It's a funny old world. Last Tuesday evening there was such a strong wind blowing through that I had to pop back to the car for gloves. But through the chop, I could see the silhouettes of the carp, dozens of them, swimming in packs under the surface. I fished a zig rig on the bouncy surface and just under it, then tried the bottom, 6-inches and 2ft off it. I've rarely seen as many fish as I saw that evening, but left with a blank.

Saturday - A Spring scorcher. Lovely to sit in the sun. Bit quiet. The carp didn't show for me, but I got to read my book, get a bit burned and have a tench and a couple of bream either side of the 7lb mark.

Easter Monday - an unexpected bonus 4 hours. At first light the carp were on the surface everywhere, but again weren't interested in my surface-suspended pop-up, so when they melted away with the rising sun I reverted back to plan A and jumped across to Alders. On the east bank, a chill westerly breeze had me uncomfortable and fishless, so I swapped back to the sheltered side of Willows. Fishing a corn and maggot combo under a float, I had 2 more bream of 3 and 6lb, and, 10 mins from packing-up-for-lunch time, a feisty and rather beautiful Common of exactly 11lbs. Happy Easter.