Angler Name: Liam Richards

Hometown: Broxbourne

Fish Weight: 24lb

Bait: Sticky manilla

Venue: Lea valley

Rig: Hinge stiff down to a fixed leadclip arrangement

Tactics: Locked up towards snags, light baiting approach

Additional Info: So I was back down to the pits and after originally planning on exploring the shallower end of the lake I saw that the swim I was in last time was free again, a quick look in the snags and a gut feeling was enough to drop a bucket. As it was mid day at this point I opted to just put a little bit of corn and sticky manilla bollie over the snag spot and get some bait out over the open water spot before I was likely to get a bite. Before I knew it 5pm was here, the lake was starting to fill up, I had been keeping an eye on the snags and although nothing was really happening I decided to get the rods onto the spot hoping that maybe the disturbance of other anglers leading and spodding may push them towards me. The evening quickly went and I got my head down for some rest but a little after 4am I was woken up by not only my receiver but the crash of my reel hitting the alarm as the fish pulled my rod round and shot for the snags, I quickly grabbed my rod and and entered what felt like a tug of war match for the first 10 or so seconds before the fish was out and shooting off into open water, a 5 minute nerve-wracking fight and this lovely lookin 24lb stocky was the result.