A bright sunny day with no wind so I went down to Mickey Mouse a bit earlier. For a Bank Holiday Monday it wasn’t that busy, but there was someone at Peg 19 where I had fished on previous days.

I slotted in to Peg 21, the spot where the chap on Saturday had had such a good day. I tried shallow-fished flake casting to the edge of the willow trees by the island, a cast of only about ten yards.

I got a take every cast but couldn’t hit them. I managed after a while to hook a couple of small carp. I therefore changed tack and fished to a lily bed close to the near margin. I got some fiddly bites on luncheon meat and another small carp.

By this stage the family that was at Peg 19 had left, so I moved there.

Almost first cast I got a 4½lb common, which made be feel good. Things then went downhill. I lost a couple of fish because the hook-hold failed and missed a lot of bites even though they were clear ‘sinkers’.

About 19.00 I managed to get a 1½lb common to the bank but then lost another three fish to failed hook-hold. I really don’t understand why, although a scale came back on the hook from one of the better fish, indicating a foul-hook. Perhaps the others were also foul-hooked. What was a bit galling, was that there was a young lad on the opposite bank who landed three good-looking carp, which he just hauled in. By rights he should have pulled out of those fish, whereas I was carefully playing fish that just came off. No justice!

I had a small tench of about 6oz before losing yet another fish just prior to packing up at 20.00.