Well, I've just rediscovered my old blogs after almost a year. I quite enjoyed reading them back and reminiscing over last years successes that have all too quickly become but distant memories.

I found writing about my fishing very rewarding last year.. it enabled me to really appreciate the good's and mill over the bad's from each session. Without writing it down I find it all quite difficult to take in. As much as I'd like other people to hopefully find reading my blurb pleasurable, I also quite like having a breakdown of my fishing so I can refer to it at a later date if needs be.

Let me start by filling you in on the happenings over the past 10 months or so:

Since starting my job last Spring I had far, far less time to fish. Although I hated being unemployed for the winter, it did enable me so much freedom and time on the bank. Fingers crossed I never have to go through it again though.

I carried on the carping throughout the year, and I'm glad to say, that long awaited 30 finally found it's way into the folds of my net.

Shortly after my last blog I bought some new rods so popped down to the complex on a Saturday with the intention of christening them on one of the easier waters. Upon walking down to the lakes I very surprisingly found the water that's featured in the majority of my blogs fairly quiet so I slotted back into that little corner swim where I banked the 10lb common from previously. To cut a long story short I had a take an hour later, and after a monumental scrap, landed a new pb.. all 35lb 14oz of it... what a way to christen the rods.

Needles to say I was made up, and the 7 years of hard work had finally come to fruition. I really felt like I'd earned that one.

After that I carried on fishing when I could. This mainly consisted of work overnighters on the other target water, which although more difficult was far more accessible for my early starts. I was arriving after work at 6pm and leaving at 6.30am the following morning to get back to work. 18 of these nights without a bite and I was becoming exhausted, the lake was fishing terribly and to be honest I was getting pretty fed up.

I moved back onto the other water after that and caught a few pretty 20's but once again struggled to find the bigger fish.

My last session after the carp was at the start of December on the Blue Pool at Burghfield. Myself and 3 mates had booked exclusive use of it for 2 nights. Again, without going into too many words, it was cold, wet and quite disheartening in that I had a little falling out with a mate that I'd grown close to throughout the year. These things happen, but it enabled me to see how carp angling had become such a trophy hobby in recent years. Everyone wants a bit of fame and will seemingly go to extremes just to get there face in the magazines. I like to fish for my own enjoyment.. I don't need other people's approval to be happy and thus my desire for carping had burnt out. I did manage one Simmo of 17lb odd.. but the face says it all.

I'll pick the blog up from here and hopefully start getting some regular entries going again. It might be worth me actually trying to get it public first, after giving up trying last year.