FLOAT fishing has been productive all week at Basildon’s Aquatels lake, although as we headed into the unsettled weekend weather the tench disappeared for everyone except Matt Price who turned up for an evening stalking on the north bank.

Having decided carp were not interested he fished for tench after dark with mini boilies and proceeded to land no less than 27 fish to 5lbs.

His second evening trip that week saw him more successful when he landed a fine 18lb mirror from the east bank.

Local angler Graham Hats enjoyed in the margins with an upper double mirror on float-fished worm.

Rochford’s Jim Ogilvie tried a new particle which obviously worked as he banked a very pretty 14lb common plus a 16lb fully scaled mirror.

John Hanks also experimented with a new bait and rigs while fishing the tight swims by the reeds on the north bank.

Again, the change of tactics proved successful as having landed two upper double mirrors he then landed a very pretty linear at 18lbs.

The weekend saw quite a few carp lost and very few banked, but the combination of thunderstorms along warm days and cold nights probably did not help.

The best carp was definitely landed by Clifford Lamb, who fished a night on the south bank and landed a superb 28lb fully scaled mirror at 2.30am on a bait sitting under a bush no more than five feet from the bank.