11-FISH HIT FOR YOUNG CARP-FISHING STAR!

Max Braby is absolutely flying on his new Lea Valley syndicate, following his first-session success with an even better result on his next trip.

Over the course of a 48-hour session, the 17-year-old from Colchester snared 11 fish from 11 bites, amongst which were two thirties to 31lb 4oz and seven twenties.

“Coming off the back of a successful first trip to my Lea Valley syndicate water, I was buzzing to be back down the lake just a few days later,” said Max.

“I spent the afternoon looking for signs of carp and found them in the same area from where I was catching from on my first trip, after watching some birds obviously being spooked by the carp below them. Because I was going to be fishing in the same area as the session previous, it meant I could get my rods out quietly to the known spots, which already filled me with confidence because I didn’t need to lead around to find new spots. It was only a couple of hours into dark when I had received a triple take, landing all three fish, commons of 22lb and 26lb 4oz common and a 30lb mirror!

“I made sure to get the three rods back out on to the spots and top the bait up before photographing the fish, hoping another bite wasn’t going to be too far away. Just as I was slipping back the last of the three fish, I had a screamer from the middle rod! After a big initial run and some fighting under the tip, a really nice 24lb 8oz leather was in my net.

“After releasing the leather, the lake seemed to quieten down; the showing had stopped and the liners were now few and far between. I had a couple of hours of silence on the rods, but just as I was about to go to bed, I had another take on the same rod the leather came from a couple of hours earlier. I couldn’t believe how well the session had started; clearly the fish were liking the bait! This bite turned out to be a wicked mirror just ounces short of the 30lb barrier.

“I had one last bite that night, which was just a short while before the sun came up, completing an epic night on the bank. The sixth bite from this night was a lovely 28lb 8oz mirror.

“As I watched through the first-light period, I didn’t see any shows at all, which seemed to be a recurring theme at the time through the daylight hours. I refreshed the rods a couple of hours before darkness, anticipating some more night-time action. I stayed awake well into the previous night’s bite time without so much as a beep on the buzzers. I went to bed that night not as confident as I was just a few hours before, but I woke up at midnight to a big drop-back. After a short fight, I landed a little common of around 21lb, which was swiftly followed by an even smaller mirror. I wasn’t bothered in the slightest as I was just happy to receive another couple of bites.

“A few hours passed with the rods back on the spot before I was called into action again. This time I realised that what I was attached to was a little bit more serious! A powerful battle in the darkness ended with a common in my net, which looked to be over 30lb! This absolute bruiser of a common weighed in at 31lb 4oz, a mega result.

“Finally, the last fish of the trip was just before it started getting light, a nice mirror of around 22lb. “Eleven bites and 11 landed, a fantastic session using The Bug boilies in wholes and crumb!”

Max rigged up with both 15mm PB pop-ups and 12mm pink Bug Half Tones pop-ups over both whole and crumbed Bug freebies.