Arrival time: 11.00
Weather: Sunny and mild with no noticeable wind.
Tackle: 12ft Greys Rova Float, Advanta Discovery centre pin with 6lb line, 3.5lb bottom & 16 hook. Insert waggler.
Baits: Maggot & worm.
Fish: Mixed bag of carp, roach & perch

A had a bad day at Rookery Waters last year, on that occasion on the Rook lake, but I decided to give it another try, this time on the Magpie lake. It turned out to be a good decision.

I had fished the Magpie lake before and prefer it to the other lakes on this site as it has more features. Nothing special just a bit more interesting.

I chose a pitch on the island, a spot that didn't have the astroturf matting that seemed to be present on the other pitches. It gave the spot a slightly more natural feel. There were reeds either side. Not the dense beds that one finds at Fields End, for example, but sufficient to provide a feature to fish to.

I had put a few maggots in before tackling up and soon had a bite on my first cast, only for the fish to come off. Not too long after I brought in a small roach. There followed some fiddly bites and after missing many of them I caught a small perch. Not a species known for timid biting so I guess it was their size that led to the nature of the bites rather than any caution on their part.

I landed a couple of carp that had the appearance of crucians but obviously were something different. I later learned that they were F1s, a hybrid form especially popular on commercial fisheries because of their all-year feeding and immunity against a disease that affects the other carp species.

Later I landed what appeared to be a true crucian of 1½lb, which for me was a treat as I have a soft spot for crucians. The odd roach and perch continued to turn up.

Later in the afternoon I started to catch bigger carp. I had lost a fish earlier that I suspected was foul-hooked and then landed another foul-hooked fish of just under 6lb. This was followed by a fairly hooked fish of just over 5lb. These were the biggest fish of the day.

Later I took a number of carp, unweighed, but probably around the 3-4lb mark. Each one provided quite a bit of sport on the 3½lb hook link. Towards the end I was getting a bite a cast. I had been feeding a small amount of maggots regularly and I guess after a while this encouraged the carp to start feeding on them.

Most fish were caught on a bunch of red maggots although I did take one of the F1 carp on worm and also a small perch. I had bought some Drennan pre-tied hooks, the hooks themselves being coloured red for use with red maggots. I'm not sure if this contributed to the bites but the idea seemed good.

It was an enjoyable few hours. The weather was calm and despite there being quite a few people on the lake it remained quiet throughout my stay.