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Showing results for tags 'trotting'.
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River Lambourn - Shaw 0930 - 1330 Cool, overcast and drizzly. AT 6ºC. River full and clear. 1.68m on the Shaw river gauge. 6 Grayling - a couple of 'pounders' - biggest 1lb 6oz, 3 around 8-10oz and a tiddler. 12 Brownies - all small/parrs. I had planned to fish the Kennet today - but another 14mm of rain yesterday will have completely stuffed up even my most favoured flood swims. Somewhat of a scratchy morning - largely failing to avoid the small trout which were everywhere. Session somewhat redeemed by the last fish caught which was also the biggest lady, from a swim that had recently been vacated by another angler!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1230 - 1430 Mainly overcast, quite breezy with a couple of lumpy showers. AT 13ºC. River up over a foot on my last visit and the colour of 'builder's tea'! 1 Chub 3lb 5oz. 1 Bream 3lb 2oz. 3 Roach - all small. 1 Gudgeon. Fished my 'banker' flood water swim - but even I was surprised I caught. River was really coloured up after Storm Ciarán had dumped an inch and a half of rain on West Berkshire in the past 24 hours - and didn't look at all promising. However a gudgeon first cast grew some confidence and the chub came along shortly after. Bites were still at a premium though so with no action for nearly an hour after the bream and with darkening skies, I decided to quit while I was ahead!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 0945 - 1415 Cool with a bright start - clouding over (thankfully). AT 4º-10ºC. River VERY high - highest I've seen it this winter - yet with surprisingly little colour considering it rained most of yesterday! 2 Chub: 3lb 10oz, 3lb 3oz. 2 Perch: 3lb 0oz , 2lb 7oz. 1 Roach (small), 1 Grayling (ditto). 1 Brownie - c2lb. Started off in my downstream flood swim - as it is more shady and had both chub from it (plus the red-fin, lady and brownie). Moved upstream after lunch as it was clouding over and my first swim had been trashed by the trout. Only 2 bites in the afternoon but they both produced quality stripeys including a second 3lber from this swim this winter. A fat 3lber!
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Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0900 - 1400 Cool, overcast with some light drizzle at times. AT 4º-5ºC. River very full with a little colour after yesterday's rain. 4 Chub: 4lb 13oz, 4lb 3oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 8oz. 1 Roach - small. 9 Brownies, 8 between 2lb-4½lb and a small-un. Fished the whole length of the carrier in the morning, think I pretty much ran a float through every swim for a solitary roach and the 9 Brownies (groan). Then walked down the canal bank to retrieve a float I'd unwisely cast into the bushes and to have a crack at the South bank of the main river for a change. Thankfully this resulted in finding some decent chub at last and had all 4 in pretty much consecutive casts (though I did rest and feed the swim between each fish). Proceedings were brought to an end by another splashy trout which got off but not before going airborne at just the spot where the chub had been taking my bait - sigh!
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River Lambourn - Newbury 0845 - 1415 Cold and cloudy. AT -2º -> +1ºC. (Proper Grayling weather!). River very full and clear. 23 Grayling. 8 over a lb - best 4 went 1lb 14oz, 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz (X2 - different fish). 5 Brownies: all small/parrs. I do love cold days like this - wrapped up warm and staying mobile. Had the rare luxury of not seeing another angler so fished the length of the stretch twice with a break for lunch in between. Took corn but forgot it in the morning - doh - so fished with maggot first time and just corn the second. Corn caught fewer though 5 of the 8 'pounders' fell to it. Local tackle shop is stocking krill flavoured red corn which I was using for the first time. My theory is that red corn get's mistaken for trout eggs - and this stuff even smells the part!
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River Lambourn - Shaw 1215- 1500 Sunny spells - quite breezy and getting chilly. AT 8º-5ºC. River very full but crystal clear as always. 11 Grayling: 5 over a lb. Best two @ 1lb 10oz & 1lb 9oz. 8 Brownies; one 'pounder' the rest all quite small. Looks like being a great year for Lambourn ladies - another couple of fish well above expectations for this venue - and both first cast fish from a couple of usual hot-spots. River very pacey which meant some of my other favoured swims were too turbulent to be holding fish (though that didn't stop me running a float through them to confirm my hypothesis!).
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1245 - 1500 Overcast and drizzly. AT 9ºC. River VERY high up yet another couple of inches on my last visit (11 days ago) - but with hardly any colour. 2 Chub: 3lb 6oz & 3lb 2oz. 1 Perch: 3lb 1oz (SB), 1 Dace:(small), 1 Grayling;(ditto) Usual 'flood swim' bonanza - 2nd winter in a row I've had a 3lb+ perch from here. Started downstream of my usual swim which produced the 'smaller' chub and the 2 'silvers'.
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K&A 'flowing' Canal - Thatcham 0900 - 1200 Cool, overcast and drizzly at times. AT 8ºC. River VERY full, flowing quite hard (for a canalised section) but clear. 2 Dace: 1lb 1oz (!!!) & 11oz WOW! I visit here quite infrequently as it isn't a particularly prolific stretch - though it has thrown up some big autumn dace in recent years - and that sort of what I was hoping for - but wasn't expecting anything quite so jaw dropping. I'd started on The Arrowhead - for old times sake - (I haven't caught a decent fish from it in a decade) and after a bite-less hour dropped down onto the canal proper. 'Smaller' dace was first cast followed almost immediately by the pounder which I assumed was a small chub until I got it to the surface. My biggest dace for 20 years.
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 0900 - 1330 Cool and sunny, clouding over late morning. AT 2º-10ºC. River very high but with only little colour. 3 Perch: 2lb 2oz and a couple around ¾-1lb. 1 Dace, 1 Roach. 1 Brownie - 2½lb. Bit of a gamble with the river so high - but I reasoned if I could find some 'quiet' water I'd find some fish. Morning got off to the worst of starts - trickling in small amounts of maggot for 10 mins didn't bring the hoped for first cast chub but another ruddy trout which went absolutely ballistic and totally trashed my first swim. As on Wednesday I was glad of some cloud cover bubbling up as bites were at a premium - but less so for the last hour - morning saved by the bigger perch - caught last cast!
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Middle Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham 0800 - 1300 Bright and sunny - clouding over for last hour. AT 7º-11ºC. River VERY full. Main river over the banks and carrier bank high but with little colour. 2 Chub: 2lber and a chublet. 30+ Dace & Roach roughly equal nos - nothing particularly noteworthy some of the dace were quite chunky and one of the roach needed the net. 1 Perch - small. 5 Brownies: all between 2½-3½lb. Sparkly morning in West Berkshire - though I was thankful for some cloud cover for the last hour - seemed to produce more bites (including the chub). A venue which usually fishes well when the river is high but this morning's efforts resulted in a rather disappointing trout to chub ratio!
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1145 - 1445 Bright and breezy. AT 8º-10ºC. River still very high - though most colour has now dropped out. 6 Brownies; a fish of around 2½lb - the rest all around 8-10oz, all almost identical in size - kept thinking I was catching the same fish. Normal service has been resumed - alas. My Nemisis turning up 'early doors' in every swim I tried - thwarting all attempts at attracting a chub or 2!
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River Lambourn - Newbury 0800 - 1200 Bright and breezy with a few light showers. AT 7º - 13ºC. River very full - but crystal clear as always! 16 Grayling with 7 around a lb or better - 2 of which were substantially better at 2lb 2oz & 1lb 14oz (!). 8 Brownies - one real lump of around 3lb the rest all small/parrs. Default venue when the Kennet is in flood and my first 2lb+ grayling from the Lambourn in over 2 decades. (Last time was 27/12/01). Took red corn for a change (don't often use it here) and whilst it did catch me a couple of pounders - both big ones fell to maggot. As usual I didn't catch more than a couple from any one swim and whilst I had planned to wander back to the top of the fishery and work my way down again in the afternoon a number of other anglers turning up mid-morning had me changing my plans and 'going around the corner' to have a look at the flooded Kennet. Who needs the Frome!
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Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham 1000 - 1400 Bright and sunny with heavy showers to finish! AT 10ºC - 15ºC. River at normal levels with a hint of colour. 7 Chub: 3lb 3oz, one of 12oz+ and 5 chublets. 1 doz Roach: all small. 4 Dace: one good-un of at least 8oz. 1 Perch - small. 'Popped' into my syndicate stretch on the way home from Avington. And as I had my lobs with me I started out with them to try and snaffle a decent perch from here - though they produced not a single bite. Back to trotted maggot for the usual mixed bag - and not even bothered by brownies...
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Lower Itchen Fishery 0830 - 1700 Bright start - clouding over somewhat after lunch - with a brief shower, AT 5º-15ºC. River full - bank high in places - though, thankfully not too much colour. 20 Grayling - very few under 12oz and quite a number around the 1lb mark. The three I weighed went 1lb 10oz, 1lb 15oz & 2lb 6oz. 1 Chub 4lb 10oz. 7 Brownies - 2-3½lb. Super day's sport and thanks to Neal for organising. We had permission to fish the upper beat - alas the river was in the fields and this stretch was all but inaccessible. However the one swim I could get to in wellies produced all the big grayling and the chub. Spent the afternoon working my way down the lower beat - in a case of 'catch a couple and move on'. Everything caught on red corn - I actually ran out of the stuff - I brought 2 pints of maggot and didn't use a single one! Itchen 4lber Trying to photograph grayling is akin to giving a cat a pill!!
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Middle Kennet carrier - Marsh Benham 0930 - 1400 Sunny spells after another night of heavy rain. Mild/warm for the time of year. AT 12º-17ºC. River up several inches and carrying quite a bit of colour - which had noticeably dropped out somewhat by the time I packed up. 4 Chub; 4lb 13oz & 3 chublets. 1 Bream: 2lb 11oz. 3 Perch: 1½lb and a couple of tiddlers. 16 Roach - nothing noteworthy. 3 Dace (ditto). 1 Brownie -3lb. Despite spending a lot of time and effort on the main river - nearly all fish from the carrier. Trotted corn was largely ignored and I didn't start to catch until I switched back to maggot - and wandered upstream- abandoning the weirpool, to find some quieter water. Biggest chub of the season(so far!) from here...
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River Lambourn - Newbury 0730 - 1100 Cool and overcast - clearing to bright sunshine. AT 8º- 12ºC. River at normal levels. 19 Grayling with over half around the pound mark or better - the three I weighed went 1lb 8oz, 1lb 9oz & 1lb 12oz. 1 brownie - small. First frosts of the autumn always put me in the mood for grayling and this was a bit of an insurance session in case Storm Babet stuffs up the Itchen for my planned visit this weekend. Usual tactics of catch a couple and rest the swim with quite a few fish caught by sight - just striking when the bait gets taken. Session curtailed by a group of conservationists wading up the river to do some bank work!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1100 - 1400 Warm and breezy - becoming increasingly sunny after a wet morning/overnight. AT 17º-20ºC. River down 8 inches on my last visit here but carrying a bit of colour after heavy overnight rains.... 1 Chub: 1½lb. 1 Perch - fairly small. 11 Dace - most small with a couple of chunkier ones. 3 Roach - all small. 2 Brownies: 2½lb and c¾lb. Bit of a scratchy session - had hoped the rain might have pepped the river up - but a couple of splashy trout is never a good start. Resting the swim for an hour while I went exploring did at least eventually produce the modest chub but I had hopes for something better!
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1230 - 1500 Warm and mainly sunny. AT19ºC. River with good flow (for mid autumn) and a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 3lb 6oz, 2lb 15oz and a 'pounder'. Hooray NO trout! Both my 'banker' chub swims gave up a fish and nothing with an adipose fin - which makes a change - first time this season that I haven't caught a spottie from here - long may it continue!
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Middle Kennet (& Carrier) - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1400 Bright and sunny after overnight rain. AT 14º-16ºC. River at normal levels with a tinge of colour. 12 Chub; 6 over a lb - best 3lb 6oz, and half a doz chublets. 8 Perch; 1lb 12oz & 7 small-uns. 1 Bream 2lb 2oz. 30 Roach & Dace (more roach), 'a' roach of 12oz the only noteworthy fish. 1 Bleak. 1 Rainbow - unwelcome as ever but a real lump @5lb 10oz. All out attempt at trying to snaffle some bigger chub and avoid the smaller fish (at least initially) so it was out with the trotted red sweetcorn for the first time this autumn. Seemed to work - though i would have liked something a little bigger. First 2 fish on corn were actually the bigger perch and the bream.The only noteworthy roach also snaffled my sweetcorn offering. I caught a pike on sweetcorn from this venue a couple of seasons ago - seems like the predators are going vegan! Most fish from the main river. Vegan Perch
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 1045 - 1430 Bright and breezy with one light shower (and one cloudburst to finish!). AT 15ºC. River 'full' and with some colour - though not as much as below Newbury. 5 Chub: 2lb 7oz, a couple of 'pounders' and a couple of chublets. 3 Perch; 2@1lb 6oz (definitely different fish) and one of around 10-12oz. A dozen Roach - quite a few chunky ones. 2 Dace, 1 Gudgeon. 1 Trout parr. First visit here this season and the thundery showers kept me to the weir-pools. Had planned to recce up Parliament Draft but blackening skies and rumbles of thunder in the distance had me packing up early and route marching back to the car - failing by around 100 yards to get there before the heavens opened and I was lashed with hail and rain....
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1400 - 1630 Bright with thundery showers. AT 15ºC. River up 10 inches on my last trip (I measured it!) and quite coloured up. 1 Bream; 2lb 4oz. 2 Perch 1¼lb and one around half that. 10 Roach - all handsized. 2 Dace. 2 Gudgeon. With 37mm of rain yesterday (1½inches in old money) making it the 9th wettest day in the last 20 years - locally, I wasn't surprised to see the Kennet close to winter flood levels. Perfect excuse to drop into my favourite flood swim for a couple of hours between the showers. No chub in residence but the Perch and Bream both came in the opening 20 minutes and the roach were a nice size too. Unfortunately there was also a pike occupying the slack which kept attacking my float on the retrieve - but thankfully didn't snaffle any of my roach...
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Middle Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham 0600 - 1230 Hot and muggy. AT 18ºC - 28ºC. River a little on the low side but not at all bad for September. 12 Chub; A couple of around ¾-1lb - the rest all juveniles of around 6 inches. 1 Bream: 3lb 14oz. 50 Roach & Dace (more roach) - nothing especially noteworthy. 5 Perch - all small. 2 Rainbow's; 3½ & 4½lbs. Early start to try and make the most of the cool of the morning - but didn't really feel it after the long hike to my swims! Most fish from the weirpool - where there was also lots of predator activity and I also had a bit of pike trouble - played one for an age which took my maggots - but it eventually snapped me - and had to stop fishing another swim as my catch kept getting snaffled!
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1400 - 1700 Cool, overcast and breezy with fine drizzle for last hour. AT a decidedly autumnal 15ºC. River a little on the low side - but not out of the ordinary for late summer. 1 Chub- un-weighed but around a 1lb. 9 Dace - all quite chunky. 10 (!) brownies all around 8-10oz with one a tad bigger. DAMN TROUT! Rare foray to the lower and slower stretches of this venue - but not before starting in my 2 'banker' chub swims - where the trout were insatiable - can't help thinking they'd been recently stocked - all a remarkably similar size. Dace from a swim at the bottom which warrants a bit more attention methinks!
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River Kennet & Carrier - Marsh Benham 0700 - 1330 Warm and sunny (after a cool start) and with a very helpful couple of hours overcast from 9-11am - bites at a premium once this burnt off! AT 11º - 24ºC. River at normal levels with a tinge of colour. 3 Chub: 4lb 4oz, 3lb 1oz, 1lb 13oz. 7 Perch - 1lb 15oz the rest all quite small. 2 doz+ Dace - various sizes with quite a few chunky ones - biggest went 12oz and had another 4 or 5 around the 8oz mark. 15 Roach - all small. 1 Bleak. 1 Brownie - unweighed but easily over 3lb - probably pushing 4.... Super morning's sport - wandered around quite a bit and had fish from several different swims - smaller chub from the carrier - largest one plus the biggest perch from the weir pool. Had a curious little episode - when landing the bigger perch - one of it's smaller brethren swam into the net with it!! One of the maggots had been blown up the hook length and I think it was chasing that !
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1230 - 1530 Warm and overcast after heavy rain this morning (15mm in 3 hrs). AT 19º-23ºC. River up a tad and with a bit of colour after said rains! 2 Chub: 4lb 5oz & 3lb 11oz. 9 Dace and a Roach - all small. 6(!!) Gudgeon. 3 Trout parr. I had intended to spend today on my syndicate stretch further upstream - but torrential rains this morning put paid to that idea. It's not really a venue for a short session as it takes me over an hour from door to swim so it was back to old reliable which is a mere 20 minutes away and I could drop into my banker swim without having to undertake major tree clearance first! Both chub from here - though over an hour apart after resting and returning - and those gudgeon certainly are making a comeback - can't remember when I last had half a dozen in a session!
