The lake is heavily boilie dominated. I had watched some fish a few weeks ago feeding hard in the edge on some maize that I had introduced so decided to give it a go on my last weekend session.
I baited solely with maize, about a quarter of a large bucket, and fished 3 grains of maize on a simple hair rig. I was very surprised in the morning when not a single bleep had been heard throughout the night. I had expected at least a few liners off tench if nothing else. At 8:30 in the morning, out of the blue, I had a tench-like take. When I picked up the rod the fish was solid in weed, typical of a tench. However, a bit of steady pressure resulted in the fish kicking free. The heavy lunges from the fish let me know that this was no tench; I was into a carp.After a short fight a 32lb 4oz mirror was safely netted.
I repositioned the rod and topped up with 6 spombs of bait. Two hours later the rod absolutely ripped off. I grabbed the rod slowing the spool until the fish eventually ground to a halt in the thick weed. Thankfully the fish did not bed down and by walking back on a tight line I was able to coax the fish out of the weed. It was then a short battle of wallowing and head shaking before I was able to shuffle a large common into the net. The scales settled on 39lb 12oz, my biggest fish of the year.It just goes to show that being a little different to everyone else can pay dividends.
