“After my last diary piece it wasn’t long until I was back out on the banks of Bayeswater Syndicate in Essex.

Unfortunately for me the carp had different things on their minds and had started spawning which meant it was the start of the annual two week lake shutdown. Post spawning was a time I was really looking forward to as the banks are generally a lot quieter and the weed is up.

I couldn’t just walk away for two weeks though. The next two Fridays I spent most of my time at the lake with a marker float, aquascope, H block marker, prodding stick and two big buckets of bait. I was happily floating about, priming spots, carp watching and generally getting ready for the next few months.

Gary Bayes, the fishery manager, allows this time for feature finding, baiting and boat work. In fact anything goes really just as long as you haven’t got baited rigs out. To be honest this isn’t the norm on most syndicates but then this place isn’t the norm anyway! It works here and looking back it was a time I really enjoyed on the lake. As the saying goes, “just being there is enough” and there’s certianly something rather special about drifting round in a boat on a lovely bright summers morning, clear water and no one in sight other than some rather special carp.

The first few weeks after the lake reopened were quiet for me. I only managed one bite from a fish know as ‘The Sheriff’ at 34lb 8oz from an area I’d been trickling bait into from time to time.