Diary of an average angler

Arrival time: 10.00
Weather: Sunny and unseasonably mild but with a strong SW wind
Tackle: 12ft Greys Rova Float, Advanta Discovery centre pin with 6lb line, 4lb bottom & 16 hook. Insert waggler.
Baits: Maggots, worms.
Fish: Roach/Rudd & one Carp

A few days after the start of the close season on the rivers so I went to my local commercial lake. The idea was to catch some roach on maggot or worm and hope that something else might show up.

First surprise was that although arriving quite late I was the only one on the lake. One platform had tackle on it, reserved no doubt for somebody in one of the caravans, and a couple of guys arrived shortly after me. But being first there allowed me to take what I call the 'reed end' swim. It is located at one end of a long reed bed, the other end being what I call the 'reed corner', a swim much fished by me despite losing many carp in the reeds.

The only problem was a fresh SW wind blowing into my face. This made casting tricky and also carried the risk of tackle being blown into the reeds, a fact that cost me a least one hook.

I was trying a new rod/reel combination and perhaps the conditions weren't the best for this, but I managed to get to grips with it after a short while. I did however have one disaster when the line got behind the reel drum and the wind greatly complicated extracting it, by blowing the line all over the place as I tried to unpick a couple of tangles.

As for the fishing, I caught roach/rudd on maggot from the start. Nothing big but good sport. Quite early on I foul-hooked what I suspect was a carp that powered off, only to shed the hook after probably less than a minute with a couple of scales coming back on the hook. I also lost another fish when the hook came away. It was probably also a carp but didn't feel exceptionally heavy so it was difficult to be sure.

I stayed in the swim for around a couple of hours taking around half a dozen roach before deciding to move to the reed corner to get out of the worst of the wind. It felt decidedly warmer in the reed corner and I continued to catch roach at about the same frequency, and of around the same size.

At 2.50pm, ten minutes before I had decided to pack up, the float seemed to move laterally without going under. I tightened and felt something solid. But it didn't rush off, instead it gave a jerking sort of fight. I thought it might be a large perch but after a while it rolled and revealed itself as a common carp.

I was worried about the hook-hold having lost a number of roach but when I finally landed it the hook and maggots were well down its throat. I managed to extract them with a disgorger, they being far too deep for forceps.

At 9¾lb it was a good looking fish, having that lovely bronze colour. So, a really nice way to end the session. In fact with roach/rudd coming fairly frequently it was a good session overall, only spoiled by the wind.