Ben revealed:

“Unfortunately, I have had limited time at my disposal this autumn due to a house move. But, when the chance presented itself to go fishing, I was keen to make the most of it and planned a couple of nights at Embryo’s Stanton syndicate.

“On arriving at the lake, I set up in an area where I knew the fish had been holding up. I baited with crushed & chopped Manilla, which had been soaking for a couple of days in the Cloudy Manilla Liquid and Pure Hemp Oil. My choice of hookbait was cut down Manilla White One’s fish on Ronnie rigs.

“Although nothing happened for the first 24hrs, I had seen fish in the area and the following night was due to bring a drop in air pressure, a new wind and far milder overnight temperatures. After a top up of bait, I went to bed confident of a bite.

“Sure enough, just on first light one of the rods was away and I hooked into what was clearly a good fish, after a few nervous moments with the fish kiting along a snaggy margin on a short line, it was in the net.

“What a fish it turned out to be too, I was absolutely blown away by its impressive autumn colours. On the scales it went 30lb 6oz. It’s always a privilege to bank one of Stanton’s original stock, whatever the size, so as you can imagine I went home very happy!”