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Showing results for tags 'trotting'.
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1130 - 1330 Dull and drizzly - quite breezy too. AT 16ºC. River still with nice flow for late summer. 1 Chub: 4lb 1oz, 11 Dace & 3 Roach - all small. 3 Gudgeon, 2 Grayling c6oz, 1 Perch - small, 2 brownies (ditto). Mrs P at the hairdressers was an opportunity to return here with a bigger saw to do some more 'gardening'! And of course I wasn't going to pass up the chance to wet a line for an hour or so.... Nice chub first cast - followed by the usual mixed bag!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1600 Warm and muggy. AT 25ºC. River still with good levels for mid August! 3 Chub: 3lb 13oz, 3lb 0oz and one of around ¾-1lb. 8 Roach & 8 Dace - all small. 2 Gudgeon. 1 Brownie- small. Friday afternoons - I am 'persona non grata' at home as Mrs P has a coffee afternoon with her friends - a tradition that goes back over 30 years (it was originally her post-natal group!) so Friday's are going to be a regular fishing day now that I have retired. Today, however I did more tree surgery than fishing - as 2 willows had come down across my favourite swim. Thankfully I keep a hand saw in my fishing bag - but it still took 45 minutes to gain access to the water! When it was time to fish I reasoned the commotion would have put fish down so I rested the spot and started elsewhere. Returning an hour later - with a few tiddlers including a rare gudgeon to show for my efforts, both 3lb chub came almost instantly followed by a steady stream of 'silvers'. A Kennet gonk - rarer than a 3lb chub!
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River Kennet - Thatcham 1130 - 1330 Bright and breezy. AT 20ºC. River at normal levels and with a bit of colour. 3 Chub; all small. 7 Dace & 4 Roach: ditto. 1 Brownie 1½lb First part of a chub hunting afternoon - and whilst it's always a good sign to see some juvenile fish in the river - I was hoping for something a little bigger!
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1415 - 1615 Mainly overcast and quite breezy. AT 20ºC. River up a good couple of inches and carrying a bit of colour. The Colthrop sluices are obviously open more than the Crookham ones' as there was a lot more flow here than a couple of miles upstream - before The Aldershot joins the river. 3 Chub: 4lb 6oz, 2lb 11oz, 2lb 3oz. 5 Brownies, a 'pounder', the rest between 6-10oz with one a repeat capture! All chub from my banker swim which I fished twice - with a rest in between while I went blackberry picking! 4lber first cast after the usual bait and wait approach - made a pleasant change from a splashy trout grabbing my maggot first put in!
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River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0730 - 1330 Warm(ish) and overcast and quite muggy. AT 18ºC - 21ºC. River down a bit - more than I expected after another wet week.... 2 Bream: 3lb 3oz & 2lb 10oz. 3 Chub; 2 around ¾lb and another even smaller. 40+ Dace & Roach (in roughly equal nos - slightly more dace) - only one fish to trouble the net - a super dace of 10oz. 2 Bleak. A rare failure at finding decent chub - though a couple of hard fighting river bream were more than adequate compensation, plus there was the added bonus of NO trout! Nice to see so many silvers in the river too.
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1330 - 1530 Warm(ish) and overcast. AT 19ºC. River down quite a bit on Monday - at least 3 inches... 1 Chub: 3lb 4oz, 6 Dace, 2 Roach (all quite small). 2 Brownies both 6-8ozs. Really surprised to see how much the river had changed since my trip here on Monday - the swim I wanted to target had a completely different 'feel' to it (and not in a good way!!). Managed to winkle out a solitary chub from it - but not the barbel I was hoping for!
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River Kennet - Padworth 1500 - 1630 Bright and breezy. Quite warm out the wind. AT 21ºC. River quite full for mid July. 1 Chub: small. 1 Roach, ditto. 2 Brownies both around 1½-2lb (definitely different fish - one had a growth on it) My day on the river was rounded off with a visit to a rarely visited venue - but one that has thrown up some nice roach from time to time - and that was sort of what I was after today. However and somewhat predictably, the only fish to put a serious bend in the rod came from trout. Saw the otter making its rounds as I packed up....
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1135 - 1415 Bright and breezy quite warm - 20ºC. River quite full with good flow - especially for July 1 Chub 2lb. 6 Trout - various sizes from 6oz - 1½lb. Oh, how I detest spotties - they were in every swim I tried (I lost nearly as many as I landed!) and even resting and returning to my favourite chub hot-spot just brought more of the blighters! Dropped into the weir-pool for a solitary fish without an adipose!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 0700 - 1100 Bright and breezy. Felt quite cool to start. AT 12ºC - 19ºC. River up an inch or so on last week - after a very wet weekend! 6 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 3lb 11oz, 3lb 7oz, 3lb 3oz, 2lb 10oz & a 'pounder'. 4 Dace, 2 Roach - all quite chunky. 3 Brownies a fish of around 1¼lb and a couple in the 6-8oz bracket. Quick return to last week's venue hopeful that I could pull off another float caught barbel - so concentrated my efforts on a swim where I've had them in recent seasons - but it was full of chub!
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1300 - 1600 Warm, overcast and breezy - with a couple of very light showers (much lighter than was forecast!). AT 23ºC. River still with good flow for mid July though down an inch or two on 3 weeks ago. 3 Chub: 4lb 5oz, 2lb 3oz & a 'pounder'. 1 Barbel 2lb 2oz (hooray!), 2 Perch; 1¼lbs & a tiddler. 9 Dace, 4 Roach (nothing noteworthy), 1 Gudgeon, 3 Brownies two in the 12oz - 1lb class (possibly same fish!) and one half that. Normal service has been resumed with most of the fish from my two usual hot-spots - really nice to get a barbel trotting (and my first gonk of the season!)
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River Kennet - Thatcham 0930 - 1100 Bright and breezy and a lot cooler. AT 18ºC. River surprisingly low (given how full other stretches are...) 3 Brownies: 2½lbs, a pounder and one of around 8oz... Quick session to use up some maggot before I go to Devon on Friday. Surprised to find another angler in one of my banker swims - I rarely see another soul here - even less so on a week day! Could only winkle out spotties from my other 'bankers'...
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1700 - 2030 Warm and sunny. AT 24ºC. River quite full for high summer - great to see so much water in it! 6 Chub: (in order of capture) 2X ¾-1lbers, 2lb 5oz, 3lb 13oz, 4lb 3oz, 5lb 4oz (they got bigger as the shadows lengthened!). 4 Brownies, a 'pounder' and 3 in the 6-8oz class. Super evening's sport - though, as per usual, had to rely on the 'rest and return' policy after 2 splashy trout in the first 5 mins from my banker swim. Fished 5 swims in total but only had fish from 2 of them...
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River Kennet - Widmead (Bulls Lock) 1200 - 1430 Warm and mainly sunny. AT 23ºC. River good depth and flow. 1 Chub - small. 1 Grayling 1lb 3oz, 9 dace all small save for one that needed the net. Quick lunchtime session in a swim that always flatters to deceive. Grayling was a nice bonus though.
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River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0430 - 1200 Warm and sunny. AT 13º -> 26ºC. River in good nick, nice depth and flow - still benefiting from a wet winter and early spring. 3 Bream: 5lb 2oz, 3lb 0oz, 2lb 11oz. 2 Chub 2lb 13oz and a 'pounder'. 6 Dace - 2 gooduns that needed the net, 1 Roach - small. 1 Brownie - 2lber and 1 Rainbow - around 4lb. For the second year running my season opens with some nice river bream - the 5lber my biggest from here. Started in the weir-pool but struggled somewhat - with the only fish putting a significant bend in the rod having adipose fins. All bream and chub coming from the swims above the railway bridge.
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River Kennet - Hambridge 0430 - 0800 Warm, muggy and overcast with a welcome heavy shower just after I packed up. AT 17ºC (but felt a lot warmer!). River quite full - especially for June! 6 Chub; 3lb 3oz, 2lb 10oz and 4 between ¾-1½lb. 21 Dace - nothing especially noteworthy - though they weren't tiddlers either. 2 Roach (same!) and 2 Brownies c½lb. A morning's trotting and home for breakfast - gotta love June! And I really should follow my own advice - I recently re-worked this old article for AN for my club's quarterly newsletter - though gearing it more to summer chubbing. I was making the point that in June chub can be found in surprisingly fast water - and that was certainly true this morning. I'd blanked in my usual chub hot-spots and switched to a fast glide in search of some feisty dace - and whilst it was nearly fish a chuck - there was also a shoal of chub in residence at the tail of the swim where it shallowed up. The result - a great morning's sport!
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River Kennet - Marsh Benham 0630(!) - 1130 Cool and overcast with drizzle to start - brigthening up. AT3º-6ºC. River at normal winter levels - though actually down an inch or so on last Friday. 9 Chub: 5 over 4lb - best two - 5lb 1oz & 4lb 14oz. 3X3lbers and the smallest went 2lb 14oz. 2 Bream; 3lb 4oz & 2lb 9oz. 1 Bleak, 1 Rainbow C2½lb. Back to the swim - that's a gift that keeps on giving! Had 7 chub from it today plus the 2 bream - the other 2 chub coming from a swim at the bottom of the fishery when I rested it for an hour. Action stopped when the sun came out! Another 5!
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River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1345 Bright, milky sunshine - very cold start - the thaw arrived mid morning - which I was very thankful for - line freezing in the ferrules had made for a tough couple of hours prior to that. AT -6ºwhen I arrived ->+6ºC when I drove off. River at normal levels - 1.05m at the East Stoke gauge. 13 Grayling: 8 over a lb - the 3 I weighed went 1lb 14oz & 2 X 1lb 10oz (different fish!) most of the others lbers around 1lb 6oz. 3 Trout - a lber, one half that and a parr. Last minute decision to go - based on tomorrow's forecast for wind and rain. Lovely bit of river and worth the long journey - even if I didn't quite get the hoped for 2lber. Most fish from just 1 swim - which I rested for a couple of hours whilst I fruitlessly searched the upper part of the fishery for another hotspot - though there were 4 other anglers on the beat - which wouldn't have helped the quest! Nearly a 2 - a very chunky fish, similar in length to my 1-12 from the Lambourn last weekend but much stockier!
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River Kennet (& carrier) - Marsh Benham 1030 - 1600 Cold and mainly cloudy - snow flurries to start - brightening up. Breezy. AT 1º->4ºC. River at normal winter levels with a tinge of colour.. 9 Chub: (in order of capture...) 1 ½lb, 4lb 6oz, 3lb 5oz, 4lb 10oz, 5lb 10oz, 4lb 8oz, 4lb 15oz, 3lb 14oz, 4lb 14oz. 6 Brownies 2½-3½lb. 1 Rainbow 5 ½lb. It's been quite a poor season on the chub front from my syndicate stretch and I was going into the last week of the season not having caught a 4lb+ chevin from this beat for the first time since I joined the syndicate 6 years ago. My fellow members had similar experiences and there were dark mutterings of 'its the otters' - as fish scales on the bank are a common occurence here. I never really bought into the otter theory as chub on the Kennet seem to have survived their arrival over the last decade or so, much better than (for example) barbel. Even so today WAS something a bit exceptional. It all started somewhat predictably - with lots of unwelcome fish with an adipose fin and only the smallest chub banked as I made my way down the carrier - leap-frogging another syndicate member (BTG) in the process. After lunch I headed for the main river and after an unpromising start in the shape of the big rainbow - found a couple of swims with decent chub. Most fish from the weirpool - where I had 4 chub in 4 consecutive casts with the float burying at exactly the same spot each time - real Mr Castwell angling! Biggest of the day (and a venue best for me)
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River Kennet - Speen Moors 1200 - 1515 Mild and overcast. 8ºC. River full and clear. 3 Chub: 3lb 11oz, 2lb 14oz, 1¼lb. 1 Dace; small, 3 Gudgeon. After getting trouted out on my syndicate stretch in the morning it was nice to run a float through a couple of swims without the expectation that every bite would be from something with an adipose fin. Had planned to explore a bit but ended up just fishing the weirpools.
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River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1430 Bright and sunny. Cool 3º-6ºC. River bank high - but not in the fields any more! Still with a slight tinge of colour. 1.27m on the E Stoke river guage (I've only fished the river once before when it's been this high!). 14 Grayling; 9 over a lb. Best 4: 1lb 12oz, 1lb 13oz, 2lb 0oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Brownies; a 3lber, another half that and a couple of smalluns. 1 Sea Trout; 1½lb - a bar of silver - still covered in sea lice! The Frome coarse season is only 4 months (Nov - Feb) and for most of the last 2 months it has been well over the banks and only been remotely fishable in the last week or so. The river was still very pacey and today's tactics were about finding slightly quieter water. All fish from just 4 swims with 2 of them producing nice ladies after lengthy rests. I also spent nearly ¼hr connected to a decent salmon! I'd started to get the better of it and was wondering how the hell I was going to get it in the net when the hook pulled. Next trot through and it took my maggot again resulting in another 5 minute battle - with the same result ! Nice to see some large ladies returning - not had a 2lber from here since 2019.
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Kennet Carrier - Marsh Benham 0800 - 1200 Cold, bright and sunny. AT -1ºC -> 5ºC. River very full but crystal clear after a cold, dry week. 4 Chub: all between 2lb 13oz - 3lb 11oz. 6 Brownies 2-3½lb. A sparkly day in West Berkshire. All chub from the same spot - with a brace in the first ½hr or so and another two after resting the swim for a couple of hours. All I caught in the intermediate period were nuisance brownies! Frosty Chub
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Middle Kennet Estate - Kintbury 0830 - 1615 Bright and sunny and VERY windy all day. AT 7ºC. River high - barely within its banks and with a tinge of colour - in great winter's nick! 20 Chub: 15 over 1lb with 12 over 3lbs. The biggest 5 went 4lb 4oz, 4lb 10oz, 4lb 15oz, 5lb 2oz & 5lb 8oz. 7 Roach & 4 Dace - all small. 6 Brownies; 2½-4lbs. Birthday treat to myself (twas yesterday) resulted in a splendid days winter chubbing. Wind was challenging to put it mildly - nearly got blown in the river once and had discarded my hat within the first 5 mins of fishing after it got blown off my head twice in a minute! Casting and keeping the float on a trotting line was near on impossible at times - especially in the morning when it was particularly lively! However, I persevered with my usual tactics of trotting corn which produced all the big chub and finished off with 45 mins on the (much more sheltered) carriers failing to find any big dace. Biggest of the Day
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River Lambourn - Newbury 0900 - 1230 Cool, bright and sunny. AT 6ºC. River at normal winter levels - and as clear as gin (of course) despite heavy rain all weekend. 12 Grayling: 4 over 1lb - best 1lb 10oz. 5 Brownies - a lber and 4 parrs. An insurance session as I reckoned 32mm of rain over the weekend would have stuffed up the Kennet too much (I was wrong see part 2!) so opted for a couple of hours on the Lambourn as a cure for cabin fever! Bit of a scratchy morning - not helped by 5 other anglers on the stretch - most of my fish from a swim I've not caught from before - but which will warrant further attention on future trips - as I bumped a big grayling pretty much first run through. Not quite my first fish of 2023 (that was a trout parr!) - but the first one to need the net!
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River Kennet - Brimpton 1030 - 1330 Bright and sunny. Cooler than last couple of days. AT 4º - 6ºC. River at normal levels and with a tinge of colour. 1 Chub: 4lb 6oz. 2 Brownies; Biggest a brute of a fish - must have been close to 4lb but unweighed - the other around half that size. Impromptu trip based on Jaq announcing she was hitting the sales!! Bright winter sunshine are not the ideal conditions for a spot of chub fishing but I reasoned the recent rise in river levels and turbidity might mitigate this - thankfully I was right. However, and as per usual it seems, I started off with trout - though as both fish chose to hug the bottom as opposed to performing their usual aerobatic display, I was convinced I was bringing in decent chub to the net. Thankfully my 3rd fish of the morning didn't have an adipose fin - and whilst it was a fine chub - as fat as a barrel I was rather hoping to re-acquaint myself with either of the 5lbers I had from here back in the summer - would love to see either at their winter weight! Boxing Day Chub
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River Kennet - Hambridge 1000 - 1230 Bright and mild after heavy early morning rain (over ½inch). AT 11ºC. River at normal winter levels with a tinge of colour - looked in really good nick - hooray! Was up a good 6 inches on my last visit here . The Kennet is at last seeing the benefits of a wet autumn - the springs on the the downs broke during the recent cold snap (the river gauge at Winterborne Monkton started recording on the 15th Dec) so winter rainfall will now start having more of an impact on flow rates. 1 Chub; 2lb 12oz, 1 Bream; 2lb 6oz, 1 Perch; 1½lb, 4 Dace & 1 Roach (all quite small). 4 Gudgeon Usual pre-Christmas jaunt to use up some maggot so that the bait fridge can be pressed into Christmas duties. Bream first cast was a bit of surprise as I was expecting my obligatory chub after spending the first 5mins or so trickling in maggot.
