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River Kennet - Hambridge 0845 - 1045 Cool and overcast. River at normal levels with minimal colour. 2 Chub: 2lb 9oz & 1lb 14oz. 9 Dace & 6 Roach - nothing of noteworthy size. 1 Brownie. Quick couple of hours as I needed to get some bait for my trip to the Itchen on Monday - not that I need an excuse to fish one of my favourite (and most reliable) swims on the Kennet. As usual biggest chub first cast and I must find a way of winkling out more than one in a session from here (the smaller one was from a different spot which I dropped in to for 20 mins to 'rest' my main trot).

River Kennet - Speen Moors 1015 - 1400 Cool, overcast and quite breezy. River in good nick - not as high or coloured as I expected after all the rain last weekend. 5 Chub; 3lb 6oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 6oz & 2 chublets. 1 Perch 1lb 7oz. 30(!) Roach with around a 3rd in the 8-12oz bracket. 12 Dace - all, bar 2, a really good size - biggest weighed in at 11oz but nearly everything else was within an ounce or 2 of this - cracking stuff. 2 Bleak & a Gudgeon. Super trotting session - can't remember when I last caught sooo many silvers from here - and a really nice stamp as well. Had the biggest chub pretty much first cast - which was a nice welcome and was hoping to make my acquantance with it's bigger brothers and sisters but they just got progressively smaller as the mornng wore on. Stunningly coloured perch - which doesn't really show up on the pic. The Colour of Autumn

River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1200 Cool and sunny - felt quite autumnal first thing. 9-15ºC 4 Chub; a brace of 2lbers and a couple of chublets. 30+ Roach & a doz+ Dace - nothing particularly big. 5 Bleak. 3 Rainbows 2½-4½lb. 1 Brownie; 3lb+ A morning hunting chub but finding mainly rainbows ? - I also lost 3 - one of which was nailed by a huge pike as I brought it in!

River Kennet - Hambridge 0700 - 1330 Cool (5ºC when I started), bright and breezy. River quite low - normal for Sep. 3 Chub; all 1-2lb. 5 Barbel (!!!); all 12oz-1lb. 8 Dace - all chunky ones in the 6-8oz class with a couple a tad bigger. 4 Brown Trout; one close to 3lb the others circa 12oz+. Another recce session - following up on some recently acquired intelligence (cheers Martin - spot on! ?). Been a few years since I last exchanged my NAA card for a CSAS one to fish this stretch. Fished over a dozen swims but had all the fish bar one dace from just one of them - which I kept resting and returning to! Bright conditions and low clear water are never a recipe for good sport so it's no surprise that my hotspot today was a lovely long glide under the shady canopy of bankside trees. First Kennet barbel for 4 years - and whilst these had clearly been stocked it was doubly nice to get them on the float! Lets hope they evade predation and put on some weight!

River Kennet - Brimpton (Aldershot water) 1030 - 1400 Warm and sunny. 21ºC. River at normal September levels. 13 Chub(!): 7 over 1lb but 'only' 2 over 2 - best 2lb 10oz & 3lb 2oz. 4 Roach - all a nice size - best 13oz. 2 Dace. 5 Brownies - all around 10oz with one a fair bit bigger. Another swim I've not fished in a while - though I won't be so tardy revisiting it! Nice to see smaller chub coming through - and the roach were a real bonus as well.

River Kennet - Widmead 1015 - 1215 Sunny spells and still cool - 14ºC. 1 Chub: 1½lb. 13 Dace: most a really nice size - biggest 12oz. 1 Roach. A real pain getting through the minnows - but once you did there were some quality dace on offer - still hoping this swim will produce decent chub - but had just the one modest sized one early in the session to show for my efforts. Best dace of the season (so far!)

River Kennet - Hambridge 0615 - 0930 Cool (9ºC) and overcast - more like late October than late August! River higher than normal for this time of year - but reasonably clear given all the rain this week. 2 Chub; 3lb 14oz & a chublet. 1 Pike; 8lb 12oz. 7 Dace, 5 Roach and a couple of brownies - 12oz+. Chub first cast ( as per usual) after trickling in maggot for 15mins before starting. One of the dace was an absolutel clonker - a season's best for all of 2 and a bit hours (see part 2!). Pike appeared after resting the swim - I'd fished it for 90 mins or so then went exploring for nearly an hour- first trot through on returning it attacked the float on the retrieve - then nailed the plug first cast. Possibly the same one I had from here back in June - though that was 10oz heavier....

River Kennet - Padworth 0600 - 1230 Bright and blowy! River at normal summer levels and carrying a bit of colour. 1 Chub, 7 Roach & 7 Dace. 3 dace in the 8-10oz class (nice!) and a couple of the Roach were 12-14oz as was the chub. 2 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak. After my success here trotting last month I promised to return and have a proper go on the float. Fished around 10- to a dozen swims and only had fish from 2 of them with the chub and all the bigger silvers coming from the first one I dropped in - alas this early promise wasn't fulfilled!

Middle Kennet Weirpool - Marsh Benham 0600 - 1200 Hot and sultry - 19º -> 27ºC. River a little on the low side but not as bad as it can be in August! 12 Chub: 6 over lb, best 2 both went 4lb 3oz (different fish) - nice to see some small ones. 3 Bream; 2¾ to just under 4lb. 30 Dace. 20+ Roach. 4 Bleak. 1 Brown Trout - 6lb 1oz (!!) & 2 Rainbows of 2½ & 3½lbs. Cracking morning's trotting - though the big brownie was on ledgered meat and had me convinced I was into a barbel for a few minutes! Don't usually take pics of troot - usually try to avoid them - but this was one impressive spottie. And Rusty will be pleased to see I've done some 'gardening'... Bream pic (makes a change from Chub), this was the biggest - all 3 fought surprisingly hard in the flow!

River Kennet - Padworth 1745 - 2215 Warm (22ºC) and sunny - though temps were dropping sharply after sunset. River at normal summer levels. 5 Chub: A 2lber and 4 fish in the 12oz-1lb class. 2 Roach; 1lb (on the nose!) & 14oz (!!), 3 Dace - all quite chunky ones. 1 brownie - c12oz. Bit of a 'recce' trip as I haven't fished here since 2017 and whilst I didn't really expect to get a barbel, when I switched from trotting to ledgering, I certainly didn't expect such a fine brace of redfins on the float either! Will definitely be back soon to spend a whole day here exploring with the trotting rod!

River Kennet - Hambridge 1800 - 2030 Cool (14ºC or there-abouts), overcast with drizzly rain at times for the first hour. River down and inch or so on 3 weeks ago but still with good flow for this time of year. 3 Chub: 2lb 15oz, 1lb 11oz & a chublet. 30+ Dace & Roach - in roughly equal numbers - slightly more roach. Nothing particularly big - a couple of the dace were in the 6-8oz bracket - but good to see so many 'silvers' in the river. 3 Gudgeon (also a welcome sight - they seem to be getting rarer!). 1 Bleak. 2 Brownies (small) and a 2lb+ Rainbow. Bigger chub first cast - followed by a good hour or so of a 'fish a chuck'. Great sport - though of course a barbel on the float from the fast gravel runs (which is what I might have hoped for a decade ago!) would have been an even more welcome sight!

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 - Brimpton 0500 - 1200 Cool, bright start - becoming VERY windy and showery. AT never above 16ºC - so the fleece never came off! River with good flow and a little colour. 1 Chub 2lb 2oz. 6 Dace - a couple of chunky ones (6-8oz). 1 Grayling - circa 10-12oz. 10 Brownies - most around 12oz with a couple much bigger to 2½lb. Pleasant mornings trotting despite the wind and I also had a couple of fruitless hours ledgering meat - without a touch (not even from the crayfish). Rather too many trout for my liking but did at least get a chub from the 4th swim I dropped into. 1st choice banker swim still out of action due to fallen tree!

River Kennet - Widmead 0845 - 1145 Warm & Sultry. 1 Chub: 1lb 10oz, 21 Dace - with around a third 8oz or better - weighed a couple, both at 10oz and had another 4 or 5 that weren't much smaller. 1 Grayling - small. 3 Brownies - a pounder and 2 tiddlers. Having exhausted my first swim it was off to another spot a mile or so downstream - and a haul of cracking dace. This swim 'looks' very chubby so it was nice to have that confirmed - all be it right at the end of the session - it was the last fish caught - a good 30 mins after my last dace.

River Kennet, Newbury & Thatcham 0400 - 1230 Cool, overcast and very blustery. River quite coloured and very full for the time of year - highest it's been in the summer for many a year.... (well since 2007 now I come to think about it!!) 2 Chub; 2lb & 1¼lb. 1 Barbel 3lb. 57 Dace, 7 Roach, 3 Grayling, 1 Perch, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Bleak & a 1¾lb spottie. Pleasant start to the season with plenty of fish to put a bend in the rod - we had planned an overnighter on a local lake put had been put off by the weather forecast which wasn't half as bad as predicted in these parts. Paul also had a good haul of silvers but nothing big so we moved venues for the last couple of hours to one of my favourite parts of the river for a float caught barbel. This is Paul's first year on this book - so he was getting his first sight of the venue. I plonked him in one of my favourite swims and thankfully my gillie-ing paid off as it wasn't too long before I heard the ratchet go on his pin and he was drawing a fighting fit 4lb+ barbel to a waiting net. I couldn't repeat the trick to add to my earlier barbel only catching the troot after the move - though I did suffer a smash up fishing at very long range... Some pics from Paul - as per usual. Gudgeon! (Paul's entered the annual IAC species race!) Paul's first barbel of the season. Me.

River Kennet - Newbury 0415 - 0615 Mild, overcast morning - river at or slightly above normal summer levels - with a bit of colour. 1 chub 4lb 9oz, 11 dace, (3 really chunky ones - would have weighed them had I not been standing mid-river), 1 roach, 2 gudgeon and a spottie. Very quick trotting session to christen the season before dashing off to watch Sam in his first AAAs final at Bedford this morning. Nice to see a decent chub turn up in this swim (you know which one, Chris ) alas didn't have time to find out if his brothers and sisters were also in residence!

River Kennet - Newbury 0400 - 0630 Warm, bright and sunny! River not as low as I'd expected. 2 Chub; 3lb 13oz, 3lb 3oz, 16 dace, 2 Roach, 1 grayling, 3 brownies. And so another season begins and what better way to start than standing up to my thighs in cooling Kennet water after a hot muggy night! A couple of chub in the first 20 mins got the season off to a cracking start and dropping down 60m or so brought a dace a chuck before it was time to miss the rush hour and head home for brekkie!

River Kennet - Thatcham 0645 - 1045 Warm and overcast - river in good nick with good weed growth this year. 2 Chub; 3lb 11oz & 1lb 14oz. 1 Barbel; 2lb 5oz. 7 spotties - all small except for 1 'pounder'. Fished a number of swims in rotation - number one banker swim produced just trout (all of them bar 1!) but dropping downstream produced the 3lb chub. Other 2 fish up in the fast shallows. No sign of any dace which is a shame!

River Kennet - Thatcham (2 venues) 0900 - 1400 Warm, muggy and overcast. A dozen + dace, 2 perch (both around 10-12oz), 1 roach, 1 Gudgeon & 2 brownies - 12-16oz. A visit here is now more by habit than expectation - long gone are the days when you could hope to winkle out a few barbel on the float - though I was still hopeful of chub. However just getting to a swim was a battle - head high nettles meant I just hacked my way into a couple of spots and din't venture downstream as I had intended to. A switch a couple of hundred yards upstream to another overgrown stretch and one that is on the club book for the last season - alas. Once I'd found a vantage point to fish from the dace came thick and fast for an hour or so....

River Kennet - Nr Newbury 0400 - 0800 Fine clear morning, 10º - 14ºC. River quite low and carrying its usual summer colour. 4 Chub best 2, 3lb 7oz & 3lb 3oz, 1 Perch 1lb 15oz, 5 Trout, best 1¼lb, 1 doz roach, 10 dace and 3 gudgeon. A lovely dawn spent standing in mid river trotting maggot. Perch first cast, All chub came in consecutive casts after 0700 - from the tail of the swim where they'd no doubt been confidently sucking in my maggot for the previous 3 hours!

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!

River Lambourn - Shaw 1400 - 1600 Overcast after heavy rain - river with a little colour and up a couple of cm (18cm by the Shaw EA Gauge). 20 Grayling; Most quite small with around ½doz in the 12oz-1lb bracket. Going stir crazy after 3 days of rain - and wanting to catch my first fish of 2016. Thankful then for a 2 hour respite (in daylight). All fish from just 3 swims - which is somewhat unusual....

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....

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 - 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.