite chilly in the breeze. AT & WT 45ºF. River in great winter nick - quite pacey but well within its banks with a slight tinge of colour. 4 Chub; 4lb 2oz, 3lb 4oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 12oz. 1 Grayling, 2 Brownies both 1lb+. Very satisfying morning in a swim a rarely visit in the winter!! Can't think why - though it is quite a long walk and there's very few back up spots if this doesn't produce. But wading out to mid river to get a good trotting line to a nice slack I had slow but steady sport all morning with bites coming every half an hour or so.
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River Kennet - Newbury 0900 - 1400 Warm (for late October) and mainly sunny. 15ºC. River very low and threadbare. 6 Chub; 5 over 1lb. All in the 1-2lb range save for a 4lb 4oz fish. 30+ Dace most quite small apart from one clonking fish of 12oz. A doz+ Roach with around half in the 6-8oz bracket (nice!), 4 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & 3 Brownies to a pound and a bit. Unexpectedly had a free day and with Jaq out all day it seemed the perfect excuse for a bit of autumn chubbing! I fished 6 swims in total, starting at the spot which has produced my only float caught barbel of the season and quickly had a 1¾lb & 2lb chub. Low water meant spooky fish so moving swims was the order of the day and this was the only swim that produced more than 1 chub. Lots of silver fish atm which is very pleasing especially the stamp of some of the roach - and no pike trouble which also helped matters! Nice Dace - will be even nicer in 3-4 months!
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River Kennet - Newbury 0830 - 1145 Warm (ish) and overcast with milky sunshine. River low and clear. 1 Barbel; 5lb 6oz, 2 Perch (both circa 1lb - possibly the same one!), 15 Dace, 4 Roach, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Grayling and a Brownie - un-weighed but must have been close to 2lb... At last a barbel on the float - but in truth I'd all but given up on getting one and had other plans for this morning's trip! I was in a couple of swims that have given me pike trouble over the last few visits so I actually started with 20mins in each swim throwing a lure around. No interest at all - and no pike attacks when I switched to trotted maggot - so the barbel was a VERY welcome surprise!
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham. 0945 - 1245 Calm and overcast with 'milky' sunshine. Not particularly warm for late August (19ºC) - but it made for a very pleasant morning's roaming. River looked in good nick, still quite low given all the rain we've had recently and with a little colour. 1 Grayling; 1lb 2oz, 2 Chublets (both close to 1lb). 14 Dace. 5 Brownies - 4 over 1lb to 1½lb. A morning's trotting - still hoping and trying for a float caught barbel this summer. Grayling was a bit of a surprise - my first 'pounder' from this bit of river since 2/3/91!
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1830 - 2345 Cool,(cold!) clear evening under a full moon. AT down to 6ºC when I packed up (it got down to 2ºC in our greenhouse overnight). River up a couple of inches and looking in better nick than it has for a couple of months. 1 Barbel; 11lb 7oz. 1 Perch; 1lb 12oz. 11 Dace; (5 of which were over 8oz). 7 Roach; (all small save for one of 11oz). 1 Gudgeon. Hooray! After nearly 40 'rod hours' ledgering (and countless more trying to get one on the float) I finally get off the mark on the barbel front - and with a real lump too! As usual I started off on the float and was soon into some really nice dace - followed up with a nice bonus perch. By eight o'clock I was hunched over my isotopes waiting for something to happen. I planned to fish a bit longer than normal - and would in all probability have normally packed up when at a quarter to midnight my downstream rod gave that familiar 3 foot twitch and I was into my first barbel of the summer. Right from the off it was clearly a big fish - a real struggle to get it off the bottom - but once I did it was quickly mine! And with that it was off to bed - much earlier than I originally intended! Not the most sylph-like barbel I've ever caught!
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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!
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River Kennet - Thatcham (A) 0730 - 0930 (B ) 1000 - 1200 Cool and breezy. Overcast for first couple of hours then sunny. River quite pacey with a little colour. 2 Chub; 3lb 1oz & 2lb 9oz, 2 brownies (all from B ). 1 Grayling (!) from A. Last winter (A) proved to be a reliable swim for chub and perch - and throughout the summer and autumn has also produced nice dace. However the fish have done a disappearing act this winter (Paul and Rusty have struggled here recently) so after a couple of hours for a somewhat surprising grayling - and no other bites I was moving off downstream for the rest of the morning. Dace here have also disappeared for the winter - but thankfully a swim that I knew would contain chub - threw up a couple of 'schooly' sized fish to save the morning! Schooly Chub
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River Kennet - Thatcham 0745 - 1000 (a) 1030 - 1230 (b ) Bright and sunny after a chilly start (ice on the car for the first time this autumn). River low and carrying a tinge of colour. (a) 1 Chub (circa 1lb), 16 Roach, 5 Dace, 4 Grayling, a bleak and 2 brownies - biggest circa 1½lb. (b ) 3 Chub; 5lb 6oz, 4lb 13oz 4lb 9oz. 6 Dace biggest 10oz (the other 5 weren't much smaller!) A couple of hours trotting in a couple of swims half a mile apart. Good to see so many silver fish in the river - and very pleasing to find the chub in residence at my second swim - also had time to lose something VERY substantial (possibly a carp). All fish on trotted mag. Pic of the 5.
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River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1830 - 2315 Warm, calm and mainly overcast evening. River quite low. 3 Barbel (!): 8lb 14oz, 6lb 4oz, 5lb 7oz. At last - the frustrations of the summer evaporate under a benign autumn evening sky. Fished a swim I'd not frequented for a while (01/09/10 was the last time) but it certainly won't be 4 years before I return. Smallest fish at around 2000 then a flurry of activity just after 2200. Was putting the 6 back when the other rod went off to produce the biggest of the night.
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River Kennet - Newbury 0645 - 1000 Cool and overcast. River low (ish) with its usual summer colour! 1 Chub; 4lb 4oz, 16 Dace, 2 Roach, 2 Gudgeon, 1 Grayling Pleasant morning spent mid river. Chub was the target so well pleased with a 4lber. Had a bit of pike trouble from what looked like a substantial esox. Put a lure rod up and threw a plug around for ½hour but couldn't get any interest. Obligatory fish & pin pic (a Chris Lythe)
