With the school holidays on full flow, I am only able to do quick nights now.
After a quick look around – a few anglers were on the spots I like, I had a look on one of the island swims. The wind was blowing a bit of a cold NW wind, I quite fancied being on the back of this wind.
So I put both baits just off one of the islands, in the lee of the wind and spomb out a bit of Catalyst boilies with pellets soaked in food dip.
With the moon coming up over the lake, I tucked myself up in my bag and drifted off to sleep.
At about 0230 the right-hand rod gave a couple of bleeps and the tip pulled down. I quickly grabbed the rod and pulled into a very unhappy Common, who gave me a bit of a run around, but finally was safely on the net.
It tipped the scales at 22lb 13oz. I placed the fish in the recovery sling, got the rod back out and then got to work on the photos.
Pleasant sunrise this morning as I was packing up.
I would like to give a brief snap shot of my life and introduce myself;
My name is Richard Handel and was born in 1965 in Suffolk. I have worked as a UK Operation & Intermodule Manager for a shipping company. I live in Hampshire now and am married with 2 young children, both girls so I am a bit outnumbered even the cat is a girl!
I have been fishing since I was about 7 years old. I started on small local rivers in Suffolk, then moved onto gravel pits and then carp fishing. My personal best is a 39.08 mirror, over recent years I have started river fishing again, on the Hampshire Avon, this is a nice break from the carp lakes.
My life has turned a big corner this year, the company I was working for relocated their Operation centre to Estonia. I was offered a job at the head office in London. This would have meant a 5 day commute and working in Stratford. As a family, we did not fancy this, as I would hardly spend any time with the children (and the Mrs). So after 22.5 years, I was given a nice redundancy package and with my wife is working full time. I became the house husband.
This has meant a complete turn around in my fishing, as I can pick and choose when I go. I have found a splendid new syndicate to fish this year, which includes 5 lakes and some 8 miles of river with only 150 members. It's an amazing change to the way I am able to fish.
I am now trying to start my own tackle business and make a bit of a name for myself in the world of fishing, as I have retired from real work.
Richard
UK Carp & Coarse Fishing 