FAMOUS FISHERIES Queenford Lagoon
Queenford broke British records, and anglers’ resolve, in equal measure...
FORTY years ago, rarely did the term ‘big bream’ crop up in conversations between specimen angers without a venue called Queenford Lagoon also being mentioned.
The 80-acre Berkshire gravel pit was a true Mecca for fans for the species, and in the early to mid-1980s it produced specimen bream to sizes and in numbers that were unprecedented.
Such a statement could give the illusion that the fishing was easy, but that’s far from the truth, because Queenford was a mega-tough nut to crack. Many aspiring specialist anglers plotted up with bold plans and lofty aspirations, only to depart after a season or two with their tails firmly between their legs.
EARLY PIONEER
The man responsible for first putting Queenford in the public eye was Alastair Nicholson, who in early August 1984 landed a fish weighing 13lb 14oz. Today bream of such a size are relatively commonplace, but 37 years ago they were truly rare beasts. The British record for the species had been broken earlier that year by a 15lb 6oz fish from a Shropshire mere, a specimen that seemed to put the record out of reach. Yet, just a few weeks later Alastair hit the headlines again by landing a fish from Queenford that equalled the newly-set British record, a feat that well and truly put Queenford on the big-fish angling map.
On hand to witness and help weigh that special fish was well-known specimen angler Phil Smith, who had joined Queenford after hearing of
Alastair’s exploits earlier in the summer. Phil explained how the event unfolded: “At midnight I was sat by my rods, my eyes becoming heavy, when Alastair appeared and casually announced that he had caught a bream and lost a second.
“I enquired as to the size of the fish and received the reply that it looked quite big! Back in his swim, Alastair stood by as I set the scales and verified the weight of 15lb 6oz. You can imagine the excitement this generated. The second bream from the water had equalled the British record.”
Almost a year later Queenford finally took the record outright when an angler called John Knowles landed a 15lb 10oz specimen. Again, Phil was on hand to witness the historic capture, once more playing the bridesmaid while his own rods stayed motionless.
“Naturally I was delighted to have witnessed both record bream but, having spent hundreds of biteless hours on the banks, by that stage I was hoping to be on the other side of the camera!” Phil joked.
EFFORTS REWARDED
A couple of weeks later Phil was finally to get his wish, and although he was delighted to have finally broken his duck, he admitted that his first fish from the water left him feeling a little short-changed.
He said: “After baiting up with groundbait, hemp and sweetcorn, I settled back in the gathering dusk. Tackle was fairly standard for the time – 1.25lb test curve rods, 6lb line and size 6 hooks. The night was warm and muggy with hardly a breath of wind, the kind of night when expectations run high.
“Eventually the indicator rose smoothly and, after 37 blank nights, I was finally connected to a Queenford bream. Until that moment the smallest bream to have emerged from the depths of this exciting new water had been a fish of 13lb 2oz (to John Knowles), so you can imagine the mixed emotions I underwent when I weighed my first fish at 9lb 12oz. You can’t believe just how disappointed I felt after all the effort over two full seasons!”
As it transpired, Phil wouldn’t have long to wait to set the record straight – just a day, in fact. After a tactical rethink and a trip to the supermarket to buy 10 loaves of white bread, he repositioned his air-injected lobworm and sweetcorn cocktail hookbaits over a bed of mash slightly closer-in, and at 11.15pm he finally got his rewards, landing a new pb of 14lb 15oz, followed in swift order by another fish of 12lb 12oz.
Phil, now 76 years old, is still highly active on the specimen angling scene, and would go on over the following few years to up his best from Queenford to 15lb 14oz, by which time the British record had passed to another southern water, Englefield Lagoon near Reading. In 1994, after 10 years fishing the water, he moved on to pastures new himself.
Looking back, now he fondly remembers the challenge Queenford presented, and feels blessed to have experienced a golden age in specimen fishing on a truly special water.
“In my 10 years on there I had 21 fish, and was top rod in that time. There were many very good anglers who spent years on there and never caught. Some people perhaps don’t realise what a challenge catching big bream can pose. They’re impressive fish to look at, but very hard to catch. They are so unpredictable, and don’t have designated patrol routes like carp and tench do. You end up second-guessing where they might turn up, and it can be incredibly frustrating, but that only makes the achievement greater when all the pieces fall into place,” he added.
Although fishing still exists on Queenford, the pit was redeveloped in the mid-1990s and is now also a popular watersports lake. The big bream may be long-gone, but the venue’s importance in the history of specimen fishing remains undiminished.
“Big bream are impressive fish to look at, but very hard to catch”