Jack said:

“During the summer, from August onwards, I noticed the stock of carp in the 30-acre gravel pit had spread out; I would often see fish showing and cruising all over the lake. I knew that if I decided to follow and chase the fish, I would end up pushing them around and potentially away from me. For the next few weeks, I decided to focus on one particular area of the lake. The swim commanded an expanse of open water next to a large weedbed in the central area of the lake. Another bonus was the swim I had opted to fish is often overlooked, meaning I had a very good chance of getting back into it regularly. In terms of bait, I went in heavily with Manilla in 12 and 16mm, sweetcorn and pellets.

“My first session of August was a last-minute session, I arrived at the lake just as the sun was dropping, the light was fading fast, and I knew I needed to get the rods sorted before it was too dark. I was soon casting fresh rigs and bait to a lovely smooth area next to the large weedbed, perfect for a couple of rods. With the rods positioned, it was now a waiting game.

“After a good night’s sleep, I was awoken by a one toner and after a long, hard battle in and out of weedbeds the fish was finally in the net. An amazing 33lb linear was the result of a great first night in the swim. With the fish retuned, the rod went back out on the spot and was left for the rest of bite time. It is important to mention, I only baited up once a day, in the afternoon/evening, with bite time between first light and 11am. During bite time everything was left alone, I didn’t reel in for a walk or to refresh hookbaits and I certainly wouldn’t bait up. Through trial and error, I have worked out disturbance can delay bites and even push fish away all together.

“That morning, sat on my bedchair watching over a stunning lake with a coffee in hand, I noticed a small number of fish show at around 115-120 yards. Once bite time was over, I decided to have a lead around in search of a smooth area in any depth of water. I found a smooth area between two mussel beds in the area they were showing. Once the bait and rigs were on the spots it was time to sit back and relax and I was confident in the areas I had found. The following morning, the new spot produced the goods, a stunning 26lb scaly mirror. I packed up feeling confident for more, as soon as I could get back down, the sooner I could land more of these epic carp.

“I successfully managed to fish the same swim for the following three weeks, for a 48-hour session once a week. In total, I managed seven-fish including a dark, dipped back 38lb mirror, a 38lb linear, a dark 36lb mirror, a 33lb linear, a stunning scaley mirror and two smaller commons. After this flurry of action, I was unable to return for a number of weeks and once I did the weather had turned and along with it, the fishing.

“We were well and truly into autumn, the leaves showing mesmerising colours and daylight hours reduced with temperatures cooling. I returned to the swim I had been successful in but I didn’t last long in there as I soon noticed a large number of fish show in a swim around 500 yards away. I was soon following them, I didn’t have long, just a quick night before work in the morning. I got in position and got my head down for the night with some anticipation. Before work, one of the rods positioned at the base of a bar was away and after a long heavy fight at 4am, I was soon staring at a very large carp in the bottom of my landing net. At over 44lb it was the biggest fish of the year, a stunning long fish that put me in a great mood for work.

“I soon returned for one more go, at the time the weather had turned stagnate and overcast with zero wind or rain, high pressure and consistent temperatures. I had seen very little activity and decided to fish a swim that is known for having good autumn/winter form. From the bite at 4am the previous week, I thought that bite times might be changing and my suspicions were confirmed when I had a bite at around 6pm only an hour after putting 20 Spombs of bait out. The fish turned out to be an incredible 36lb fully scaled mirror, the biggest fully in the lake and one of the targets ticked off the list. I also managed another mirror of 26lb the following afternoon.

“Looking back at the spring, summer and autumn, I am incredibly pleased with the results, with over 25 fish in roughly the same amount of nights. I have various plans, over the winter but I look forward to renewing my ticket and hopefully catching a few more of the lakes stunning residents.”