Although the river sessions have been fun, I wanted something a little closer to home (the Avon is a good 30 minutes from school) and Windmill Fishery is pretty much on the doorstep. There's 4 lakes to go at: the match lake, the specimen lake, a silvers lake and the carp lake. They all offer something different and I've been tempted back to the carp lake by the recent images I'd been seeing on Facebook - there's been some pretty decent fish coming out!

The big problem with the carp lake however is that the fish in there have been allowed to breed... This means there are millions of small carp between a couple of ounces and the 2lb mark who are more than hungry enough to have a go at anything bait wise. It's gotten so bad that the owners are actually planning on turning the water into a match lake!

But if you're willing to persevere, there are some good fish to be had. As well as countless small fish, I did manage the two pictured here which gave me a good run around. Both were caught on Innate Baits tuna boiles over a bed of hemp and corn.

From chatting to other anglers though, there's been a lot of success with surface fishing so maybe a summer evening session is in order some time?!

Bit of a late start, didn't arrive till 9.30 but knew I'd be fishing till last knockings so wasn't too fussed. When the weather gets colder, I've a feeling the end of the day produces more fish? Quiet day, not many people there and the wind was blowing straight along the lake. Took the gamble that the fish would be pushed in the direction of the wind so I set up on the far bank to the car park, almost fishing into the wind.

I decided to fish a light ledger in front on the reeds with luncheon meat on the hair and freebies on a stringer. A light scattering of ground bait and that rod was set. The other rod was set up with a Korum feeder and pellets, the aim being to build up a bit of bait in the swim and then float fish over the top once the fish started feeding.

After 20 mins, the ledger rod tore off, connected with the fish and then... nothing... Got the rig in to find the fluorocarbon hook link was snapped. Chewed through? Snagged? Not sure...

Five minutes after that, the feeder tore off. This time I managed to get the fish almost to the net before the hook slipped. I *think* it was a chub (managed to catch one last time) as it was a sizeable silver.

Unfortunately, my luck didn't improve... The morning wore on, the fish weren't taking the bait, the wind got stronger and stronger and I missed the only run I got before lunch time.

So, a bit of a rethink. I decided the reason I was missing fish was the hook size: I'd dropped from a size 8 to a 12 as the fish in the lake are very fussy about presentation. But the hook holds were obviously slipping, possibly due to the being unbalanced with the bait so I upped to a size 8 again. My hook lengths were short too so these were lengthened and swapped from fluorocarbon to a really supple braid.

The trick to not getting any runs is it gives you plenty of time to watch the water. Everyone was fishing down the wind end of the lake and no one was catching. In the top end however was a big patch of calm water that somehow was just out of the wind...

So in came the rods and I had a bit of a wander round the other side only to find 2 carp playing in the reeds. One was actually tail slapping in the margins...

I shot round the other side, baited the feeder rod with some ground bait and a couple of small cubes of luncheon meat and crept back to the swim. The fish were still there so I gently lowered the bait in, literally 10cm from the bank side...

...and off it tore! Real hook and hold fishing. But, as with my luck earlier in the day, it wasn't to be. Deep into the reeds and the line snapped.

But the good news was I'd located the fish. The gear was moved as quietly as possible, I got into a good swim with plenty of cover from the wind and cast out.

The left rod was still on the ledger with luncheon meat stringers but I changed the right rod to a open ended feeder which was filled with liquidized bread mixed with ground bait. Fill the base of the feeder with the bread and compact it down, tip in some pellets and luncheon meat and plug the top with more bread, chuck it in, leave for 5 mins and give the reel a couple of turns to drag the hook bait back into the pile of food. I hadn't tried this method before but it sounded good.

Within 10 minutes the ledger rod tore off 3 times and each time the fish pulled the hook! Incredibly frustrating.

On the next cast, I fished a slacker line and didn't put the bait runner on. My thinking was as I was sitting on the rod, there was no danger of it disappearing off and the bolt action would be more pronounced meaning a better hook hold.

And it worked! The rod tore off, a nice fight and a 10lb common carp came in. I've a feeling it was the same fish that'd done me 3 times previously...

Then things really picked up. The feeder rod came to life, the fish came up to the surface despite the cold conditions and I spend a good hour stalking carp with bread crust. Only one small fish came out, but on light tackle and so close in it's loads of fun.

The pace kept up and by last knockings, I'd got a good 15 or so fish ranging from 3 to 10lb.

The moral of the story? If you're not catching and you should be, change your tactics, change your tackle, watch the water and move - the fish are in there, you've just got to find them!

Looking on the satellite view of Google Maps is misleading as the lake is more than a featureless muddy puddle! The red water (related to the soil) means the fish have a beautiful colour, really golden with bright red tails. The swims are well made and there's cover either side of most meaning the margins are very carpy. The water level was very low, I'd estimate a good 70cm lower than usual (a lot for a smallish lake).

Fish wise, they're a crafty lot... Most fish fell to luncheon meat or chickpeas but presentation (especially the size of the bait) seemed to be critical. I found that fishing two small cubes of luncheon meat on a hair rig over handfuls of hemp mixed with sweetcorn and small trout pellets lured in the bigger fish. The smallest hook and the lightest tackle you can get away with is the way to go.

The fish really started showing on the surface around 2ish so we tried our luck with soaked dog biscuits. Again, the fish really showed their skills at spitting out bait: at one point, I had 5 or so decent size carp feeding freely on biscuits n the reeds literally 1/2 a meter from my feet. Every time they sucked in a baited biscuits it'd be causally spat out and the 5 would spook off only to return a couple of minutes later and the process would start again. All in all, I'd say we got around 30 or so fish (common and mirror carp) between us, most being 5lb and under and a couple up to 10lb.

Verdict? Well worth a visit, although I'd wait till be get some heavy rain so the water level is higher. The fish are in really good condition but I suspect it gets heavily fished - not a problem if you enjoy a challenge and don't want to catch monsters!

The day started well, we left on time and after some satnav fun (google maps inventing roads as we drove) we arrived at pretty much bang on 7am - well done us! The lake was pretty busy already, a lot of people having done overnighters on Saturday and the road bank was crowded. However the dam wall and far bank was fairy quiet, so we headed round and found a row of 3 likely looking swims.

There wasn't a ripple on the water and it was immediately apparent why Shearwater is sinonoumous with zig rigs: the surface was black with carp! They we cruising around in the morning sun just below the surface in packs of 3 and 4's and the scene looked perfect for a bite in the early morning light.

So the gear came out of the car, each of us jumped into a swim and excitedly started setting up. As zigs were the order of the day for me, the 1st job was to get an idea of how deep it was out in front of us. The margins are incredibly shallow and a shelf around 2 rod lengths out marked where the water deepened off. Rather than use a marker float, I chucked out a zig float. I'd experimented with a home made version last summer up at Bitterwell Lake and although the concept was sound, the reality was a tangly mess of hooklinks, weights and floats...

So for this trip, I'd invested in a Nash Zig Float my thinking being it'd be better than my home made version! The added bonus is that you can use it as a marker float and after a couple of casts, I reckoned the water was around 12ft at 9 to 10 wraps out. Pretty much perfect, an easy range and nothing too long on the other rods that would be fished with traditional long zig hooklinks.

The next job was to get a sloppy spod mix on the go, something I've been itching to try out for ages. There's loads of info online with different suggestions of what you should use but in then end I went with:

• 6 handfuls of particles
• 3 handfuls of hemp
• 3 handfuls of dog mixers
• 1/2 a box of cheerios
• 2 handfuls of mixed pellets
• 1 tin of sweetcorn and the juice
• 1/2 a bag of porridge oats
• 1 tin of condensed milk
• 1 tin of rice pudding
• enough lake water to make the whole lot into a sloppy mix!

What a concoction?! The idea was that this would produce a good 'cloud' in the water and various bait items on the surface and though out the water column which would hopefully keep the fish in my area. Now everyone suggests using a spomb so you don't loose loads of the mix on the cast and that's what I started with. But for some reason, I just can't get the hang of them... Maybe it's my spomb, maybe its the way I'm casting, maybe it's just spombs but with 4 of the first 5 casts resulting in me dragging a full unopened spomb across the water (which of course sent most of the fishing heading for cover...) I decided to switch to a regular spod. This was much better and 10 spod loads went out to my zig marker float with little of no spillage (I did discover a line of mix up my back and on my cap later though!).

Bait wise I had red, yellow, white and black foam which had been soaking in a sweeter for a week or so. My plan was to chop and change the colours until the carp told me what they wanted. I had two zigs tied ready tied at 11ft and 7ft so they went out a 1/2 a rod length either side of the zig float and then that rod went out with an actual hooklink on it and I sat back waiting for the bites to roll in...

And nothing happened... And after quite a while longer, nothing still had happened. What was up?! There were fish all over me, the hookbaits where in the right spot, I kept topping the area up with the spod rod and when I checked from a high vantage point at the top of the swim, the 'cloud' was there and fish were cruising in and out of it...

The 1st problem was the zig float. The hooklink had tangled and was a complete mess. It took me quite a lot of experimenting but I eventually found that a length of around 3ft and a stiff antitangle sleeve on the quicklink resulted in a lot less tangles. Rob and Luke (who'd both had fish by now!) also suggested that my hooks were too big so i went down from a size 8 to a size 10 and rather than hair rigging the foam, I went through the centre with half the shank of the hook proud.

And finally after an hour or so of mucking around and wondering if this zig fishing was for me, the rod ripped off! Takes on zigs are usually one of two things: a couple of bleeps as the fish moves in an arc around the lead or an absolute screamer as the fish realises it's hooked and heads off at full steam. This was the latter and the fish took me on a long run straight out into the lake!

Luckily Rob came around to give me a hand landing the fish. Due to the steep nature of the banks, the shallow water out in front and the long hooklinks it would've been a tough task to get the fish in the net but after a short fight and an helping hand my 1st Shearwater carp was sat in the net - happy days! Nothing massive, I'd guestimated it around 12lb or so but it meant I was off the mark.

I'd love to say the flood gates opened but the fishing continued to be tough, which was crazy as we had so many fish on us. I guess they do see a lot of pressure and with it being a weekend, the fish were being very cagey. But I stuck at it and with a steady stream of bait going in via the spod and a lot of perseverance with the zig float I managed to pick up 15 or so fish including 2 bream (who knew bream would take zigs?!).

After the frustrating start, I decided not film the session wanted to apply all my concentration to fishing. However, Luke did get some pics of his fish and put a video together:

All in all, a good days fishing! I'm desperate to go down for another session, this time for maybe 24 hours during the weekas I'm sure with a bit more time and less pressure you could really bag up at Shearwater. I've also been keeping an eye on the Facebook page and some much bigger fish have been coming out which is something to aim at.

This time I went armed with a plan: the advice I'd been given was to bait heavily and fish a rod tight to the reeds and a 2nd a rod length off the reeds on the far margin with a 3rd rod fishing as 'chuck it and see'. I was also going 'large', using 20mm custom boilies from Innate Baits and size 6 hooks (which still seem massive to me!).

And the plan paid off!

Massive thanks to Innate Baits, the custom 'signature' boilies really did the business.