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Got out for a night over the bank holiday. The syndi is closed for spawning so I visited a day ticket down in the Nene Valley. It was absolutely rammed as one might expect given the timing, but I managed to find a few carp in a quiet corner. It was dead hot, so I flicked a couple of zigs out just under the surface. It was clear the carp were just sunbathing, so I was expecting to have to wait for the sun to drop behind the trees for any action. So it proved with a take around 19:30 which resulted in a lovely grey linear. Onto the deck for the night and I realised I had a problem – I’d forgotten the spod rod! I found one of those Wolf X-Spod jobbies in my bag (bought it ages ago and never used it) and bodged it onto one of my carp rods. It worked a treat…. those X-Spod thingys are great! I put 2 on the deck and left one up in the water. At 02:30 I was away off the baited spot and a nice little cricket bat common was landed. Re-did the rod and 04:30 saw an awesome chestnut linear landed - worth a pic this one. Photo’s done, I was half expecting that to be it but at 09:00 the zig rod went. It kited to my right past several other anglers and the hook pulled when I over-gunned it trying to stop it. Still, a good sign. In come the rods on the bottom, zigs on all of them, and back out they go. About 10:30 I get another take and another cricket bat common is in the net. I planned to stay a bit longer after that but as the heat increased, I decided I was happy with what I’d had so called it a day. A great little session in the end.

Ha! I’ve been lurking and not contributing for some time now but a new PB is worth sharing….. I’m still on a session at Dinton’s Black Swan as I type this………Arrived at dawn yesterday. Clearly lots of fish still in the big ‘winter bay’ despite being on the back of a big SW. Lapped a couple of times, debating where to plot up with 3 nights ahead. Decided to keep it simple and put my rigs where the fish were actually showing rather than where they might end up…… Cast 3 singles out for drops amongst the emergent Eel grass which they seem so attracted to. Decided to get my head down for a couple of hours-I’d set off at 2.45am. An hour or so later I’m woken by a screaming Neville. Lifted in to a very heavy feeling fish which was dogged rather than spectacular. Worryingly, it hit the surface about 25 yds out and started shaking its head at me as I led it in; with braided mainline I’m always anxious when they do this with no water depth to cushion the lunges. Fortune was on my side and I netted a Common that got larger with every yard I gained. With the assistance of 3 other anglers we weighed and photographed an amazing creature of 53lb 2oz! Blown away!

Caught my first carp of the year this weekend after a winter in which I did next to no angling for one reason or another. The weekend started well with 3 carp and a tench. Another bite resulted in a loss on Saturday morning but it was enough to have me blagging another night. Unfortunately, despite that warm sunshine, that cold easterly had them backing off and without a move on the cards I was stuck camping for the night. Still, a lovely weekend and I just hope I can get back out at some point soon. Here's the best of them. The linear is I think an original, typified by the little melted heart-shaped tail that most of the OG's in this water have. The common is I think a stock fish but no less welcome for it. Clearly one on it's way to being a real biggun.

Well as purchases go they don't come much more exciting than a new home and a return to my beloved Nene Valley. Carpy in more ways than one; I'll be 3 miles way from the Valley itself and there's also koi to 30lb+ swimming around in the back garden! Offer was accepted on Friday so now I just pray that nothing goes wrong and we're not waiting too long.

Went with the kids this weekend. Blanked the first 24hours. Then we got focused. Decided I wasn't happy with my main spot, so I put my big boy pants on and went for it 18.5 wraps, 2 rods or the horizon and one on the edge of some reeds where I had seen some bubbles, I had prebaited my daughters spot the night before with some boilies and left it, naturally that one was the first to go at 10pm, she cast it and felt for the drop herself and we baited it with 5 x spods and a few extra boilies she pulted into the zone, it ripped off when we were tucked in and listening to a book on audible. The summer I robbed a bank by David O'Doherty, if you have kids it's a great book. And naturally it decided to wipe out all my other rods, but we got it in and I cleared up the mess it made. (yes I was done in and a bit sun rouged) We lost her rod in the carnage and she wanted to sleep so one of mine went onto her spot, one to the long spot and one to the left. We were awoken to a savage take from the long rod. This came in like a ball of weed until it got in range of my other lines. Took the right one out. During the photos I had an out of body experience. Then I ditched the right hand rod spot and went long, so with 2 on the spot I whacked out another 10 X spods and had breakfast. Then the right hand long rod was away,we had spotted them all showing in the middle the evening before and this spot gave me the best shout not being able to move, this one came in well and we moved the other rods out of harms way, fought hard close in but without hassle, and although the smallest of the trio of commons but finished off the trip nicely. Lovely weekend with the kids, had lots of fun and caught 3 and lost none, we did some bird spotting, saw some fish on the other lake spawning and caught some fish Happy days.

One caught on Friday after putting a rod on some fish bubbling.

My son has been trying to catch a carp from the park lake for 11 months. (Doesn’t help it’s a tricky water, he’s only been able to do weekend days, taking whatever swim is left and to top it off, I had the 3 out the other night while he blanked) Today he finally had the bite he’s been dreaming of all this time that photo says it all I think… 18lb 8oz (whilst wearing my lucky fox hoodie…) caught on a home made premier superaminos boilie with shellfish sense appeals and belachan. Freebies were 12millers that I rolled. My little girl rolled some 25-30mil baits from the scrap ends, he caught it on one of those! buzzing, when it hit the net, we both screamed for joy! That’s what this game is all about, that buzz

Couple nice ones on caught on solid bags, always good for a quick bite.

Done a mid double common yesterday and just done this one at 17lb 12oz, it's hammering down and my hood wouldn't stay up, it all went wrong 🤣 Anyway it will be my last night tonight, hopefully get another cat 👍

Had this belter this morning 👍 27lb 14oz, first carp from a new complex👍

Had this one at 29lb 8oz on Tuesday. The session was off to a bad start as I left my buzz bars and alarms at home so just fished them off my cradle 🤣 not the end of the world though as i was only fishing for a couple hours. Anyway it nearly pulled the rod off the cradle lol. I caught it from the 4 acre lake on the complex and I believe its same fish as the first carp I had out of there in jan/Feb at 28lb 14oz 👍 here's the one from the beginning of the year Off to the canal in a bit, fishing through to Sunday, will report back if we get any carp on the bank 👍

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water.

One out the syndi Sunday morning 1st fish in 4 weekends, came after a change of presentation 👍

31lb 8oz 👍

Across the border, forgot my passport and facial recognition but made it...OK.. lol

22lb common caught today

48 hour social at Bluebell lakes. Sandmartin Lake. Managed one on the first evening but despite looking good for more the following day no more bites.

22lb common caught at 8am this morning

Did a quick overnighter on the park lake last night as my current seasons tally stands at: nights fished: 1 days fished: 2 carp: 0 I’m still sat under the oval winding down the last few hours of the session. September being my favourite month for carping, l felt o needed to get on the score board for this season. This one went 23lb

Got lucky on my Bluebell trip, arrived Sunday morning as swims became free from the weekend - lots of swims available on Swan but onto my favourite Kingfisher for a lap. Fairly busy but suprisingly the 1st and 2nd points had become free and had the wind smashing in for the duration of my trip. Within minutes I'd seen several shows in each so I bucketed the 2nd point and went to pay and get my kit. With my kit in the 2nd point I noticed more activity in the 1st point so quickly moved and got set up. I gave it a couple of hours watching to identify the main areas they were showing in then checked with a light lead - all presentable with just tiny bits of black silk weed coming back on the swivel. I decided to go in with pva mesh bags with mixed pellets and crumb and 10ml pellet wafter hookbaits. Conditions at this point were banging 50 mph gusting winds, low pressure and rain. Sunday evening as the rain became biblical the right rod signaled a take, I frantically fumbled around for my coat and got out there. Waders on out in the pond playing a fish in the monsoon - head torch shining through the spray it was mega and I netted a lovely 26lb common. 10am Monday the activity restarts and a guy round the corner leaves who was taking the mick in my water so I get the left rod repositioned where I actually wanted it. Late morning and early afternoon I had 2 doubles from the 2 rods straight out so 3 in the bag and I'm praying for a big un. Then at about 4pm i hook what feels a better fish and it kites right this time then I feel grating as it finds weed. No drama it's still coming and I get ot free, but after 2 heavy head lunges it slips off - gutted. Early evening after seeing a bigger fish roll on the left side - the left rod is away, this time it's in weed straight away but I manged to keep it coming bit by bit weedbed after weedbed and then after a great tussle close in I slip the net under a long common. It wasnt until I plonked it down on the mat that I realised how wide this fish was and that I had made a mistake not going for the bigger scales. The Ruben Flyweights bottomed out at 43lb so unfortunately I'll never know how big it was exactly but who cares when they are knarly as anything - best fish I ve caught for a long time - absolutely buzzing. The rest of the trip got slower and slower by the day but who could be disappinted, I'd made the most of my weather opportunity - right time right place and no bait boat, spodding and distance sticks 😎👌

34lb 10oz mirror

Then back on home territory and ,part of a 7 carp hit ,using single bottom baits over a scoop of dried maize

Father’s Day fishing trip 👍🏻

How you doing? This session was a rather decent one, despite managing to leave my hookbait bucket at home with my medium Spomb in it. I spent an hour cursing and swearing as I used the small Spomb to put a bucket of maize and birdfood in. The first night produced a tench of around 6lb on a straight out of the bag bottom bait, which somehow managed to go across the middle rod. The 2nd night was quiet. Last night around 11pm I had a strange occurrence on the middle rod, it pulled to the right, with what appeared to be a run, but there was nothing there, so I recast with a fresh stringer. At 3am I had the same thing happen again. I think that it was a goose or swan swimming through the line just in front of my rod tips, or a swan picking the hookbait up. A couple of miscasts with stringers, but 3rd time lucky. I was sat drinking coffee and eating breakfast when the rod went with a 22lb mirror, one of last years stocking, and a 10lb weight gain. Caught on a 360 rig with a meshed 15mm Nutty Bait pop-up with a stringer of 6x 18mm Nutty Bait boilies. This morning I was starting to tidy up ready to pack up when the right hand rod went, which was the rod over the maize, and managed a rather nice 26lb mirror on the 'sliver' of Monster Crab pop-up on a reverse combi rig. This fish was from the 2021 stocking and went in at 11lb.

Where I live there is an abundance of disused ,deep quarries,some are barren,and fishless...but a few have some surprises and have held carp and other species for many years .. When you fish these places,you have to think like a miner ,and find the galleries, which are mined ,and step down into unimaginable depths ,find the galleries and you find the patrol routes.. The weather was awful ,I had a river running under my shelter,at one point ,wind,rain,hail,thunder,lightning..and a big fear of falling branches made it interesting..,then all the mica,clay residue gets everywhere...anyway .. I found the marginal gallery, and fished very simple running lead tactics ,using the Ressi specials I use a lot..After the storm had passed ,I seen kingfisher,heard deer rutting,and woodpeckers, nature at its best ..

21lb 12oz common 👍

Off the mark with this mirror at 19lb 8oz, not the species I'm after but I will take it 🤣 nailed it on a size 2 wide gape double 20mm boilie 🤣

Went on a quest for my first catfish this weekend, I lost one the other night as it was steaming towards a bridge, I was felt a bit defeated lol. Anyway I carried on and managed this beauty this morning at 29lb 8oz 👍buzzing 👍👍 Anyway I feel like I got the bug for these things so getting some catfish rods ordered, I now want a bigger one but have learnt I need stronger gear lol. I'm wet and covered in slime, so packing up and going home 🤣 mission complete 👌

Just had this one at 24lb 4oz 👍

50 belachan pop ups and 50 maple pop ups rolled onto 10mm cork balls. the belachan is evil smelling… the wife wouldn’t let me air dry them in the house!

26lb 8oz at first light this morning 👌

Had a short session trip this afternoon 4hrs on the feeder, you can actually see the feeder I was using in one of the pics

So this is what the pond looked like when I arrived. The pond is 2m wide, 6m long, and 2m deep. It holds 24,000 litres (~5.2k gallons), with the filtration and pipework capacity taking it to over 30,000 litres. Construction is by way of reinforced concrete base and walls set into the ground by ~1.6m, with the top ~0.4m sitting above ground. The wooden decking on the left is essentially a lid that is raised using a pulley system. You can then walk down into the filter house, which is also set into the ground just like the pond. The filtration system is gravity fed, which means there is a bottom drain in the pond. The water is pushed down the bottom drain, along some pipework, and up into a Nexus 310 which is a high-performance combination mechanical/bio filter. First the water is pushed through the mechanical filter section which removes dirt, grime, and weed etc. The water is then passed to the biological filter section which uses a filtration media, agitated by air lines, to foster friendly bacteria growth. This bacteria converts ammonia and nitrite (from carp poo) into harmless nitrate. The water is then fed, by pump, into a UV filter which passes the water through a tube under UV light which kills algae. The treated water is then returned to the pond through an outlet ~15cm below the ponds surface. There’s also a skimmer system which filters contamination from the surface of the pond. Water that goes through the skimmer is then pumped into a ‘veggie’ or ‘bog’ filter (an additional shallow, gravel-filled pond, planted with moisture-loving plants). This section, located over the back of the main pond, is currently blocked off due to a leak – I’ll worry about this next year. So, as you can see, it’s far from just a hole in the ground. I’ve spent loads of time online researching how all this stuff works, and spoken with the local koi centre, and the local pond builder. I’ve replaced a pump, and the UV bulb in the UV filter, trying to get the existing system working as perfectly as possible ready for winter. We have loads of trees, which means loads of leaves, and this could be a problem when autumn hits properly, especially with the skimmer system blocked off. I’ve purchased a massive fine mesh net to protect it this year and I’ll just chuck this over when the time comes. In the coming days I’ll post about the best bit…… the fish.

Sacked off an overnighter with my youngest, we didn't fancy packing up in the rain. Went to a little farm lake instead for a few little ones. He caught his new pb log.

Finally got out and caught one this weekend. Got to the lake Saturday lunchtime to find only one other on. Had a look around in the island half of the lake and as usual found a few mooching about. It was really weedy everywhere so I continued walking, looking at the bigger end of the lake I just thought it looked good, whilst it was still very weedy. I got the plumbing rod out to look for a spot I used to know. It still existed a bit but was a lot smaller. Did quite a lot of leading about and didn't find a lot else so raked a spot close in for a 3rd rod, one mountain of weed later it was done, flicked in a load of pellets to let the Rudd go to work, I stuck a rig on it straight away but a couple of hours and it had stunk out my pineapple pop up. Continued baiting it and left it for the morning. 2 rods went out to the bank of pads and weed onto a plateau baited with a good few spombs of boilie and pellet mix and just chucked the 3rd onto another clear spot I had found in the other side margin. Nothing much happened until I was asleep and about 2am I had a series of beeps and line was being taken so I hit it and instantly it was weeded up, it came in like a big ball of weed for a while when it got free of that went nuts and found another weedbed, this continued for a while and I just kept trying to gain line, until it got to the weed In front of the swim I tried and failed to get it round the side and it locked me up solid. In the end my only hope was putting the rod down. Luckily after a vape I picked it up and it came free I ended up landing it and a free ball of weed. Couldn't find my tripod, or water bucket, and my intervalometer batteries were dead so had to find some more of those. Luckily I could use a picnic bench that was in the swim as a tripod. Not the greatest photo but at 3am it was the best I could manage. 31lb 3oz of hard earnt carp. I also lost one to my line parting (happened straight away off a drop back) , caught a massive rudd on a size 4 pop up I had a couple of what I thought were liners because my raked spot was fizzing, sadly no takes because of the Rudd, and I also had a pretty big tench with weed ball also on a pop up.bith slipped back because I needed a nap, The trig hammer XT got a big test and passed with flying colours. I had a little nap and came home a happy but tired and achey man. These were the biscuit of the week in my world, they came alive when you dunked them. And pink what's not to love.

Just had my first 48 on a new syndicate water. Managed a 33lb linear around 1 this morning. Made up! No pics allowed on SM, I'm afraid.

Had these from the canal today 👍 24lb 12lb 14oz 19lb 4oz

Then a night float fishing with prawns ,after eels ,not a carp I know !

First thing this morning on a Nutty Bait pop-up: 29lb @crusian 40metres, towards Scotty dog I've just been through my pics and our Facebook group. I have caught it before at the same weight last year. It was one of the 2020 stocking

I've just realised I've owned my Okuma 8k reels for over 4 years now. Firstly where has that time gone? Secondly they are still as smooth and brilliant as the day I got them. Normally I get bored with tackle or fed up with it limiting my angling but these reels do it all. The simplicity of the drag, the line lay is perfect and they are a joy to use. Even with 0.40mm line the line falls of the spool with ease when casting. I can honestly say they are the best reels I've ever owned and have no desire to change them. You know what I might even oil them as a treat for being such loyal servants.

Been doing quite well on tigers nuts recently and this one is the best so far at 33lb 5oz.

Great stuff lads .... good to see you out catching. I'm off to churn pool at the end of the month with a few mates . First time fishing in a long time ! Hopefully have something to write about.

Just had an e-mail from a mate who has booked some trips on a new carp mecca water: We are pleased to announce that Britain's first indoor Carp arena will open in the autumn and we are taking bookings now.The venue is known as Mary’s Pool and the fish were stocked last week and are being fed with high protein boilies and pellets. The facilities will include a fully licenced cafe that offers deliveries and every swim has a cabin with an en-suite toilet and shower, kettle, microwave, air fryer, fridge, toaster and small oven with hobs. Other benefits include rear of swim parking with free EV charging points The 5 acre lake is inside a converted warehouse that has been insulated with thick layers of high efficiency rigid foam and is near Farkham Hall. The high-tech venue circulates the water using a bank of 150 metre ground source heat pumps incorporating oxygen saturation technology and will be kept at an optimum 24 Celsius, which will promote rapid growth of the fish. There will be 100,000 LED lights in the roof that are programmed to give 12 hours of day and night and are graduated to simulate dawn and dusk. There are also 200 wall mounted heated industrial wall fans that are strategically positioned to create an on-shore breeze and the strength of the fans are on a cyclic 360 degree power system so that it will encourage the fish to permanently move and so all swims should contain fish on a regular basis. The roof contains over 2,000 ten metre solar panels and the venue will be carbon neutral. “I’m incredibly excited about this new venture” enthused the owner, Rupert Chudley-Smith. “Thirty specially chosen fish with high growth potential are already in their new environment. They are all triploid fish as the eggs were subjected to heat and pressure shock on fertilisation and as such, they will not have the annual stress of spawning and associated weight loss. There are 10 forties and the rest are high 30’s and have a potential growth rate over 8lb a year and we are looking at UK 80’s within 5 years.” I know it won’t be cheap but after spending £400 on a winter ticket only using it 3 times and blanking every trip due to the weather, I’m sorely tempted.

Sat 22nd Feb - First night on the syndi, nothing seen or heard except the thousands of birds roosting - what a place, love it, fingers crossed for a good year! 🤞

Here's my first fish of the year. Was -4 to start the session. Had a run, lifted into it but nothing on the end( thinking small fish with just bait in its mouth ). Then for the next few hours I could see my line pulling tight n slackening back off but not actually taking. Turns out pva wasn't melting (my mix of condensed milk and manilla being over cooked n like caramel stopping the PVA dissolving)(first time trying condensed milk). About 4pm I seen a fish show to the right of me, nowhere near where I was fishing so I quickly boshed a chod together and within 30mins, boom, fish on. Managed to land a 17.32 mirror saving me a blank. Not massive but always nice to get a winter carp

only a couple of little ones, but first one each of the new year

Pineapple boilies and bait for an upcoming social...

Rods out on my first session of my new campaign water. it appeared on my club book, no one knows what’s really in here. No one really fishes it and it was stocked 20yrs ago with 50 or so carp. I saw a 26lb on the bank and that was me sold! Just down for a few hours today to get the eye on the water and the first session ticked off.

Couldn't get the swim I wanted, busy bank holiday weekend, hopefully bait it when he's gone. Done a bit of cutting back as usual and this swim will certainly do for now ❤️

The last cast @ Bury Hill (Temple Lake). I'm supposed to be out of here in 5 minutes, but I think as today is the last days fishing here no one will mind. I never caught here, but it's one of the nicest and safest fisheries I've ever come across.