After losing so many fish in the reed swim and, quite frankly, getting a bit paranoid over the carp, I decided to have a change of approach. Being first on the lake I went for a swim on the west bank that has the benefit of being sheltered from prevailing westerly winds, the forecast for the day being for quite fresh westerlies.

At 07.00 conditions were good; clear blue sky with the westerly being not much more than a breeze. By midday the wind had become quite strong and the sun gave way to white cloud. I was fortunately quite sheltered but others on the lake were commenting on the freshness of the wind.

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Although I have fished the swim before, it was a couple of years ago and my general approach has since changed. There are light reeds to the right, and I fed the near edge of the reeds with feed pellets, sweet corn and rolled-up bread balls. I fished a waggler with flake and sweet corn but nothing happened for a while. At one point I looked longingly at my favourite reed swim, but I resisted and stuck it out. This was to be a day when I would fish for what came, and if carp happened along, then so much the better.

At 08.00 the duck was broken with a crucian carp of about ½lb taken on sweet corn. This kicked off a session up to 10.00 during which I caught 7 crucians, all bar the first on bread flake. The best was 1¾lb.

At 10.15 a tench of 2½lb came to the net, also taken on flake. Four more crucians followed, and a few roach, the best crucian again weighing 1¾lb, the roach being up to about 6oz at a guess.

At about 13.30 I decided to change tactics and cast a free-lined piece of luncheon meat along the reeds to the right. The reed bed is not thick so there is less risk of the fish going into it than is the case at the reed swim. The tactic produced almost immediate results as the line started to move across the surface and I tightened onto a 5lb 2oz mirror that gave good account of itself. Another cast along the reeds produced a 1¾lb barbel that, weight for weight, fought as hard as any carp.

Reverting to float-fished flake, just before 15.00 a firm bite resulted in a good tussle, ending with a nice 9lb mirror in the net.

Having rested the reed margin I then tried free-lined luncheon meat again. The first 'take' was a roach of about 6oz. I then dropped a bit of meat just at the end of the reeds, almost under the rod top, and after a short while the line moved and I struck into a 6lb 12oz common that really fought well.

At around 18.00 the carp started to feed at the surface. I tried free-lined crust and pellet but the fish seemed to be able to distinguish the bait from the free offerings and for about two hours I got nowhere. I then managed to hook a fish that soon slipped the hook. I kept persevering and finally another fish took a pellet and this was a BIG one. I played it for what must have been 15 minutes confident that it was well hooked. However, my confidence was misplaced as on yet another powerful run the hook hold gave and I was left utterly despondent. I never even got it high enough in the water to guess its size, but it could have been my first 20; who knows. Consolation prize was an 8lb mirror that took a pellet soon after I lost the big one.