It finally feels like we’ve turned a corner with the weather. Night time temperatures are now holding at 6-7 °C, with daytime reaching a comfortable 15-16 °C. The pressure is dropping nicely for a day or two—just about perfect conditions.

I wasn’t sure I’d even get a swim for this last full week of fishing. With so many anglers planning trips, I half-expected to end up on Airfield Lake—something I hoped to avoid until May.

Pulling into the main car park, I was relieved to see just two cars. Promising. In my head, I’d mapped out my top three swim choices, plus three backups, keeping myself focused on Meadow Lake. Swim No. 1 was already taken, along with a couple of my backups, so I pressed on, mindful of which swims had been occupied the night before.

I parked up near my second-choice swim, which offered a fantastic vantage point to observe the lake. After a quick chat with another member, I kept an eye on the water. Right on cue, a carp crashed out between his swim and the one I was parked beside. A proper lump.

That settled it—I wasn’t moving. I hadn’t been overly keen on my first-choice swim anyway, having already spent three nights there last week with no joy.

With four nights ahead and last week’s slow fishing still fresh in my mind, I knew I needed to build things up gradually. This swim commanded a vast amount of water, but with only two rods allowed, it was all too easy for carp to evade capture. In reality, you could fish six rods here and still only cover a fraction of the features.

I opted to fish one rod near the snags where the carp had shown, while the other went into the corner to my right—an area where carp had been spotted recently. My approach for the first 24 hours was simple: observe, adapt, and adjust tactics as needed.

I walked over to the day swim next to the snags and catapulted in a mix of Nutrabaits boilies in various sizes. The plan was to fish an 18mm Co-De wafter. The second rod was flicked around a branch into the corner, baited with a White Wafter and 8mm Trigga pellets, accompanied by a few boilies.

It was a pleasure to sit outside, eat my tea in the daylight, and feel the sun on my back. Eventually, I retreated into the bivvy. I can’t wait for the clocks to change—it’ll be nice to get out for evening walks again.

At 05:45, I was completely crashed out when my alarm screamed into life. It took me a moment to register what was happening—it had been a while! And a daylight take, too—always makes life easier.

The fish had bolted from the corner and was charging along the treeline. I kept it away from the snags and started gaining ground. Once in front of my swim, it spent ten minutes trying to dive back into the corner. I worked it under my other line, aiming to guide it towards the left-hand side of the swim—an easier netting spot. The carp wasn’t having any of it.

Eventually, it got the message. After a solid battle, I slipped it into the net.

Absolutely over the moon. Another carp on the bank—and on one of the new Nutrabaits Blank Saver wafters, no less.

27lb 13oz Common—superb result.

While playing the fish, I’d noticed something break the surface to my left. Not wanting to disturb the right-hand margin, I quickly put together a PVA mesh bag, clipped on another White Blank Saver, and flicked it into the zone. Worth a couple of hours, I reckoned.

The other rod had given a couple of bleeps, nudging the bobbin up a centimeter. That got me thinking about tangles again. The rig is solid, but it’s tangled twice now—possibly a third time. I’d find out at 10:00.

Sitting on my bedchair, I got a surprise visitor—a mink poked its head around the bivvy door! Then strolled straight through my legs before rummaging about at the back of my bivvy. Completely unbothered by me. Amazing to see up close.

At 10:00, I reeled in both rods—no tangles. Great news. I headed over to the Tardis for a chat with a couple of members. Turned out four carp had come out, with one lost—a decent 24-hour result.

The afternoon was spent reading and watching the lake before sorting tea and settling in with something on my phone.

With the current conditions and carp activity, I felt confident for the night.

Mist and fog rolled in—not my favorite conditions to fish in. The carp were clearly active but not near me, at least not that I was aware of. Time for a rethink. I doubted a swim move would help—the fish were showing in an area intersecting three swims. Instead, I needed to consider rod placement. Which one to move, and where?

After a walk around the lake and some deliberation, I decided to stay put. I made up fresh rigs, topped up the swim, and got the rods back on the spots. Now, it was just a waiting game.

The following morning, after another night of not a sign of Mr Crap, I put my thinking hat on again and eventually, after much thought, I threw in the towel and headed home. On the way, I swung by Airfield Lake for a chat with Ian and a good walkabout.

Until next time.

Richard

Get 10% off Deeper With Code – RICHARD10