I have not been able to go fishing for the past two months due to my Father being poorly, but now he is on the road to recovery and I was keen to get back out fishing. I planned a short session and arrived at my syndicate water before first light and took numerous laps around the lake. The venue was fairly busy with anglers, so I just watched for signs of fish and I didn’t have to wait for long for a carp pushed its head out in an area that produced a few fish for me earlier in the year. That was more than enough to go on, so I quickly retrieved the tackle from my car and set up.

Using a set of Gardner Wrappers and my note pad I was able to measure out the wraps that would put me bang on a clear hard spot. I had already tied my rigs, so it was a simple case of balancing out my hook baits. I decided to use a monster tiger nut on one rod, which was drilled out and replaced with a small piece of cork. On my other rod I decided to use a pop-up, so it was the simple case of carving down the sides until I got the desired sink rate.

Both the rods were cast out with Micromesh PVA bags of dried out Frenzied mixed particles to the desired spot. I then proceeded to spod a whole jar of mixed particles and a kilo of Monster Tiger Nut dumbells over the area. Once everything was sorted I made a cuppa and watched the water into darkness, before deciding to retire setting my alarm for 1am as I thought the fish might be showing late at night.

At 1am my phone alarm woke me up, so I made a tea and stood out watching and listening for any signs. I heard very little, so I decided to retire at 2.15am and get my head down. I was woken suddenly at around 4:50am to a fast take on my left hand rod. I rushed out and picked up the rod, which took on its full battle curve. I played the fish for around 15 minutes before leading her straight into my waiting net. I recognised the fish as Baby Scaley and it weighed 31lb 6oz. It was a fish I had not caught and after a few quick pictures she was slipped back to fight another day and I packed up and left for home.