I love carp fishing in November. The wild weather fronts we tend to experience around the middle of the month really seem to kick the carp into action, but there’s so much more to this autumnal period that really seems to excite my senses.

I try to get out on the bank as often as possible at this time of year because, for whatever reason, I always have a result or two. I know it’s usually wet, windy, muddy and ‘orrible, but with the right clobber and the right water, there’s absolutely nothing that would stop me wetting a line.

So it was with much fervor that I tackled up the rods ready for a session on RHFisheries’ Weston Park. This stunning old estate lake is bite-the-back-of-your-hand pretty, and is both a syndicate and open-access fishery. Anglers can book swims for a week or more and there’s also a well-equipped Boathouse fishing lodge that’s truly a home away from home (it’s actually bigger than my old house!)

I was there to shoot a feature for Total Carp magazine, where I’d be talking about the benefits of brightly-coloured, shelf-life boilies. I use them quite a lot in my own fishing, because, put simply, they still work phenomenally well! I usually scatter a handful of brighter baits around an area baited with duller fishmeal boilies, so the baited area has little bright ‘sprinkles’ of colour to stop the carp in their tracks.

I’d brought along plenty of options from the Action range of Sonubaits boilies, from yellow pineapple baits to white chocolates and strawberries. All these baits leak out irresistible attractors for the fish, from carefully formulated sweeteners to classic flavour combinations that the carp simply adore.

I ended up baiting with a variety of all three Action boilies and fished three different hookbaits over the top. The old faithful yellow pineapple pop-up was cast close to the rhododendrons, whilst Snowman rigs were cast just off the baited area sporting either a white or red pop-up.

And it didn’t take long to get amongst the fish from this gin-clear water and it came as no surprise that the yellow pop-up was the first to tempt a carp. After a fairly hair-raising fight, I soon had a 22-pounder in the folds of my net. It was a nude mirror, but a great start on the Action boilies.

The rest of the day passed by slowly and with the Total Carp photographer, Pat, arriving the next morning, I was keen to get another fish in the bag ready for his arrival.

The weather was now absolutely prime. The wind was high and swirling, bringing with it lots of low-lying, dark cloud. It was a much milder night and I could hear the odd carp lolloping around under the rhododendrons near to the bait. I knew I was in the right spot.

Some time after dozing off for the evening, the Snowman rig with a Sonu white pop-up was away, this time with a slower, more purposeful weight on the end. In the crystal clear water my headtorch lit up the golden common like a beacon and I could immediately see it was a good ‘un. The carp insisted on burying itself in one of the lake’s numerous weedbeds, but after a bit of yelling and shouting I soon had the handsome creature gliding in towards the spreader block.

At 27lb 8oz, it was a true bruiser and the perfect fish to display the potential of using bright ‘sprinkles’ for my Total Carp feature. I left the carp in a deep-meshed landing net and went back to sleep for the few hours till morning, suitably chuffed with the session so far.

Photographer Pat was just as awe-inspired by the lovely Weston Park common as I was, and after shooting a few pictures for the magazine, we sent the bronze leviathan on its way, suitably impressed with what November carp fishing has to offer.