Following the madness of bank holiday weekend, I decided that a 24hr session on the S lake was well overdue. With old friend and bailiff Anthony Meikle joining in on the action, it was sure to be a great session.
The week which follows bank holiday weekend can often prove to be a difficult nut to crack. With large quantities of bait sitting below the water, I normally avoid fishing so close to the weekend. As many of you will appreciate however, its not always about the catching. Despite this, a productive session was still achieved much to our surprise. 
Anthony had recently started using Bait-Techs Poloni boilies and had some good results so I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. The Poloni is a high protein bait with a complex flavour profile featuring 8 secret herbs and spices. In fact it was the depth of aroma which really caught my attention with this bait. Many other baits have a fairly two dimensional profile but the Poloni was far more complex.
Having selected our bait for the session, we decided tactics. Anthony had decided to use small PVA bags on a drop-off system with a short, supple hook length. PVA Bags have always proved a reliable tactic on the S due its weedy nature. I decided upon a Multi Rig fished helicopter style on a Poloni pop-up. I prefer fishing the Multi on a Heli setup than a lead clip as it ensures the rig won't be buried into unknown weed/silt beds whilst maintaining a shorter hook link. Anthony had arrived before myself and noted quite a lot of movement on the far bank opposite the Car Park so we decided to bivvy up beside each other and see what the night had planned for us.
With the few hours of daylight remaining after setting up, my right hand Rod screamed off under my feet much to my suprise. Picking up the Rod I was quickly in to the first fish of the session, a lovely mid-double mirror.
Following a couple of quick photos we returned the gorgeous specimen back to her home and awaited the next capture. Little did we know that just a few hours later Anthony would be hooked in to one of the big S lake Commons. Weighing in at 23lbs, the Bald Patch common is a well known resident and was more than welcome to grace the landing net.
The rest of the night proved to be quiet, I managed to hook one but lost it to the weed. The huge quantity of rainfall the previous day had turned the swim into a mud bath and my dainty attempts at putting my wellington boots on probably accounted for the loss. Lessons learned? Sleep with footwear on!
Once morning had arrived myself and Anthony both managed to loose a further fish each, the weed was proving a real challenge but we couldn't help but love it despite our frustrations! It continues to astonish me just how well these carp have adapted to loose a hook in their mouth when they really need to!
The final fish of the session came to my left hand rod this time which was fished in open water on the back of the wind. A slightly smaller fish than my night time capture but a stunning Common never the less!
With the remainder of the day slowly slipping away from us we both decided to call it a day. It had proved to be great nights fishing and left us both wanting to do a second night despite work commitments - the surest way to know you've enjoyed yourself!