At last!

I errr decided work could do without me again and snook off to my local hole in the ground. I arrived on a hot and sunny afternoon and to think themissus predicted rain.....never.
I set up my carp rods and and looked around for where to drop them, as the weed has all been killed it seemed a bit pot luck. I cast one short and to my right so it was somewhere near the bottom of the slope and the other went out in front of me about a third of the way accross. Before attaching the baited rig I cast out, clipped up and checked there was no weed. I then wound in, baited up and cast both rods. It occurred to me that none of my replacement gear had been tested and wondered how it would stand up.
Next I set up my waggler rod as a bit of entertainment fishing a single maggot on a size 16. I'd put a couple of roach, skimmers and small perch when the heavens opened and a thunder storm errupted. I have to addmit that I havent seen rain that heavy or sustained in a long long time but to its crepit my Conquest waterproofs kept me comfy and dry even when stood in the heaviest downpour dealing with a troublesome bream.
Once the rain had passed I swapped the size 16 for a size 12 and swapped the maggot for a prawn. Within a few minutes the float slid away and a perch about 6 oz came to the net. A few minutes later and the float went away again and this time the fish went off on a spirited fight going through my carp lines and still managed to stay on. I was relieved to say the least to slip the net under a gnarly old warrior of a perch which pulled the scales around to 1lb 10oz my best by a fair margin.
A couple of bream about a pound took the prawn and with the sun heading rapidly for the horizon I decided it was about time to pack up.
Minutes later my nearest rod roared off and at last I was into a carp. It came in reasonably easy and decided to put up a spirited fight under the rod tip. With the complete absence of weed I was able to back the drag off and alow the tip and drag to do most of the work. It was about 10 minutes before I even saw the fish and was a definite releif when I lifted the net around it. A beautiful 16lb 1oz common was the perfect end to the short session.
My fox reels have come in for some raised eyebrows but the drag is exceptionally smooth with a really good line lay. I cant fault them.