Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 09/03/2024

Hot Chocolates and 50lbers

This was our first week back open on the Road Lake this year after being closed over the winter. With only 7 anglers on it was nice to break into, what we hope, to be another great year!

First up we have the elder brother of the Fray twins, Levi. Levi came out early in the draw and chose to go in Decoy. Starting off with a mixture of house maize and pellet he decided to fish two rods down towards the bund at 16 wraps, one on a solid bag, the other a spinner rig with a yellow pop-up and his third rod 18 wraps out in front. Levi had to wait until first light Tuesday morning to get his first bite but what a fish it was ‘Eye-Q’ at 54lb 12oz earning him his hot chocolate and even better, a PB! As this was his new personal best, his brother didn’t think he should wait until Friday and decided to gift him a bucket or two after we got the water shots out of the way. Levi also managed to bag another 3 smaller commons later in the week and a lovely looking mirror too.

One of our own is up next, Joe Mercer. Joe was on duty this week so only managed to squeeze in a few nights between working but got himself into one of the empty swims, Brambles. Joe fished 18 wraps towards the Bonsai tree out on the opposite bank. Baiting lightly, he put out 10 spombs of a mixture of Essential Cell and house maize on his first evening then fished 3 solid bags with orange barrel wafters and Creamino mix over the top at a rod length apart. On his second night he was woken to a take with a fish known as ‘Big Bob’ at 54lb 4oz then had to go and do the breakfast run. Joe also now got his hot chocolate “Bop Bop”

Next up we have Karl Ryder who came out early in the draw and managed to land himself in The Beach swim. Karl started off slow and steady with his baiting approach after listening to advice from the bailiffs, feeding house maize and pellet all glugged in amino 365 liquid. Karl started the week off fishing 22 wraps towards the bund with two rods and his left-hand rod 24 wraps towards the corner, making use of the de snagging done on our work party and had these all on yellow hookbaits but using two styles of rig, the Spinner and a Slip D. It wasn’t long before Karl had one in the net as he managed to land two Sunday morning, one of them being a fish known as ‘Bomber’ at 44lb, great start. After most of his success was coming on the Slip D and slow sinking maize or wafter presentation, Karl changed all his rigs to suit. It was only up from there as he was getting steady bites after baiting up in the morning and throughout most days at one point on Wednesday, having 3 full slings and two full nets, we just couldn’t picture them quick enough. Karl ended his week on 16 fish including 3 40’s the biggest being ‘Polly’ at 48lb 4oz. 

Now for the younger Fray twin, Leon. Leon started the week in Tea Party 1 working the swim and looking for any signs of Carp fishing solid bags at 21 wraps towards Turtles Corner, unfortunalty he wasn’t having any action. After a few days he made the move across to Billy’s after seeing several shows two nights in a row. Introducing a small amount of bait and trying different tactics they seemed to have moved out. Lastly Leon made his final move and got in to Decoy for the final night and fished 16 wraps towards the bund and was finally rewarded for all his efforts, after landing 3 carp on the final morning the biggest being ‘Big Scale’ at 42lb. 

Postman Gary was up next and certainly added a little spice to the week. Fishing Turtles Corner, Gary baited up with tinned corn and crumb boilie 24 wraps towards the dot island, also keeping an eye to the treeline down to his left. Monday morning came and Gary managed two commons the biggest being a lovely golden 35lber and the second at 25lb, interrupting him trying to book his next trip on our bookings open day for 2025. These were the only two fish for Gary, but we look forward to seeing him on his next trip.

Next up is David Stout who plotted up in Shingles along with his partner Brandi. David fished a variety of house maize, flaked maize and boilie soaked in Cell smart liquid across a couple of spots, one down his left margin at 9 wraps and the other out at 18 wraps towards the dot island. It was a few days into his trip when David managed his first fish, a common at 27lb off his open water spot. The next morning David managed another one now known as ‘Leila’ at 14lb.

And last but not least we have Gigantica first timer and all-round nice guy, Will Dockerillwho fished Bachelier’s. Will had turned up with some new rods he won in a competition in the building weeks and couldn’t wait to use them. Opting to fish the far bank 28 wrap spot with two rods and the 21 wrap treeline spot he baited with Cell boilie, house pellet and our mixed particle, all soaked in Cell smart liquid. Will unfortunately had to wait until the final morning to manage his first Gigantica carp in the shape of ‘Colin Robinson’ at 18lb a serious one for the future. 

Overall, this was an interesting week and it will be good to see how the fish react with 12 anglers back on next week. Hopefully this will push them around a bit more and we start to see more coming out around the lake.

Roll on next week,

Greg

Team Gigantica