Des Taylor’s
I can’t believe I’ve never fished this water before – it’s just fantastic...
Diary of a Countryman
WITH many of our rivers running low and clear right now, why not pop down to your local one and map out some swims?
On the Severn you can see plates of sandstone, and where the deeper glides are you can see the important deeper gullies where the fish will feed. Of course, you can also see where the snags are that have made their way into the river over the winter.
There are quite a few trees midriver because we have had no really heavy floods this winter. The next big flood will see them disappear out of the way. Don’t wait till June 16! Take a look – you might find your favourite swim with a huge tree stuck in it!
WEDNESDAY
Travelled to St Ives Lakes Fishery near Cambridge to meet up with Phil Riley from Liverpool.
We met at the gravel pit around lunchtime and our first task was to get as much info as possible from owner Gordy Howes about the big bream we were hoping to catch.
He put us on a swim at the back of the island, away from the cold east wind on a lake called The Lagoon. I couldn’t believe I had never fished this place before because there are lakes here for everyone containing big bream, roach and monster carp over 50lb, as well as a lovely three-acre pit full of big tench that I will be fishing for in the very near future.
But today was all about bream, and Gordy told us there was a very good chance of a good double for both of us.
My swim had no real features and an average depth of 14ft, and we were told the bream would come to a bed of feed in between
the bank and the island. So without further ado we put a good bed of Nash feed pellets out 50 yards over which we both planned to fish two rods.
Hookbaits were plastic corn and boilies, and we expected to see bream roll in the area just on nightfall. Owing to the east wind there was very little activity in the swim, but we did spot three bream rolling near the baited area so there was a chance…
THURSDAY
The night passed without incident so we enjoyed a good night’s sleep after the long drive. Then, out of the blue at 5am, Phil had a take on the corn.
Now when you consider Phil’s best bream was a seven-pounder from Ireland you can imagine his delight when I put the net under a fish of 14lb 2oz. It was fat with spawn, and we shook hands and smiled at a job well done.
I expected another take soon after but I had to wait till 8.30am before my indictor hit the butt – and straight away I knew it was a good fish.
Now usually I am a very lucky angler, as my friends will tell you, but today my luck ran out. About two rodlengths out the big bream decided to come off. Uttering some choice Black Country words I recast, unable to believe my luck. The day passed without any more action, so in the afternoon we rebaited with about five kilos of pellets.
Just on dusk we saw half-adozen bream roll in 10 minutes, which prompted me to comment that we would get very few chances. The east wind was still blowing, and we were tucked up in our sleeping bags out of the cold by 9.30pm.
FRIDAY
At about 4.30am I stepped out of my bivvy to answer the call of nature and heard a bream slap its tail right in the middle of the swim. I was confident of a take, and sure enough, at 5.30am the bobbin hit the butt and a slow take told me it was a bream.
As I held the rod up high there was the tell-tale head-shake of a big slab on the other end.
I played the fish very carefully, mindful of the one I’d lost the day before, but this time the fish was well hooked and there was not a chance of a hook-pull. The fish looked about the same size as Phil’s until it lay on its side to come over the net. That’s when we could see this was a special fish and a personal best for me.
The scales confirmed it was a pb for me at 16lb 4oz.
I have been living in a rented cabin with my wife, and my gear is in a lock-up and at various friends’ houses, so it would have been easy not to fish these past few weeks. However, that’s not an option for me and my efforts have been repaid with some lovely fish. Phil and I had both caught a pb and we both said we would return soon. Thank you for your help Gordy!
If anyone fancies a crack at this fine fishery, check out the website www.stiveslakesfishery.co.uk
FISH WITH DES!
WHY not book a day’s fishing with Des this year? Just visit destaylorstackleden.com for all the info and lots of great gift ideas.