Ian Pettitt I came down for a walk around the lake the evening before my session and spotted a few fish showing in a quiet corner that often gets overlooked by other members. I thought that if I arrived the following evening for my 48-hour session and didn’t see much happening elsewhere, I’d give that area a go. When I arrived the next evening, there were already a few anglers on, and the majority of the fish seemed to be showing in the main body of the lake, a long way from the quiet corner where I’d seen them the night before. Unfortunately, most of the swims were already taken, and I didn’t really fancy squeezing in between other anglers. With that in mind, I decided to trust my instincts and head for the quiet corner. I found three lovely clear spots amongst the weed and lily pads and introduced a good helping of whole and chopped Cell boilies, Cell Response pellets, and flaked maize before placing all three rods onto the spots. Then it was time to sit back and wait. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long. At 9pm, the right-hand rod tore off and the battle began. After being weeded up several times and putting up a determined fight throughout, I eventually slipped the net under a lovely long common. Once I had it on the mat for weighing and photographs, it was easy to see why it had fought so hard. It had a giant rudder-like tail and massive pectoral fins, giving it all the power it needed to make me work for every yard. A truly stunning male common and a great reward for trusting my gut and fishing away from the crowds.