Friday June 25th, at 5.30am the van is loaded up and we are on our annual pilgrimage to Hereford, weather wise, looks like we are in for a good week. Off down the M6 then onto the M5/M50 and heading for Ledbury.At just after 8am we are at the butty van we stop at on the A417 off junction 2 M50, the sun is shining.After a bacon & egg barm it's back on the road to "Willow" fishery at Redbank Farm just outside Ledbury Picture to the right shows my peg for the day, what a view couldn't wait to dip my line.

I parked the van up and we off-loaded our gear, Willow pool is set in an orchard among apple & cherry trees, the weather was glorious and the smell of summer was all around.This pool has some quality fish in and I new we would be in for a good day.I chose a peg with the sun behind me as the day was going to get rather warm.Tactics would be on the bottom for starters at 7.5 mtrs and up in the water later on along with the margins.

Carp were cruising in my swim and there were bubbles everywhere, the fish were on the feed.First days fishing was to begin and after dropping in some micro pellets into the water I was soon amongst the skimmers.On previous visits to Willow I have only caught several skimmers, majority of fish being carp.Skimmer after skimmer followed on soft pellet so it was time for a change.There were fish up in the water so I changed to a shallow rig about 2 feet deep, I put small pieces of prawn on the hook and began to catch small rudd & roach, eventually I was into a carp and a common of about 5lbs was soon on the bank.

In the margins I noticed carp were swirling under some trees and decided to try this position, I fired in some maggots and pellets and put a larger piece of prawn on a size 10 hook. I gingerly moved my rig under the trees and kept lifting and dropping the bait, after several minutes the float went under and a carp was trying to take me into the sunken branches, I put some pressure on the pole and managed to get the fish into open water, after a couple of minutes I had a mirror carp of about 3 to 4lbs in the net.

This swim was producing lots of fish including good sized roach, rudd & golden rudd,I had my biggest of the day a common carp of about 7lbs.All of us were catching steady, Steve was snagged on one ocassion with a fish taking his line around a sunken tree stump and he ended up losing his rig. Nelson was amongst the fish and was having his elastic stretched frequently.

The early start to the day was taking it's toll on me and I was tiring towards the end of the day, once I'm out fishing I don't want it to stop.The sun was still shining and my umbrella had to come out to give me some relief from the baking heat.The fish were still biting and I continued to catch smallish sized carp, very good sport when they are trying to get you among the snags

Willow pool is a very attractive water with lots of wildlife around and set in the beautiful Herefordshire countryside if only I could win the lottery.

We all had a very good days fishing, all among the carp, biggest being lbs which fell to ????

Willow pool is one of my favourite pools in England, it's a shame it's not closer to home. There are no toilets on site and day ticket was £6 The pool is run by Three Counties Fisheries and they have another pool close by "Pixley Pool" which is not for the novice angler, a quick search on the internet will take you to their website.

It was nearing 6.30 when we called it a day, I'd lost count of the amount of fish I had caught, nothing massive but they are in there, just a case of coaxing them out. The van was loaded up and after a quick shower at our digs we were off to the Royal Oak pub in Much Marcle for a couple of pints and a steak. Tomorrow was to be a day out at Biddlestone Pool Nr Ross-On -Wye, another pool run by Three Counties Fisheries.