Sam continues:

“Last month, the guys from Carpinsula were kind enough to send me an invite for a short session on their lovely complex. The complex itself contains multiple small lakes, each stocked with carp that all went in years ago as babies and have now grown into a great stock of good-looking carp.

“Normally my fishing is mainly based on public lakes and sometimes syndicates but seeing the way the owner runs this complex and how much respect and love goes out to his carp, I was more than happy to have received an invitation to fish there.

“With everything sorted and packed, I was soon on the road and heading to the lake. Upon arrival, I was buzzing and once on the chosen lake, I started to search for a few areas that seemed prime for a bite for the time of year.

“After a good investigation with the boat, I found some snags where I thought the fish could easily hide away in, during the harsh conditions. I also found a few clean spots right against some long reed beds.

“During the first day of the session, the temperature only stayed just above freezing point, but the next day the weather forecast had predicted frost and even some melting snow, so conditions didn’t seem perfect to say the least.

“The session started off slow, but late in the afternoon of the first day I was lucky enough to catch a long and very wide 37lb mirror. From then on things really took off, and in a short period of time, I managed to catch some other really nice mirrors. They tipped the scales to, 27lb 5oz, 27lb 12oz and 29lb 1oz, a lovely trio of fish.

“The tactic I chose to use during the trip, was to fish Peach and Pepper pop-ups over a very lightly baited area, the mix I used contained Bloodworm Pellets, sweetcorn, hemp and maggots. It really seemed to be the right choice, all in all, it was a lovely winter session and a great way to start the new season!”