LORRY driver Nigel Connor has a chance meeting with an old school pal to thank for his new personal best 24lb 12oz common carp.

Connor, who had not fished for more than 15 years, had taken his young son to the Northlands Park playground when he spotted old school friend Eddie Brown fishing the Basildon venue's road lake.

While they were reminiscing a cracking 19lb 6oz common carp picked up Brown's bait and sped away.

The sight of the big fish renewed Connor's enthusiasm, and the two old friends made plans to meet up at the road lake the following week.

Just two hours into their session Connor showed that he had not lost his touch when he hooked a cracking 24lb 12oz carp on one of Brown's homemade baits.

The fish was more than 3lb bigger than Connor's previous personal best.

Quivertip man Stanley Robinson took a cracking 11 bream 35lb-plus haul when he fished the Northlands Park middle spitway.

Robinson took fish to almost 5lb casting luncheon meat baits into the road lake.

Carl Stedman fished the Northlands Park cafe lake, where he used a quivertip to amass a 47lb 8oz mixed haul of bream and tench.

His fish came from open water where he presented sweetcorn and worm cocktails over a bed of red groundbait.

Rob "Noddy" Skinner fished below the Northlands Park Cafe to take five decent bream in a short afternoon session. Legered boilies produced the fish, the best specimen scaling just over 5lb.