Mega Winter Common

With the weather cooling down I was unsure as to how the fish would play ball during my planned 24hr visit this last week. With the dreaded man flu hitting me like the proverbial brick the whole situation seemed a tad miserable to say the least. Still I found myself barrow in hand at first light. About an hour an a half later, nothing had made my decision on peg choice and so I went with past experience, track record and gut instinct, some may even call this luck. I had a concept in mind however and after watching the water all day had seen nothing to deter me otherwise. I had seen a slight show from something piscatorial and upon marking the area and casting a light lead around, discovered lots of weed with few areas for a drop. Finding the smallest of spots where a lead would pull back gave me enough time the following morning to place a bag in position. The inline drop off lead was fished with a mixture of small pellets, crumbed boilie and a small buoyant hook bait. This was fished on my usual 'slip-D' style rig incorporating Avid's outline range. 

The take came a few hours later and the fish actually weeded me solid for 10 minutes or so. Steady pressure got her moving and once in the net I was glad I had made the effort to get on the bank. Thankfully a friend had bought some flu tablets for me the night before, but whether it was them or the fish that made me feel better i'm not sure. Either way my blocked nose and aching bones were forgotten for a short while and although it was the only fish of the trip, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have caught it sat feeling sorry at home. At 35lb 8oz, it was mega looking winter common. I'm not back to the venue for a while, fishing elsewhere with friends but lets hope those trips are just as successful.