I must admit, I nearly didn’t bother going this week. After a run of scorching hot days, the thought of sitting lakeside in 30-degree heat with the carp sulking in the margins wasn’t overly appealing. Yesterday had hit 30°C, and the forecast promised the same for the end of the week, but today was a different story altogether—just 22°C, overcast, with a welcome breeze moving across the lake. A short break in the relentless heatwave. That alone convinced me it was worth a go.

Ideally, I’d have liked to fish Tuesday into Wednesday night, as the conditions then looked even more promising, but work and commitments meant that wasn’t an option. So I settled for Wednesday into Thursday. Sometimes you just have to make do with the window you’ve got.

I rolled up around 1:30pm, gardening jobs done and dusted, and immediately felt a lift in mood compared to the past few stifling days. To my surprise, the lake was almost empty—only three other anglers dotted around. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen it so quiet, probably not since the winter months.