My name is Tyler Lane and I'm 14 years old. My greatest love is carp fishing. I eat, sleep and dream fishing and now actually work on Saturdays in my local tackle shop, so for me life is perfect, apart from fitting school into the equation.

I took part in my first BYCAC this year and finished 19th in the finals, which not only increased my knowledge but also my determination to get further in the fishing world and one day to be as great as my uncle, Dave Lane. I was also lucky enough to get to meet some amazing fishermen/women that will hopefully be friends for life. I also had the opportunity to become a junior promo member for a bait company, Hydra Baits, and a clothing company, Hobo Armour.

I got into angling through my mum. She took me to a local fishery targeting for bream at the beginning of the summer holidays when I was eight. She used to fish as a child, so thought I might like it. Our tackle was very basic; a rod, reel, hooks, a float, a few weights and a tin of sweetcorn. The bailiff was amazing and showed us the depths for perfect fishing. Before I knew it the bream were flying out and every day we returned for more. While we were there I had seen these bigger fish called carp come out. That was it; I was desperate to catch them. We bought an alarm, cheap carp rod and terminal tackle and from that moment I was hooked and have spent any time I can fishing and learning. It’s carp for me all the way.

My Greatest Day So Far

I had not long returned from the BYCAC and wanted to try out some of the new tricks with an off-the-top rig. I turned up at a fairly local fishery called Whitevane. I have got to know these waters quite well. They were fairly still, with the odd ripple going across, and I had a walk around the lake and decided on a spot on the right bank. There weren't any features to fish to but I had seen plenty of swirling about 50 yards out from spot.

The lake was fairly busy so I was bit concerned that it might be highly pressured with all the lines in the water. Most people were either zig fishing or bottom baiting but I knew I wanted to try my rig. I used a size 8 Mixa microbarbed hook and hair that was whipped tight to the hook. I cut down a bright red pop-up to a rectangular shape and made a slit that I could slip the back of my hook into firmly so it wouldn't move, with the tip of the hook just poking out. I had 1ft length of zig line and a 50g float so that I could cast the distance required.

I had coated my dog biscuits in garlic olive oil, which also gives off a lovely slick. I had been spodding them out five spombs at a time and the fish were gobbling it up. I then cast my bait 10 yards past it and pulled it slowly into the middle. I took my seat and started to make more rigs; I had a good feeling.

Within five minutes my float was away. I struck into it and it fought with me but I was very wary of my zig line being a low breaking point, so I had to be slower and gentle in my fight, letting it take line as it needed it.

Finally it was in my net and it was a beauty. I unhooked him and cast my hook straight back out with three more spombs and got to weighing it. It came in at 25lb 2oz

Just as I put him back, my rod ripped off again and this time it didn't fight. It seemed to glide through the water so I was imagining a tiddler or even a bream. When I finally had it my net it weighed in at 20lb 10oz, I was ecstatic.

I was rapidly going through more and more dog biscuits and garlic olive oil and my bright red pop-ups soaked in Raspberry Goo but the fish kept coming. I landed three more ranging from 9lb to 18lb 4oz. Everyone else on the lake had stopped catching and a few walked round to see what I was using because they couldn't get them feeding on their side, which was close to the area I was fishing. I gladly showed them while hooking and landing three more at 12lb 10oz, 12lb 7oz and 20lb 6oz. The biggest of the three didn't want to be held and kept fighting me during the pictures and my skinny arms were getting tired from all my hard work. It nearly got the better of me but on the final attempt I got this lovely photo.

Meanwhile the gentlemen had gone to the local tackle shop to get the terminal tackle and pop-ups that I was using. After all the trouble of going out to get more stuff I was hoping that they would catch.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was that day. Every fish seemed to be in my area and I was hoping for Tulip, the biggest common in the lake at 41lb.

Just as I was starting to get really tired, my rod ripped off and I caught another one. This took me longer to land because it started to fight. I thought that with the swirl maybe Tulip had graced my rod. After 10 minutes of toing and froing I landed him, a beast of 26lb 8oz.

I decided that I wasn't going to spod any more biscuits out because I needed a well-earned cuppa and food. For some reason I left my hook bait out there with no food around it. The kettle had just started to boil when I saw my rod move and I had to literally dive on it before it went for a swim. The fish pulled and zigzagged but I landed a 10lb ghostie. Not the biggest fish but definitely lovely to look at.

Nobody else had caught for the last six hours. I was shattered. You couldn't plan a day like this and my confidence in that rig is now unbelievable and I will always be using it along with the wonderful red pop-ups and Goo.

My sleep was well deserved that night. Unfortunately, the gentlemen didn't catch that day but said they would try again the next day.

You can’t beat the people that you meet while fishing but the buzz of what I could and I do catch makes my heart race the most.