Marsh Farm - Milford

1630 - 0900

(Johnsons 1630 - 2300)

(Harris 2330 - 0900)

Warm, overcast evening and morning with a clear, cool night. (Minimum temp must have been below 10ºC)

Johnsons: 1 Tench; 1½lb. 9 Micro-carp! and a Rudd (also small)

Harris: 3 Crucians to 1lb 13oz, 2 Tench to 3lb 3oz. 15 Roach and a Perch

Plan was to have a repeat of this session (with hopefully similar if not better results!) and confidence was high when we arrived in warm overcast conditions with a heavy shower clearing away to the East. Confidence that quickly turned to frustration as Johnsons was teeming with carp fry - many no bigger than my thumb - which attacked everything we presented - especially split shot - so trying to watch for a shy biting crucian was completely hopeless. Paul tried the fake bait approach - but to no avail - getting slightly bigger carp (6-8oz bracket) which initially gave a good impression of a crucian. He did manage a 4lb tinca early doors - but it turned out to be the biggest of the session - scant consolation for the 2 others he lost.

So a slight change of plan was called for - I always intended to switch to Harris after dark -while Paul went to kip in the car - but the original plan had been to return to Johnsons for the morning - and idea we abandoned in favour of just sticking to Harris. My night started off on a flyer with 2 fish in the first ½hour - just as well as I had to wait over 2 hours for my next bite and then had a couple more fish in quick succession. Dawn revealed a lake as flat as a millpond - with no bubbling, fish rolling or activity - it looked lifeless. And so it proved - we both picked up a few silver fish on the float and Paul had a couple of small (sub 1lb) crucians. I added a solitary tench - and so did Paul - a last cast fish - caught when he'd pretty much tidied all his stuff away. Overall though, to quote Paul as we drove off - a bit of a shocker!

Pic of a cute looking leather carp - in the palm of my hand - smallest carp I've ever caught!