I did another session on my new little water yesterday morning; I set the alarm for 4am and was at the water for around half past, just as it was coming light. It was only my third time on the water, and like the previous two sessions, I went after the carp off the surface, armed with one rod, net, mat, essentials and a big bag of flavoured dog biscuits!

The last session had brought a lovely 17lb plus common to the net, one of nine fish I took during a few hours fishing, and whilst well chuffed with what I considered a great result, I was strangely confident of a rerun for the session about to unfold.

The conditions were perfect when I got to the water, completely free of wind and very hot, even at just gone 4am! I was the only one on so quickly got my gear and headed down to my favoured high bank swims, which sit a little higher than the rest so they are great for observing fish once the sun comes up as you can then try and target the larger carp to cast to in open water.

As soon as I got on the swim I catapulted out a few pouchfuls of mixers, and before I had even finished I heard the first ‘Schlooop’ as a greedy carp took a bait within seconds of it hitting the water. A grin rapidly spread across my face as I quickly readied my rod.

What followed was an unbelievable session, and one which completely surpassed any expectations I might have had beforehand. Between 5am and 9am I must have had around twenty to twenty five fish, the simple truth is that I stopped counting after about fifteen!

Nothing managed to beat the 17lb’er from the last session, but with an average size of 8-9lb, all gave a great account of themselves on the light 6.9lb line I was using, and in amongst them were a handful of good fish to around mid doubles.

By the time I left for work just after 9am I was exhausted. The water lies deep in a wooded valley and as soon as the sun peaked over the tops of the trees at about 6am I was in full sun for the remainder of the session, and boy was it hot! 27 degrees by the time I went home.

I’m well chuffed with the way the plan is going thus far. Having walked around a few times after work near to the start of the season, there were always a few on, and the odd one or two who were surface fishing weren’t doing so well, so I decided on the early morning tactic when I figured the fish would not be so spooked from all the anglers, and as it’s a day-only water, I had a good chance of being among the first on so would be able to move around freely from swim to swim without worrying about other anglers. As it goes I’ve had the place to myself each morning with the odd one arriving just before I head off to work!

The aim is still to have one of the larger fish. Research turned up about three or four that can and have done over twenty pounds at some point, the largest a common of around twenty five. So far I’ve not had any definite sightings but I’ve seen some impressive shadows drifting by just beyond my baited area when the sun is up, some of which would certainly be impressive on the bank.

In the meantime I’m happy catching whatever comes my way, after all, the whole point of joining the place was that it was right on my doorstep and would simply allow me to do a bit when I had a few hours to spare, rather than having to drive distances to my specimen waters, and besides, it’s great fun…

… and isn’t that what it’s all about?