First session of 2026

This session was meant to take place last week, but a sick child put a stop to that. After spending two hours looking for signs of carp and finding nothing, I decided to settle into a swim I have confidence in and enjoy a bit of comfort. Starting that way puts you in the right mindset and gives you something solid to build on.

The conditions looked very encouraging: 10°C during the day, 8°C at night, overcast with patchy sunshine, and a nice drop in pressure. Unfortunately, I would be home by the time it reached 983mb. For the next three nights, it was forecast to sit consistently around 1012mb, which I actually prefer. I like consistency rather than sharp rises and drops over a short period. My own head doesn’t enjoy those fluctuations, and it does make me wonder how they affect carp individually, because, like us, they must all respond differently.

I settled on a swim called Gap. I had spent some time the previous week looking for potential new winter spots and had marked a few out, including rediscovering this one, which had produced a good few carp for me many years ago.

My casting range isn’t what it used to be—old age, and possibly lingering elbow issues from a few years back. However, after a few practice casts, I managed to get the marker float beyond the spot, allowing me to pull back and feel the bottom. It was just perfect. I had recently taken delivery of a Fox Horizon Spomb/marker rod, courtesy of my friend Rob, and after a few more practice casts, I was soon putting a large Spomb accurately on the spot.

The baiting approach was minimal: just a handful of hemp, buckwheat, boilie crumb, and a few whole boilies. I only wanted five Spombs out there, which is why I spent time dialling everything in first. There was no room for overbaiting this trip. The plan was to continue putting five Spombs out each day until something happened—whether that be bream or carp, hopefully the latter.

The drizzle soon arrived—the kind you don’t really notice until you realise you’re soaked.

I had a single bleep around 20:00, followed by two more between roughly 00:30 and 01:00. That gave me a bit of confidence that something was out there, hopefully not bream.

At 07:45, the right-hand rod was away—strangely, not the one producing the nighttime bleeps. Halfway across the pond, I somehow picked up the other line, which wasn’t ideal, especially as the carp was heading straight towards the snags. I just had to deal with it.

I could see it was one of the stockies, but that wasn’t an issue—it was my first carp of 2026, and a January one at that. Eventually, it slipped over the cord.

13lb 10oz mirror

It then took me the best part of an hour to get both rods back out on the spot. I would definitely put out another five Spombs later.

The day was spent watching the water, and I was lucky enough to see a carp show, which gave me confidence going into the second night. Surprisingly, not a single bleep came all night. I felt lazy the following morning and stayed in bed until gone 09:00.

After analysing several weather apps, it became clear that another night was worth doing—especially after seeing another carp show. It was shaping up to be a tricky one, with a lot of rain possibly on the way and the chance of ending up doing a fourth night, which I wasn’t sure was a good idea. That said, the forecast showed warm winds and low pressure, so I hoped the rain wouldn’t be too bad.

I decided to put a couple of extra Spombs out to build the swim slightly. With a 40mph wind blowing, I switched to 5oz Scruffs Zipp-style leads to maintain accuracy. The wind was coming from the south-east, reducing the crosswind effect.

Both rods were now on pop-ups—the same presentation that had produced the carp earlier.

I sorted my tea early as the rain was due, stretched my legs around the swim, and prepared for being pinned down for the next 24 hours, possibly 48 if things didn’t go to plan.

I could only hope the carp would feed during breaks in the heavy rain, depending on how the storm tracked.

At 18:54, the right-hand rod started lifting and dropping, with bleeps but no line being taken. “That’ll be a bream in the rain,” I thought. Turns out it wasn’t—it was another carp. Another stockie, but no complaints. I’m sure the bigger girls will be out and feeding soon enough.

The line clipped up perfectly on the recast—bang on the spot. I was very happy with that cast. Now bring on the lumps.

There was no further action overnight. With all the rain and wind, I slept in until 10:00 to catch up as much as possible.

I then faced a bit of a conundrum about when to head home without getting absolutely soaked. Both today and tomorrow looked poor, although tomorrow appeared marginally better—if the forecast could be trusted.

I made the decision to stay for a fourth night, hoping for a break in the weather between 08:00 and 11:00 so I could pack up and get back to the car reasonably dry. I knew when I chose this swim that access could be an issue in bad weather, but it still felt like the best option to nick a bite.

At 12:45, there was a break in the weather long enough to refresh the baits and get the rods back out, followed by around six more Spombs—unfortunately, in the rain.

Now it was simply a case of hoping something special would happen over the next 18 hours.

At 16:15, the left-hand rod produced a large bream. Thankfully, there was a break in the rain at the time.

Once again, it looked and felt like the perfect night, but the carp just aren’t playing ball at the moment. Next week is showing similar conditions, so we’ll have to see when I can slot another session in.

Until next time,
Richard

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