Around Christmas time I bumped into an old fishing friend, Lewis at my local gym. We had the usual catch up and eventually got onto the subject of where we’d been angling over the last few years what we’d caught etc. Lewis and his Dad Phil had spent a couple of seasons angling on a stunning historic 18th century estate lake of around 15 acres that was gin clear, relatively shallow and weedy (a bit of me), containing some mega looking carp both old and young alike.

BCR Riggas

Phil had a particularly good season catching a number of carp including several of the lakes biggest residents using his tactical bait and wait approach. This conversation got me really fired up, as my fishing for a while had become a bit samey and I subtly suggested that I’d love a chance to angle on pastures new. Well the boys did me proud and got me an application form and in turn a season ticket, happy days!

On my first ever recce trip, I actually witnessed and pictured the lakes biggest common for a member called Edwin who had been after this particular fish for a while, so I was made up for him and in turn ensured I got him some decent pictures. I said from the outset I wasn’t going to take this water too seriously, rather use it for a bit of escapism and fun with my son.

Ultra Skin

I decided that I would fish my allocated mid-week overnighter on my local syndicate water and do what Saturday’s I could with my son Stanley. I cut back the kit to ensure we could stay mobile and react quickly to any opportunities that presented themselves; ensuring rigs were tied with hookbaits already attached so not to waste anytime when the first light shows would take place. I decided to opt for a boilie only approach, which I felt lended itself perfectly for what I was trying to achieve.

The lake itself is fairly narrow and lengthy in the main part, dog legging away in the distance connecting into intricate little bays and channels with islands and foot bridges spanning across the lake in places. Combine this with a host of old monuments and ruins, coupled with a manicured landscape certainly helped capture the imagination. I can honestly say this place is very unique, extremely picturesque and a slice of angling heaven.

The first trip was a success and we landed 3 carp and a tench. The next trip which was exactly a week later turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable one, and we had a dozen carp to 27lb with the biggest being a nice old original common. It was apparent the tactics, rigs and fishmeal boilie (Hyrda-K) were clearly working. The rig was my go to rig at the moment – a Ronnie Rig incorporating a size 5 Rigga BCR, an Ultra Skin boom section fished on a helicopter arrangement with light 1.5oz leads.

On that particular day I had another take while I was playing the 27lber, so Stanley took the other rod and with a little guidance managed to land a stunning perfectly formed linear mirror after a very spirited fight where the fish stripped yards of line on every run. This will be a session I’ll never forget and my wife and daughter even popped down briefly which was nice, especially as they brought refreshments.

On that particular day I had another take while I was playing the 27lber, so Stanley took the other rod and with a little guidance managed to land a stunning perfectly formed linear mirror after a very spirited fight where the fish stripped yards of line on every run. This will be a session I’ll never forget and my wife and daughter even popped down briefly which was nice, especially as they brought refreshments.

Over the course of the next couple of months I really enjoyed my fishing over there, catching quite a few off the top along the way too. I will say there has been a couple of trips where I’ve had to graft to get a bite, moving several times if the action was slow or if the weather hadn’t been favourable. All in all it’s been very enjoyable teaching my son the outdoor life and catching some real stunners, including one that was potentially sixty plus years old. I’ve not been over there for a while as I’ve started to fish another water but I fully intend to have another dabble in the very near future.