Part 2.
It is a good job that we stopped on our way at the fishing shop so I had an opportunity to stock up on some discount carp fishing tackle. So now I can be generous with my fishing tackle. I decided to put out ten spods of maggots, casters following by a few spods of broken savoury boilies, all fairly tight around the back of the float, I assume they all will spread quite a bit as they sink. Finally, I put 70 or so baits onto the silty area. I start seeing some fishing feeding. This may seem like a lot, but the fact that the fish is feeding gives me the green light to feed them a bit. On the other hand, I am starting to worry if I have enough carp fishing tackle to last me another day. I may have to ask Charley to make a run to the fishing shop in the morning to get some more of that discount fishing tackle as it seems to work well.

I am going to fish a really low version of my favourite Jon Mac pop-up rig over this spot, shortening the pop up section to less than an inch because of the carpet of maggots. I am hopping that the crumbed baits and grabs will draw the fish in but the whole boilies will prevent them from feeding in too preoccupied a manner. I have decided not to top up John's maggot spot because he reckons that he put out two gallons out there. This should work well for me.

Charley by now has decided to dropped into the neighbouring swim, down to my left, where the lake narrows a little. He said it has produced fish and he has found a couple of nice spots near the central gravel seam that runs right through his swim. I asked him if he would mind to pop into the fishing shop first thing in the morning and he did not seem to mind.

I must admit that with the pressure off so early I am feeling confident on all three of my carp rods. A rare state of affairs, I have to say. Charley wanders down and is astounded to see that I have actually brought my bite alarms with me. I can understand his surprise because it has been a long time sine I have been using bite alarms but I am willing to give it ago once more. With the pizza ordered and on its way to us, we decide to relax and take in the stunning Oxfordshire Sunset. It is very cold but I am hopeful.

The evening slowly drifts on and I hear just the odd bleep from my bite alarms. It is starting to approach 10 o’Clock in the evening and I hear a much more positive sound coming from my bite alarm. I check my rods, the chod rig still sitting right where I picked up the first fish, pulls up tight. Charley assures me that this is a typical choddy bite and I pull into another carp. This one gamely boils its way to the net but I can tell that it is not a large one. Pretty much as soon as it glows up in the beam. I net it and pull it in towards the bank. It is another double, a little smaller that the last one but the chodd is doing the business. That is the last action before we turn in to our tent for the night.

The next thing I know there is a crack of light beaming through a little hole under my sleeping-bag cover. Annoyingly, a mallard seems to be insisting that I get up because it just would not stop quacking in my swim. Bleary eyed, I throw back the covers and glare at the duck, which seems to get the message and takes off. My gaze wanders onto the rods; the left one is unmoved... the middle one is okay... the right one is bent right round! Yet somehow the buzzer of bite alarms has not made a sound and I have a carp on. This just remind me why I stopped using them in the first place. The other thought that comes to mind s that using all that carp fishing tackle has paid off.

A couple of faint kicks transmit down the line as I pull onto it, which is a start. I am astounded to feel the electrical-tape line marker click through the tip ring after a couple of turns. The fish has hardly moved. I soon have it swirling in the margins and I am surprised to see that it is a common. It is also pretty small but I am still glad that the mix of my carp fishing tackle has produced such result, and where there is one, there is always another.

It is a funy little character that I slip back without a photograph as there did not seem to be much point inconveniencing him much further. The pop-up has been torn so I chop it off, tie on another and flick it back out there, 20 yards to the spot. It pins against the clip a foot or so above the water and I feel it down with a nice muffled thud, perfect.

Although the day was lovely and clear, the wind has resumed where it left off yesterday, cutting me in half each time I venture out from under the tent. A couple of dropped coot takes on the middle rod have me scampering down to the front of the swim but the next bite simply does not materialise.

In the morning, with a rather ominous bank of cloud pushing in from the west we opt to get out of there. We have both really enjoyed our session and Hunts. It is definitely the sort of place that I would happily revisit with a few mates. It is well managed; convenient, accessible fishing that offers a more laid-back feel to the rest of the Linear lakes. Now we just need to make a stop at a fishing shop to get restocked on that discount fishing tackle as it certainly proved to work for me.