The weather looked pretty good on paper with sunshine and a little rain throughout the day. But upon arriving at the lake it was clear that a very chilly breeze was going to make the going difficult. The first swim I tried at the narrow end of the lake didn't produce a fish and although the 2nd swim (peg 25) has been doing me loads of bites in previous sessions it only turned up one carp (albeit a good size one!).

I stuck with it, moving pegs every hour or so or when the bites dried up but it wasn't until late afternoon that I started to get more regular action. Interestingly, the most productive areas from previous sessions didn't really produce and it was trying new areas that brought the fish. In a 1st for this lake, there were actually two other anglers fishing! It was a bit strange not being able to move round the lake as I have been in the past, I guess I've gotten used to having the place to myself!

The day ended on a couple of better fish but I packed down feeling like I should've had more on the bank... But by that point I couldn't feel my face, hands and toes so I'm going to put it down to the incredibly cold wind! Still a great day on the bank though, I'm already looking forward to this Friday's session which (if the weather stays as it is) will be a pike session over at the river (at last!).

Unluckily for me, although spring had sprung a few weeks ago the UK seemed to have gone back a month or so and the weather was cold, grey and windy - far from ideal, especially as the carp at Follyfoot Fishery love warner conditions. But hey, sometimes you just can't choose when to go and as this was to be my last opportunity I was determined to give it my best shot.

Zigs are an absolute winner at Follyfoot so I decided to fish three rods at various depths and a fourth on the bottom. And absolutely nothing happened... For hours and hours... Not a liner, an indication, a show, a nothing... It was almost as if all the fish had left the lake a decided to go on holiday!

It wasn't until late evening when I'd switched all the rods onto the bottom that the left hand rod burst into life. A solid PVA bag of pellets and a Sticky Baits Buchu Berry Wafter doing the business. A nice fight and a plump boxy common carp was in the net.

I'd love to say that the action picked up over night but despite regular recasting, baiting and switching things around I just couldn't produce a bite. I'd set my alarm for 6am and woke up to a reasonably bright but windy morning. Luckily I did see several shows over towards the aerator (which was still on) and decided it was as good a pointer as I was going to get...

It wasn't possible to cast due to the pylons that bisect the fishery so I walked the rod down the bank, cast, baited and then walked back to my hut. I did't have to wait long for a bite but unfortunately the fish shot straight into the snaggy looking bush that hangs into the margin and cut me off!

Lesson learned, this time the rod went back on the same spot but I fished it locked up and sat on the rod... And off it went!

Another common of a similar size to the first fish and then a smaller ghosty about an hour later, happy days ;)

As the sun rose and the wind got up the action completely dried up and I decided to cut my losses and call it a day at 1pm. I would've loved a few more fish, especially on the zigs but with the weather against me it was quite a result to have landed 3 fish (I'm not 100% sure if any of the other 6 angers had blanked or not but I'd certainly not seen or heard anything...).

But that's it for UK fishing for now - I don't think there'll be another chance to get out on the bank before the off and the next time you see me, it'll be in Australia with (hopefully!) a completely different species on the line!

To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much! The only thing on my side seemed to be a warmer weather front coming and although it was raining on and off, I was really hoping it would swing things in my favour and the carp would be up for feeding.

I arrived in a downpour and after a mad dash to get the kit into the hut, slung two zigs and a bottom bait out. The zigs were at 4ft and 7ft but I varied the depth and position over the next hours and then swapped all 3 rods over to bottom baits an hour or so into darkness (although zigs do work at night, I've never had much luck with them at Follyfoot).

Over the course of the night I had 5 fish to 17lb which was a bit of a result! All the fish fell to Sticky Baits Buchu Berry Wafters in medium size PVA bags of mixed pellets.

The bites completely dried up early in the morning and although the weather changed to a sunny day, there was a stiff breeze heading down the lake and the fish at Follyfoot seem to really dislike wind and chop on the water.

So not a bad winter session! It was great to be out on the bank after such a long gap and who knows, if it stops raining sometime soon I might make it back on over to the river for a pike session sometime soon...

As they were in a pre-spawning mood and not that interested in feeding the action was slow and steady...

But I managed to bank some stunning fish on a 'special' bait including some of the amazing koi/ghosty goldfish that I always enjoy targeting when I come to the lake.

Unfortunately, the weather man had other ideas with heavy rain being predicted all day on Monday... But what the hell, I was so desperate to get on the bank that I decided to dig out my elderly fishing umbrella from the shed and head out anyway.

As predicted it was raining heavily when I pulled into the carpark. Luckily the lake is only a short stomp away so after booking in at reception I headed down to the water and jumped into the first likely looking swim. I wasn't expecting to see much but swim 13 (lucky eh?!) on the ring road side of the lake gave me a good viewpoint to watch the water and plenty of interesting areas to put a rod to. With my back to the wind and the rain hammering down on the umbrella, I somehow managed to get both rods out, a choddy with a pink popup to open water a method feeder with sweetcorn in the margin to the left.

One thing that became quickly apparent was that the lake is a fairly uniform dept of around 4ft and is very, very silty. Not a massive problem for the chod rod but tricky for the feeder... Ah well, I figured leave the baits in place while the rain was coming down (in sheets...) and watch the water for any clues as to where the fish might be shoaled up. Apart from lots of liners and wind bites on the open water rod nothing much happened and as there was a break in the rain around 10.30am I decided to reel in and do a lap of the lake in an attempt to find another likely looking area.

As it turned out, the far side of the lake down towards the wider end was far more sheltered and out of the wind with relatively calm water. The other thing was a 'feature' in the form of a fairly big set of died back lily pads. After another hour of rain and nothing to show for it I decided to upsticks and head round to the other side casting the method rod as close to the lily pads as I dared and what was the choddy rod (now a helicopter rig with sweetcorn) to open water in the bowl.

I didn't have to wait long! Within 10 minutes the tip on the method rod swung round and I had my 1st run of the day. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to lose it... Damn, I am out of practice! Ah Well, it was as good a sign as any that there were fish in the area and it was worth another cast. The only change I made was switching the short hooklink I was using on the method to a much longer mono hooklink with a size 10 hook and a long hair, my thinking being that the method was more to get some bait in the water and that the fish wouldn't be attacking it as they would in the summer.

The good news was that the change seemed to make a difference as I hit a winter feeding spell and landed seven or so carp over the next couple of hours! Both rods produced fish with the method outfishing the helicopter setup. One thing that I did start to do is feed the swim using a catapult, firing small pouches of sweet corn and pellets little and often. And it did appear to work as I was now getting regular knocks and runs, with one fish coming 'on the drop' seconds after the method hit the water.

At one point, the action was so frantic that I ended up with a triple take, the last fish being the largest of the session - not bad at all!

Miracuously the rain then stopped and the sun came out! Amazing. Unfortunately though, this seemed to kill thinks off and the swim went quiet... I've had this before, especially in winter where the fish seem to back off an area and the solution seems to be to either cast a couple of metres either side of where you've been having bites or move one swim to the left or right. As it turns out, moving swims did the trick as a move to the left and casting 3 or so metres away from the previous area produced several more fish in quick succession.

All in all I had nine carp out and two missed runs - not bad at all considering the conditions! It was also great to be out on the bank despite the weather (although the sun in the afternoon was splendid!) and I really enjoyed the challenge of fishing a new water. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed my pike fishing over the last couple of months but it's hard work, especially with the recent weather. The banksides are incredibly treacherous, the water fast and coloured and the pike less than up for a bite...

But today it was all about a pleasure session in relative (if soggy!) comfort and I had a blast. I'm already looking forward to my next session.