Mike Willmott - Essential Baits
Mike Willmott - Essential Baits
Mike Willmott - Essential Baits
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Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
<strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
LIFE AND<br />
CARP LIFE<br />
PART THREE<br />
<strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong> returns this month with a<br />
continuation of his well received series Life and<br />
Carp Life, where the Park Lake, Springwood, river<br />
fi shing, and The Black Mirror all play their part in<br />
making the journey what it is!<br />
Our Springwood<br />
logbook – very handy.<br />
22<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 1 20/8/09 14:54:35
here does all the time go? I seem<br />
to be asking this question more<br />
and more with each passing year,<br />
a sure sign of getting old, some<br />
might say, and I couldn’t argue with that! It<br />
does seem, however, that the more you try to<br />
squeeze into your life, the quicker it fl ies by<br />
– it seems we can’t win! The summer of 2004<br />
was a classic example of this, in fact it flew<br />
by so quickly, I never even kept a detailed<br />
account of the few times I fi shed, which<br />
is very unlike me because I’ve got detailed<br />
diaries stretching right back to the early-’70s.<br />
The whole year just passed me by so quickly,<br />
but I did manage to squeeze in a handful of<br />
nights on my own Springwood Pool Fishery,<br />
during which time I banked a new lake record<br />
common, shortly followed by a lake record<br />
mirror at 29lb 4oz and 29lb 8oz respectively,<br />
proof indeed that our Springwood fish were<br />
moving in the right direction. It was surely<br />
only a matter of time before someone banked<br />
Springwood’s first 30!<br />
We keep a syndicate logbook at the fi shery<br />
and one of the rules is that each member<br />
must make an entry into the logbook before<br />
leaving. This is an excellent rule because it<br />
gives arriving anglers up-to-date information<br />
about what’s been caught and what swims<br />
have been fi shed. Fortunately for me, I was<br />
able to use this diary to track down my own<br />
movements that year, which was proof in<br />
itself that I wasn’t fi shing anywhere else,<br />
although I was preparing for a long-range<br />
assault on a very difficult Berkshire water, for<br />
what I believe was the ‘ultimate challenge’, but<br />
more of that later.<br />
W<br />
Lee with a stunning<br />
river mirror from our<br />
favourite venue.<br />
A beautifully<br />
proportioned<br />
river common.<br />
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
BRIEF RIVER ENCOUNTER<br />
I did, however, manage to find a few days<br />
spare that enabled Lee and me to embark on<br />
our annual pilgrimage to our favourite stretch<br />
of river in Belgium. In last month’s issue you<br />
may have read about Lee’s encounter with<br />
a stunning 40 that he caught on the surface<br />
from this stretch of river, and because of its<br />
unpredictability, coupled with the fact that<br />
most of the fi sh are uncaught specimens,<br />
we’ve fallen in love with the place. I can<br />
honestly say that this type of fi shing appeals<br />
to me more than any other. I would much<br />
rather be on the river catching unknown 20s<br />
and 30s than on a commercial venue fi shing<br />
for huge carp with names.<br />
I’ve always liked a challenge and the river<br />
is certainly that! You have to learn to cope<br />
with so many different facets of angling and<br />
the old grey matter is constantly ticking<br />
over. Some of the fish are just beautiful, and<br />
that’s far more important to me these days<br />
than the size factor, which so many carp<br />
anglers seem to have become so obsessed<br />
with in recent years.<br />
Following a very busy summer, the winter<br />
months were now fast approaching and I was<br />
able to find a little more space from the dayto-day<br />
activities and work pressures involved<br />
with running a bait company, operating<br />
a fishery, dealing with various planning<br />
applications, and spending time with the<br />
family, although it has to be said that as<br />
I’ve got older I no longer have the desire<br />
to fish long hours during the freezing cold<br />
The really cold snaps<br />
would quite often fi nd<br />
me breaking through<br />
the ice to reel in at 4.00<br />
a.m. so that I could<br />
pack up and be at<br />
work for 5.00 a.m.!<br />
and often unproductive months of January<br />
and February. In fact, I often look back to<br />
my younger days as a postman and find it<br />
hard to imagine where on earth I ever found<br />
the endless enthusiasm to fish the countless<br />
number of hours I did during these months.<br />
The really cold snaps would quite often<br />
find me breaking through the ice to reel in<br />
at 4.00 a.m. so that I could pack up and be<br />
at work for 5.00 a.m.! Yes, I’ve endured the<br />
hard times over the years and enjoyed every<br />
moment of them, but I’m not sorry to say<br />
I’ve endured the hard times<br />
over the years, but they catch<br />
up with you eventually!<br />
that those days are long behind me now!<br />
After countless blanks and several close<br />
encounters with hypothermia, you begin to<br />
realise that perhaps fishing isn’t the most<br />
important thing in your life after all. That’s<br />
usually the first sign of an angler reaching<br />
maturity! These days I have a much more<br />
laid-back attitude. Basically, I sit at home<br />
with a big mug of coffee waiting for the<br />
weatherman to tell me when to go! Some<br />
people would call it the lazy approach – I call<br />
it the sensible approach!<br />
23<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 2 20/8/09 14:54:54
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
BIG-FISH TIME<br />
However, it doesn’t take a genius to work<br />
out the type of weather patterns you need<br />
to be looking for during these months, and<br />
on January 10th 2005, the weatherman<br />
promised dropping air pressure coupled with<br />
mild air from the south and temperatures<br />
reaching double fi gures. A moderate to strong<br />
southerly wind was due to be gusting in at<br />
30mph and if all that wasn’t enough, the new<br />
weather pattern coincided with a new moon<br />
– time to get the rods out!<br />
I was still flirting, albeit very sporadically,<br />
with the Swindon Park Lake, and on this<br />
occasion I’d arranged to meet Frank Warwick<br />
down there for a look around. Frank was<br />
Welcome to hell! The<br />
infamous old concrete<br />
diving board, one of the<br />
fi rst sights that greeted<br />
you on arrival at the<br />
notorious Park Lake.<br />
interested in fishing the Park during the<br />
coming year and was keen to see the place<br />
and have a chat with me about it first. To be<br />
honest, I wasn’t too sure it would be his cup<br />
of tea because it can be a bit of a rat race on<br />
there at times, but that was for him to decide,<br />
not me.<br />
Having said that, despite the favourable<br />
conditions the Park was fairly quiet, although<br />
most anglers would find it hard to associate<br />
the word ‘quiet’ with the Park Lake! I arrived<br />
during the small hours, in fact it was 1.30<br />
a.m. to be precise. This is my favourite time to<br />
arrive at most venues and I very rarely arrive<br />
anywhere during daylight hours these days.<br />
Most anglers are usually tucked up in their<br />
bags at this time, and with the lake being<br />
much quieter, it can be a good time to hear<br />
a fi sh or two bosh out and give their game<br />
away. You can also be on your toes at first<br />
light and in ‘pole position’ should a fi sh show<br />
its whereabouts. I’ve almost frightened the<br />
life out of some anglers in the past by stalking<br />
the banks at these times, so please accept my<br />
apologies, both belatedly and in advance!<br />
On this occasion however, I couldn’t<br />
believe no one was fishing and I began to<br />
wonder if the weatherman had got it all<br />
wrong; after all, it wouldn’t be for the first<br />
time would it? I don’t know how many of<br />
you read my article in last month’s issue, but<br />
those who did may recall that I visited the<br />
lake the previous February (after not having<br />
fished it for six months) and managed to<br />
bank a cracking 38lb mirror. Well, on this<br />
occasion there were lots of similarities, not<br />
least the fact that just like then I hadn’t<br />
fished the park for six months, and I was<br />
hoping that a little bit of history might just<br />
be about to repeat itself !<br />
On the bigger, deeper<br />
pits, the only time I tend<br />
to fi sh on the end of<br />
the wind in the winter is<br />
when it’s either a mild<br />
wind or a new wind<br />
24<br />
By first light I hadn’t heard or seen any<br />
signs of fi sh. The wind was now blowing a<br />
moderate southwesterly and temperatures<br />
were into double fi gures, which is about the<br />
most you can expect in the middle of January.<br />
Eventually, I decided to set up in a swim<br />
known as The Rats (as was the case last year),<br />
which was situated at the infamous ‘concrete<br />
bowl’ end of the lake into which the wind was<br />
blowing. On the bigger, deeper pits, the only<br />
time I tend to fi sh on the end of the wind in<br />
the winter is when it’s either a mild wind or a<br />
new wind. Once it becomes stale, I prefer to<br />
move further back from it, and if it’s a cold<br />
wind, I prefer to fi sh on the back of it where<br />
the water temperatures are generally more<br />
stable. Shallower pits or small lakes will often<br />
call for a different approach, but this was a<br />
big, open pit with depths of over 12ft.<br />
I positioned all three rods out into the<br />
deeper silty areas of the lake at ranges of<br />
between 60 and 80yds, with depths averaging<br />
about 11ft. I stayed away from the pop-ups on<br />
this occasion in favour of B5 balanced bottom<br />
bait presentations (wafters) with a layer of B5<br />
paste around each hookbait. Conditions were<br />
good and I wanted to fi sh over a bit of bait to<br />
pull the carp down and get them searching,<br />
but didn’t want to risk overfeeding ’em at this<br />
time of year. I therefore scattered about 30<br />
x 16mm B5 freebies over each rig, not too<br />
tight, and well spaced out, to hopefully keep<br />
the fi sh on the move.<br />
Nothing occurred during daylight hours<br />
but I decided to keep the baited rigs in<br />
position for the night ahead, but cleaned off<br />
the lines by tightening up to the lead and<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 3 20/8/09 14:55:19
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
Last February’s 38.<br />
Was history about<br />
to repeat itself?<br />
tapping the rods vigorously. This vibrates<br />
all the way down the line and dislodges the<br />
build-up of tiny particles that gather on the<br />
line, often making it look like thick rope!<br />
The paste wrap I mentioned earlier not<br />
only provides a greater release of attraction,<br />
but gives the hookbait (boilie) a good few<br />
hours of extra protection before the water<br />
pressure starts to take its toll and softens<br />
it up. Mind you, the smaller nuisance fish<br />
are much less active at this time of year, so<br />
I’ve usually got no qualms about leaving the<br />
baits out for longer periods of time if I feel<br />
it’s needed. I’ve usually got a tub of hard<br />
hookbaits close at hand as an alternative<br />
option should the need arise.<br />
At 11.00 p.m. I had a single bleep on<br />
the right-hand rod that needed further<br />
investigation. It was raining hard and the<br />
wind had increased to almost gale force by<br />
now. Initially, I thought drifting debris may<br />
have been the culprit, however, after closer<br />
inspection it was clear to see my Dymag<br />
indicator head was bouncing up and down<br />
against the underside of the rod! At that very<br />
same moment the line was wrenched from<br />
The mild southwesterly<br />
pushed itself down the<br />
length of the lake.<br />
the clip and the Delkim shrieked out into the<br />
night sky. I lifted the rod and ‘cupped’ the<br />
spool to help set the hook, and what felt like<br />
a very big fi sh powered off in the opposite<br />
direction. There was little I could do about<br />
it other than to give it more line. Eventually,<br />
I gained a little control and managed to stop<br />
the fi sh and get it slowly moving towards<br />
me, albeit very reluctantly. In typical big-fi sh<br />
fashion, it plodded back and forth but, try as<br />
I might, I just couldn’t lift it off the bottom<br />
and into the upper layers.<br />
I was convinced that I’d hooked a very big<br />
fish and felt absolutely gutted when everything<br />
went solid, which was unusual in this area<br />
because I wasn’t aware of any underwater<br />
obstructions. The fish had obviously found a<br />
snag that must have blown down during the<br />
winter gales and it was locked up solid. I gave a<br />
few shouts to Terry Hancock, who was fishing<br />
the swim next door, but due to the high winds<br />
and driving rain it soon became obvious that<br />
he couldn’t hear me.<br />
To be honest, there was nothing he could<br />
do anyway, but I must admit, it was going<br />
through my mind to get my small inflatable<br />
boat and life jacket out of the van, which,<br />
in hindsight, would have been completely<br />
suicidal in such conditions! It’s quite<br />
frightening what goes through a carp angler’s<br />
mind when big fi sh are involved. Often the<br />
word ‘sanity’ doesn’t even fi gure and all<br />
logical thoughts sometimes get thrown out of<br />
the window in our quest and desire to achieve<br />
our goal. I take it you’ve been there before!<br />
25<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 4 20/8/09 14:55:30
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
Farewell! This chunky<br />
mid-30 turned out to be the<br />
last fi sh I caught from the<br />
challenging Park Lake.<br />
You either love the Park Lake or you hate it,<br />
and for most anglers it’s the latter!<br />
Due to the diffi cult circumstances involved<br />
in catching the great fi sh, it represents the<br />
ultimate challenge in carp fi shing. Most<br />
of you will know by now that the fi sh in<br />
question was The Black Mirror, a carp that<br />
had graced the bank on just 12 previous<br />
occasions, and one which is regarded by many<br />
as being the most iconic carp of all time.<br />
In truth, I should have fi shed the Mere<br />
many years ago when I first set foot on the<br />
venue, but alas, something always stood in the<br />
way. It was now or never, but the 320-mile<br />
round trip, coupled with an extremely busy<br />
lifestyle and limited time availability, meant<br />
it was always going to be a difficult task. Over<br />
the next three years or so this ‘obsession’<br />
was about to put an enormous strain on<br />
my personal life, however, I was absolutely<br />
determined to see it through to the end and<br />
nothing was going to stand in my way.<br />
Out of respect for the fi sh, the<br />
environment, and those still pursuing their<br />
dream on this venue, this series of articles is<br />
neither the time nor the place to discuss my<br />
personal campaign on this particular water,<br />
other than a few brief ‘background mentions’.<br />
It was, however, the most entertaining and<br />
memorable chapter in my carp life so far and<br />
I hope one of these days, when the time is<br />
right, I can share those moments with you.<br />
26<br />
Fortunately, just as I was giving the boat<br />
rescue operation some serious consideration,<br />
the fi sh broke free from the snag and powered<br />
off again. I couldn’t believe my luck – what a<br />
relief. A further 10 minutes passed by before<br />
I slowly felt I was winning the long battle<br />
– then all of a sudden, for no apparent reason,<br />
it all fell slack! I just couldn’t believe it. On<br />
retrieving the rig, I found that the braided<br />
hooklink had parted about 2ins from the<br />
hook. Presumably the damage must have<br />
occurred on the snag and it was only a matter<br />
of time before it parted. I was gutted. History<br />
so nearly repeated itself and I knew for a fact<br />
it was a very big fi sh.<br />
Soaked, cold, and tired, I retreated to<br />
the warmth of my bag, but you know what<br />
it’s like when you’ve just lost a very big fi sh,<br />
especially in the middle of winter – the words<br />
‘if only’ repeatedly go around in your head<br />
and you constantly beat yourself up over it.<br />
You give everything you’ve got to get that one<br />
bite, hoping it’s the one that turns your whole<br />
season around. Yes, this was definitely one<br />
of those moments and it hurt like hell, but<br />
experience eventually helps you get over it.<br />
In such circumstances I always remind myself<br />
that if it wasn’t for our failures, we wouldn’t<br />
enjoy our successes. It’s an occupational<br />
hazard that goes hand in hand with fi shing for<br />
big carp. We’ve all been there at one time or<br />
another and I’m sure we’ll all go there again!<br />
Frank turned up the following morning<br />
with his mate Charlie. We had a natter and<br />
a brew before they decided to fi sh opposite<br />
me for the day, but I don’t think they were<br />
particularly impressed with the place and they<br />
soon decided to abandon their Park plans<br />
and head to a different venue in Oxfordshire.<br />
Mind you, I couldn’t blame them, you either<br />
love the Park Lake or you hate it, and for<br />
most anglers it’s the latter!<br />
Incidentally, that lost fish was the only<br />
slice of action for several weeks at the Park,<br />
which made it even harder to bear. The cold<br />
weather soon returned with a vengeance,<br />
which put paid to any further action before<br />
the season ended.<br />
Over the next several months I was just<br />
using the Swindon Park Lake as a ‘stop off ’<br />
venue because it was conveniently situated<br />
about halfway between my house and another<br />
venue I was targeting. During this time I<br />
managed to catch a few more Park fi sh before<br />
finally calling it a day, but the place will<br />
always be a fond memory in my carp life.<br />
THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE<br />
I was now becoming increasingly drawn to<br />
another venue, one I’d been contemplating<br />
for a number of years in search of a very<br />
big mirror, which, in my opinion, is the<br />
absolute pinnacle of everything that swims<br />
– the perfect carp in every sense of the word.<br />
Things were coming along<br />
nicely at Springwood.<br />
SPRINGWOOD’S FIRST 30<br />
After having some early success on the Mere<br />
I had to pull off during the autumn months<br />
because things had got very busy back at<br />
<strong>Essential</strong> HQ. Apart from establishing our<br />
own fi shery/fi sh farm, <strong>Essential</strong> <strong>Baits</strong> was<br />
growing signifi cantly and I could no longer<br />
disappear into the wilderness and leave<br />
everyone else to run the business!<br />
Lee was now employed as our full-time bait<br />
production manager, whilst daughter Kelly<br />
was also drafted in to help with the day-to-day<br />
running of the bait enterprise, alongside Deb<br />
and Kim. It’s a hectic life for sure, and I was<br />
averaging 15-hour working days (and still am)<br />
during the busy months, but in all honesty it’s a<br />
labour of love and I wouldn’t trade places with<br />
anyone. Let’s be fair, I get to talk several hours<br />
a day to customers/friends who share the same<br />
passion, not to mention all the good friends I’ve<br />
made from within the industry spanning the 25<br />
years <strong>Essential</strong> <strong>Baits</strong> has been trading.<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 5 20/8/09 14:55:44
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
AD<br />
PAGE<br />
27<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 6 20/8/09 14:55:55
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
As for my Springwood fishery, everything was<br />
beginning to develop nicely. The stock ponds<br />
were maturing, the weeds were under control,<br />
our small stockies were growing rapidly, and<br />
planning permission for a mobile home was<br />
finally granted. All the fish in the main lake were<br />
now showing very good signs of growth and in<br />
October of that year (2005) I managed to bank<br />
a fish known as Harvey at a weight of 30lb 5oz,<br />
a particularly historic capture because it was<br />
Springwood’s first-ever 30!<br />
This was not only a personal milestone for<br />
me in terms of all the sacrifi ces I’ve made in<br />
my life to create the fi shery, but for my family<br />
and friends, including all the syndicate lads<br />
who have put in a tremendous amount of<br />
hard work over the years. When we purchased<br />
the lake in 1999, the biggest carp was no more<br />
than an upper-double, and here we were, just<br />
six years later with our first 30. I don’t think<br />
words could ever describe how satisfying that<br />
was! I was now even more convinced than<br />
ever that we were on the verge of something<br />
very special. We had some stunning carp<br />
coming through, the scenery was improving<br />
with each passing year, and the future looks<br />
very bright indeed.<br />
LATE AUTUMN BREAKS<br />
Following the capture of the Springwood<br />
30 I got a call from Ian Welch, head of<br />
RMC Angling, inviting Lee and me to<br />
fi sh at Yateley Pads Lake, which was a nice<br />
welcome break. We’ve fi shed The Pads on<br />
a few occasions now and I would highly<br />
recommend this venue to anyone wanting<br />
Springwood’s fi rst 30<br />
– another ambition achieved.<br />
to book an exclusive group booking venue.<br />
The trip proved to be a fruitful one and we<br />
managed to bank a few<br />
20s and couple of<br />
low-30s, most of the<br />
fi sh falling to the<br />
edge of the dying<br />
pads at close quarters<br />
over a combination of<br />
red maggots, casters,<br />
and chopped B5<br />
boilies, a combination<br />
that has always<br />
proved deadly at that<br />
time of the year.<br />
After returning from<br />
the Pads Lake, Phil<br />
Roots kindly invited<br />
us both to fish at his<br />
Rootswood Fishery in<br />
Revenge at Rootswood!<br />
Lee with his 41.06<br />
mirror in the fi rst hour!<br />
France, due to the previous disaster we had on<br />
the place! Those of you who have followed this<br />
series may remember Part One and our last trip<br />
to Rootswood in the middle of February where<br />
the lake froze up on our first night, resulting in<br />
us having to smash the ice to retrieve our rigs<br />
and return to the UK the following day! We<br />
were now out for revenge!!<br />
Well, the revenge mission didn’t take long,<br />
in fact just one hour to be precise! This is<br />
how long it took Lee to bank a new PB in the<br />
shape of a cracking mirror of 41lb 6oz. What<br />
a start! Later that evening it was my turn as I<br />
managed to bank what is probably the longest<br />
carp I’ve ever seen, it had no depth to it at all,<br />
but the long, mean-looking leather still pulled<br />
the scales around to 45lb 6oz and was well<br />
over 3ft long! The following night I managed<br />
to bank a nice brace of 40s within an hour of<br />
each other, weighing in at 43lb 2oz and 43lb<br />
5oz. It was certainly payback time from when<br />
the lake iced up on us two years earlier!<br />
I’ve got to be honest, commercial venues<br />
are not usually my cup of tea and I would<br />
normally prefer to be pioneering new territory,<br />
or fishing a remote stretch of river for smaller<br />
carp, but, having said that, Rootswood is one<br />
of the better commercial venues I’ve fished<br />
and I would recommend it to anyone.<br />
Following all the travelling back and forth<br />
to the Mere, coupled with my late-autumn<br />
trips to the Pads and Rootswood, I was ready<br />
to hang up the rods for a month or two and<br />
knuckle down to some important product<br />
development work. The late-winter months<br />
through until early-summer are, without<br />
doubt, the busiest times of the year for my<br />
role within the bait business because I’m<br />
usually putting together all the finishing<br />
touches to packaging designs and working<br />
on advertising for the trade year ahead. This<br />
can be very frustrating when you know the<br />
conditions are spot on, but<br />
I always try to get my priorities in order,<br />
and besides, the fish will always be there<br />
– hopefully!<br />
28<br />
The revenge mission didn’t take long, in fact<br />
just one hour to be precise! This is how long it<br />
took Lee to bank a new PB in the shape of a<br />
cracking mirror of 41lb 6oz<br />
022-029_CarpLife_CW228.indd 7 20/8/09 14:55:59
PARTY TIME!<br />
It’s always a welcome relief when I can break<br />
up the workload with a social event, though,<br />
and in December I got an invite from Pete<br />
Springate to attend his and Dougal Gray’s<br />
joint 60th birthday party at the Fisheries pub<br />
in the Colne Valley, which was organised<br />
by all-round good egg, Les Bamford, and<br />
what a night it was!<br />
Apart from celebrating<br />
the night with Pete<br />
and Dougal, I was<br />
able to catch up with<br />
some old mates who I<br />
hadn’t seen for a few<br />
years, people like John<br />
Carver, Chris Haswell,<br />
and Bob Baker, among<br />
others. Many old-school faces from far and<br />
wide had gathered to celebrate the occasion<br />
and it was pleasing to see so many stalwart<br />
names within carp fishing history, such as<br />
Bob Morris, Robin Monday, Vic Cranston,<br />
Kenny Hodder, Steve Edwards, and Albert<br />
Romp, and others. During the night we<br />
presented Pete and Dougal with a ‘birthday<br />
copy’ of my book, Carp Life, which was<br />
signed by everyone present. So, Pete<br />
or Dougal, if you’re reading this,<br />
guard those books with your<br />
life – they will be worth a<br />
Everything was going<br />
well, until all of a sudden<br />
the landlord came<br />
running out of the pub<br />
hurling abuse at us<br />
fortune one day!!<br />
I can remember sleeping in my van in the<br />
car park that night, as did Pete Springate,<br />
Kenny Hodder, and Dave Gawthorn in their<br />
respective vehicles. However, before retiring<br />
to the warmth of our bags, we decided to<br />
have a late drink, and without giving it too<br />
much thought, I decided to light up one<br />
of those wax logs to<br />
keep us warm.<br />
Everything<br />
was going well,<br />
until all of a sudden<br />
the landlord came<br />
running out of the<br />
pub hurling abuse at<br />
us, with Les Bamford<br />
and Dougal Gray in<br />
close pursuit because they thought we were<br />
setting fire to the outside tables and chairs!<br />
Now I can put up with most things<br />
in life, but getting on the wrong side of<br />
Dougal isn’t one of them! Fortunately, the<br />
situation was soon resolved and the fire was<br />
extinguished before anyone got hurt! (me!).<br />
Coincidentally, this was the very same night<br />
of that big oil refinery explosion in Hemel<br />
Hempstead a few years ago. I don’t<br />
know what time it was but I<br />
was asleep in the van when<br />
I heard this huge explosion<br />
Pete Springate, Dougal<br />
Gray and Chris Haswell.<br />
Old friends that I never get<br />
tired of meeting up with.<br />
Sir Pete offi cially being<br />
knighted by Les Bamford.<br />
that shook the floor and rocked the van.<br />
After the earlier events of the wax log fire<br />
and associated aggro, I came flying out of my<br />
van expecting to see Dave or Kenny’s motor<br />
going up in smoke! Goodness knows what the<br />
landlord must have thought when he heard it!<br />
See you next month. MW<br />
Life and Carp Life <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Willmott</strong><br />
This tremendously long 45<br />
was one of a hat-trick of 40s<br />
and payback time for the lake<br />
icing up on our previous trip.<br />
29<br />
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