Your first night session: kit, safety and fish care

A first night session is the point where carp fishing gets serious, and the anglers who enjoy it are the ones who packed for the night rather than for the fishing. Nothing ruins an overnight trip faster than being cold, hungry and unable to see your own terminal tackle.

The kit list

• Shelter and sleep: a bivvy or a bed chair and sleeping bag, or a vehicle you can sleep in.
• Light: a headlamp for hands-free work and a lantern for the swim.
• Hot drinks and food: a camp stove and kettle, a flask, and more food than you think you need.
• Fish care: an unhooking mat, a weigh sling, a landing net of the right size, disinfectant and a pair of scissors.
• Tidy kit: a tackle bag so your rig tools are findable in the dark.

Before you leave

• Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
• Check the weather, not just the temperature — wind and rain decide how the night feels.
• Charge your phone and take a power bank.
• Book the venue and check its rules on night fishing, bait and unhooking requirements.
• Pack a first aid kit and a torch as well as the headlamp.

Handling a carp in the dark

Most of the kit on the list exists for one reason: to get a carp back into the water safely. The routine is simple and should be done the same way every time, in daylight or at two in the morning.

• Have the mat, the weigh sling and the disinfectant set up and ready before you land the fish.
• Keep the fish in the water as long as possible, and support it properly once it is out.
• Handle it with wet hands, keep it off dry ground, and take photographs on the mat or in the sling.
• Hold it upright in the water, tail first, until it is swimming strongly before you let go.
• Cut the line close rather than pulling a hook out if it is deep-hooked, and treat the area with disinfectant.

If you can, learn the handling routine before your first night session, in daylight, when nothing is riding on it.