Just back from a thursday night session on a new water im targeting and had a result with this 16.8 mirror also had two small commons on the sc25 had a realy tough night gale force winds seem to follow me around the final straw was at 4.00am when it ripped my brolly up i just threw all the gear in the car and went off to work anyways this fish is definatly not the biggest in the world but on the water im targeting getting on the fish is the hardest thing and this fish was a real bonus.

easter bank holiday

Decided to fish easter bank holiday with my son,finished work at 12.00pm on thursday and rushed home with great urge to pick my son up who is a keen carp fisherman at 10 years old,he to like me had been looking forward to spending the weekend on our regular venue although it had given a bad forcast i thought we would chance it and hope for the best.The 2 half hour journey seemed like about 10hours as i was eager to get to the lake after working solid for the last few weeks i was due a good fix of fishing,we arrived there my mate and his lad were set up the wind was mental gale force making white horses on the lake i looked at the sky and dark clouds started to drift towards us i said to my mate ill have to get set up quick as it looks like rain,so rushing like mad with the barrow full of gear me and my lad motered to a corner of the lake we had had good luck on before.I pulled up the brollies with some struggle and managed to get them pegged down in the strong wind,i fired the marker out and found the clear spot that i fished to last year and had some good fish off one rod was cast to this baited with sc25 and the other was dropped in the margin under the overhanging tree this was baited with small pro fish barrells that i am testing for tails up,my lad baited his with the pro fish barrells and cast his to the right hand side of me and catapulted a few free offerings over the top.We had just got in the brollies and the kettle was on i could see my mate jumping with fist clenched in the air,then over the walkie talkie came the shout"Ive only gone and got one"that was it my camera was out and the rods reeled in and we ran round to see what hed landed it was a large common at 25lb great angling for the conditions the snaps were taken and hand were shook my lad was buzzing at seeing such agreat fish i then helped my mate to lower her back into the lake and she waddled of to get bigger for my turn ha ha.By now the rain had started and it was time to get under the brollies for some scran after a couple of hands of cards and my lad hads cleaned my out of all the loose change i had in my pocket it was time to turn in i gave my lad my thermal bed chair cover and he snuggled down under it in his sleeping bag,i lay there watching the lake as it started to get dark the wind was strong getting stronger then all of a sudden hail stones i franticly kept watch on my lad and was starting to get a bit concerned but he was flat out oblivious to what was happening my mate phoned me up to see if i was ok he said his bivvy was starting to lift we had a laugh we must be mad this went on all night waves coming over the peg and full force storm by morning i hadnt slept a wink my lad woke up oblivious to what had gone on in the night the only consulation was my mates lad had picked up a 24lb mirror good angling but with branches snapping off over our heads this was no place for my lad i counted my losses and packed up for home when will the carp gods give me a break oh well battle on. TIGHT LINES

Ive just finished reading Mickey Grays book "A merry olde dance" and have to say its been one of the most enjoyable reads ive read for a long time from cover to cover its hilarious but yet has some great tips and methods hidden within its text,the way Mickey puts over his stories is superb with a tongue in cheek attitude is brilliant,but on the serious side this man has caught some classic fish from some very hard waters from yatley to wellington country park Mickey shows how trying to fit family and work life into your fishing can be hard work and realy test you to the limits,but if you stick at it the rewards can be good this book has been an insperation to me and i would strongly recommend it.

start of my 2008 campaign

Over the last few weeks ive been doing a couple of overnighters as my time on the bank is restricted due to work but i have to try and fit my plans for the year around work even if this means arriving at the lake late at night and leaving in the early hours of the morning anyways the baits going in and thats all that counts at this time of year so ill let you know what happens.