The Christmas of 2008-2009 was a very special time for me in many ways. Me and my girlfriend, of eleven years, finally got engaged. It was a long time coming but on Christmas day we finally did it! She really is a special person. When my fishing head is on, I do push things to the limit and she hardly ever moans.
It was when I was fishing up on the 'Road Lake' that year, that I became good friends with Nigel Sharp. It was over this time that I was talking to Nigel a lot about 'Sutton' and that he should come over to 'Sutton' for a social, at some point. We both spent the Summer and Autumn up on the 'Road' chasing our target fish and agreed to sort out a social up on 'Sutton' over the Christmas period. Both of us had a good season up on the 'Road', catching enough fish between us, with Nigel finally catching 'The Dink'. So, it was the end of the Road for Nigel! He had done what he had set out to do by catching 'The Dink' and fair play to you mate; we had a right old knees up that morning, after the photos where done.
As I said, we had arranged to fish Sutton over the Christmas period, and we set a date for Boxing Day as a social and a bit of a celebration for me getting engaged. We had arranged to meet in Sutton's car park at 10 o'clock that morning. As I was standing in the car park waiting for Nigel to turn up, I can remember thinking it was bloody freezing and what chance have we got of catching anything in this?
Nigel pulled into the car park and we both decided to have a walk round, so that he could have his first look at the place. Walking down the 'Fence Bank', I filled Nigel in on the name of the swims and what water they controlled. As we got down to the 'Lawn Swim' there was a freezing easterly wind blowing down into our faces. We both came to the conclusion that if this was the last swim on the lake, we would not fish in it. It was absolutely bitter! Walking up the River bank, we stopped and had a look in a swim called 'The Hole', a swim that I have done really well out of in the past, catching most of the bigger fish from it and a swim I know really well but, standing there, it just didn't look right to me at all. So, with Nigel backing my judgment, we decided to walk round to 'The Twins' bank for a good look round. Now at this point Nigel asked me which swim I fancied, but I turned around and said to him that he could choose first as it was his first time on the lake and I will just set up next to him for the social.
At this point I would like to tell the readers, that I only had one fish left to catch out of Sutton and it was 'The Little Fully Scaled', a fish that just seemed to avoid me for so many years and a fish I really wanted in my photo album. Anyway, back to the session. Nigel picked a swim called 'The Unknown', which left me with a swim called 'The Twins' (a swim I hate with a passion). In all the years I have fished over at Sutton, I never had a bite from that particular swim. It wasn't for the will of not trying, it just never happened for me in that particular swim.
Whilst setting up in 'The Twins', looking back at it now, everything went so smoothly, from pushing my bivvy pegs into pushing my bank sticks in. It was at this point that I started to get that old feeling that I was going to catch one out of my most hated swim on the lake. (Pretty mad. Hey?) But that feeling was there and I just can't explain it. We've all had it and that's what fishing is all about! You don't know where or when, but your having one and that's it!
Nigel had a stroll down to me to ask what features were out in front of him. I replied with "Not a lot, it's quite a silty area of the lake but have a lead about because there is some firmer areas out there". It wasn't long before Nigel had two rods positioned out there with chodies. Now, although I knew 'The Twins' swim well, I still had a lead about with a marker rod. There was an area about 20 yards out that I had fished before, so out went the marker. I actually over cast the area and when pulling the marker back I found something that's not normally there. Instead of hitting the hard gravel spot, I had actually found a very light broken gravel spot that shouldn't have been there. It had been fed on, that was for sure! So, one rod was cast to it with a straight forward pop up rig and about thirty baits around it. The second rod was positioned at the same range but running parallel to one of the gravel bars out in front of the swim with another thirty baits put round it. This rig was a straight forward bottom bait rig. Now that the rods were all sorted, me and Nigel sat there chatting about the 'Sutton' fish and the history of the place.
We had decided that we were going to order an Indian take away, due to the fact that some of the other Sutton lads were coming down to fish with us, that night. 
Now, there had been a lot of tree cutting done over Sutton that year, so, because it was so cold, I went about getting some wood together for a bonfire. The rods had been out for a good couple of hours by now, and I was starting to get some really vicious liners. The bobbins were hitting the butt and dropping straight back down again. By this time, some of the other lads had started to turn up to fish and I was still getting these liners. As we got the fire going and our food turned up, we all sat there eating and having a beer or two. The time was flying pass. All of us were having a laugh and a chat, when I had an absolute flyer of a take on the left hand rod. As I ran down towards the rod it was just peeling off. I picked the rod up and leant into it. After about ten minutes, Nigel slipped the net under a nice looking mirror of 20lbs. "This is alright", I thought, for December. Bloody freezing and in a swim that I hate. I've gone and caught one off the new spot that I had found. A couple of photos later and he was put back none the wiser of his ordeal.
The rod was cast back to the same spot as before, and another thirty baits put out. We had all gathered back round the fire talking about what had just happened. We couldn't believe it! The mad thing was, I was still getting the liners too. It must have been about 1 o'clock in the morning when we all decided to crash out for the night as it had been a long old day. The time must have been about 7 o'clock in the morning when we all started to surface from our sleeping bags. I had still been getting liners through the night. " First things first", I thought. I wasn't entirely happy with the recast last night, after the fish, so I decided to reel it in and do it properly . Rod done! Kettle on and then I took a stroll into Nigel's swim for a chat. We must have been chatting for an hour when I had another flyer on the left hand rod that I had just re-cast. I flew back to the swim, picked the rod up and leant into it. The strange thing was, no sooner was it on then it was off. When retrieving the rig, what had happened was, the hook had got caught round the lead core on the cast. I was gutted to say the least! "Never mind" I thought "some you win, some you loose"
The rod was re-baited and re-cast back to my productive little spot, with another thirty baits around it. At this point of the session, I don't think Nigel could believe what was actually going on. He was beginning to say, that he thought this place was meant to be hard and that we should call it 'Sutton - Lee'. I quite assured him this was a freak session and to give Tel a call, he would tell you how hard it is. We had just timed our trip right and that they were up for a bit of a feed that's all.
Now, anyone who knows Nigel will tell you, he's not one to be out done and at 10:30 in the morning he had a take! After a really good fight and me having to go out in the boat to land it for him ( as it had gone round the front of a tree), he was holding up a 23Ib mirror for the cameras! What a session this was turning out to be! Three bites in 24hours and we still had another 24hours left. "What could happen next?", we were thinking.
One of my good mates, Steve Wade, had turned up for a night. He dropped into the swim next to Nigel, which was called the 'Close Inn'. I popped up to Steve and showed him an area where I had caught a few in the past, as he was unfamiliar with the swim. We got the fire going again and sat round it for the afternoon, drinking tea and chatting about what had happened so far. We all settled for another Indian takeaway that night (It's a terrible life this carp fishing but someone has got to do it!) I was still receiving the liners, but now it was both rods that was getting them. At about 10 o'clock, I received another fast take to the left hand rod. As soon as I picked the rod up it just stripped line. It took a few minutes before I felt like I had any control over it. When I finally got into the margin all I can say was it was a really bizarre fight. It was zig zagging all over the place. It was about 20 minutes now and it was still having a really good fight. Steve had the net in hand and after about half an hour it was all over. The fish was lying in the bottom of the net! When I put the torch on it, I could see it was a good'un, but I didn't realise what was actually in the bottom of my
net.Someone said it was 'the Big Fully', but I knew it wasn't. Steve looked up to me and said "You've got her mate!". "Got what?" I said, "The Little Fully" he replied. Out went the biggest shout ever! I was buzzing! All these years and I've got her! We left her in the net for 10 minutes while I sorted myself out. I was in a right mess at this point. Up on the old wheel of fortune , she weighed in at 35lb 15oz and I think Nigel was as blown away as much as me. He knew how much I wanted to catch her. She behaved impeccably for the cameras and all the lads got in on the photos too.
That night was spent celebrating into the early hours of the morning. To say some of us woke up with a sore head that morning would be an understatement. When I look back to that morning it is with mixed emotions. I had finally caught my obsession, but I knew I could never fish there again. The final part of the jigsaw had been completed and it was time to go. But there was one more bit of action to occur on Steve's rods, with him landing a 33lb common. Not bad for a 48hour session, as we had managed five bites between us, at the back end of December. 
As we all pushed our gear through the gates of Sutton I remember locking the gate and thinking that it was an end of an era in my carp fishing life. I will never fish 'Sutton lake 2' again, where I had grown up as a kid and spent many a happy hour fishing with all the friends I had made along the way.
I would like to dedicate this article to my future wife Gina and my son Ollie and my good friend Ian Tester who died at the age of 23 in 1992. He was one of the best carp anglers I ever had the privilege to fish with ( good memories mate!) Until next time be lucky.
John Elmer.
