Kennet Barbel

[tdrozdow]

Its been a bit quiet out there regarding new threads so I thought I would start one!
I am not solely a Barbel angler but what I do is exclusively on the Kennet and that has been the case for the past 3 seasons. Season 1 was OK, season 2 was much better (I put that down to learning) and season 3 has been ROCK hard. Takes from anything let alone Barbel very few and far between. Anyone else found that?

 

[Steve Appleford]

Do you fish the RDAA sections if so burghfield river where we moor our boat has seen a few coming out

 

[tdrozdow]

Hi steve, no i fish the wasing stretches. I am not fishing for venues at al just wondered if peoplecwere finding it tough going on the kennet or its just my incompetence!

 

[Keith M]

I heard that the Kennet no longer has its vast beds of streamer weed and gravels owing to the amount of abstraction these days and has now started to silt up a bit in places, is this true?

I used to love the river Kennet when I used to fish there back in the 70's and 80's on the Theale, Thatcham, Newbury and Burghfield stretches.

I caught my very first Barbel (5lb 8oz) on the Kennet at Newbury back in 1975 (see pic below).

Keith

 

[barbelboi]

Used to fish all of above - also the Wasing estate, Theale was always looked forward to on the LAA matches back in the 60's. Not fished the Kennet for a couple of years now but the last prolific stretch I remember for barbel was the Burghfield River (RMC/CEMEX days) stretch adjacent to Burghfield lake.

 

[Keith M]

I remember that in the late 70's we once stumbled across part of the Kennet that was in a fairly built up area of Reading with a Chinese fish and Chip shop in the street who's gardens ran down to the river opposite.

I can't remember where it was though; because I have never found it since. We were told that it was a day ticket stretch (although we didn't encounter any bailiffs selling day tickets) and we both caught Barbel there plus some very nice Chub. We only fished that stretch once though as we preffered to fish more remote sections out of town, but it was nice to be able to have some nice fish and Chips while we were catching Barbel and Chub LOL.

Does anyone know of this stretch of the Kennet and whether the Chip shop is still there? I think it was known as the 'Jam Factory stretch' back in those days.

Keith.

 

[barbelboi]

Rings a bell Keith, I used to nip down to various stretches in the evenings with friends and never knew where I was half the time.................

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

It was behind Huntley and Palmers factory in the centre of town.

Now a car park alongside the mai shopping complex.

 

[Chevin]

I remember that in the late 70's we once stumbled across part of the Kennet that was in a fairly built up area of Reading with a Chinese fish and Chip shop in the street who's gardens ran down to the river opposite.

I can't remember where it was though; because I have never found it since. We were told that it was a day ticket stretch (although we didn't encounter any bailiffs selling day tickets) and we both caught Barbel there plus some very nice Chub. We only fished that stretch once though as we preffered to fish more remote sections out of town, but it was nice to be able to have some nice fish and Chips while we were catching Barbel and Chub LOL.

Does anyone know of this stretch of the Kennet and whether the Chip shop is still there? I think it was known as the 'Jam Factory stretch' back in those days.

Keith.

I never found that place at all, but I used to fish a stretch at Theale on the opposite bank from what I think was the Rolls Razor factory which was owned by a guy called John Bloom. I used to fish quite near to a canal swim that was known as The Pillbox Swim. I used to love rolling a ledger round so that my bait was below those long beds of weed and wait for the tap, tap, pull bite that the barbel there always gave. I fished one swim mainly and loved to use the Wallis Wizard rod I had. Whenever possible I always touch ledgered and those bites just made things so easy. Two taps to warn me and the instant the put started I was already striking. I used to get some quite nice chub there too.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Yes the pillbox is still there and so are the chub and the odd barbel.

Its at the bottom of lower benyons where the canal and river meet.

Fred J Taylor wrote about the swim and had his best barbel day ever there.

Further upstream is another famous swim...the Wall.

Graham

 

[tdrozdow]

Interesting stuff thanks guys. Maybe I am fishing the wrong bits of the Kennet! Last season I seemed to get 3 or 4 chances a visit (usually a 24 hour visit I would add) and most of the fish came in the day. This year its been nearer 1 chance a visit and most of those after dark. I am starting to wonder if the fish have dropped down into the canal section and even thinking about wetting a line there but the word "canal" does not sit easily with the word "barbel" to me albeit I know its a merged canal / river section. As a general question, anyone reckon that "canalised" sections of the Kennet are worth a go (I am not seeking details of course)?

 

[tdrozdow]

Thanks for the interesting responses guys. Last year I was finding that in a typical visit (usually 24 hours) I would get 3-4 chances and mostly in the day. This year its 1 chance on average and mostly in the dark so I am wondering if they have dropped down into the canal section and I notice some mentions of the canal sections in the responses. I have never fished the canal section as I cant reconcile that with the word "barbel" although I recognise its a merged river/canal section. Anyone feel that such sections in general are worth a go on the Kennet? Not looking for specifics just a general view really. Cheers all.

---------- Post added at 02:46 ---------- Previous post was at 02:34 ----------

Hmmm, I thought my reply had gone AWOL so did it again hence there seem to be 2 very similar posts from me !!!!!

 

[Chevin]

Yes the pillbox is still there and so are the chub and the odd barbel.

Its at the bottom of lower benyons where the canal and river meet.

Fred J Taylor wrote about the swim and had his best barbel day ever there.

Further upstream is another famous swim...the Wall.

Graham

Yeah, when I went there I generally traveled with Fred and Ken and some times Joe as well. They would often fish in the canal, but I preferred the river - especially at night time. I suppose I caught more barbel in a session there than anywhere else I fished for them. None were very big but but they were hard fighters and a lot of fun to catch.