Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 31/03/2017

March 2017 Roundup

After what seems like a long winter we finally welcomed our first visitors of 2017 who set up on the Road Lake full of anticipation. The weather has been very changeable with rain, wind and sunshine in equal measure and it was anyone's guess whether the Carp would come out to play. We're glad to report that they did!

Sean "Shed" Tollerfield started off his week fishing in Tea Party 2 and opted to fish at eighteen rod lengths towards the island. On Sunday evening he got off the mark with a 24lb Common, and it wasn't long before something much larger picked up his Mainline FYBER hookbait. After a spirited tussle in the darkness he slipped his net under the magnificent Unnamed Common, which tipped the scales around to 44lb 14oz. Sean was a very happy man indeed. Later in the week he fancied a change of scenery and moved into The Poo swim, and in fairly short order landed a 30lb Mirror. The fish fell for the ever faithful IQ D-Rig and he baited with 10kg of Mainline FYBER boilies throughout the week.

Russell Orchard started fishing next door in Tea Party 1 and with fish showing well in the evenings and at first light his results did not match his expectations. A midweek move across to Turtles Corner proved to be decisive as he finally snared a 24lb 4oz Mirror on Friday morning, and followed it up with a a 42lb 1oz Mirror known as Toucan. He fished straight out in front at 21 Rod lengths and caught the fish using the Mainline prototype FYBER boilie feeding little but often.

The following week Chris who chose to fish in Bachiliers after seeing lots of fish down that end of the lake had a successful week and received action almost every night. Being Spring, he selected spots along the marginal shelf and baited lightly every day with Sticky Baits Manila boilies to encourage the fish to graze along the shelf. He started off with a double on Sunday night on. Manila Bottom Bait, tipped with yellow plastic corn, and then picked up 20lb mirrors every night in what proved to be a tricky week.

Roy in Tea Party 2 started off the week fishing the usually productive spots in the deeper water off the island, but after a couple of quiet nights he moved a rod into a shallow spot to the right hand side of the island in 5ft of water. He was using Essential Baits B5 and just before first light on Thursday morning his wafter hookbait was picked up in the shallow spot and he banked a lovely 32lb Mirror. Switching two rods into the same area resulted in another bite the following night which unfortunately after a short tussle managed to shed the hook.

Steve selected the popular Turtles Corner swim and got straight off the mark, taking a 32lb Mirror on his first night using a Banoffee Wafter and then endured a frustrating few days with the fish showing a lot  in the area but despite trying a range of tactics, couldn't induce that next bite.

The carp are very active at the moment, but are reluctant to feed over baited areas in the deep water as it has not warmed up as much as the surface layers. The marginal shelves and shallow areas are offering the best areas at the moment. Zig Rigs in the upper layers will be a good option over the coming weeks, but with hot weather like we have had this week, the clock is ticking before they are tearing the bottom apart in search of boilies.

We still have availablity this Spring, so why not come out and join the party. Until next time..... Bonne Peche!