The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Afternoon all
A rather splendid day at Barton Court on friday with the usual suspects of dace, chub, perch, grayling and trout all gracing the net.What i did not expect though was a carp .It ran me ragged for about ten minutes on the light trotting tackle i was using before revealing itself as a long and lean common carp of about eight pounds.Where on earth did it come from?..have had a few modest carp from downstream of Thatcham but never one from this far upstream.

Having said that though at one time there was a lonesome golden orfe that used to frequent a certain part of the fishery for years.How he managed to avoid all the pike baffled me as he stood out like a hi viz jacket.

Well done sir! I have fond memories of my only visit to Barton Court. Nice grayling, trout and Perch. And a special 21/2 perch on a fake plastic maggot in one of the side streams.

Red Creel wrote:Where on earth did it come from?

Isn't there a lake which is part of the fishery? If it's close enough to the river to be "connected" when there's a good flood on, might carp be able to "bridge the gap"?

I need to consult my "Clifford", but I think there's a long history of carp in the Kennet?

And there are now catfish in the Kennet nearer Reading!!!

farliesbirthday wrote:I need to consult my "Clifford", but I think there's a long history of carp in the Kennet?

Didn't Chris Yates catch a carp from the Kennet in an APFA episode - or was that a different river?

Good catch Red Creel :thumb: - in fact excellent. If you had been told there was one carp in a stretch of river and you tried to catch it you probably never would.

There is a lake a Barton but its a long way from the river but further upstream at Avington the canal and the river are very close to each other.
Avington is very exclusive and they seldon allow people to course fish there however the head bailiff is goods friends with my brother and we all share the same surname "Culley" no relation though. We have opened negotiations to allow a few keen grayling anglers to fish there over xmas. Will keep you all informed.
Bumble

Julian wrote:Didn't Chris Yates catch a carp from the Kennet in an APFA episode - or was that a different river?

If it's the one I'm thinking of, I'm pretty sure that was the Hampshire Avon. :think:

davyr wrote:

Julian wrote:Didn't Chris Yates catch a carp from the Kennet in an APFA episode - or was that a different river?

If it's the one I'm thinking of, I'm pretty sure that was the Hampshire Avon. :think:

Yes it was. Possibly the Hale Park stretch (they certainly meet up on Hale Bridge at the end) or it may have been fimed upstream at Longford and only the final scene was filmed at Hale; I certainly didn't recognise the stretch Yates was fishing as being at Hale.