THE mild winds and pleasant sunshine again saw ninety per cent of the carp landed at Doggetts falling to floaters.

But many visiting anglers discovered it is not as easy as it sounds when targeting the carp at the Rochford water.

Lewis Clark and fishing friend Lee Barker fished chum mixers for a couple of sessions on the long arm.

Barker hit into a monster of a fish which took him around the main pool several times and was finally landed in the back pool.

The mirror easily beat his personal best as the scales stopped ounces under 31 pounds.

While the big fish battle was under way, Clark had also hooked a large fish from the same swim.

In an attempt to land the fish quickly and not tangle with Barker’s, Clark’s hook length parted which robbed the duo of a picture containing two very large fish.

Barker continued his session to land four more upper doubles, while Clark landed a mirror of 26lb plus two upper doubles.

His bag would have been heavier had he landed his biggie and two more fish which threw the hook.

The Rochford duo not only got their picture of mirrors of 15 and 18 pounds, but Clark returned the following day to hook and land a 24lb mirror which still had his lost hook in it from the previous day.

Charlie Ridpath from Rochford enjoyed his best day ever on floaters while fishing the long arm.

Ridpath landed seven mirrors ranging from 12 to 18 pounds plus finally completing his bag with a fine 20lb fish.

Rochford angler Paul Bevan discovered the hard way that the Doggetts carp take no prisoners by losing several good fish on light tackle.

Returning with upgraded lines and rods, Bevan fished floaters on the north bank for a couple of quick sessions landing five good fish weighing between 13 to 21lbs.

Dan Revell joined the 20lb club when he landed a 23lb mirror again on mixers, while Aarron Bravery, Vic Birley and Jay Martin all managed one double each during separate sessions on the south bank.

Doggetts regular Chris Bury always visits the Rochford venue for the general float fishing and as usual enjoyed some excellent sport with tench and bream to six pounds on his float gear.

Seeing the floater fishermen enjoying such good sport, Bury put up a carp with bread hook bait.

His final cast, dangerously close to the reeds, saw him hook into a mirror which proved a formidable opponent.

Bury handled the fish as though he had done it a hundred times before and landed his first mirror to weigh 20.5lb.

Despite the tench and bream giving great displays spawning in the shallows, the float fishermen enjoyed a splendid week with good mixed bags of clean fish.

Bread is definitely proving the best bait for the larger tench which are being landed from the north bank and back pool.