This weekend, I dusted the carp rods off and headed to my local syndicate. I always have a terrible time deciding how to fish there, as along with carp over the magic 30lb mark, the water holds a great head of bream that average 5lb, huge swathes of quality roach, and some cracking tench fishing complete with all the thrills of fizzing bubbles and terrifying proximity to lily pads.

It was a bivvy day though, and by 11am both rods were cast over to a submerged treeline which had been kind to me over the years. A good dose of boilies had been peppered around the hook baits (with the help of my throwing stick), and the traps were set for something special.

Just 45 minutes into the session, it hadn’t quite gone how I’d planned it… with three bream to 5lb landed, it seemed as though it was likely going to be a busy (but carp-less) day. The runs (or single beeps from the bream) were consistent, and while playing an old snotty on a carp rod isn’t anywhere near as nice as playing one on a medium feeder, it was still great to be catching some lovely fish.

At 2pm, I finally hooked something different – and a few moments later a lovely orange-bellied tench with a taste for Scopex-squid boilies was laying on the carp mat. Soon after, alarms were sounding left, right, and centre and I was in the midst of a double-header! With a bit of help from my Dad (who rushed over from his swim) we managed to bank the two sychronised tench, weighing in at a combined weight of exactly 10lb.

I finished the day on a dozen fish, with the biggest bream weighing in at 5lb 12oz, and the biggest tench around 5lb. My trusty BEAST DISGORGER (pictured below) had a really good workout, and made sure those fish were unhooked and back in the water quick enough for me to deal with the next battle!

All credit to my Dad who caught a superb 4lb 7oz male tench on a Polaris float – proper fishing and a proper catch that John Wilson himself would have been proud of!