So far, I’ve been lucky enough to catch on every trip, little traps of crushed Krill boilies and the new Ellipse Pellets working very well for me. My first five fish were all small, but it bothered me not, they were all stunners and hard won. I’d also managed a few hours stalking on the Little Fjords and was fortunate enough to tempt three mirrors from the edge which was supremely exciting, 120 acres of water and just one single rod laid on the ground! Again, Krill and Ellipse producing the goods.

On my latest trip I managed to find the fish whilst lapping the lake, this coupled with the favourable conditions I was feeling very confident. The moon phase was good and a little cloud cover would help prolong the morning feeding period, it looked prime.

The morning of England’s world cup semi-final match against Croatia, I had a savage take from a weedy spot I had lightly baited with crushed Krill soaked in Cap Oil and Cloudy Krill Liquid. Despite the massive weedbeds, I kept the pressure on and was able to land it without the need of a boat. The fish turned out to be the incredible Laney’s – uncaught for a year and one of the really rare ones from the lake.

Wanting to know more about this fish I quickly rang Dave Lane to get the story on it and the first thing he said was ‘I never caught that one’ which made the capture even sweeter! However, I said “you must have caught it at some point?” and he told me he had, some 16 years earlier at 19lbs when moving it from another pit (with permission).

Despite the fish having been spotted in the spring looking enormous, it has since had a good spawn. Although she was spawned out she was still in impeccable condition and tipped the scales at 41lb 12oz!

And so, this amazing complex has now given me 9 fish in 11 nights, I may have had a lucky streak, which will no doubt grind to a halt and even when it does, I will be able to say that I’ve loved every second of my time at St. Ives!”