Keeping all three rods in the water at the same time was short lived throughout the session with at least one going consistently and at times all three were out of the water with multiple fish sat in his nets awaiting photos. At one point he had to just let the fish go so he use his net to land another one he was playing.

It really was scenes you expect from a post spawn feed up, but in the midst of winter it is some going! Amongst them were some lovely gems, exhibiting the stock that are coming through on a lake that not so long-ago, multiple bites were tricky to come by.

We caught up with Tom, once he’d been to see his personal sports massager for arm ache:

“I know from previous winters that Hardwick / Smiths is always good for a few bites, particularly in peg 6 and as luck would have it, I managed to get in there after a friend was leaving. With the conditions the way they were I just knew if I fished it right that a few could be on the cards. I went in with a very light baiting approach, I just put out four spombs of mulched up Manilla, corn and Cloudy Manilla Liquid to start with. Over the top, I fished a few maggots as hookbaits.

“As I love to do, I fished my three rods extremely tight, the action during the session was like nothing I have ever experienced before, topping up the spot after half a dozen or so bites was all it took to keep them coming back for more! I ended my two-night session with a total of 54 bites, landing 52 of them with 23 over 20lb and 3 over 30lb, topped by an epic 34lb 14oz mirror! It was a winter session I won’t forget for a long time!”