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Bailiff Comments
Week Commencing: Sat 11/07/2020
Week Commencing 11th July 2020
Full House....
After everything that has gone on this year, it was fantastic to finally get our first full week of the year with twelve anglers fishing for the week. It has been very challenging to get the lake ready, but we were as excited as the anglers to get going. The weather was set to be moderate, with light changeable winds for most of the week, so it would be interesting to see what happened. The Road Lake had been closed since November 2019 so with twelve anglers arriving and getting stuck in, we didn’t really know what to expect.
It was clear to see that there were still fish down at the bund and Dean Bradley had no hesitation in picking The Decoy. It has the advantage of offering open water and margin fishing down towards the bund. Dean started off with two rods at 14 wraps down towards the bund and one out at 18 wraps. He fished slightly different baiting strategies and terminal tackle. Opting for a heli-setup on the 18-wrap spot and two running leads on the bund rods. Bait for the week was from the Mainline stable, and a buffet of crumbed and whole Essential Cell mixed with maize and a smattering of fruit Smart Liquid went out to the 18 area and he repeated the same at 14; but used Link boilie instead of Essential. Quantity wise, he baited with 20 Spombs after dinner each day, then five Spombs after each bite.
Just after dinner on Sunday Dean had an amazing couple of hours when he landed a new PB Mirror of 37lb 8oz called “Andromeda”. Just as the elation of the capture started to set in, he was away again and landed himself another PB. This time the culprit turned out to be a 38lb 8oz Mirror known as “Rene’s”. What an evening! The successful rigs were 7” Booms with a short section of Korda Supernatural holding a Size 6 Kamakura Krank and D-Rig Kicker. Hookbaits were 18mm Link bottom baits with a grain of IB Maize on top.
Dean picked fish up steadily throughout the week, but the best was yet to come. In the early hours of Friday morning he had a run of three forties on the bounce!! The biggest being “Errol” at 44lb 8oz. He ended the week with a brilliant 28 fish haul including the three forties. What a result; top top angling Dean.
Jeffry Hendrikx got one of his top three choices and settled into Dunkerque for the week. He was fishing in between his two good friends Boz and Phil “Smiff” so there was sure to be some laughs. He fished a spot towards the big rock in Billy’s margin at 16 wraps with two rods and one at 10 wraps towards Decoy. Bait for the week was Scopex Liver from Holland Baits and simple blow back or spinner rigs on running lead clips. It was a slow start for Jeff and it wasn’t until Monday that the fish started to drift into open water from the bund and the 10 wrap spot came good. During the rest of the week, Jeff picked up ten fish to 33lb on standard out of the bag bottom baits.
David Potter AKA “Boz” was next door in the Beach and the level of banter between him and his neighbours in Cage and Dunkerque was hilarious. There was never a dull moment. With a lot of fish showing tight in the corner Boz chose to fish out at 23 wraps towards the corner of the bund. Bait for the week was Mainline Link which was mixed with pellet and maize and using the Spomb and throwing stick to bait up little and often during the day, and a heavier concentration in the mornings and evenings. He got in on the action quickly and picked off a couple on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Running leads with blow back rigs, baited with 15 or 18mm Link did the business for Boz. He experienced a couple of hookpulls, but still picked up five fish to 38lb 8oz during the week. The biggest fish of the week also came on his birthday, which was brilliant. Happy 21st (ish!!) Boz.
John Daly got an early draw and chose to fish Tea Party 1. Having fished the swim on a previous occasion, he used that experience to get things organised. Bait for the week was Boss Baits CCM which he crumbed, chopped and left whole. This was mixed with Gigantica Pellet and he chose to bait up on a little and often basis; doing ten Spombs every 1-2 hours. It took a while for the fish to get on the bait properly and unfortunately his first bite on Monday dropped off, not long after hooking it. On Monday night/Tuesday morning he had two bites in two hours landing a twenty and a thirty in quick succession. Rigs were the ever-faithful IQ D-Rigs which John baited with 18mm bottom baits and they got him all his bites. He capped off a good week with the capture of “Daniel’s” at 38lb 4oz.....well done John.
Ricky Luck went in Brambles next door to his mate Dean and set about fishing three rods straight out in front. He staggered the distances at 17, 18 and 19 wraps and baited a wider strip to try and hold the fish longer when they arrived. On the bait front, Ricky was using whole, chopped and crumbed Mainline Link and Essential Cell, which he mixed with pellet and maize and added hemp oil and Mainline Link Stick Mix. The first couple of days were quiet for Ricky, but he kept his cool and didn’t panic. It was just a case of waiting for the fish to drift through and surely a bite would come. Unfortunately, the first fish came adrift but he put that right and landed five more fish, including a brace of forties which were both PB’s. The fish fell for Link or Essential Cell bottom baits topped with a piece of Korda IB SS Maize on Spinner Rigs. The biggest change for Ricky was when he upped the anti with the bait. He started off fishing over minimal amounts (5 Spombs per rod) but then increased to 4kg over a wide area. That is what did the trick. The Road Lake fish can eat an extraordinary amount of bait and will clean out a lightly baited trap in no time at all.
Graham Mapplethorpe was next door in Birches and adopted a similar approach, in terms of the range he fished at. 18 wraps was the chosen area initially, but then he dropped a rod back to 16 later in the week. He went with Baitworks Royal Marine boilie which were chopped, crumbed and whole, then added a good helping of pellet and maize. Birches can sometimes be a slow burner, but it has a habit of throwing out the bigger fish and does random middle of the afternoon bites, when it is quiet elsewhere around the lake. That is exactly what happen to Graham, his first bite from a high double Common came out of the blue on an IQ D-Rig baited with a Scent From Hell Wafter and he followed it up the next day with a previously uncaught 32lb 12oz Common which he named “The Swindonian”.
Kevin Smith was in Bacheliers for the week and got off to a great start on Saturday night. He chose to fish a spot at 16 wraps down the left-hand margin and two rods in open water. Baiting with around 2kg per spot each day, Kev used Mainline Link and Essential Cell which he spread over a reasonable sized area. On Saturday evening the fish crept down the left margin and he picked up two fish within a couple of hours. Link bottom baits on running leads and supple braid hooklinks did the business. Another fish on Monday afternoon which weighed 22lb fell for an Essential Cell Bottom Bait and then unfortunately the fish didn’t seem to come back in numbers for the remainder of the week. Kev stuck to his guns and would undoubtedly have had a few more if they had returned.
Tristan Smith was across the way in Double Boards and on arrival there were clearly a number of fish in the area, as they were continually showing. The swim is overlooked by anglers far too often and it was good to see someone go in there from the off. Tristan fished 12 and 14 wraps towards Bacheliers and then flicked one down the right-hand margin. It was the close in rod that went off on Saturday evening resulting in a high double Common. That settled the nerves and Tristan stuck with it and got his proper reward on Tuesday night when he had a huge new PB in the shape of “Snowflake” at 42lb 12oz. The beast fell for a Link Bottom Bait on a Spinner Rig and during the week, Tristan used 20kg of Link, 10kg of Pellet and 10kg of mixed particle.
Tony Hayden chose the popular Turtle Corner which gives good options for day and night bites. He went with two rods out the front at 18 wraps and one fished across to the left-hand margin. The margin spot very rarely does fish during the day, but the fish always seem to creep round during darkness, with a chance almost every night. Two rods out front were baited on a little and often basis with Mainline Link, Cell and Essential Cell mixed with maize and pellet. Tony was introducing 7-8kg of bait per day over both of the spots. The bite pattern was as predicted, but unfortunately the results weren’t as expected. The first two bites came on Saturday and Sunday night, but the fish managed to ditch the rig on both occasions. Undeterred, Tony stuck at it and it wasn’t long before his Link Wafter fished on IQ D-Rigs were snaffled again. This time, he had a much better outcome, with two 27lb Commons which were both new PB’s.
Taylor Hayden initially started off fishing in Billy’s, but after a couple of quiet days, he chose to move round to the vacant Shingles after Tea Party 1 and Turtles both had fish (a sensible move). He was baiting up each day with around 8kg of Mainline Link and Essential Cell at three predetermined times each afternoon. It turned into a really tough session for Tay’ but he remained positive all week and stuck to the task at hand. On Thursday fish had been seen in Billy’s, so he opted to move back again (which absolutely thrilled Marco, his missus!!). As it was; the decision turned out to be a good one as just before midnight on Thursday, he finally snared a 24lb 8oz Mirror on an 18mm Link Wafter presented on an IQ D-Rig with running leads. Everyone was made up for him, as he really had made the effort.
Phil “Smiff” Smith had a cunning plan prior to the draw and wanted to get into The Cage, next to his mate Jeff in Dunkerque. Pulling ball eleven out of the draw, he had a tense wait, but finally got his pick of swim. He baited an area out front at ten wraps and then one up the right-hand margin. Bait for the week was Scopex Liver from Holland Baits and he fished with matching bottom baits. It took a while for the fish to drift through to Cage, but on Tuesday night he managed a couple of bites, landing a double figure Common and unfortunately losing one. Phil was brilliant company and absolute joy to have on the lake. Looking forward to catching up again on the next trip.
It turned out to be a pretty good week in the end. The fish covered most areas of the lake during the week and everyone had a chance or two which was great. As a group, they were brilliant company and the week absolutely flew by. The week finished off with 65 fish altogether, including 6 x 40’s and 22 x 30’s. Loads of PB’s were smashed and everyone had a great time. Until next time.....
Tight Lines and Bonne Peche
Andy
Team Gigantica