Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 01/04/2017

What a great week we've had on the Road Lake this week. A rather wet Spring day greeted the anglers on arrival, but the sight of Carp launching themselves out of the water during the walk-round had everyone chomping at the bit to get going. The weather for the week was fairly settled, and after the wet start, we had sunny days with tempertures approaching 18 degree's and thankfully, no more rain. With seven anglers booked on it was important to spread around the lake keep the fish on the move, which is exactly what happened.

First off the mark on Saturday evening was Paul Molleneux who was fishing in Turtles Corner, his IQ D-Rig baited with a Banoffee Wafter being picked up by a belting Mirror of 32lb. Fishing short range to the marginal treeline to the left hand side; he had quickly found himself a productive spot, and took revenge for a difficult trip the last time he visited. The same margin spot produced a further two bites, resulting in Common's of 18lb and 27lb. With Big Fish Thursday well underway, he switched to an open water spot at 16 rod lengths straight out in front, and was rewarded with his biggest fish of the week; a cracking Mirror of 32lb 8oz and followed it up a couple of hours later with a 29lb 8oz Mirror.

Arjan Braad from Team Korda Netherlands started his week in Tea Party 1, and with the fish showing a distinct preference for the shallower water; he placed a rod down the left hand margin and was rewarded almost immediately with a take from a 19lb Common; Banoffee Wafters doing the business on this occasion. A change of swims down to Bachiliers gave him access to the shallow margins, and he had a couple of bites in fairly short order in 4-6ft of water; with Commons of 24lb and 26lb paying him a visit. With the fish appearing to be dropping into the deeper water with the warmer temperatures, a move back up to Tea Party1 was on the cards. He got straight back to business and ended the week on a high with another four fish taking his tally to a very creditable 9 bites in tricky conditions. After following in the wake of his Korda team-mate Kevin, he had the last laugh, as right on last knockings on Saurday morning a cracking 48lb 4oz Mirror slipped up and rounded off a great Spring week. 

Kevin Diederen, also of Team Korda Netherlands made the most out of Tea Party 2 by catching a raft of fish from various spots and depths. He demonstrated that with a baiting approach of little but often; the fish could be caught fairly quickly. At the start of the week the bites would only come in water depths of 4-6ft, but as the water continually warmed throughout the week he moved to progressively deeper spots. By baiting little but often, he didn't tie himself to one specific area, which allowed him to truly exploit the swim. He baited with crushed/chopped Mainline Cell boilies, mixed with hemp and maize, liberally doused in Corn Twist Goo. During the week he landed a brilliant 2 forties, 8 thirties to 34lb 2oz, 5 twenties and 2 doubles. Using Ready Tied IQ D-Rigs baited with either Korda Fake Food (one grain of slow sinking maize and one of corn) or Banoffee Wafters, he completed his set up by using the Korda Flat Pear Cog Leads.

Steve Walker initially dropped into Shingles next door to Paul, but a change of swims across to Billie’s heralded better fortunes, and saw him promptly get off the mark with a 32lb Mirror, again from the shallower water off the marginal shelf. He fished with N-Trap Semi-Stiff hooklinks and his hookbaits consisted of half a Sticky Baits Manila bottom bait and half a Pop-Up.

Nick Warburton plotted up for the week in The Decoy, and with lots of fish showing in front and to his right; it looked to have been a good decision. There was a slight concern that the fish may be reluctant to visit the deeper water that he had in front of him, but Nick found a raised area with 16ft of water, and confidently set his traps. Using the Ronnie Rig baited with Nutrabaits Pineapple & NButyric Pop-Ups, his 16.5 rod length spot produced his first bite on Monday morning, which turned out to be a lovely 31lb Mirror. Feeding 15 Spombs of crushed/chopped Mainline Cell and Hybrid mixed with the Gigantica Particle Mix, he followed Monday mornings success with a further two fish on Monday night; a Common of 24lb 3oz and a Mirror of 21lb 4oz. Despite a ridiculous amount of fish throwing themselves out of the water, he had to wait until Wednesday morning for his next action when a 24lb 8oz Common picked up the hookbait while he was still trying to sink the line.

Gigantica Fishery Manager Andy Savage also fished for a couple of nights in Dunkerque, fishing the raised area in 13ft of water at 14 rod lengths. He also baited lightly, but frequently, with chopped/crumbed Mainline FYBER boilies, mixed with hemp and maize. To increase the pulling power, he added Atlantic Heat, Hot Oil and Bumbleberry Goo. With little in the way of fish activity evident, it took until the second night to register a bite, but it was worth the wait as a 40lb Mirror slipped into the net. Korda Cog leads, coupled with the Ronnie Rig were the winning terminal tackle combination. A Mainline IB Pop-Up soaked in Wonderberry and Mystic Spice Goo did the trick on the hookbait front.

The water is warming quickly and the fish are now venturing into the deeper water to feed. They still appear to be shying away from large beds of boilies; maximum attraction with smaller food items has been the winning combination this week. However, it won't be long before they really start attacking the boilies. Big thanks to all the lads, we had a great week, look forwards to seeing you on your next trip.