After those couple of nights on the club water, and with a spell of hot, bright conditions forecast, it made sense to head over to Airfield Lake. I also needed to pick up some fresh Jurassic particles—ordered Tuesday and collected on the way through—which worked out perfectly. You can’t ask for better service, and the quality was spot on.

Arriving at the lake, I wasn’t entirely convinced where I wanted to set up. The wind was pushing in from the northwest, but was due to swing around to the southeast, and temperatures were set to drop sharply from around 20°C down to 12°C within 24 hours. Not ideal by any means. That said, with the amount of sunshine predicted, I was hoping it would hold the water temperature enough to keep the carp active and feeding. There had also been a noticeable drop in pressure forecast for Saturday—conditions I’d normally be confident in—but unfortunately, I’d be packing up by then.

My baiting approach was simple but well-rounded:

• Freshly prepared Jurassic particles—hemp and buckwheat
• Nutrabaits EnerGize boilies
• Nutrabaits Co-De boilie bites
• A mix of Nutrabaits pellets in various sizes and flavours, just to add some extra attraction and variation

I eventually settled on one of the island swims, giving me what I felt was the best of the changing wind over the next couple of days. As is often the case here, the carp were clearly present—very active, showing regularly, and feeding hard on naturals. The challenge, as always, was drawing them away from that natural larder and onto something I was introducing.

It was also one of those sessions where you really notice the changing seasons. The swallows and swifts had arrived, darting low across the water, and you just know the cuckoos won’t be far behind, with the nightjars up on the hills soon after. Moments like that add something extra to being out on the bank.

Rod-wise, I kept things straightforward but confident. One rod was presented with an EnerGize snowman, the other with my ever-reliable White Blank Saver. Both were fished with 35mm Godman Angling Double System mesh bags, loaded with a blend of pellets soaked in hemp oil—tight, neat parcels of attraction around the hookbait. It’s a method I’ve got full confidence in, especially for short sessions like this.

09:08 hrs
The first night passed without a single bleep, which was surprising given the amount of activity out in front. Carp were crashing at range, but nothing translated into bites. Dawn, however, was something else—flat calm, carp showing, and the lake alive with birdsong. You can’t ask for a better start to the morning, even if the alarms stayed silent.

10:20 hrs
Over the previous 24 hours, I’d had a couple of odd rod knocks—just single bleeps and slight indications. The sort of thing that starts playing on your mind. I began to question whether the right-hand rod might be tangled, even though I knew it shouldn’t be. In the end, I had to check. As expected, everything was fishing perfectly, but I freshened it up anyway—new hookbait, new mesh bag—and recast. Decided to redo the other rod while I was at it, just to stay sharp.

16:35 hrs
Another subtle indication on the right-hand rod prompted a change. Normally, on this lake, those little knocks develop into proper takes, but not this time. It felt like the fish might be getting cautious, so I made a small rig adjustment in the hope of converting interest into a bite. I’d already topped the swim up lightly around 14:30 with a scattering of boilies and bites—there was still plenty of particle content down there doing its job.

By now, the wind had swung right round to the south, but the temperature had dropped off more than expected—down to around 10°C, feeling closer to 7°C with the wind chill. Not ideal, and I couldn’t help but feel it might have knocked things back a bit.

21:05 hrs
A strange bite—if you can call it that. The bobbin lifted and dropped a few times, enough to get the heart rate up. I picked up the rod and struck into… nothing. No resistance, no weight—just one of those moments that leaves you scratching your head.

Sometime during the night, the rain set in, and after waking briefly around 06:30, I must have drifted straight back off again. Before I knew it, it was gone, 9am—rare for me on the bank.

I began a slow pack-up around 09:30, still watching the water as I went. There were shows in the bay to my left and the odd fish in open water ahead, which made the outcome all the more frustrating. By 10:30, with both rods wound in, it was clear I’d done a full blank.

One of those sessions where, despite doing everything you felt was right—location, bait, rigs, observation—it just doesn’t come together. That’s fishing. You take it on the chin, learn what you can, and move on to the next one.

Until next time,

Richard