Adam takes up the story:

“Arriving to the lake for my first night of my new ticket starting, I was truly taken back on how beautiful pit 3 is on the complex. You always envisage what a water may look like before you start, but this was truly stunning when I got my first glance. To my surprise, there was only four others on which did leave plenty of options. I stood in one of the corners waiting for a sign to act on, when suddenly a carp quietly stuck its head out, just breaking the surface in front. Over the next ten/ fifteen minutes, a further two fish broke the water near some pads, and I needed no more time before deciding I was in the right area. Although the carp were clearly there, I wanted to introduce some bait, I used Krill Active soaked in Pure Calanus along with a scattering of hemp. Hookbait wise, I wanted to go in with a very potent bait with a little flicker of colour, hence why I used my favourite Krill Tuff Ones soaked in LO30, along with a little Pineapple N’Butyric pop up to negate the weight of the bottom bait.

“All set up and ready for my first night on Frimley, the hours of darkness passed before the Neville let out a few bleeps tight to the pads, and I soon found myself bent into my first fish of the trip. At first, I thought it was a low thirty, it was a classic big fish battle, plodding up and down the margin in front, and it wasn’t until I scooped the bulky frame into the net that I realised it was far larger than that! I checked the fish, and I still didn’t think it was Charlies Mate, but as soon as I put it onto the scales and it kissed 50lb… I immediately rang the bailiff to tell him the news!

“Still now, I can’t stop reliving the moment and looking back on the photos. It’s a fish I wanted to meet along the way. You always hear stories about the guy on his first night catching the ‘big one’, but you never think it’s going to be you!

“One of the best nights angling I’ll probably ever have!”