Painting the external woodwork of the house and a week's holiday contrived to keep me away from Fields End during September, but I managed to fit a trip in early in October. I have never fished the lake so late in the year, and what I soon found out was that my 'summer' tactics didn't work too well.

The day started promisingly in that the lake was calm and 'inviting'.

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However, I struggled having missed a few early pulls. A small carp was landed after about an hour, but that was basically it and the next fish was not until 4.05 in the afternoon. When first hooked I thought it was a really good fish, but after taking quite a while to get it near the bank I saw it was foul-hooked in the pectoral fin. It weighed in at 8¾lb but I never feel that a foul-hooked fish counts. What it did show that although I couldn't get the fish to feed they were in the swim.

Other people were catching but they were fishing feeders further into the lake. I spoke to one chap who caught a 12lb fish on single maggot on a second rod that he was using to catch small perch in the margins, so perhaps it wasn't the margin fishing that was ineffective but the choice of bait. I was using bread flake or luncheon meat. Something to bear in mind for next time.