Well I have recently made the decision to start Carp fishing again, mainly due to the poor sea fishing of late (probably down to me), and also the ability to do quick overnighters (leave work at 4ish fish all night and straight to work in the morning) because of the overnighter’s I needed to choose a venue that wasn’t rammed with fish, so I could try and get a few hours kip. I have decided to concentrate my efforts on Rookley, because it fits my plans and also there is the chance of an upper 30.
Arrived at the lake around 4ish, and grabbed a cuppa and a chat, whilst keeping an eye on the lake. There was a few fish taking baits off the top and one angler had managed to winkle a couple out. I was in no rush so had a walk around the lake looking for signs of fish. I had a swim in mind and my decision was made when a fish rolled in my chosen swim known as the woods. Out went a few freebies around 15 Carp Company Icelandic Red at each rod position, before casting the rods which were baited with either single or double Icelandic Red.

Fish continued to show right on top of my baits but the early evening past with only a couple of bleeps. As I could see the fish blowing, rolling and crashing I changed bait and introduced another 20 baits at each rod to try and lure the feeding fish. At just gone midnight A couple of good liners on the left hand rod had me poised and on the edge of my seat but that’s where I stayed (sitting). 1am a slow take had me leap from the bivvy and arriving at the rod saw the bobbin high as possible and the line tight, I picked the rod up and nothing! Gutted I had maybe missed me one chance of the session, I re-baited and composed myself before delivering the bait to the exact same position as the previous cast. 30 mins quickly passed and I was alerted by the delkim to a more steady take on the same rod that managed to get a couple of turns of line from the baitrunner before I struck and connected to a fish that immediately kited left. Applying a bit of pressure and holding the rod tip low I managed to steer the fish around the bush to my left-hand side and into the open water directly infront of me. Bringing the fish towards the bank I got a glimpse of what I thought was a mid double fish, before it darted off and took a few more yards of line. A couple of minutes with this give some - take some game, and I was finally rewarded as the fish crossed the drawstring. I secured the net with a bankstick and removed the hook while the fish was still in the water to allow me to gather the kit for the weighing and photos. Peering into the black mesh I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mid double I thought I had seen was indeed quite a bit bigger.

Lifting the scales the needle kindly registered a weight of 24lb 10oz, A couple of photo’s taken (not so easy with only a 10 sec timer on camera) and she was returned to the waters edge in the weigh sling and slipped back to the murky depths.
A great start to a new campaign on a new water  Looking forward to the year ahead and hopefully a few more fish to come for me. Think I need to have a look at a few camera options next!