Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 11/09/2021

77 fish caught from “New Beach”, It had to happen…….A NEW LAKE RECORD!!  

This week we had 7 anglers on, some old and some new faces. Temperatures were in the high 20s to the low 30s with some thunderstorms tagging along. For the last few weeks the lake has been fishing really well, the fish are hungry. Give it to them and it will happen…..

First up we have Steve Coe who decided to have a go in New Beach. On the way down Steve was telling his mate he is after quantity this time, so New Beach was the perfect swim as it has been doing so many fish recently. The usual spot is 21 wraps towards the bund, but Steve chose to fish much closer in between 8 and 9 wraps as there were loads of fish showing in close. Mainline Link boilies were the freebies for the week. Simple hair rigs with Link bottom baits were fished over the top. Sunday evening saw Steve’s first action, a 28lb mirror. That’s when it started to kick off. Each day saw Steve land numerous fish including some high 40s but just no 50 pounder yet. Thursday it all changed. What a day it was. When I got to his swim to deliver breakfast there were two 40s waiting for photos. “Breakfast O’clock” at 44lb and “Miss Daisy” at 41lb. 3 hours later he landed another 40 pounder: “Long Common” at 47lb 14oz. But the best was yet to come. Just before dinner he had a double take which resulted into a 42lb mirror (who managed to slip out of the sling…) and “A-Star” at 50lb on the nose, a new 50 pounder for the road lake. Steve couldn’t keep all 3 rods in the water as he was getting takes just minutes after putting them in. At the end of Thursday he was on 60 fish. The lake record was 75 fish. With 2 nights left could he beat the record????? Friday saw him land another 11 fish which brought him up to 71 fish. With one night left to go and 4 fish needed to be landed it was going to be a close one!!! But true to good angling he landed 6 fish which means he is the new record holder with 77 fish….. Well done mate, very good angling!!!

Sam Young set up stall in Tea Party 2. Spots for the week were 14 wraps towards the big tree in the corner of Turtles and one to the far margin. Mainline Cell in 15mm and 18mm together with our house pellet was the mix for the week. Simple hair rigs with Cell bottom baits did the business for Sam. Sunday just before dinner Sam got off the mark with a lovely 42lb common. This was a good start to the week. The next day 2 more fish were landed, “Le Buster” at 28lb and “Smiff” at 28lb. Tuesday “The Model” at 44lb came for a visit, this being Sam’s biggest fish of the week so far. But Thursday it changed (big fish Thursday) when “Diamond Geezer” at 46lb 12oz picked Sam’s Cell bottom bait up. By the end of the week Sam had landed 18 fish. Not a bad week for your first return trip to France in quite some time…..

After a few problems with the van Phil Clarke managed to arrive and was buzzing to get started in The Poo. Phil’s target for the week was not only to catch a biggun but also to get a nice photo of a kingfisher. Bait for the week was Mainline cell in 15mm and 18mm. After losing a few fish in the first couple of days he decided to move into Tea Party 1. One rod went out at 18 wraps towards Turtles Corner and 2 rods went out at 16 wraps towards the church spire. It took a couple of days before the fish turned up but on Thursday they arrived in numbers. Three takes resulted into 3 fish landed. The first one was a 21lb grassy, the 2^nd one a 25lb mirror and the 3^rd one, the best-looking fish in the lake “Fully Loaded” at 42lb. What a stunning fish…. This fish definitely made up for the first few frustrating days! Friday morning saw another 40 grace the bank for Phil, “Little Top Lobe” at 40lb on the nose. He finished the week off with “Bullwinkle” at 36lb 8oz. Phil didn’t have loads of fish but those  he did have were stunning. He managed to break one of his targets this week, the Kingfisher will be for next time. Well in Phil!!

On the opposite side in Shingles we have Phil’s brother Chris Clarke. Chris started of fishing one at 18 wraps towards the dot island, one at 15 wraps between Tea party 1 and the dot island and his last rod straight out in front at 14 wraps. Natural Baits: Blood orange boilies were the chosen bait for the week. Chris was the first one to be of the mark, a 20lb common at 2am Sunday morning. After hearing loads of fish closer in he chose to bring one rod shorter, this paid off when he landed a 41lb mirror Monday morning. Good angling that Chris!! Two more fish were landed that day, “Lamby” 32lb and a 26lb common. Chris caught most days. Thursday saw him land 3 commons, 32lb was the biggest of the bunch. The next morning when I delivered breakfast he had 4 fish to report, “Le Flair” at 43lb being the biggest. Chris fished it really well and got rewarded with a decent amount of fish for the week, a couple of 40s amongst them.

To the right of Shingles Rory Gaywood was set-up in Double Boards. For some reason this swim often gets overlooked which means the bailiffs get to fish it quite a lot, with some good results. I was sure Rory would get into a few fish this week, especially with Bacheliers being empty. He’s plan for the week was to fish one rod at 7 wraps down the margin and 2 in open water at 14 wraps. Bait chose was Mainline Cell boilies fished with Cell botten baits over the top. It took a while before the fish turned up but on Monday morning he was into his first action, a lovely 26lb mirror. A few hours later and he was in again, a 15lb stockie was the culprit. Leading up to Friday, he landed 2 more fish. He got to name one of them which he named “Meantime”. Friday saw a move to Birches in the hope of landing a bigger fish, which unfortunately didn’t pay off. Double Boards often tends to do the smaller fish but now and the it does throw up an A-Team fish. Rory is a competent anger who definitely deserved a biggun this week, but sadly they didn’t show up. I’m sure you will bag one next time….   

First out in the draw was Grant Poulton who decided to give Decoy a go for the week.

After seeing and hearing what the swim had done in the previous weeks, he was buzzing to get started. 2 rods went down towards the bund at 14 wraps and his 3^rd rod at 18 wraps towards Cage. Tactics for the week were to fish snowmen on blowback rigs over a bed of Mainline link and Cell mixed with maize and some Bait works Atlantic Heat boilies. He lost a couple of fish on the first few days due to hook pulls but got straight back to it and landed 2 fish the next morning, a 26lb common being the biggest. Wednesday saw him break his PB with “Walkers” at 36lb 12oz…… Well done mate! Grant managed to figure the code out and started to land 3-4 fish a day. Friday he somehow let a 30+ escape out of the net, don’t ask how he did it…. Haha. He ended the week with just under 15 fish. Nice one Grant!!

One swim that always will be picked is Turtles Corner. This week Michael Sewart was the lucky man. The previous weeks the open water spot at 21 wraps had been doing the business, the margins were less productive. This week it changed as Michael chose to fish the margins with a solid bag approach. Mainline cell boilies mixed with our house pellet and maize were deployed out on the spots. He chose to bait up from the margin which was very sensible to keep the disturbance to a minimum. When coming to a new place it’s always nice to be off the mark early, and Michael did it in style! Sunday just before dinner I got a phone call saying ‘ I’ve got a rather big mirror in the sling’. A new PB for him, “Gilbert” at 44lb on the nose….. Link wafters with Squid goo in the solid bags were doing the do. 

His next take came on Tuesday, a 24lb 4oz mirror. A few hours later and he was in again, this time with “Cravendale” at 22lb 8oz……. Early hours of Thurday saw something special happen to Micheal. He didn’t break his PB once this week but 2 times!!! Just under the magical 50lb mark “Broken Tail” at 49lb was landed. Well how about that for your first week on the Road Lake. Not only breaking your PB once but 2 times and to do that with “Broken Tail” is just amazing…..  Friday evening Micheal’s last action for the week happened when he landed a stunning 35lb 8oz common.  Micheal, it was my pleasure looking after you this week!! Hope to see you back soon for one of the 50s, hehe.

Jason van der Merwe the bailiff had the opportunity to fish in Birches for a couple of nights. Jason has fished the swim previously with some good success. With no hesitation all 3 rods went out at 18 wraps to the left of the 45 degree tree. Spinner rigs on a COQ systems were the chosen rigs.  7 kg of Mainline Cell and Link mixed with some maize went out on the spot. Link bottom baits with the new Mainline Quads were fished over the top. It didn’t take long before he was into a fish, “2 Scale” at 50lb on the nose was the result. Fishing only 2 nights it was the only fish he caught……

It certainly has been quite a week. PB’s have been broken several times. A new Lake record for Steve with 77 fish….. The Road Lake has been fishing so good recently, with most week seeing over 100 fish caught, this week it happened again with just over 120 fish, with two 50s and loads of 40s amongst them. It was a very enjoyable week, with some good laughs.

Nice to meet you all, see you soon !!!

Tight lines,

Jason