Dedication pays off
So I was in a rut! The more carp videos I watched, the more gear I brought or won, the more I researched online, the less I seemed to catch. My effort and enthusiasm did not seem to match the reward & at the end of 2023 I was on a 3 month blank spell.
I was looking for a fresh start, so joined Mary’s lake syndicate as a winter ticket @doddington lane pits near Wellingborough for 2024.
I got one 48 hour session in between Xmas and new year and had 2 low doubles and 1 much heavier fish out.
It turns out though, as it had been so long since my last catch the batteries on my scales had gone flat 😩 I like to think I get an ‘A’ for improvisation & effort taking the battery out of my car key fob, but that didn’t work.
I even warmed them up in a pan but the scales were dead so I’ll never know if I had a new PB!!
The lake then flooded with the storms so it wasn’t until the end of Jan that I got out again for a quick 24 hour session.
I had to work so arrived late afternoon and had no time to walk the lake as I normally would before deciding on a swim.
The wind had been blowing hard again so I set up in the middle bay where the fish could have been blown into and hoped for the best.
Where were the bloody zips??!!
I was really short on time before it got dark so I took advantage of getting my 3 rods out toward to the far island using the bait boat for speed. TMC Crew had been talking about Baylys baits. I had never heard of them 3 month ago, but I liked the idea of the Venom high leakage concept so have been using their Venom Apex wafters as hook baits and crumbed apex boilies mixed with house pellets and Venom goo as a mix.
It was blowing a gale, the baits were sent out in a rush and I had guessed where the fish were. I didn’t have the time to prep like normal and thought that it was going to be another night of repairing my mental health camping.
That was until I was rudely awaken by a screening run at 2.00am. The first challenge was how to get out of the bivvy. I had won a new Avid Exo+ on one of the carp comp sites and was using it for the first time.
Where were the bloody zips??!! 👀
Say "Cheese" 😁
I finally got out and to my relief I was still hooked up. I use the krypton line and blue light head torch that makes the line appear glow in the dark. This was a massive help in getting the fish to the bank on a swim I had never fished before. I would love to pretend that it was an epic fight but I’m pleased to say it all went really smoothly other than me despite needing a wee!! I’m hoping it was the excitement and not a dodgy prostrate 🤣
Safely in the net, time for a wee and to work out what to do next. My new scales (not making that mistake twice) showed it was a bit special
A lovely mirror at 38lb 8oz, a new PB!
Now for the tricky bit. I’ve spent the last 13 years as a professional commercial photographer. So surprisingly this means I must be the only carp fisherman that doesn’t want his photo taken with the fish 
but club rules say we must take photos and they should be in the water where possible.
I had avoided having to do this on other lakes and so for the first time ever, I as a pro photographer with thousands of pounds of pro photographic kit was trying to take a selfie of me holding a fish in the water with an iPhone!!!
I did have a tripod and a Bluetooth remote for the phone but I quickly learned that the remote was not waterproof!!
I remembered someone saying about a cheese app so finally found “say cheese” and got a few very cheesy snaps with my prize. But don’t worry in the future I’ll be better prepared with my lights, stylist, make up artist and assistant so the pics will be awesome next time!!!!! Joking aside.
It’s great to see the photos of the fish at 38lb 8oz especially when the lake owners dug out the originally pics of the fish when stocked less than 2 years ago at 26lb
So what have I learned. Firstly that effort and learning may not show instantly. But consistency does pay off in the end
Alternatively if you can’t be good just be lucky like I was 
Secondly batteries don’t like water and photographers don’t like being in front of the camera. Thirdly, messing about in the water for 2 hours at 2am is the fastest way to a week off work with man flu!!
Will I do it all again this weekend?
Absooooooolllllutely
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