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I called Aussie Dave from the car , "The junctions coming up, which way do I go ??" I yelled frantically. "Go _________ " he said, as my cell phone cut out at the critical moment.

 'Shit.....' I thought to myself....... swerving across 2 lanes of traffic and putting down the hammer in my 93 beast of a Toyota Tercel, to what I hoped was the correct choice. The little car was so full of Carp Gear and Bait that I could hardly see through the rear window. As a bucket of hemp slid on the seat next to me and splashed the liquid of it's contents onto the floor, I just made the exit. Now was not the time to be pulled over for an erratic lane change with the car stinking of hemp and a bucket full of the stuff next to me. I could just imagine the conversation with the CHP.

"Honestly officer, I use it to catch carp" To which I could imagine his response , hand twitching on his gun." Nobody fishes for Carp boy....They're trash fish.... etc etc."

 As luck would have it there were no black and whites in sight and I had made the correct exit. I followed the freeway to the pre - planned exit that Dave had mentioned and made a left into the Arco. There were Debbie and Aussie Dave in their camper with a brightly colored Kangaroo and Australian flag painted on the spare wheel.

"Alright mate, How's it going?" There was Dave with his familiar "Kangaroo Pooh" T - shirt. "Karl is going to meet us at the entrance. Let's stop and get some supplies and we'll be off."

"No worries" And we were indeed, off.

After the aforementioned supply stop at the local Albertson's (Beer, water , milk, sandwiches, M+M's etc) I followed Dave's camper along a road that wound around the side of a hill to the entrance of the lake. As we turned the crest the sight that met my eyes floored me.

"Bloody Hell" I thought, "It looks like a F_ _ _ ing  Ocean !!!"

I had never seen a lake this large. It was magnificent with mountains on the shoreline and wildfowl and Ospreys in the sky. I imagine it is somewhere between 600 and 700 acres. Very daunting for a guy that has only been serious about this Carpin' thing since August of this year. The largest water I had fished was probably 5 acres or so at Santee the previous week at the CAG Fish-In. This, I thought, would not be easy. No margins or weed beds like my beloved "local" Malibu. I also came to the conclusion that my favorite 'stalking' method might not work here !!

As we pulled to the entrance we met Karl and his wife who were waiting for us.  We exchanged various "Hello's" and "Aright mates?" and drove to the car park.

Actually being at the waters edge was even more daunting than I had imagined.

"Guess stalking is out of the question" I said to Dave who laughed.

We proceeded to unload our respective mountains of gear and bait and found 3 swims that were relatively close to each other. My new carporter got some sideways glances and humorous remarks. I was on a mission - I had to beat my PB of 19Lb 12oz that I had caught the previous week. I HAD to get a '20'.

 Karl and Dave had fished the venue previously and Karl had personally come into contact with some 'Lumps". Now Karl was a 'matchman' from England that had located to the States and like myself and had only recently got into the 'carp thing' seriously, though he had been a professional angler in England, he had also already cracked the 30 mark.; a damn fine Angler who, along with Aussie Dave, had helped me out tremendously at the CAG fish in the previous week . Plus we had a great laugh exchanging stories. I can still picture him at 3 am running out of his van with nothing but a pair of 'Tottenham Hotspur' shorts , a T - shirt and a pair of white socks to hit a run..... In the rain.

The water level had risen considerably since Karl and Dave had fished the venue last  and we talked about the prospects of being able to land a fish...Should we actually get anything, due to the shallowness of the shelf that was now underwater and at our feet.

 I chose a swim that was to the left of Karl and Dave and we all began to 'Bivvie up'. Now both Karl and I had called the lake authorities and they had assured us, in no uncertain terms that, as we had purchased a camping spot, we would be fine fishing all night and setting up the bivvies at the waters edge. Karl even went down to the lake physically - in the flesh - if you will, to make sure there were no foul ups and spoke to one of the rangers. The last thing we wanted was to travel all this way only to have to pack up just as the darkness was setting in.

After getting out the marker rod and feeling the bottom for features (Of which there were none in my swim, it ran from 6 inches in a gradual incline to 25 feet which was as far as I could cast) I baited 2 areas with hemp and maize got out the gas stove and made myself a cup of tea. I talked with Karl and Dave and we all discussed how lucky we were to be sitting Lakeside at the beginning of December with the Sun on our faces. This was indeed, very good.