Tom told Sticky:

“With the ever-changing and very wet spring we had, it was a relief to finally have some consistent weather, but with this came consistent heat. Unfortunately, my current campaign water went into spawning mode, and this meant moving to pastures new for a few months, as the owner shuts the lake every year for almost two months.

“Arriving at the backup lake, I found it had fished very hard all spring, and for that reason, a few of the larger residents hadn’t been caught; great for me, I thought and plodded my way round, looking for signs. It was obvious the carp were being very cagey, but I found a small group in close along some lily pads. I decided to target this area to start with and to keep the bait going after each bite in an effort to try and concentrate on this area for a few weeks to bide my time for the syndicate to reopen.

“I fished big beds of bait utilising the Legacy test bait and The Krill in mixed sizes, mainly baiting with a stick or catapult when possible. On the business end, I used match-the-hatch Krill on Crimp Link hinges over the top, finished off with size 4 & 5 OE straight points. I had to use beefed up gear on this cray-infested pit, opting for 40lb SBX for mid-range and 25lb SBX for when extra range was needed.

“Over the next few weeks, it became obvious that the carp were very flighty, and after five bites out of the area, it dried up. So, a plan was hatched to just follow them around as much as I could, as they were not happy in one area for long periods at all. They were often moving on winds and pressure for small amounts of time.

“I found myself waking mid-way through the night and often repositioning the rods or moving at first light altogether, to utilise my time as best I could. As much as they were interested in the bait, I struggled to keep them either coming back for more or to keep them in the areas until my next night came around a few days later, baiting heavily before I left.

“After a week or two, I decided to treat every night as a different session; this meant no preconceived ideas, just fishing to what I saw at any given time. It was hard work, but it paid off beautifully as I managed to pick off 23 bites in the end, consisting of a real mixed bag of new and old good ‘uns and what a great few weeks it was. Some as old as me, and others being the future of the lake. I did manage many mid-thirties and good mix of mid to upper twenties too. The trips and hard work eventually came good, with me banking a real peach of a carp at just over 41lb. Happy days, indeed.

I type this as I take one more roll of the dice before moving back to the main campaign, but it’s been a very enjoyable 6 weeks indeed!”