PATIENCE PAYS FOR THIS YATELEY FORTY

ALEX West mixed hard work and patience to bank this 40lb 8oz Yateley common.

The Redmire Common fell during a 48-hour session on the historic complex’s Match Lake.

Alex carefully presented his bait in a channel in the weed he had created with a rake and got the bite in the early hours.

“Within a minute I could tell I had a good fish on,” he said. “With heavy, powerful lunges, a tug o’war-type battle ensued.

“Eventually I got it halfway back and could hear deep, heavy swirls of the unseen big ’un. She certainly sounded like a good fish!

“With steady pressure I kept her coming until around 10 yards out she dived down deep and got stuck fast in the weed

“I did the classic ‘put the rod back on the rest on a tight line’ and set the clutch. I was mid-way through my second cup of tea when the alarm gave two bleeps.

“I picked up the rod again and leant into it – all of a suddden something gave and she started moving again.

“She powered left and got into another weedbed, but I’d kept the pressure on and at the first time of asking my mate Tom netted what was clearly a very large common.

“At 40lb 8oz I was absolutely over the moon that another target had graced my net.”

Alex fed a light scattering of Sticky boilie over 3kg of mixed particles.