My spot on the East bank a couple along from the reed end was again free but not as inviting as on recent visits. A westerly wind was blowing in my face and it had a chill to it. It also made free-lining virtually impossible as I couldn't watch for line movement. I tried the free line approach in the margin for about an hour but didn't detect any positive runs, the bait invariably being nibbled away by smaller fish.

I decided to swap to my match rod and float fish the margin. I got bites, mostly unhittable, but when I did connect they were roach, and small roach at that. I persevered but couldn't help wondering why I didn't connect with a crucian carp, or a tench even. A tench or two used to be almost a sure bet at this lake but they seem to have disappeared. As for the crucians, I think that the roach just beat them to the bait.

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It was 17.00 before I caught my first carp. I had changed from the right margin to the reeds on my left and after a slower more positive bite I connected with a carp the tore off into the the lake. I was still on my match rod so needed to take it easy. It was a nicely coloured mirror of just over 7½lb (photo).

This was the cue to go back to my compact float rod with heavier line. Free-lining to these reeds was just about doable as they were only a few feet from the bank and the surface wasn't as disturbed by the wind. It wasn't long before I was into another fish but after a couple of minutes the hook came away. Nevertheless, at 17.35 I connected with another fish that took ages to get in. It was just under 10lb (photo) but regrettably was foul-hooked in the side.

I then lost a fish with a line breakage just after I connected. I think the line might have got caught around the back of the reel spool, a problem I was having as the wind caught the line after each cast. The clutch was properly set so I can't think why else the break occurred.

At 18.45, after another difficult battle, I found that a 5lb fish had also been foul-hooked in the side. Foul-hooking seems to be a risk with free-lining and I think in future I might add a small indicator float when conditions aren't ideal.

I had planned to pack up at 19.00 but had one last cast and was rewarded with another fish. It fought very hard and I expected a 10lb+ fish to come to the net. In fact it was a fairly-hooked leather of 7¾lb (photo).

It had been a tough day. I donned my coat midway through the afternoon because of the wind chill and I had to work very hard for the fish I caught. The fishing gods certainly weren't going to make my 100th visit to Fields End memorable for all the right reasons! But that's fishing.