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Just thinking of another one, on of all days a Friday the 13th. I had been doing fire extinguisher servicing calls around Sudbury and Halstead area, and turned up a single track road. As I drove up the road a female driver coming the other way drove past the passing place and continued coming, forcing me in the van up onto the verge as I had nowhere else to go. As the van tilted the side of the van scraped across the cars roof, heavily denting my van. I managed to swap insurance details etc, and then went to my next call at a veterinary practice in the area before finishing up and driving back to the company office in Wymondham. I then had to switch all my existing stock and tools into a spare van, along with my weekly top-up. From Wymondham I then drove back to Ipswich, put my fishing gear in the van, and drove via a customer call on the A120 to Nazeing. When I arrived at Nazeing I was shattered, it was about 10pm, I had been up since about 6 that morning driving and doing customer calls as well as stock swap. Somehow I managed to get set up, thank heavens for Fox EasyDome, bivvy up in minutes. By 11.30 I was set and sorted and just crashed out when I had a proper screamer. I can't remember the fight, but I can remember the 28lb common at the end of it. This was the last picture I took on 35mm film, so this is the scanned copy of a print. Later that same night I had a 23lb common, which I was sadly so tired I didn't photograph.

This is another favourite of mine that changed my overnighter from nightmare to dreamland. I pulled up at my syndicate lake on the Saturday afternoon a bit early around 3pm but was gutted to find the fullest car park ever! No real surprise as it was May bank holiday if I remember right. Rather than look for one of the two remaining swims I decided to drive on to Bluebell for a look round before giving up for home. 30 mins later I'm in the shop asking for the numbers on Kingy and Swan, to my amazement I hear Kingy is fairly quiet by usual standards. I take the gamble - pay up and go for a walk bucket in hand. Approaching the first corner I can't see anyone on the far bank - central. I speed up not daring to believe the situation, glance up again and I'm right - my 2 favourite swims are free - result! 😊 The right of the 2 swims looks bang on for the conditions - right on the back of the wind - on the line where the chop starts. Down goes the bucket and I'm off for the barrow - semi running, yet trying to look carpy as you do. I had a lead about and found what I was looking for - clean and smooth as glass - just off the end of one of the bars. So little resistence that I stumbled backwards - that's the one! I put half a bucket of 3ml pellets and boilie crumb out and a few whole baits - tight with the spomb. 2 rods on that and a 3rd 2 rods lengths off the spot. I settle down cook dinner and chill - feeling strangely confident. At around 11pm I have the first take - a massive drop back, I'm on it fast and after a lot of fast reeling connect with a chunk that plays hardball. After a good battle out in the waders I net what is a monumental fish for me personally, a very rarely caught kingy 40+ common from the venue that had seemed impossible and awe inspiring when I had first visited some years before. At that time I felt so far away from the guys on there - so a real milestone. I had 2 more drop backs after that and missed both - those fish are so cute it's a brilliant water.

Unless I'm with a mate, or there's someone in the next swim, I don't often bother weighing or taking pics. This was my eldest sons first overnighter, as above, as a dad, it has to be up there as one of my most memorable & enjoyable trips. It was 2 summers ago, & he's still going on about the cat! I don't like them myself so tend to avoid venues with them in.

This 22lb linear, only a stocky, from my 3 years on current syndicate, known to be one of the hardest lakes in the country.. Was I buzzing when I caught that??? Hell yeah!! I know the picture is a bit naff, but like a lot of my captures, I don't need a puffed up pic of me holding it, laid on the matt is fine by me for the memory of the battle

My 1st ever Carp on carp gear... Look at state of that (1st ever setup)...compared to what i use now.

Never, ever had a problem. Ian.

Hopefully this year my lad will be with me more.. Also going try try Lakemore Fishery (Crewe) this year for a Cat..

But it still caught!! We’re all delusional I’m sure!😂

Is there any bigger buzz than hearing the alarm go and the reel going in to meltdown? Never gets boring!

The story’s have gone quiet, hoping to kick start it again. Found a couple more favourites. My pb commmon and then a very unusual day time capture for me. I’ve never managed the moody blank expression in catch pictures. Normally too shocked and euphoric!!

Nothing better mate, been taking my boy since before he could walk . Slowly progressed him to bigger fish the last two fish were caught on our first over nighter together, I had also took his older cousin with us . He had gone to bed a bit down as his cousin had caught a couple during the day & he hadn't had a bite lol .. his rod screams off at 1 am & there's no waking him no matter how hard we tried so his cousin landed that one too , anyway he stuck with it the next day & got his rewards . Very proud Dad x

As above, quite a few fond memories stirred up, thinking of which one to choose? Close was my first ever carp, when I thought, what the blooming hell have I hooked here!!! Unforgettable! But this lump has stood as my pb for quite a few years now. One of the few 30'S on a hard weedy little syndicate. I fished it on & off for 2 years, blanked, before I found the spots, the bait, the rig. I put in the effort to catch almost all the target fish in the lake. Just the big common eluded me. Dammit! Those were the days I could go every week!!

Very difficult this coz there are a few that come close for various reasons. This is a fish later named Arnie by friends that came from a Notts day only club water, it turned out to be the biggest and one I had only seen once in 3-4 years. I love this capture soley due to the effort involved and the small amount of time available due to family commitments, but a 2am start until 11am one Saturday morning and several moves eventually put me onto the big fish group after spotting the most elusive ghosty, again only my second sighting. 30 mins fishing with 2 rods in the margin saw 2 takes - the first being a gut wrenching loss - then to my amazement a 2nd take, plodding battle and unknown to me Italian blood line whacker! Get in 😊

My first fish on cane and pin... a cute little Wildie.... The rod is my MkIV (pre-rebuild) and the reel is an Allcock's Arielite (circa 1937)

This was my first fish on my newly rebuilt Mk IV Carp and center pin... I love this pic... didn't weigh it, too chuffed, just popped out the hook, a quick pic and back she went....👍

My PB 28lb 12oz taken from Tall Trees Fishery in March 2011... the best of a 5 fish haul including 3x 0's and 2 doubles

Cracking fish gents 😎 Couple more nice mirrors

One more from me. I started to fish billingford lakes just after it opened, it had been unfished for around 20 years according to the locals. I had a few sessions in the summer and autumn but not a single carp. It was a freezing cold new years eve and the 1st time I'd ever used maggots to target carp. About 1 hour in had this beauty. As far as I could tell it had never been caught before. Not a scratch on it. Felt quite guilty for putting a hole in its lip to be honest.

Tell me about it! 2 daughters, one son and a granddaughter for me. Another one for you, that also involves Bruce, my first fish from Ardleigh. I had seen a group of males getting ready in the margins on the other side of the stream, none of the females were there, so I took a chuck with a pineapple pop-up and had my first fish from the reservoir. I called Bruce on his mobile to come and do some pics, and as he was there and we were celebrating and chatting after the pics I had the battle scarred mirror in my original post give a proper take from out in the middle. The bottom pic is a favourite of mine, and comes with a story. I had set up in Antz on Brackens, but lost 2 fish as they came charging towards me and then into the snags to my left. As the angler in Bridge had packed up I moved in there and baited the same spot with a number of large stringers, and when I say large... Within 10 minutes of the last of those loads of those beasts going in I had one of the most sought after fish in the pool, the 2 tone Linear at 28. Over the next two days after topping up with bait by stringer I had another two 20's. Sadly the pic of the 28 is half in shadow, but the fish itself.

The fully scaled came on the night after the London Bombings. My mate Bruce was on the train when the bomb went off, about 2metres away from it. The poor lady in front of him RIP. I actually caught another fish that night a 23.8, and Bruce was my regular photographer. He would always come down to do my pictures, no matter where he was *. I had tried phoning him to get him to cone down and his phone just went straight to voicemail, which never happened. After phoning other mates to find out how he was my mate Al came down to take pics. *The river 28 I had had to work late Thursday setting up the bars at Ipswich Town Hall and Corn Exchange for a function Friday night, so when Bruce drove up to Taverham, I couldn't go. My alternative was to go down to the river for a few hours Friday. The take happened as I was getting ready to pack up, in fact I had dismantled the landing net. Bruce packed up at Taverham and made it back to Ipswich in a hour to do the photographs. When I first joined Earith I had done a blank not knowing the lake, but the second session Bruce and I walked round looking properly. We set up on the causeway between Pats and Virginia with the rods into Virginia. Before dark I managed to land my first fish from the lake, a beautiful double figure common, which was photographed at the same time as Bruce had a take. Later that evening just as it was getting dark, I managed to hook and land a 24lb mirror. Another Earith session, middle of February, around 1am a real screamer resulted in my first ever 25lb common, and at the time I guess it must have been my second biggest fish. The syndicate owner Ian Jones came down to do the pictures in the night about 10minutes after the phonecall. I had just expected it to switch to answerphone, but he promised to come down.

Some of the ones I have on my phone:

This is it 12 years later.

Favourite mirror... which was really hard to choose as I've had some real crackers over the years, certainly not my biggest mirror, but defiantly one of my personal favourites, also marked a good zig session where everything fell into place for me . Favourite common also not my biggest, but it's a survivor after we thought it was lost to otters after doing the disappearing act for a couple of years

I'd gladly have eaten wild boar but the catching, killing and cooking bits would have been complicated and too gruesome to contemplate. I settled for a microwaved Chicken Provencal in the end. Hardly any bloodshed...…………. Ian.

There was a similar post on a Facebook post the other night and 1 guy posted a pic of a lovely ghost carp at 37lb and I just sat there thinking I've seen that fish before. So I messaged him and asked where he had caught it and it turns out i had caught it 12 years previous at 23lb. At the time it was pb and my 1st ever ghostie. Any way , here it is.

Yeah, happened to me a few times. Can cause real problems in weedy waters. Just before spawning this year it happened. I landed the first, mid 20 common, which was tricky enough in itself with all the weed about. The other rod has gone and by the time I've got to it it's stick fast in the weed. Had to get the boat out, wiped out 2 other anglers, locked me up in numerous weedbeds, and after half an hour up popped..... a 12 lb common 😂🤣