20th - 22nd March - Berkshire Stillwater

Firstly some good news... After attending the interviews last week I've finally been offered a job . 3 months of unemployment, relentless job searching and hardly an acknowledgement of my 20+ applications had worn me down a bit but finally things are starting to look up. On the flip side it has allowed me to get on the bank a lot more than usual over the winter period .

I heard from the job on Monday and within an hour I was sorting my kit in preparation for a couple of nights back on the pit, just incase it was to be my last opportunity. Arriving early afternoon Tuesday I did a lap and found nothing of note. Only one lad was on and he was packing his gear away. Anyway, after a quick chat he revealed he'd had a real result over the last couple of days, landing 8 fish, so I decided to slot in next door and fish similar areas.

Rods out, grub on and I sat back to contemplate what the start of my new experience would entail whilst keeping an eye on the lake. Unfortunately I saw nothing, despite sitting up till 11pm before I retired to my pit full of hope for the night. 6am soon came around and I peered out of the bivvy door only to see the bobbins exactly as I'd left them .

A few minutes later a mate arrived to join me for a day session.. little was he to know how productive it would turn out to be.

We sat around watching the water and pondering what to do for a few hours, becoming less and less confident as time went on. A bit earlier we'd seen a fish move down the far end of the lake and a few others that looked like they were on the top. That was enough to make me want a move. Then out of nowhere the wind sprung up and started blowing down that end of the lake. Although it was a brand new wind, it was blowing from the east and felt quite cold so my mate talked me out of going up there. As you'll see that turned out to be a terrible decision.

I was clinging on to 11 o'clock being bite time once again, and believe it or not at 2 minutes past 11 and the rod I'd relocated just 10 minutes earlier melted off. A real good scrap ensued and with all the big fish so due my heart was in my mouth.. unfortunately our estimations were 15lb out but a pretty 21.8 mirror had it's picture taken and the pressure was off for the rest of the session.

Once again the fish had come from shallow water so my mate had a move on swim down which resulted in a mid double mirror a few hours later.

The fish I had caught was more from the swim to my left's water so I decided to move up there for the night as it allowed me to fish the same spot and also cover the area where fish were moving on the top that morning. It was around 4pm at that point and as my mate had to be gone at 5 he packed up and decided to give the corner I didn't move into earlier an hour before leaving. The wind had got up a fair bit by this point and did look quite inviting as it was piling in there.

I was just taking the last of my stuff next door when I heard a shout from my mate asking for a net.. He'd been in the swim less than 5 minutes and both rods had gone off simultaneously. One was already in his net and a minute later the other was in mine. First one up on the bank was an incredible looking double row linear of 27.12.. we got some cracking pics in the sunshine before slipping it back and seeing to the fish in the other net. Upon lifting the net it was obvious this was a bigger fish.. 34lb of pristine mirror infact, and a rare visitor to the bank. What a result that was.

He quickly canceled what he was supposed to be leaving for, giving him another hour to try for another. 10 minutes later and it was off again with a 25.8 common. Unbelievable!!

I obviously had to get in there after him so I started moving my gear once again. I'd just got everything up there when, with everything else on his barrow, my mate was away again.. another drawn out scrap and a big common was in the net, all 35.8 of it .

An hour and a half's fishing for 2 mid-upper 20's and 2 mid 30's.. the session of a lifetime and one I'm sure he won't be equaling anytime soon.

I got my gear in there and just about got the rods sorted before dark.. the spots were tight up to a reed line so when 10 minutes after dark a tench hung itself on my right hand rod I wasn't best pleased. I'm not one to dismiss other species at all, but the timing was awful and getting the rod back out properly would be nigh on impossible. Somehow I managed it after 2 casts and I sloped off to bed fully expecting to be woken in the early hours. Sure enough a few bleeps and my locked up rod was buckling in the rests.. I could feel the fish grating in the reeds, but it was definitely coming out.. all seemed fine until a sudden burst of power ripped line off a very tight clutch and the hook was dispatched in the reeds . Rod back out and an hour later the other one was away. This one came away from the reeds easily and a 16-17lb common went in the net first time.

I managed to get a good nights sleep after that and woke at 8am after no more action. I now had the benefit of the light so I got the rods sorted properly.. both going in perfect on the first cast. Half an hour later and one was away.. I'd kept it out of the reeds but this time it had stuck solid on something 10 yards off them.. probably the back of a dead lilly bed. 20 minutes of trying every trick in the book later I hadn't felt a single movement.. the fish had once again shed the hook and eventually the line parted.. what more could go wrong.

I sat right on the rods all day, praying that I'd get another chance and finally at 2pm one of them was off again.. Thankfully after stopping the first run the fish kited away from danger and rolled into the net 5 minutes later. A nice end to the session at 23.8.

The big'un from a pit just up the road did its first capture of the year at 46+ in the early hours or Thursday morning too.. What a week it's been for captures so far.