Ian Pettitt Arriving at the lake at first light, I parked up in the main car park and set off in the hope of locating some fish. I didn’t get very far before bumping into a couple of members who were already on the move after blanking for 48 hours. They’d heard some fish showing during the hours of darkness, so were keen to see if they could get on them. I had a quick chat to establish where they were heading before carrying on my way. Making my way down to the main body of water, I stood looking out towards an area we call the Bermuda Triangle, as it’s an area where we’re unable to fish. While scanning the water, I spotted one fish slide out. I moved between the two swims that offered the closest access to this area, trying to work out which way the fish might move if they got on the feed. While standing in one of the swims, I spotted another couple of shows. That was good enough for me, and I decided to drop into the swim that gave me the closest access to them. It also had an island out in front, a spot where I’d enjoyed some success in the past by fishing off the marginal shelf. With my decision made, I got everything set up and the rigs deployed on their spots before settling in. My mate soon turned up and, based on what I’d told him I’d seen, decided to set up in the swim next door. As he was getting his rods out, the bobbin on my middle rod pulled up and I was into a fish! The fish plodded all the way in, and we didn’t actually get our first sight of it until it was ready to be netted. Once safely in the net, we estimated it to be an upper twenty. A quick weigh confirmed it at 29lb 12oz – a fantastic way to kick-start the session! Unfortunately, after that capture the fish seemed to shut down, and no other fish were banked by anyone during my trip. Still, I was absolutely made up to get one on the bank and keep the momentum going.