River Kennet Upper Benyons June 2024

 The River Kennet has had problems over the last few decades so much so that the club describes this stretch as 'In transition' however I was willing to give it a go, as there was worse places to spend another gloriously sunny June day fishing. 

This river has fond memories for me as the first time I had fished the Kennet I caught a 20lb 2oz pike on grayling gear whilst on a trout beat with Dad, this was a few decades back but I never tire of seeing this fish.

That was further upstream and a long time ago now so I was in no illusions that today would be harder, my expectations were to whittle out a few dace or perhaps a grayling as they had seen some stocking, although I thought bleak or minnow could be a problem, I was about to find out, one thing for sure was the river looked beautiful and the surroundings were great, I was eager to set up and get started..

I parked up the top and tried several swims around the car park without getting a bite, what struck me was how fast the river was, not like the Severn or Teme but a heavy sort of water pushing through which made it feel different, the river was also much deeper than I thought it would be. My enthusiasm was starting to wane into the second hour, so much so I imagined a fish on briefly at one stage although It could have been weed, we've all done that, a sign usually that a pause for lunch is needed.

After eating only half my food I moved the car downstream eager to crack on, rod still made up in the back but broken into sections, the line in between making my float bounce like a marionette, my landing net hanging off the head rest of the passenger side like some sort of net hoodie. I was the epitome of disorganization desperate to catch a fish and by now anything would do.

I worked my way upstream trotting different spots looking for a bite, searching for signs of fish, I would have expected some bleak or minnow by now, or see some swirls but nothing. In contrast the flood meadows were alive with bird life, lapwings were making a noise in the middle as a kestrel dared hover above, cuckoos and pheasants added to the audio, but what I needed to hear was the splash of a fish.

Every spot I tried looked amazing including one run under some trees where it was shallower, here the float finally goes under and it's not bottom, some good resistance is felt and finally after four hours a fish is on, I dare not lose it, a typically crazy scrap sees a trout of around 2lb in the net and a blank avoided. The following trot through brings another bite but this time it's a small graying in this little hotspot.

Two in two was the reward for all that walking and suddenly the river and meadows were a more glorious place to be, it was beautiful after all, a kingfisher came by as if to say I had been doing it wrong all along, maybe I was however I've done fine on the other 100 rivers I've fished, you can tell when you've fished that many when something isn't right.

I had the whole stretch to myself and could see no one, not even walkers, hear no one except all those birds. No more bites came from the hotspot that was anything but and I took time to finish my half eaten lunch, the brief period of action compensated for the next couple of hours which once more were also bite less as I worked my way back to the car.

It was still an enjoyable day but I did wonder where all the dace and chub were as I finished by the car park. I was just about to pack up when my bait was attacked on the surface whilst retrieving the float, there's only one fish doing that I thought and next trot down saw the culprit soon in the net, the third and final fish of the day, a trout of around a pound which made for a nice photo as I held it upright by the tail to recover on the gravels.

The small trout didn't take long to ghost into the deeps whence it came, drifting across the shallows that should be alive with small fish or fry. The fishing club Reading and District AA are proactive in addressing issues this river is suffering and have even started their own fish hatchery, so hopefully the future can be brighter as the River Kennet sure has some wonderful scenery to be wetting a line within.