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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.

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.

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.

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:

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!

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!

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1930 - 2345 Cool (down to 10ºC) and clear - perfect evening to be out watching perseids - and with no moon nature put on a stunning display! River down a couple of inches at least on my last visit here (29 July). 3 Barbel; 4lb 10oz, 3lb 15oz, 3lb 9oz. 1 Chub 4lb 5oz. 4 Dace (all chunky ones requiring a net!), 1 Roach and 4 spotties. Wayhay! So there are still some fish in the Kennet!! Trotted until it was too dark to see my float and all the fish bar the biggest barbel came to these tactics. Switched to ledgered pellet for last 2½hrs and had the 4lb+ barbel at around 2200. Missed another good bite due to spending more time staring at the sky than looking at my isotopes! A couple of obligatory fish plus pin pics...

River Kennet - Thatcham 0945 - 1215 Hot and sultry - perfect weather to spend the morning up to your thighs in cool river water! 1 Chub 3lb 9oz, 6 Dace, 2 Roach and 5 brownies - 2 over 1lb. Had to go to Tone's to pick up bait and permits for this evening - not that I need an excuse to fish here! Nice to see some dace AND roach putting in an appearance. Chub showed obvious signs of having recently spawned...

River Kennet - Nr Thatcham 1630 - 1900 Heavy thundery showers. River looked in good nick, reasonable flow with some colour. 1 Barbel; 4lb 9oz. 2 Chub; 4lb 5oz & 1lb 13oz. 7 brownies including one of nearly 3lb! Curtailed trotting session. Had planned to stay all evening and have a couple of hours of darkness on the lead. However I really don't like being out in a thunderstorm and having watched one storm skirt north of me and another south I could tell a third one was heading straight for me - so a hasty retreat was beat - pity as it was turning into a cracking little session. Fished 4 swims each one downstream of the other. Larger chub in the top swim, barbel and smaller chub in the 4th - hence no pic of the barbel - camera was in my bag where I'd started!

River Kennet - Newbury 0745 - 1215 Cold and overcast - Easterly breeze. AT 38ºF, WT 41ºF 14 Chub (5lb 15oz, 5lb1oz, 4lb14oz, 4lb 6oz, 4lb 3oz X 2, 7 X 3lb - all over 3½, 2<3lb), 1 Barbel 5lb 2oz, 1 grayling, 2 dozen dace, roach and gudgeon (mainly dace). WOW! Cracking session in one of my favouirite chub swims - but one that really hasn't produced a lot for me since the opening week of the 05/06 season - so today was like seeing and old friend again. Barbel fell 1st cast - real surprise given the water temp and it had me thinking that it must be the mother of all chub as I didn't even consider the possibilty of it being a barbel! All fish on trotted single red maggot - took bread and lobs but never used them. 5-15 is my biggest chub for 3 years - picture below (reel is a Chris Lythe).

River Kennet nr Newbury 0645 - 1845 Mild, overcast and calm. Some light drizzle early on (despite being forecast to rain all day!) 11ºC. River at normal levels with just a hint of colour - Couldn't ask for more perfect conditions! 8 Chub (5lb 2oz, 4lb 15oz, 4lb 5oz, 3lb 14oz, 3lb 10oz, 3lb 8oz & 2 chublets). 3 Doz Dace - handful of 'good-uns' - best 12oz, 1½Doz Roach, best 2; 1lb0oz & 13oz, ½doz Gudgeon, 4 Perch (all small), 2 Salmon Smolt, 2 Brownies, biggest 8lb 12oz* (!!) , 2 Rainbows, biggest 4lb 8oz. Great end to the season. Chub in fantastic winter condition - a fought really well in the fast water. Trout, (a new PB by some way) took an age to land and I then discovered my camera didn't work Paul was at the other end of fishery and I was more keen to get the magnificent fish back in the river - I would not have been popular with the keeper if that had gone belly up!!! All fish on trotted maggot The AnglersNet Centre Pin performing admirably - will be writing a full review of it this weekend. Spent the last 3 hours with the swim feeder and bread flake in what appeared to be ideal conditions for the roach - but only a pesky rainbow showed up. Paul had perch to 2lb, roach to 1lb 5oz & chub to 4½lb. * 6 weeks ago my PB brownie was 4lb 2oz (a fish I caught in August '97 from the lower Kennet nr Reading) I've now had 3 fish over that mark in the past month! Pic below is of the 4-15 chub - and no that's a leaf on my finger not a slug