Well, with the clocks moving forward an hour my enthusiasm suddenly reappeared and I was chomping at the bit to get back on the bank.
My van was due for an MOT on the Friday so I took the opportunity to book the day off work, drop the van off at the gararge first thing then get the wife to give me a lift to Snag Pit.
After managing to fit my kit in her little hatchback along with my youngest son in his car seat we were soon on our way, it didn't take long before her little car bumped along the waterlogged track that lead to the magical Snag Pit.
After a quick scout about I decided to jump in the secluded point swim, I nearly fell on my arse on more than one occasion whilst trekking to the swim fully laden with my gear.
After assessing the scene I opted to fish naked choddies on both rods, both baited with high attract washed out pop ups - I would have liked to have said "before I knew it the rods were out" but this just wasn't the case, it took me 20 casts with my right hand rod to get it exactly where I wanted, each time it hit the clip I felt it wasn't right,it certainly is safe to say that I was out of practice!
After finally getting the right hand rod the mere 40 yards in front towards an overhanging tree I sat down and had a smoke before even thinking about the left hand rod, 10 minutes later I took a deep breath then chucked the left hand rod out which thankfully went out without any dramas first time.
With the rods sorted I then scattered about 30 Odessey XXX 15 millers over the top of the spots, finally I then sat down and sighed rather loudly, the kettle went on and before long all of life's worries seemed to have disappeared.
I spent the whole of the afternoon with my eyes fixed to the water but didn't see a thing, although all the commotion I had caused earlier certainly wouldn't have helped the situation.
It was about 5pm when I received a call on my mobile from my wife giving me the expected news that my van had failed its' MOT, I gave her the go ahead to get the work done as I needed it back as soon as possible - my new ticket started the following week and getting lifts after work and at 5am in the morning was out of the question.
With the fading light I perched by the rods hoping to see or hear something but eventually I decided to crawl to comfort of the sleeping bag.
It was a lovely night to be on the bank and I kept my eyes open as long as I could just taking in the atmosphere but eventually the hard week before took its toll and I entered a deep sleep not stiring until the first few rays of light glistened over the horizon.
I awoke feeling refreshed, I always sleep well on the bank and felt it was just what I needed as the first slurp of morning cofee touched my lips I felt a sense of peace at one with nature - this to me is what carp angling is all about, catching seems to come in at a close 2nd which is just as well given my recent record.
The morning flew by and before I knew it my wife had text to say she was on her way, it didn't take me long to pack the stripped down kit away - I bid the lake farewell and was sat by the side of the track waiting for her when she arrived.
My new ticket was due to start on the Tuesday and thankfully I got the news on the Monday that my van had now passed its' MOT after having the work completed, I arranged to go and have a mooch round the pit with a mate who had fished it the year before the following day.
It was whilst planning the recce that he told me he had the Thursday off work so was fishing the Wednesday night, I didn't think twice - "I'll do a quick work night then!" flew out of my lips.
As I pulled into the gate Tuesday evening I could make out my mate sat in his car with a bag of chips, after I parked up I walked over to him waving my finger with a few choice words, he then opened the door and gave me a rather large portion of pie and chips which he had picked up for me, I immediately retracted my previous statement!
After finishing my dinner, we grabbed a bag of bait each and set off for a walk round the lakes, we walked round the smaller of the two lakes first and despite its relatively low stock we immediately found fish, the signs were subtle but they were there!
After admiring the leviathans for a while we finished the lap of the lake after finding a few more fish and set off up the path to the next lake which my mate was most interested in after he had faired so well on the smaller lake the year before, I was more interested in the smaller of the two - the fish will never break records and the biggest known fish is low 30s but they are amongst some of the best looking fish my eyes have gazed upon.
The bigger of the two lakes holds the bigger fish including a couple of low 40 commons which is what my mate was after, we did a lap of the lake and found the fish on the end of the wind.
We hoped the lake would still be quiet the following evening, checked the forecast and saw the wind would still be pumping down that end of the lake so decided to scatter a kilo or so of bait in the area in anticipation of the following evening.
The next day at work couldn't go fast enough but eventually I won my freedom and made the 40 mile journey as fast as my old van could manage, whilst sat in a traffic jam the news came on the radio and it was all about the Saharan dust that was being blown onto our shores which explained the sand covering my windscreen, after several more traffic jams and periods of road rage I pulled up at the gates, unlocked it as quietly as I could then made my way round to my prebaited swim.
My mate was already in the swim next door and was just getting his 2nd rod out so I didn't disturb him and carried on to my swim, the wind was still hammering down the lake into my face - it looked so good for it, my confidence was soaring although time was not on my side as I had to pack up at 5am!
I threw the two rods together as quick as I could, again fished with naked choddies and hi attract washed out pop ups - both rods went out nicely to the area I baited up 50 yards out.
After letting the flurocarbon sink for a while I carefully (or not as soon will explained) set the bobbins and switched on the Nevilles then sat back and started getting dinner ready.
With an early start the following morning I decided to do the night under the stars, after all it would be less to pack away.
After dinner my mate wandered into the swim, we sat on the bedchair chewing the fat for a few hours planning our seasons, talking bait and a long chat about the bouyancey (or lack of!) of pop ups.
It was about 10pm when we decided to call it a night, I was pretty much asleep as I climbed in the bag and can't remember anything until my phone woke me at 5am telling me it was time to get my arse in gear with a god awful tone.
As I swung my legs off the bedchair I glanced at the rods, the right hand rods' line was tight - I then noticed the hanger was jammed in the roller.
I can't write what I said but I dropped my head into my hands, a few moments later I decided it would be best if I go and inspect the culprit alarm - I couldn't believe it, the line was running down the side of the roller and I had obviously slept unaware through a run.
I picked up the rod and began reeling in, whatever it was had kited well down to the right - the rig was a few yards off the bank when I noticed a 'tap tap',I couldn't believe it, the fish was still on and I had pretty much walked it to the bank like a dog on a lead unaware that it was on the end.
I bundled the net under it and scooped it up as quick as I could - I was in shock!
After securing the net I went and woke my mate as he wanted me to before I left anyway, he was already awake as it was and came over to inspect my prize whilst laughing as I told him my story.
As we both looked into the net the fish seemed to have shrunk by half, my mate started laughing saying that was the smallest fish he had ever heard of the lake doing.
To be sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me I weighed it in at a 13 lb, still it was my first fish of the year, first fish on my first night from a notorious tricky water so I couldn't complain!
We took a few photographs of the little common then returned her to her watery home, my mate left me to it as I began packing up as quick as I could - 5 minutes later the kit was in the back of the van and I was heading for work rather chuffed with my small prize.
Once at work I felt pretty good but by early afternoon my cheeky work night had taken its toll - still I had not time to relax, I stocked up on a few bits and pieces before leaving work then shot home as quick as I could.
I spent the evening doing the tedious task of spooling up with fresh flurocarbon followed by tying up a batch of fresh choddies, after the van was loaded time was ticking on so I rammed some food down my neck and went to bed to get some much needed sleep.
It felt like I had barely closed my eyes when my alarm told me it was time to work, I had a quick coffee and grabbed my camera batteries then made the hour journey to work blurry eyed to say the least.
The day dragged, every minute felt like an hour but eventually I could leave, the journey to the pit was a nerve wracking one the whole time I was worried the little lake would be stitched up, throw in some of the worse traffic jams imaginable and a few idiots on the road and you can sense the journey I had.
Once I rolled down the track towards the pit I was pleasantly surprised to only find a few anglers on, I immediately decided to get on the end of the wind and although this end was only a few feet deep I thought the fish would get in there the following morning once it had warmed up a bit.
It didn't take me long to ship a couple of rods together with the same naked chod set up that had proved successful earlier in the week, these were flicked out a mere 25 yards and fished as singles - not wanting to cause any disturbance and keep my presence a secret to anything that may venture into my corner.
It was a lovely evening to be on the bank, my mate popped down for an hour and filled me in on the lake and what he had caught and discovered the year before, after destroying my coffee supplies my mate left me to it so I cooked up some dinner which consisted of noodles that were in the bottom of my rucksack from the season before, still they went some way to partially filling in the void in my stomach.
It was about 11pm when I decided to call it a night, I hadn't seen or heard anything but then I didnt really expect to - not until the following morning at least.
I had one of the greatest sleeps I have ever had and awoke at 6am feeling fully refreshed and full of beans, several coffees later I went and sat by the rods waiting for visitors to my area but as the morning wore on it became apparent that the weather forecast the day before was wrong, the temperature barely got into double figures and the wind was bitter, far from the 17 degrees that was forecast.
I gave it until early afternoon praying for a change in the weather but unfortunately it never came, that will teach me for planning my session according to the weather forecast - bad angling on my part but such is life.
As I sit here writing this I am beginning to get all excited again, I wonder if I can fit in another cheeky work night......
Until next time,
Smithy