Turned out nice again!

At the beginning of September my partner and I went to Norfolk for a week and stayed at Grove Farm Barns, near Wroxham. There was a lake and large pond nearby and guests could fish for free! As the large pond was nearest and after having a look early on the first morning, I decided to fish there.

My first session was a nice, quiet Sunday afternoon with just one other angler who'd been fishing since mid-morning on sweetcorn, without much luck. I set up my old 10' float rod and Allcock Delmatic reel with a small waggler float.

After throwing in some red maggots, it wasn't long before my float was bobbing, then slowly sinking under the surface. My first four casts saw me land some nice, good size Gudgeon and then some fin-perfect Roach. Shortly after I hooked into something a little bigger and after nearly loosing my intended catch in the reeds, I slipped my landing net under an interesting looking, small Carp.

I spoke with a few anglers how'd fished the pond before who told me there are Carp weighing up to the mid-teens in the pond and although I didn't catch any of the larger Carp, the fish I did catch were in excellent condition. My next session was in the early morning and as I approached the pond I could hear and then see the Carp topping along with some smaller fish.

I'd already set up my recently purchased 12' Daiwa Gamma rod, which I bought for a tenner from a charity shop. This was paired with my Intrepid Super Twin reel and a small quill float. Once again it wasn't long before the Gudgeon started feeding and then the Roach came along, followed by the smaller Carp.

My final session was in the late afternoon going into early evening and my previous catch pattern continued; Gudgeon, Roach and then the Carp. Another lovely, quiet time spent bathed in the late summer sunshine.

We also spent some time boating on The Broads, although I didn't get chance to do any fishing, maybe next time. We spent an afternoon cruising on a Mississippi style steam boat. Another afternoon, we hired a small boat from Wroxham, passing Heronby, a large house previously owned by George Formby.

Later in the week we spent the day looking round Norwich and I found Bridewell Alley, where John Wilson had his Tackle Den. I'm hoping to go back to Norfolk again next year and hopefully fish one of the many rivers and Broads.

We had a great week, with some good weather, good food, wine and of course some great fishing.