Great start to June with a top lake best Common

Well the 1st of June turned into a great afternoon at the lakes despite being let down by the promised help i carried on regardless. First mission was to try and catch another Carp from the stock pond, with only 7 left in there it is getting tough but i need them out, as the water level isn't stable. After an hour and a little bit of feed there was no sign of any carp and with the day progressing i decided to go and get cracking on the work. I fired up the ride on mower and the next 2 hrs was spent chugging around the lakes creating banks you could play bowls on, it does look great when the tracks are cut short. I had noticed the big Ghost milling around in the bay while i cut the grass and she is always sociable until i pick up a rod then she dissapears into the murk. I chucked a few slices of bread around the carp lake margins but there were signs of trashed reeds and small groups of fish following each other in a spawning manner. I cant say i am surprised the weather has been perfect the last few days, they certainly weren't interested in bread. I was beginning to think the day was a waste of time and returned to the stock pond, as it was at the least in the shade. I observed the static surface and noticed small silt eruptions rising to the surface in the margin, i dropped in a small lump of freelined paste and put the rod on the ground to watch the line. It wasn't long and another silt cloud signaled the arrival of a rooting carp, sure enough the loose coil of line slowly straightened and i struck. The shallow surface erupted as the Carp charged across the lake, these new stock fish fight like demons and it was a little time before the fish was subdued. The fish was another chunky Mirror and doing well on the regular feed, i grabbed a quick photo before putting the carp in the big lake.

That was a great result and 6 to go before i can relax, with the grass cut and a stockie removed i could now have an hour trying to catch one of the bigger Carp. I sprinkled a bit of crust in the margins and went for a walk around the Tench lake, i soon noticed a large silt cloud full with Tench. The Tench were spawning big time and literally crawling out of the water at times, this leaves them vulnerable and hope they get their business sorted quickly. Upon returning to the Carp lake i spotted a couple of fish feeding on the crust, i quickly hooked a piece of bread crust and flicked it to the corner of the reeds. A carp appeared from nowhere and sucked down the bread, i struck and the fish tore off through the reeds the line briefly touching my hand causing an instant burn. There was no way i was stopping this fish, it came out of one reed bed and into the next, fortunately it stuck to the reed edges and the line cut through the wispy new growth. The fish then made for an island but away from the reeds i was able to use the rod to bring that run to an end. Several more powerful runs followed before i slipped the net under a stunning Common Carp and going by the length i really thought it could be the first twenty pound common from the lake. The fish was mint but could easily hold a lot more weight a really long barrel of a fish, once on the scales it didn't quite hit the magic 20 being 18lb 8oz . I am delighted that the feeding program is working and am still confident that we should see a twenty this autumn.

The time was now 5pm and i had promised to get back and cook steak & chips for our tea so i went and got the bucket of feed, 10 kilos put in to ensure the fish keep going the right way.