Hello, my name is Lewis Harmes and I am 14. I started fishing when I was about six, when my granddad decided to take me fly fishing.

We arrived at a small lake in the hills and as soon as my granddad cast his first line into the lake, I watched it get taken by a small brown trout. He told me to run over and get the net for him. Because it was my first-ever time fishing, everything was very new to me and I had no clue what a net was; it turns out it was in the boot of his car. So with the net all sorted and the fish under the rod tip, I scooped up what would be the first fish I ever saw on the bank. I can remember it being really long and with a fair few spots along its flank. I knew from that moment that I had the bug.

The highlight of my angling career so far has definitely got to be when I came 3rd in the 2014 the British Young Carpers’ Angling Championship (BYCAC) when I was 13!

In my qualifier I had managed to win the section and was 3rd overall. With five fish to just under 20lb I did much better than I expected! I fished small solid bags filled with maggots, cast to a small silt bed around 40 yards out.

I was finally being driven to Linear Fisheries where I would fish the final of the BYCAC.

We arrived at Oxlease on the Thursday evening, just in time to watch the end of the last qualifier. All eight spots were filled so I knew that the lake wasn’t fishing too badly. Once the qualifier had finished I had a quick look around to see which peg I wanted to be in. There were four that I really like the look of; one either end of the island, one down the bottom end closest to the entrance, which had a nice reed line to cast at, and one up the top end where it looked good for a bit of floater fishing and I had the island to cast at for a second option.

The morning of the draw and I woke up fairly confident that I’d get a half decent draw, but that wasn’t the case. Name after name was called out and I started to get a bit disheartened. Finally my name was called out, but all the swims I had chosen were unfortunately gone, so I had to make a quick decision and decided to go into Peg 8, which was about 9th on my list.

So, a bit gutted with my draw, I lugged all my gear down to my swim, which was probably the longest walk from the car park.

The first hooter sounded and this meant we could start finding the depth, distance and put bait in. At first I was trying to cast to the island at about 105 yards but because I was so small I couldn’t cast at that distance consistently. So I decided to fish in close to a slit bed around 15 yards out; pretty much the same tactics I had used in my qualifier.

On the first day I only managed two fish. The first one was only 11lb and the second 18lb, which put me in 11th. However, I kept the bait going in consistently throughout that night.

The next morning I woke to a one-toner. Unfortunately I ended up losing it in a weed bed just in front of me. The first thing I did was put three more Spombs of maggots out.

Within 10 minutes it was off again, a stunning single-figure mirror. As soon as I got the fish in the net, three more Spombs of maggots went out.

The next fish came about 40 minutes later. It turned out to be a half linear at 22lb. After this the action died off for a few hours but I kept trickling in the maggots, hoping that the fish would get back on the munch.

At about 1.30pm I had a much slower take and as soon as I lifted into it I knew that it was a much better fish! I got it into the landing net and looked down at what was the biggest carp I’d saw on the bank at the time – a 27lb dark old warrior. I couldn’t have been happier but there was much more to come!

After sitting with my dad just talking about my new PB my right-hand rod slowly ticked away. I lifted into it and knew it was another big fish! After a right old scrap I finally managed to get it in the net. I looked down and just looked back at my dad and the marshal, John, and said: “It’s got to be a thirty!”

While I kept spodding, John put what was bound to be another PB on to the scales. I can remember john saying: “Gutted Lewis, it’s 29lb 14oz.”

Part of me was disappointed but more than anything I was made up with another PB in the net and we were only halfway through the competition!

The action had picked up again and before I knew it I had another fish in the net! It was nowhere near the size of my last two but even the little ones add weight to the scoreboard.

The action then slowed again. It wasn’t until around 6.30pm that I had my next bite and as soon as I picked the rod up it went ballistic, weeding me up in numerous weed beds. Then my other rod decided to rip off, so I loosened the clutch and let it run. When I finally got the first one in the net, John grabbed it from me and screamed: “Come on, you’ve got one on the other rod.”

While playing the second fish I heard a massive cheer from my dad and a few of the marshals behind me. The scales had settled on 32lb, and to top it off I managed to brace it with a lovely 12lb scaly mirror.

Once I had sorted all my rods out I finally got to look at my prize, a stunning old two-tone mirror. I was buzzing!

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to land another one after the brace but I couldn’t care less, and after numerous interviews by Sky TV it was time to see where I was placed in the competition.

It was a bit like the draw. Name after name was called out; only this time it was a good thing to be called out last! All the section prizes had gone and I knew I was going to get on the podium. Finally I heard Simon Crow shout: “3rd place with a 10-fish catch and three PBs… Lewis Harmes.” I was over the moon!

Standing on that podium has got to be the best thing that has happened in my angling life. I strongly encourage all young anglers to get involved with the competition! It has made me so much more confident and I don’t know where I’d be today if it wasn’t for this opportunity!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and I wish everyone good luck when they’re next out fishing.