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It's early December and after a few cold nights and light frosts I was slightly concerned that the drop in temperature may have switched the fish at my club lake off, nevertheless, it would take a lot more than a chill in the air to stop us from trying to bank a few carp.
My club lake has the benefit of a large hill adjacent to the bank which is perfect for getting a full overhead view of the lake making fish finding a great deal easier. after 5 or so minutes of pacing up and down searching for a sign of fish activity I managed to spot a few bubbles and ripples which was enough persuade me that was the place to be.
Joined, as usual by my cousin Harry, we set up stall for the day and got the rods out. I had gone for the pop up approach given the silty, leave covered bottom to the lake, A flouro Pineapple the bait of choice and the other rod armed with a Pineapple Fever bottom bait on my standard bottom rig.
Harry had chosen to go with a very similar tactic on the swim next to me, a Pineapple fever bottom bait close in on the clearer bottom and 2 12mm Gulp Tuna spice pop ups snowman style towards the middle.
It didn't take long for our swim choice to be justified when, after about an hour, Harry's rod screamed off producing a lovely Chestnut Brown Mirror of around 12lbs (left) caught on the Tuna spice pop up snowman rig. Well that was a nice confidence booster and more was to come. Not much more than half an hour had past when, just as I had sat down with a cuppa, Harry's other rod goes roaring off. An 11lb Common (below) this time on the Pineapple Fever bottom bait, not as big as he would have liked but a welcome catch all the same. 
With Harry clearly amongst the fish it was proving to be a lively morning for him and the polar opposite for me but given the temperature and high pressure it was never going to be easy, Patience and perseverance would surely pay off I was thinking when yet again, Harry was into another fish. It was the Tuna Spice pop up rig again, so I decided to get on them as they were clearly doing the business. After filming and taking some snaps of Harry's latest capture, a lovely little Common of around 8-9lb (below) I changed my flouro pineapple Pop up to a Tuna spice and got it back out there. 
That was to be last action of the day, at only 10am. a feeding frenzy in the morning but the high pressure had looked to switch the fish off. I climbed the hill again at around lunch time and could make out a number of carp up in the layers so threw a zig rig out with a Tuna Spice on which, while watching the spot from above was almost ignored completely. I adjusted the depth but still no joy. I did have a dropped take at around 2pm but that was it.
So Harry stole the show today but an enjoyable day nonetheless. A couple of fish on the Gulp! baits and a few pics for Harry's album.
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Thanks for reading and until next time, Keep Calm and Go Fishing!
