This week you find me at Willow Park Fishery on the Hampshire / Surrey boarders. It’s like a second home to me, as I bailiff the venue and have a swim named after me. I might have spent a few sessions in the swim when I first started fishing here. To be honest I’ve spent even more days in the onsite café, but that’s not named after me yet…

Well the swim has change a little since I fished it last. Catching a good number of fish out the swim last year means it’s become very popular, so this is only my 3^rd session this year. Both previous weekends had been very rewarding, so Im hopeful. I’m sharing the swim with the owner of the fishery Bob Orford, well he’s doing a few hours at night when he closes the fishery.

Rods go out on spots that have produced fish for me in the past, but after a lead around there are a lot of leaves on the bottom. Even the clear spots I knew about are no longer clear. Jason one of the other bailiffs has now joined me and is fishing the open water on Canal Bank a few feet away. The evening draws in and with hunger next on the agenda its time to cook my steak and rice dinner. No reason to not eat well when fishing is there James Bushnell?. Bob should be joining us soon as its 7pm and the fishery is closed. We have 14 people on the lake tonight, so with the arrival of Bob its time for a quick bailiff round. Then time for coffee and an early night before the rain sets in. Baiting up and recasting in the rain isn’t fun I can tell you and I’m not sure it stopped all night. With only 1 fish caught off bungalow bank and 1 from Culvert (both open water swims) its clear the fish are not on the feed and lots of cold rainwater hasn’t helped.

I keep the bait trickling in and finally I’m rewarded at 1pm with a slow take and a fish using all its weight to just hold its position. It doesn’t rush anywhere almost like it doesn’t know its been hooked and I just get a firm slow nod, nod, nod on the rod tip as I try and guide it closer! My heart is in my mouth as this is one of the big girls! She aims for a treeline to my right and its rod tip down to avoid trees. With a finger on the spool I slowly turn her head and she starts to move towards me. Only 10ft till the net! Hook pull….No way! All this time waiting for a bite and lost what was a good Common. I’m pretty sure they heard my disappointment in the café the other end of the complex.

Anyway, the rod goes back out and I call a friend to reflect on my loss. A quick talk about possible rig tweaks and upping the lead size, then both rods back out with tweaks and over a handful of boilies. This session I’m using a combination of Mad Baits Wicked Whites and Jerrys Winter Zing boilies in 18mm. The smell of these is awesome and I will be using them a lot more in my fishing this winter!

It’s another quiet afternoon and evening, but at 11:30pm a good take sees me with a small double figure common on the bank. What a little scrapper, but still no consolation for the one that got away. A good nights sleep saw a very misty lake on daylight. I can hear fish out in open water, but can’t see them yet due to the fog.  Around 9:30am and I’ve put a pop up out long towards them from Jason’s swim, but cant quiet get on the area I want. At 10:30am with fish being pushed into quiet areas I pick up 2 rods, landing net, unhooking mat and 2 pots of Dispersion pop ups. Then its two pockets full of Wicked Whites and I’m off to Pig Pen, as this has access to open water and no one is fishing the road bank. Half a dozen casts and an hour passes before the bobbin slowly rises to the top, pulls tight and I shout come on!!! My heart lifts as the fish pulls back and starts to move off to the left. 10 minutes and I’m passing my rod round a tree to get a better angle. A nice broad set of shoulder comes up the shallow margin and after a couple of last minute lunges its in the net! 20lbs of Willow Park Common in full winter colours. Its rewards like this after 2 days of very little action that makes it all worth it.

Rods back out and a promise to myself that I will pack up at 1pm, as I’m starving and need to get home with more rain due. My phone hits 1pm and I breakdown the landing net, place it in my Wychwood sling unhooking mat, lift the first rod, move the handle and place it on the floor. I do the same with the second rod and pull the buzz bars out the ground. The second rod is clicking on the clutch really slowly and I think to myself, bugger didn’t slacken off the line when turning the handle enough. At this point I’m thinking what an idiot, so pull some more line off, but the clicking continues. With a rod wedged between my legs keeping tension on the line I’m putting the landing net back together squatting on my heels. It must have looked very comical and not something I would suggest to others. I’m also chuckling to myself, thinking you jammy git! So for my short time here I managed an 18lb 8oz Mirror to go with the 20lb Common. As you can imagine I finally pack up one very happy camper.

After a massive breakfast in the café with extra coffee and a flapjack I reflect. 2 night of hard work and I landed a double figure Common around 12lbs, but with the very basics and 2.5 hours in the right place I’ve landed 2 cracking winter fish and a full belly, so I’ve learnt not always does more effort = more rewards.

We are off to a very beautiful club lake this weekend in search of old warriors. Wish me luck…