These articles were written in 2013 and much has changed on St Ives lakes, not least of all the stock but rather than edit it I leave it as a record of my time on there, the final part, six, will have an addendum bringing it up to date a little more.

Most of my fishing over the previous four years has been spent on day ticket waters, some busy others not so. There were also the sessions on syndicates like Pingles Pool and Swavesey Lake as well as my river campaign and a few excursions to lesser known waters on my club book. So I had been kept busy and I caught an awful lot of fish in those years, too many to count and many absolutely stunning, but there was something missing. As a kid I used to just walk off across the fields to the river find a hole and fish, as wild as you can get. When I first started carping in 1980 these were also the places I sought out and happily they were in abundance. But now in this ‘modern day’ of carp fishing with the ever growing pressure on our waters that wildness and solitude can be difficult to find, but only if you don’t look hard enough. Here in the Ouse valley of Cambridgeshire and not twenty miles from me we have just such a place, The St Ives Complex, big windswept lakes, wild and overgrown, rugged underfoot, and low stocked, so it wasn’t going to be easy.

The complex is situated just outside the bustling market town of St Ives and is made up of nine lakes, split into the North side and the south side, the most famous of which is The Lagoon which used to contain a carp known as the ‘Fat lady’. Anglers from all over flocked to catch her and many failed as the Lagoon is tough at over 30 acres and only 30 fish and when she died the place became a desert for anglers. The tickets were always sold out while she was alive but only The Lagoon and when full Shallow Lake saw these anglers and the other lakes received little attention. There is good reason for this too as the other lakes on the complex are much tougher, the low stock Meadow Lake at fifty acres being the toughest, this lake is home to some very large rarely caught carp and is little fished.
Then we have Big Fjords, Little fjords and the Stake pit which cover 120 acres and have few carp too. So if its wildness, solitude and a challenge you want, then this place has it in abundance.

Since the Fat Lady died many of the anglers that once trudged the banks have left and on a trip the other day around the Lagoon I only saw one angler fishing. The Lagoon still contains some amazing carp like ‘The Black Pig’ which goes way over forty pounds but only the few now venture forth to face the challenge. Big Fjords has ‘The Brown’ at the same kind of weight and Shallow lagoon has ‘Colin’ (now deceased) another big forty. As well as the known big un’s St Ives also has a good smattering of thirty’s and twenties to keep you busy. Over the last five years or so other fish have been stocked too and some of these are reaching thirty pounds plus now so even though you have a lot of water to cover you‘re in for a nice lump or two given enough effort. The only lake on the complex that is different to this is The Shallow Lagoon, this is a thirty acre lake that has a higher stock per acre (possibly 30 fish) than the others and has the benefit of being enclosed so no escaping into the emptiness of Meadow Lake when they come under pressure! It’s still a tough water but the chances of catching out of Shallow are much higher than the other big lakes on the complex.

Some carpers fishing St Ives want it to stay as it is with few fish and fewer anglers, an opinion that’s not so unfair since this wildness, solitude and challenge is something that we are all there to seek, but it’s not realistic and if it continues the fishery will eventually die. So a change is going to come however that does not mean that the place has to change radically or that railway sleeper swims and hardcore will become the ever present view from the bivvy instead of a pair of waders. No, it just means that it has to move with the times and already this has begun because you can now get day tickets for the main complex and have a dabble whilst not forking out for the full syndicate ticket.

Talking to Nick Burridge on the banks of shallow lake just recently we both agreed that many of today’s carpers have most likely never been a member of a syndicate and have only ever fished day ticket waters, so the market place has changed and it can be seen everywhere. Once where syndicates thrived there are now only day ticket waters or hybrids of them, offering day tickets but keeping a core syndicate membership. One such lake I used to fish that followed the route of being a day ticket only water was a twenty man, £350 a year syndicate. Within a year the owner had turned it into a twenty-four hour/seven days-a-week day ticket water that grossed six times as much, at least. The costs and commercial pressures on fisheries is ever increasing and so St Ives Lakes will undoubtedly have to change but for now it hasn’t changed that much since I was last on its banks more than twenty-five years ago. Back then it was bream and tench in the summer and pike in the winter and it had big ones too in all three species, and it still does to this day. I was younger back then and so were the lakes so the trees and bushes that now cover the bankside and woods around the lakes were not there back then and I was amazed at how the place had matured on my first visit back.

It was my good friend Martin Lawrence who talked me into going back onto the complex. He had mentioned it to me a number of times telling me how amazing it was to fish and how I needed to get back onto a water like this. I knew of course that he was right but I had other things going on in my fishing life, things which I needed to complete before I could free myself up for such a challenge. You see having been there before, having fished it I knew that it was going to take all my time and dedication to get a result and that unless I completely freed up my fishing life from my current pursuits I would never be able to get into the groove and I was sure endless blanks would follow. It’s simply not the place to go and fish with a shortage of time or a half-hearted attitude; neither is it the place to go with pre-determined strategies or plans. Places like this need to be absorbed into the blood, you need to have the time to think about nothing else but that next session, that next fish. I say ‘next fish’ on purpose because your mind set must also be right too if you’re to succeed because you won’t unless it is. You have to realise that you are not going to catch many fish from places like St Ives so it’s not about how many forties, thirties or twenties you can get in a season. You won’t be catching many monsters either because of the low stock so it’s not going to be about that. So why fish it? Well, how many times do you need to catch a carp to prove you can catch a carp? How many monsters do you need to land before your satisfied that you’re ‘the man’? What is it that drives you to the bank? If it’s competition with other anglers and the numbers game then I would say avoid places like this. If it’s pitting your wits and knowledge against the place to try and come up with a result then I’d say you’re in with a chance.

I began with a short trip during a day off work to have a walk around the lakes and explore. It was mid-May and the winter still had its hold over the country. Water temperatures were down and levels up so the place was still flooded in parts. I started on Little Fjords first swim but noticed there was a fella fishing Meadow lake form the spit to my left and so I went for a chat. Dave Little was the angler fishing it and on asking him how he was getting on he gave me that knowing smile. His bivvy was surrounded by mud and he had been there for a few days without a sniff but as always company on these places is rare and so I received a warm welcome, shortly after we were joined by a regular angler on the complex Mark Johnson. The conversation shifted around but I gleaned enough to know that nothing much had been caught except from The Shallow Lagoon. Conditions were far from ideal with all the cold weather and high water levels and the going was tough. Access around St Ives is made all the harder when the water level is up because you need to wade all the time. Wellington boots just aren’t enough for many of the swims where your rods need to be out in the water. Many swims are difficult to fish too and although there is a number where you can put a bivvy in many will only take a brolly and minimum kit. So a ‘can do’ attitude is essential as well as the ability to thrive in these conditions because like I say the fish are going to be far and few between. Waders are a must and there have already been nights where I have just said to hell with it and slept in them because when that Delkim alarm fires off I want to be on that rod in a flash. I want to be ready and not make any mistakes everything is for that run and nothing is left to chance. Wading can of course be a dangerous game and so a wading stick as well as a really good understanding of your margin is essential if you’re to stay safe and secure. The last thing you need in the middle of the night wading out into the darkness with a powerful carp trying to pull the rod out of your hand is for you to lose your foothold. This is another important part when fishing such venues as this, making sure that everything is set right and nothing unexpected happens.

However the swim I choose on my first all-night session was one of the most comfortable, the first swim on Little Fjords. I had arrived at the lakes a lot later than I wanted and only had an hour before dark left so I made it easy on myself. The swim has a large level area for your bivvy and enough bank space to place your rods without wading and a great view! The weather for that first session was going to be rough according to the forecast and so I made sure I had the kit needed. Plenty of tea/coffee and food were packed with an extra can of gas just in case it got cold. My tackle supplier St Ives Tackle were supplying me with some Jack Pyke clothing and waterproofs which, once I put them on made all the difference in the world to my body temperature and comfort. The Bivvy supplied by St Ives tackle also was new and out on its first session as well. I was using the Dave Lane Hardcore Bivvy, not only did it have a little more room but it came with a full porch, something I had wanted on a bivvy for some time. Up until then I had always popped up my brolly for a porch but this was infinitely better and in the wind and rain that was to come over the next three days it proved its worth for sure. So good kit also plays its part because you need to keep your spirits up if you’re to fish effectively and get a result. You need to be able to stand by your bivvy and watch the water no matter what the weather and if you can’t get outside then you need a bivvy that allows you to have the door open enough to see, even if the wind and rain (and it was) is blowing straight at you.

The next morning I woke at dawn to a slated grey sky with an orange burst sunrise and a flat calm across the lake giving me high hopes of a settled day to come. I stayed in bed looking out of the bivvy just taking in the atmosphere and the sounds of hell coming from the local gravel company just over the road. I put the kettle on for a nice strong black coffee, no milk or sugar just straight out of the can. I use ground coffee and always have at least three cups; the first cup is what I call ‘a half cup’. This is in fact half a cup of coffee but, with twice the ground coffee in it and it gets me going nicely I have to say. Once I felt a little more together I stood by the bivvy watching the lake for signs of fish. To my right a large tench rolled and the Grebe was spotted hunting there also. As I sipped my hot strong coffee I thought about how the wind piling through the inlet from Meadow lake into Little fjords would create a circular motion and how the warmer water might just end up to my right

By 6am the promise of the sunrise seemed optimistic as the clouds rolled in and the wind began to pick up. I had spent a good hour outside the bivvy watching the water and deciding on how I was going to tackle the swim. In my haste the night before I had fired out three choddys, two to the bar in front of me and one at the entrance to Meadow lake. But now with a clearer idea of how and what I was going to do I set about my work in earnest. I tied up some more rigs and made myself another cup of coffee as well as got some food down me. The weather outside was getting rougher and it was raining when I stepped outside the bivvy with my marker rod. I spent an hour casting to the bar and every other spot I had identified as possible areas to place bait. The margin to my left was irresistible being nicely over grown with cover and a good eight foot depth so that was the left hand rod sorted. I opted for a 7 inch rig made using 20lb Fluorocarbon and a size 6 choddy hook. The weed in the margin was quite sparse still and I had found a nice cleanish area with a little silt. The two rods sitting on the buzzer bars were cast over to the bar, one on top and one down the less steep far side. I put around three or four good handfuls of bait out and spread it out between the two hookbait’s, sat back and made another cupper.

By seven-thirty the wind had dropped and the sun had come out again, typical spring weather I thought to myself. The weather forecast was not good though and I knew it would not last and by eleven-thirty I could see the vast rain clouds approaching me from the north. The euphoria of being there had not waned but I still wanted to catch a fish and so 100% concentration was needed whilst I was watching the water to spot any activity. I used my binoculars to good effect too and identified some nasty looking snags out in the lake on top of the second bar. Dead trees abound on St Ives especially ones that stick up gnarled and grey from the tops of the bars. Here and there the bars had islands of shrub on them and the odd weakling willow where coots would hide and nest but mostly they spelt danger and I was determined that if I got a fish on I would not let it run about wildly. As the day wore on the wind and rain came along and started to blow harder, it veered around but was mostly blowing straight at me. Coffee, tea and plenty of good grub kept my spirits up and the constant watching of the water kept my brain active. Eat when you’re hungry, sleep when you’re tired is my philosophy when I am fishing and so I had a kip too.

By five o’clock the weather had calmed down although the view of the distant horizon promised more rain and wind. I put on some hot food and watched the amazing flying of the swallows catching flies at the entrance to Meadow Lake while it cooked up. My attention was drawn to the lone coot that had been nicking my baits off the top of the bar all day. Coots can be a right pain when there nicking your hookbait’s but not so much if they leave it alone. The good thing about this is that it tells you some things you don’t need to guess at. Firstly that your bait is accessible and where in the swim it is placed. Sure I put my bait out accurate but when you see a coot pick one up it gives you that reassurance that you got it right and if the coot picks up your hookbait? Well then you know it all works. One thing that has struck me about coot pickups is the indication on the rod end and what it tells me. Now when I get a quick stab, a sharp lift or a steady run that comes to nothing I don’t automatically say to myself ‘liner’. Liners tend to be slower and you often see the line pulling left or right and on pick-up you feel the line flick off the fish. When a carp gets away with it? Well it’s just like the coot picking it up.

The next morning I awoke to spitting rain and a heavy overcast sky. I continued to watch the water, the wildlife, drink coffee, eat food and watch the swallows aerobatics as the wind piled in from the entrance to Meadow Lake. I got out of the bivvy when needed even though it was raining and repositioned my baits at intervals of an hour as I wanted to get as much feedback about the lake bottom as I could when pulling the rig out. Doing this gives you a much clearer idea of how it feels and gives you the opportunity to try a slightly different position, something I have found help’s get bites. The session ended shockingly whilst watching the swallows catching there food at the entrance to Meadow lake. For three days I had watched them expertly catch their prey but then all of a sudden and without warning the swallows scattered and a dark shape was seen entering there feeding area, then I heard a panicked screeching coming towards me. Turning my head I watched as a mid-sized bird of prey with the swallow upside down in its talons flew not two feet passed me and landed in the wood behind. Within minutes it had killed and devoured the swallow and flew off leaving me with an unforgettable sight. Not a moment was lost or squander, I revelled in ever second I spent there and my trips back were to become completely engrossing but I’ll tell you more about that next article.