Hello Stuart and team,
Many lakes I nave fished have a certain swim that fishes better than all the others, on many trips if you cannot get that swim the trip is a washout. Also do you rotate swims to give everyone a fair chance, and can you pre-book swims?
Regards,
Eddie, Birmingham UK.
Stuart’s answer:
Hello Eddie,
Thanks for your question; it is one we are often asked. Gillhams was designed and dug by us from scratch; this gave us the opportunity to make sure every swim had features to suit the fish’s requirements. Unlike lakes that were not dug for fishing our lake has many features such as plateaus and sand spots, this distributes fish evenly around the lake as there are no preferred areas. Our fish are constantly on the move looking for food, you cannot put enough bait out to hold fish in your swim.
By feeding little and often when those fish return they find food again which keeps them returning, once you achieve this fish start to return more regularly and your catch rate rises. This is why we do not rotate swims, it would be grossly unfair on the angler who found the right area and built the feeding area up to be forced to move. Many anglers come here on a short trip and see one swim out fishing others, they then try to book that swim on a later visit only to find the fish have moved onto another area that is being fished properly.
We do not pre book swims; upon arrival any swim that is free can be chosen, once you have your swim it is yours for as long as you wish until you leave. You can of course move at any time to a new swim that is vacant, our guides who are here 24/7 recommend a swim for your best chance. The best way to fish here is to find a feature in the swim bait up on a little and often basis and draw the fish to you, once they find food they keep returning looking for more. Any swim on the lake responds to this tactic and even if you fail to catch on the first day, within a couple of days the fish will start to come and your catch rate will rise.
We are often amused by anglers who are disappointed they cant get a swim they have seen produce fish on a previous visit, with great joy they find that swim is vacant and rush into it. It is vacant because our guides knew the fish were in another area and had recommended anglers a better swim, these guys stick with it and are disappointed they don’t get the catch like the person did last year. Or as is so often the case they do not bother to find the feature the angler last year was fishing too, they just cast out and expect a result as they believe all the fish live in the one spot!
Our advice is to listen to the guides, find the feature they tell you is in front of you, bait regularly on a little and often basis and cast accurately. Trust us the fish will come if you put in the effort, no effort and no bait results in no fish! The most successful Anglers here are the ones that work for their fish, many is the time we see someone put in zero effort and move to another swim only for another angler move in and do well.
Sometimes the whole lake has an off day or two, but in a five day trip you should end up with a good catch. It is very rare for anyone to blank for five days as long as they have put in the effort, if we see you put in the effort and listen to our advice but fail to catch over a trip of five days or more we will offer you a free return.
I hope this puts your mind at rest and you give our resort a try, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Best regards,
Stuart.
