As I didn’t have a complete free day this week I thought I would try a few hours at the little pump pond at Mepal where I’ve previously had some success stalking the carp. It’s not an easy place to fish, which makes any success that much more rewarding.

The conditions were good. The pond was protected from the prevailing wind but a surface drift had taken detritus into the reed corner where I fish. I started with a sliding pre-weighted balsa float, which had worked well on a previous visit. This time, however, it was drifting out of place. I therefore reverted to simple free lining using the weight of the bread flake to cast.

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Despite exploring the edges of the reeds, and actually casting into free pockets within the reeds, initially I didn’t get any takes. Often a fish will take within a few minutes of the bait entering the water. There were, however, signs of fish. Occasional reed movements and slurping, although I couldn’t actually see the fish on the surface. Surprisingly a fish lunged at my flake on one occasion while I was retrieving. This would be unusual behaviour for a carp, but I felt the fish and the water swirled, so it was a decent size. I suppose it could have been a predator snapping at the movement.

After much perseverance, at 18.15, after casting to the near left margin, the line moved across the surface and I struck into a spirited if not large fish. After a bit of a tussle a 4lb 5oz common, that had the look of a 'wildie', was in the net.

The disturbance of landing a fish can kill this swim but there were still reed movements at the far margin, so I continued to cast there. At 19.25, after an inch perfect cast to the edge of the reeds, the line snaked away and I was into a second fish. It went for the reeds and I had to muscle it out. It felt heavier than the first, although not massive, and after a longer battle a nice 8lb mirror was on the bank.

The fish here are in very good condition and don’t seem to show any mouth damage. Perhaps they don’t get caught all that often.

I continued to fish until 20.00 as there were still occasional signs of fish movement, but I think I was being over optimistic.

A good few hours.