Good Afternoon.

When I first began carp fishing in 1988 I was living in North London at the time. I fished a few of the ponds that Hampstead Heath offered, and one in particular was very special to me – the Vale of Health.

This mature pond of around three/four acres held a small head of carp and it was not an easy water. I suppose I could have fished at day ticket ‘runs’ waters to begin with, but not having a car at the time, and the fact this lake was within walking distance of my parent’s house, meant it was the only close option for carp fishing. I suppose I relished the challenge it presented and there was one certain carp that lived in its depths and that fish was known as ‘the common’. The weight of this beautiful chestnut carp ranged from about 20-24lbs and two of my friends had already caught it. I desperately wanted to catch it too, but it took a long time and many hours on the bank.

I was attending university in Bristol and some of my time was spent fishing in the south-west of the country. When I returned to London, the Vale of Health was all I thought about, and that common of course! I had started to suss the place out by now and was catching carp quite regularly. In fact I got so obsessed with the little gem of a water, that I started to put together a logbook of the carp to see exactly what the Vale of Health did hold. I had so far caught about fifteen of the residents and together with the pictures from my friends, including captures of the common; the total number of fish seemed to be around the seventeen mark. I had yet to catch my target.

Occasionally you would get smashed up rather violently and we all wondered if there was something much larger and much more powerful in the Vale, but while myself and my friends were fishing it, the common was the largest carp on record.

My victorious night finally came one summer’s evening, as the light was beginning to fade. I had cast a bait into the bushes spot, which was just to the right of the Bin swim. The cast was only a slight flick, and the carp used to patrol up and down one snaggy bank that was slightly overgrown and out-of-bounds. It was a funny place actually as it has residential flats with long sweeping lawns that backed onto the pond. A willow tree is another prominent feature and together with a large set of lily pads you have a wonderful place to fish.

Out of the blue I had a savage take which pulled the rod round in the rests. A friend was sat with me at the time and I pounced on the rod and applied sidestrain. I felt that satisfying movement as the hooked carp came through some branches under the water. Suddenly the fish shot to my left and I was now playing it in open water. After a minute or so the carp rolled and I finally realised that my moment had arrived. She went into the net, that I was stretching out towards her, and I was over the moon when I looked down at the carp that I had so longed to catch for such a long time.

I raced round to one of the flats and knocked on a door. Mobile phones were just on the horizon, although they resembled bricks, and I needed to call my mate Ian Abbott, to come and take some shots. In no time his red Ford Granada was heard coming down the lane, and after we had done some beautiful pictures, I released the common and then punched the air. It was a fantastic moment in my carp fishing life and I will treasure the day I caught the Vale of Health common. She weighed 23lb 12ozs incidentally.

Back tomorrow.

Jake and the dogs.