Weight: 3lb
Bait: Sweetcorn
Rig: Drennan Wind Beater float- Float rod
Date caught: 16th Jun 1980
Location: Todds pit – Milton Cambridgeshire United Kingdom

Todds pit Milton is where it all began for me!
I caught this carp on the same bait and same day that Chris Yates caught his legendary 50lb+ record carp from Redmire. Mine is a little smaller, but no less of a triumph for me!

I had been fishing for anything that came along mostly on rivers and small ponds up to then and so Todds pit was the first proper lake i had ever fished.

I did not have ‘all the gear’ back then. Just a Tag Barnes Pike Rod and a Bruce and Walker CTM float rod, no bite alarms or bivvys ect.

I got to the lake at 4.00 am and was surprised to find only one small gap in the trees left to fish! So with no choice I plonked my bike down beside the path and proceeded to setup my gear.
The Tag Barnes Pike rod was cast out to the right along the margin and the float rod fished 20 yards straight out in front of me up against a weed bed.
To get the distance with the float rod without the sweetcorn flying off i used a three swan shot Drennan drift beater float.
It was seven hours later when the float finally dived under and I was connected to my first carp.
It did put up a great scrap on my 6lb line and when I slid the net under it I was really ecstatic!
I guess these are the moments that changed the course of my life irrevocably.