The previous evening had whetted my appetite so I returned to the Pump Pond around 12.30. The main bank of the lake was fully occupied with the anglers seeming to be after carp by casting to the opposite bank. There was a youngster with them who spent a lot of time running up and down the bank, with foot falls that seemed more reminiscent of an elephant than a child. There was in fact a lot of movement; hardly ideal conditions for margin fishing.

The weather was also a bit iffy. Rain was forecast and the wind was quite difficult even though the lake is reasonably sheltered. I had the small piece of quill on the line as an indicator but the wind was catching this and causing the bait to drag.

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I persevered but there was no early run on this occasion. I had one run after a couple of hours but it must have dropped the bait, as I didn't connect. The rain was forecast for around three o'clock but despite a few plops it held off, and just after four I finally got a run on flake. I had placed the bait near my bank rather than casting to the opposite bank, as I normally do. The downside of this was that the fish was near the refuge of the reeds, and that's where it went!

At this point the anglers on the other bank took interest, informing me that I would lose the fish. Undaunted I kept its head up and after a few scary moments when it got in the reeds, I finally steered it into open water. Unfortunately as I was bringing it in, it made a dive for the reeds on the right of me and managed to entwine itself around one. It was, however, just within netting range (with a bit of a stretch, prompting one chap to warn me about getting my feet wet) and after a couple of failed attempts I got it in the net. I had to break the line to detach the fish from the reed stem.

It was a beautiful common of 7lb 3oz. The fish in this lake are in super condition and, as I've mentioned before, don't exhibit the mouth damage that I've seen on some fish at Fields End.

After this things understandably went quiet and just before six the forecast rain arrived, so I packed up. This is the fourth visit to the Pump Pond and I have yet to blank. Not bad for what I think is a fairly difficult water. Of the anglers opposite I saw only one catch fish. He had two carp and one seemed to be a large fish. He was fishing the far bank; usual carp layout, multiple rods, bite alarms and all that stuff. Probably on boilies judging by the amount of catapulting taking place.