I managed to get out to a couple of day ticket waters in Norfolk and Kent last week to catch up with some friends. Two 48 hour trips were planned and I had been looking forward to wetting a line for weeks! It is always nice to get out for a bit of a social after a hard winter, and these venues were ideal to gain some confidence again before getting started on my syndicate water.

Fortunately both sessions went really well and I finished with six fish including three 20’s up to 30lb 8oz.

After finding some fish on the end of the strong south-westerly winds I opted to fish hinged stiff rigs with Covert Chod hooks and Trip Wire hook sections. CC Moore’s new NS1+ pop ups held the hook section up perfectly and I was confident that if I positioned my rigs and baits in the right area I would be in with a good chance of catching.

During the early part of the week temperatures were dropping below freezing overnight. However, building up to the weekend the weather changed and temperatures began to rise. With the mild weather set to continue I was super confident driving up to Norfolk.

Arriving at the lake we got set up in a swim off the back of the south westerly winds. The swim offered a lot of open water and if we needed to we could position baits a long way over on the fresh winds. All was quiet for 24 hours until I chose to reposition my left hand rod further down towards the windward end. Within 20 minutes the rod was bent down and line was spinning from the clutch. I bent into a powerful, spirited fish that turned out to be a pretty 18lb 10oz common. The rest of the session was a blur and we were constantly busy making the most of the small window of opportunity. The session ended with a stunning golden common weighing 30lb 8oz and I was chuffed to get my season underway with such an emphatic start.

Spring has definitely sprung!