I know, I know. With the river season drawing to a close, I should have had a bash on running water, but the chance of those Willows carp was too much.

If only they sold hindsight at the tackle shop as well as boilies because Willows was hard going today. The north easterly wind though not strong, brought a real chill that kept the fish low and sent me back to the car for my winter layers. Of the ten or so anglers, I think more than half blanked. surprisingly, I was not one of them, catching one of the fifty or so 3lb carp stocked a few weeks ago. It could have been better: I'd mucked up an earlier run when a large fish tore away and off the hook as I fumbled to release the anti-reverse on the one cast I'd forgotten to slack off the drag. Dag! It's always the one that got away...