I recently enjoyed a great trip to the Blue Pool at Burghfield.  During the session forty eight hour session I managed to land eight fish, including seven twenties.  The jewel in the crown was a lovely mirror which tipped the scales at 40lb 8oz.

I was accompanied by young gun and fellow Gardner Tackle team member Brandon Butler.  Brandon worked hard and didn’t give in despite the carp not being in great numbers at his end of the lake and was rewarded with a very respectable upper twenty pound mirror for his efforts.

My tactics were very different to Brandon’s and after a good look around the lake, climbing various trees and creeping around in the marginal growth, I managed to locate a few fish milling around on the back of the wind.  One rod was accurately placed along a marginal treeline, an area that the fish could be seen using with regularity.  The hookbait was cast to the bottom of the marginal shelf, while the second rod was fished long towards the far margin.  I baited both spots with a mixture of a test fish meal bait and I-Bait (both chopped and whole) from ABS.

Rig choice consisted of my faithful hinged stiff rigs, tied using a 25lb Ultra Skin boom section, 20lb Trip wire and my favourite size 6 Covert Incizors.

The action was fairly constant throughout the session and when it did go quiet, I primed a few areas in the edge ready for some stalking opportunities.

I finished the session on a high and the venues biggest resident graced my net during the early hours of the morning before we were due to leave.  It tipped the scales at 40lb 8oz and made from a superb end to what was a very enjoyable session.

It was a trip to remember and a good team building exercise for Brandon and I. I have high expectations for him and I’m sure he’ll go on to do some great things because of his keen, dedicated outlook in angling, he has his own mind and has great ethos already at such a young age.