2017 11 May 26th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was going to be another all day session at the club's carp lake at Chittenden.

Early start today as I wanted to be on the road before the traffic built up. Due to this reason I was at the fishery about 6:30.

I unloaded the car and made my way down the lake to my favourite swim. As seems to be the case this year my swim of choice was free.

I decided today to set up the feeder rod first. That way if there were any early morning feeders about I thought it was with this approach that I would be most successful.

I then set up my waggler rod and was ready to make my first cast on it by 7:28. For the initial period of the session I decided to use meat as the hook bait.

Within minutes the float shot away and I was into a good fish. Sadly, it wasn't to be because after a few minutes of fighting the carp came out on top and escaped. My theory of an early feeder was correct I just got the rod wrong!

It wasn't a complete disaster though, when the first hour came to a close I'd caught a couple of the lake's good bream.

For the next hour I switched hook bait from meat to corn and was rewarded with three fish, 2 more bream and a rudd. I don't catch these on this lake very often.

Back on the meat I managed to bag a bream of about 2 lb. So by 11 am I'd five fish, none of them carp.

Just after lunch at 13:17 the feeder rod decided to join in the party, The result was a nice carp which I estimated to be about 7 lb. The waggler chipped in with another bream.

At 15:00 I had to stop using the waggler rod as the sun reflecting off the water made bite detection very difficult so I reeled in the feeder rod, changed the bait to meat and flicked it out to where I'd been fishing the float.

The swim then went through another quiet period until 15:17 when it suddenly switched on. First up was a carp of 11 lb 11 oz, another double for the season.

The following one arrived at 15:50 and was another carp, this one was smaller coming in at around 4 lb.

I had to wait another hour before the next one arrived. It was worth the wait though, 10 lb 5 oz another double double!! What a season I was having.

At 16:47 I caught my last fish of the session, it wasn't a carp but another bream of about 2lb.

So that was it for the session, only 8 fish but two of them doubles, so can't really complain about that.

2017 10 May 19th, Hare Lake, Gabriels Farm, Edenbridge

Today I was going to pay a return visit to Gabriel's Farm, only this time I intended to fish Hare Lake.

I arrived at the fishery bang on opening time at 7 am. After paying my fee I made my way to the car park along the mile long dusty trail.

As I was only using one rod today it didn't take me too long to set up. In fact I was ready to make my first cast at 7:55.

The swim I chose today was one that had a set of lily pads about 3/4 of the way across the narrow lake which I could easily reach with a medium sized waggler.

I started with corn as the bait. The first hour things were very quiet. The lake is full of roach so I was a bit surprised that some hadn't immediately shown up. I did lose one carp in the lily pads though.

Here was my set up.

The next hour was a repeat of the first, corn on the hook, and no interest from anything other than another carp that I lost in the same bed of lily pads.

Things were really slow today. By 13:00 I'd managed to land a couple of roach on halibut pellet. I also lost another carp in the lily pads. I was getting a tad frustrated.

Here's one of them:

Here's another:

Things might have been slow but I did have company:

Another hour passed and I'd added another roach and my first carp of the day to the virtual net. I also lost another carp. What was going on?

Another hour slipped by and all I had to show for it was another lost carp. It was definitely one of those days.

The last three hours of the session saw things change every so slightly, I managed another roach and three small carp!!! That made my total for the day, eight.

A disappointing day but then again you have to have them to appreciate the good ones.

2017 09 May 14th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was going to be another Sunday afternoon/evening session at the club's carp lake at Chittenden.

There is a swim that I have never fished but always fancied and that is the first one on the top of the lake nearest to the car park. It has over-hanging trees, reed beds and looks very fishy.

It was just after noon when I arrived at the lake. I jumped out of the car (!) and headed through the trees to see if the swim was vacant. To my surprise it was and so were all the other swims on that bank. The only other anglers I could see were the ones on the disabled bank.

After I'd unloaded the gear and carried it to the swim, it was too close for the trolley, I saw that the water was covered in flotsam and jetsam and everything else that falls from the tree at this time of year.

There was no way I'd be able to float fish so it was to be the feeder rod and a cube of meat on a hair rig approach that I would have to adopt.

Having a simple setup meant that it didn't take me too long to be ready to make my first cast. It fact after leaving my house at noon I was fishing by 13:20. Nice!

I'd quite heavily fed the swim with meat, corn and some pellets as I wasn't expecting any serious action until the sun began to retreat.

While I was relaxing in my chair a small head popped out of the water in front of me and my first snake of the year then headed towards the reed bed. You can't help but have a shiver at that sight can you?

I got my first take at 15:37, it wasn't a monster but it was a carp. This was came in at around 2lb. I was away!

An hour later I'd landed another carp, This one was a bit better coming in at 7lb.

At 17:15 the tip went round again and I was into another carp. This one felt like it was a good one because the fight just went on and on. Eventually when it broke the surface I could see, by my standards, that it was a monster! I tried to remain calm as I finally guided it to the net. Once it was in I had to sit down to compose myself! Could this be a personal best? It certainly was a possibility.

Alas it was not to be as the fish came in at 17.5lb, close but no cigar. I was very pleased with it though.

What could possibly follow that? Well by the time I packed up which was 18:30 I'd caught a bream and another carp. This one coming in at 12lb 5oz! Two more doubles in one session. I was on a roll.