With a busy 2011 of fishing and other college bits and pieces done, I look back at all the good times and the amount of fish that I have caught and some amazing people I have met. a quick low down of what went on:-

In March after the carpin on show I got my self some field testing for velocity bait services, I had a load of bait to use and to test out in the lakes, the first few fish I had were 2 small low doubles. Later on in that session after fishing the top end of Becks Lake at Manor Farm in Bedfordshire along a reed line that I have always thought looked carpy i got the chance to drop into that swim, seein a flurry of carpy activity I didnt catch anything else until later on that evening, a roar on the left hand rod I had a long and fiesty battle with a lovely 22lb 8oz Common, I was really happy, it was nailed on a basic pop-up rig, with a 10mm pop-up with a small mesh bag of weight watcher pellet. What a session.

The next great session was undertaken with a mate from college, he said he had a ticket for a couple of lakes in Milton Keynes, I jumped at the chance and I'm glad I did, netting over 6 tench and 6 bream I wasnt disheartened. We moved onto one of the smaller day ticket lakes as there was no-one on it, the first few hours I was the first one to catch, fishing next to a weed bed, my left hander belted off and and snagged me up in the weed, staying patient I managed to coax the fish out of the weed bed and into my awaiting landing net, beating my PB a 22lb 13oz Mirror what a stunner, that session went on to see me catch a small 10lb Common and losing 2 more fish down to that weed bed to my left hand side. These were taken on bright baits fished a couple of yards off the weed bed.

The next session was at a small lake in Stanford in Bedfordshire, I had a 16lb Common on the surface only using 6lb line and a 12ft match rod, hairy or what!  With confidence oozing out my ears I went back to attack it again, casting barely a metre off the far side trees I lost a fish during the day, still confident and buzzing i got the rod straight back and and my Delkim went into meltdown, I was soon latched into a hard fighting carp, this time it turned out to be a lovely brightly coloured 17lb ghost carp, this had beat yet another personal best. No more action followed but happiness still brimming.

Well as you can see with 2 memorable session already taken I was getting more and more confident, braving the fateful blanks which cant be helped, I carried on catching fish.

With June upon us, myself and my brother plan to do a night back at Manor Farm in Bedfordshire, this time on the carp lake looking for a better specimen. settling into one of the newly dug swims, gravel under feet, looking out across reed fringed margins and calm water with bird lifes galore, leading about was on the cards, a chod rig on one rod with about 20-30 boilies scattered around and the other, an inline lead with a small mesh bag and a 14mm boilie was cast into a small hole in the weed to my left. We sit in the swim having a laugh and a chat, 9:00pm was quick approaching, as there was no action before i decided to leave the rods in as they were "on the money", a take signalled from the left hand rod, I was on the rod in a flash, fighting a fish that didnt really seem to pull, in the margin she goes and finally shows her true power, making a few surges she was gulping for air on the surface. The beaut was resting in the landing net whilst drenching the matt and getting the sling zeroed. She was hoisted onto the beanie matt and transferred into a newly purchase weigh sling, the dial spun round and I was shocked with the size, 21lb 7oz of truely stunning common carp, a few trophy shots were taken and she was soon slipped back to fight another day. Later on that evening my brother got a take on his rods, this was taken on a Grange boilie hookbait among 30 free offerings, this one being an 11lb 5oz mirror, what a lovely fish, no more action came but it the water was alive with carp head and shouldering out of the water what a sight.

My application for the British Young Carp Anglers Championships was sent off and was awaiting on the date for my eliminator, it was the Friday, the last day of the eliminator stages. The date came around and i was up at 4:00am - sorting my tackle into the car, unfreezing bait and packing all the essentials that would be needed and I was bang on time for the draw, drawing peg 14 wasn't a bad choice, open water with small weedy patches. Sitting in the swim looking around admiring the sight of Brasenose 2 and seeing people walking around I was knocking up PVA bags consisting of - 1meter of Korda Kable Leader, a Drop off Inline Pear Lead, and a short 3inch Supernatural Hooklink with a 10mm pop-up on the business end, all tied up into a small solid bag.. Pucka!   The hooter went and I was leading around finding a decent patch, i found a gravel area about 2.5-3.0ft long so I out 2 rigs on there, not taking to the same as everyone else, spodding etc i decided to go quiet and put two baits straight out, i peered across the lake to see one lad netting a fish as one of my rods rattled off,  I put on my waders and was in the margins in battle with a small plump 11lb 5oz Mirror, what a way to start, but missing out on winning 2 Nash Siren alarms.. a few minutesd later with the rod re-positioned, another take signalled, this time being a 20lb 10oz Mirror, I was over the moon to net yet another 20lb carp. i was riding at the top of the leader board but soon got pushed down but not so far that i wouldnt qualify. That evening I was absolutely knackered, back home then up a few hours later, i must be bonkers, getting back to the lake just before 9:00am, I was lapping the lake looking for a swim to drop into, I had a list of a whole host of swims, the peg i had the day before being the main contender, I was soon drawn of of the bag and i called out for peg.14, happy with my choice i stepped back and watch the rest of the draw. With all the gear transferred to the swim eagerly awaiting the hooter, it was under way the 2011 finals. No fish for me until the 2nd day early in the morning about 6:00am my swim illuminted by a blue led, i netted a small 6lb common putting me on the board, not in high places as a few people already had 4-5 fish, i wasnt at all dispondant soldiering on I carried on the same strategies as I was doing, no more fish saw the close of the competition, I came out 25th over all in the end and really happy, grinning like a cheshire cat. With the prizes all given out by the man himself Ali Hamidi I was out the gate heading for home, so tired I fell asleep in the car making the journey seem quicker,  I had an array of text messages from my girlfirend and also from friends that I fish with and a few of the staff from Velcotiy Baits I couldnt thank them enough for there support.

Thats a basic round up of my year in carp fishing, I will be carrying on the blog every week to keep you up to date on what i get up to on the bank, thanks for reading, follow me on twitter:- @Rosst93  thannk you and until next week, keep catching!