Although some may find it surprising, I continued to fish at Cleverley Mere, simply because there was a bigger fish in the lake than Hendrix. It wasn’t necessarily a carp I wanted to catch, even though it was a 50lb’er, but it did give me a chance to fish for some of the other wonderful carp which called the Mere, home. It was also a very productive lake, which obviously gave me plenty to write about in my monthly diary piece. In all, it was a fantastic venue fished by some fantastic people, and one of those was about to give me a bit of a nudge in the direction of another fish.

I met a fellow called Darren (I’m so sorry I have forgotten his surname!), shortly after my dance with Hendrix. We chatted about the fishing, of course, but during our conversation he mentioned a lake a little nearer to home for me. It was called Fryerning Fisheries, at the other end of the A12, just off the M25. Apparently, it held several carp which were, or could be, over 40lb’s. It got a whole lot more interesting, when he spoke of a carp which had been on the missing list there for several years, three I believe. As always, this little chestnut was a bit like waving a red rag to a bull. It wasn’t too long before I was invited over to the lakes to meet the boss man, Chris...