Well I've just returned from my local syndicate after trying something different, the end result was a blank.....but it's better to have had a take and lost than to never have had a take at all I suppose.

I left the office slightly before 4pm yesterday and was in the syndicate car park in 30 seconds flat, the barrow was soon loaded and I jogged round the bank. I knew where I wanted to be courtesy of "Dumpy" keeping me informed during the day about the carpy activity.

It didn't take me long to get all 3 rods positioned at the bottom of a shelf on the far margin, I sat back with the first brew of the session with a new found confidence.

After having a good chat with "Dumpy" my wife arrived with some welcoming warm baguettes and a bottle of Shiraz firmly in her grasp. All 3 of us had been sat in "Dumpy's" swim talking about anything and everything for about an hour when "Dumpy's" middles rod went into melt down and after a few of what I shall describe as "entertaining" moments we soon had the fish in the net, which turned out to be a stunning 23 lb+ Mirror.

After doing the photos we returned her to her watery home and celebrated with a brew (Trudi chose to drink the Wine!). At about 11pm me and Trudi returned to my swim a few yards away and got in the sleeping bag or shall I say squeezed in the bag together but I have to admit it was cosy after we had shuffled about abit!

I struggled to sleep, I could hear fish rolling in front of me all night and by 4am I decided to get up, have a smoke and see what they were up to!

I squeezed back into the bag at about 5am and slowly drifted off to sleep. Before I knew it was 6:45am and I was being screamed at by the shrill of my Neville!

I flew out of the bivvy and lifted into a good fish that was kiting to the left on a tight line, at this point I was wondering why my Neville was still screaming at me (obviously a fault looking back now) I lent down to switch it off and at that exact same time the fish turned and flew towards me, with one hand still on the alarm and one on the rod the fish was soon on a slack line and by the time I had attempted to get back in contact the hook had pulled.......my heart sank, I was gutted.

A complete school boy error which I shall never forget, I launched the "Torrix" down the margin into the reeds and had a paddy, Trudi went and hid in the bivvy whilst I "sorted" myself out.

After 10 Min's and a cup of coffee with a smoke I was almost back in a normal (ish) state of mind and retrieved the rod from the reeds, rebaited it then put it back on the spot but unfortunately the moment had passed and the lake looked lifeless.

After demolishing two packs of Bacon and several gallons of coffee I decided to pack up before the rain arrived and typically just as I had put the bivvy in its bag the heaven's opened and I mean Opened!

So with all the gear completely sodden I pushed the barrow back to the van all the whilst swearing that I will have my revenge next weekend...........

Until then,

Smithy

Due to me having to work on the Saturday, I never managed to get behind the rods on Friday night as planned.

After work on Friday I popped down the syndicate for a mooch and upon arriving my worst fears were confirmed as I was greeted by a full car park.

Never the less I parked up and walked the bank in the dark, passing a bivvy in almost every swim. By the time I was half way round I recognised "Tones" laugh from the back of a bivvy so popped my head in for a chin wag, after putting the Carpy world to rights for a good hour I bid him farewell set off to find "Russ" further up the bank. We had a good chat and I told him my intention was to be back down by 4pm the following day and I asked him to keep me informed on bank space - which as always he agreed....I then set off home via the kebab shop to get the kit sorted ready for the pursuit.

I arrived at work the following morning on edge, all the while wondering if a) I could get on and b) would they be feeding in this freezing northerly? The day past slowly, I was constantly checking my phone for updates and then it happened at a little after 2:30pm.....I got the text I really didn't want. Somebody was hovering around the "3rd middles" [my No1 choice swim] and one of the only free swims on the lake, this knocked me for six! At 3pm due to a few technical issues the boss gave us the go ahead to leave early so I was out of the door in a flash! I jumped straight in the van and made the very short hop from the office to the lake in seconds, almost forgetting to stop and open the gate!

I arrived in the car park to be greeted by a member saying, "you fishing then, I'm going in 3rds!" and that was that, I put my tail between my legs and walked round the lake to Russ and had a sulk, Russ put the kettle on and we had a chat for a while, by this point I decided I wasn't feeling the love and after a brew said my good byes and headed home without wetting a line.

That night whilst sulking on the laptop I decided to purchase a bivvy, I fished through the whole of last winter under my oval but after suffering from several bouts of flu and enduring temperature's down to -9c I decided I would be a little wiser this winter.

I have been looking for a new one for a while but it needed to tick 2 main boxes, it needed to be light and also able to be stripped back to just a shelter for the summer months and after being impressed by Russ`s latest purchase I opted for the Chub S Plus Max and got one at a bargain price too!

I've also managed to convince the wife to do her first night on the bank this weekend, very brave of her to do her first one at the end of October!

That bring us pretty much up to date, as I'm working again on Saturday Trudi & I shall be heading down the syndicate at about 4pm on Saturday, I've promised her a bottle of mulled wine and a Chinese so it should be a pleasant evening on the bank and if one of the "Jewels of the lake" makes an appearance.........well it would be rude to knock it off!

Until next time,

Smithy

I arrived on the Syndicate Thursday Morning and with the lake quiet I felt confident. I had a quick trot round the bank and found the fish showing half way round the lake at about 65 yds range, I dropped a bucket in the swim and jogged back to the van to fetch the rest of the gear.

It didn't take me long to get sorted and I soon had 3 rods cast onto showing fish so I sat back and enjoyed the first brew of the day, before I knew it dusk had arrived so I got the dinner on. I was fully expecting a take at any moment and just couldn't relax but by 10pm I called it a night and got in the bag.

I awoke at about 6am and looked at the rods, I could tell instantly that something was amiss. The middle bobbin was touching the roller and on a very tight line, I knew what had happened and I had never done it before until now and that is sleeping through a take. I fired up the Coleman and had a strong coffee before cooking up a few Bacon Rolls and a Cappuccino to wash them down. After breakfast I decided it was time to investigate the offending rod. My earlier thoughts were confirmed when I struggled to retrieve the rig ,the fish had obviously taken me through one of the big weed beds towards the far margin, to say I was gutted was a huge understatement.

By 11am I thought it may be a good idea to rest the swim for a few hours, so I did just that. I had a walk round the far bank and fired out a few baits over where the 3 rods were going to be placed before going back to the swim and reading for a few hours.

At 3pm I got all 3 rods back on the spots and with the occasional fish still showing I felt pretty confident, my old mate "Dumpy" arrived shortly after and set up next door.

After a good catch up we ordered a Chinese and sat up until about 10pm having a good chinwag before calling it a night, the cold that I had endured all week had really taken it out of me and I was soon in the land of nod.

After an uninterrupted sleep I woke up at 6:45am and looked out from under the Oval, the swim looked completely dead and I knew that it wasn't going to happen now. I had a brew and a couple of smokes all the while trying to tell myself that I had done everything right and it couldn't be helped, but it was frustrating that all that hard work hadn't paid off this time. By 10am I packed away and left the lake with that deflated feeling which I always try to avoid but I am sure that every Carp Angler has felt at some point in their career.

So here I am sat at home typing this up and looking towards my next session, I am hoping to manage 2 nights on the bank from Friday but it [as always] depends on work.

Surely it's only a matter of time before all the pieces of the puzzle come together, isn't it?

Until next time,

Smithy