Wes revealed:

“For years I’d seen pictures of a specific carp in Essex called Bulldozer; a really unique carp with a big droopy tail and huge frame that resided in a lake called Golden Gates. The lake is around 10 acres in size with a long island that runs through the middle of it. There’s a good stock of carp, a lot of the carp with several absolute belters amongst them. Thankfully I managed to get a ticket through my old mate, Jonny Miller, who I owe a lot to in terms of venues he has got me on!

“I fished quite hard that first summer but with Covid lurking around, I found the lake to be busier than normal. I caught a lot of fish from one of the open ends of the lake, including a really rare one known as The Silver. All of these fish were caught just chipping away with single Mulbz pop-ups or tigers over a small amount of particles.

“Winter was fast approaching, and bites started to slow up, then unfortunately at the end of December we obviously went into another lockdown and the day only rule was enforced. As the lake was in Essex it was difficult for me to do days, as I had work commitments and I could only do nights between it.  I pulled off until we could start doing nights again.

“From the 29th March the days only ban was lifted and we could start doing nights again, so I was there like a shot. On a walk around there was a swim called Front Bay that was free. It was situated in a middle of a channel down behind the island and I could see that the fish were using the far margin and showing themselves frequently.

“I dropped into the swim for my first couple of nights back as there was little else to go on. I continued as before and went in with the single pop-up approach and yet, despite the fish showing on me all session, I come away empty handed.

“The next night I was down, I managed to get back in the same swim and decided to try and give them a little bit of Manilla Active. This went down a treat as that night I landed seven carp! I carried on fishing the swim, catching very well from it over the next two sessions. I had two nights fishing left before it closed for a month and we had to re-join. My usual Thursday night arrived and I was buzzing to get back in the front bay! With the rods back out on the spots and a few pouches of bait on each rod, I was back on the dance floor!

“I had a bite in the first hour resulting in a nice twenty-pounder, and at first light the following day, I got another take and after a short battle, slipped my prize into the net. Peering into the mesh, I could see I had the one everyone was after, The Bulldozer, all 41lb 8oz of her. As luck would have it, I was due to pay my renewal money the next day, but that didn’t happen as I had caught what I wanted at the final whistle! In total, I had 16 carp in six nights fishing on my return from lockdown, it was the best end to a season I’ve had in 32 years of carp fishing and one I won’t be beating in a long time.”