2011 28 August 5th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

For my first outing of August I decided to return to Chittenden the club's carp lake.

I'd spent some preparation time beforehand talking to Bill and Dave(Bike) regarding swims at the bottom of the lake which so far I had never fished. I was so impressed with the feedback that I made up my mind to give them a try.

I left home just before six to make the 30 minute journey. As is usual for me I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get my first choice swim. When I arrived there was one other car in the car park however lucky for me this fellow early riser was at the top of the lake - nowhere near where I wanted to be.

I unloaded the car and then hauled the first half of my gear down to the bottom of the lake (no I didn't jump in!). Actually it wasn't as far as it looks from the car park. When I got there I dumped my gear and had a good look at the swims available.

I finally decided on the last swim on the car park side - it was a toss up between that and the one opposite. The deciding factor was that this one would be easier for me to fish being right handed!

I setup a float rod to fish parallel to the reed bed and a feeder rod with a small feeder to fish the open water. This would act as my sleeper throughout the session.

My biggest worry was whether I'd be able to cast close to the reeds but not so close as to deposit all of my tackle in there. It was definitely going to be an exercise in concentration that's for sure.

I groundbaited the swim with 3 good handfulls plus some hemp and corn. The first cast hit the water at 7:28am.

I started off really well, after the first hour I'd managed 5 very good skimmers, a roach and a 3.75lb common. I began to suspect that today was going to be a very good one.

The strawberry sweetcorn on the hook was obviously to their liking as the next hour produced 4 more bream and 2 roach.

Unfortunately it was about now that my day took a turn for the worse. Two 'anglers' turned up and set up diagonally opposite me (you can't see them in the photo above). They then proceeded to 'talk' at a volume where everyone on the lake could hear every detail of thier lives. They even at one point broke into song. Now if I was sitting behind buzzers I could have coped with it however I was fishing the float. I do concentrate hard when fishing and after a few hours of these guys my head was absolutely thumping. Not very nice. Rant over.

Anyway back to the fishing. In the next hour there was the one and only bite for the day on the feeder rod. It was a good take and resulted in a 3.5lb carp.

On the float rod I took 1 small carp, 3 bream and a couple of roach. The signs were still there that I was going to get a good haul.

The pattern continued for the next hour - 3 bream and a roach. I kept loose feeding grains of corn every cast and this seemed to be keep the fish in the swim.

I had a little break around noon to have some lunch. I tend to reel in the rods whilst I have lunch for 2 reasons, 1 it ensures that my lunch makes it to my stomach and 2 to give the swim a bit of a rest.

When I resumed the swim was as lively as before. By 12:50 six more bream and a roach were in the net.

The sun had decided to come out today and for the first time this summer I had to use my umbrella as a sun shade! I think the hot tempreture accounted for the slowness of the next hour. I only caught 2 bream and a roach.

As the afternoon wore on the shadows behind me lengthened and I was able to put the brolly down. The fishing improved slightly, 3 bream, 1 roach and the first carp for a few hours.

For the remaining part of the session I changed tactics. I changed hookbait from corn to meat and cast as close to the reeds as possible. I was rewarded with a roach and 2 carp, one being a 7lb mirror.

The last two hours was bittersweet for me. I lost at least 3 good carp not in the reeds as you might expect but by them coming off the hook. The sweet was that dispite losing three carp they kept biting and after getting another 2 bream the float sailed away and in came a 10lb'er - my 5th double of the season and my 5th ever!

What made the capture all the more enjoyable was that my two 'friends' from across the lake who had nominated themselves as the font of all knowledge for Chit declared at one point that "You can't catch anything bigger than 7lb where that bloke is over there". Well sorry to disappoint but they were WRONG!

A great way to end the day.

I shall return to this swim.