Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 06/07/2024

Waiting Game

With only 8 Anglers on this week it was always going to make it tricky with large areas of water with no lines in meant the fish would always have an area to escape. 

First of all we have Matt Hanson who picked to fish The Decoy, he picked this swim at a bit of a gamble, as on the walkround the fish were clearly in the area between Turtles Corner and Tea Party 2 as well as in front of Tea Part 1, as I explained on the walkround however the fish had been up that end for a while and that they were always due a visit back to the Beach and Decoy soon. At the start of the week this did seem as if it might not pay off for Matt, but he never lost his head and kept to his spots hoping the fish would turn up. Come Tuesday Matts patience definitely came good, with clear signs of fish starting to move to this end of the lake a take looked imminent, Matt kicked things off with a 31lb Grass Carp which he felt took off the pressure but wasn’t what he came for, the next bite however changed the game, from the right hand margin fished at around 16 wraps and fed from the bank with a mix of Boilie and House Maize Matt managed to smash his PB with a fish called The Nose which tipped the scales at 56lb 4oz. Matt fished a Spinner Rig with of course yellow as a Hookbait to match the Maize he was feeding. Matt finished the week with a total of 5 fish including 2 twenties and a 33lb Common all from the right hand spot. 

Next up we have Dean who actually started of the week in Tea Party 1 where he had 6 fish banked on the first night from around 19 wraps straight at Turtles, this biggest of these fish was around 24/25lbs. Unfortunately for this swim that seemed to be it, with the fish coming off the feed in that area and making their way down to either the beach or infront of Bacheliers. Holden fished in Bacheliers and managed 2 fish during his stay but unfortunately managed nothing bigger than a low to mid twenty, Holden left us on Friday Morning and Dean reacted to this after only seeing action on his first night. Dean decided to attack his new swim with only 24 hours to go, but just firing out Solid Bags with small pellet and a yellow hookbait inside at showing fish, this tactic definitely worked for him as within hours of being in there he managed to land After Work at 49lb 14oz so the effort for the final day definitely paid off for Dean. Dean finished the quick 24 hours in Bacheliers with a total of 5 fish, being active meant he was able to make the most of the opportunities right up until the last.

Similar to Tea Party 1, Tea Party 2 started the week off strong, with Matt Hamilton banking four fish on his first night, Matt fed large amounts of House Pellet and Maize due to there being a large amount of fish in the area early on, he spread three Rods across an area over to the far margin which seemed like the right thing to do. Included in these 4 fish was a fish known as the Long Common which weighed in at 46lb which was a brilliant start for Matt but unfortunately as the week went on the fish moved out of the area and the bites slowed.

A good place to follow on from Matt would be with his pal Mark Jarvis who got ball number 2 in the draw and picked The Beach, similar to Matt in Decoy  Mark picked this swim mainly in the hope that the fish would eventually turn up down this end of the lake due to the fact that although the fish were in Turtles tree line when the anglers arrived, they had been up that end of the lake for a while and were definitely due a move. The wait definitely paid off for Mark as he managed a few bites towards the back end of the week fishing at 24 wraps straight out in front and baited with Maize and Boilie, to which he managed 4 fish including a lovely 31lb 12oz Common, and also the same fish that his friend in T2 had caught earlier In the week, The Long Common which weighed 44lb 10oz, so I can only imagine it had been sulking for a good few days and travelled to the Beach where he managed to get himself caught again. 

Lastly we have Brad Howard who moved early on from Birches to The Poo, who on his first night managed to land Snow Flake at 44lb but unfortunately nothing else throughout the week, and Dave Maunders who fished in Turtles Corner who managed a few bites throughout the week and landed 3 fish unfortunately no biggens arrived for Dave and all his fish were in the 20lb bracket, which obviously meant he didn’t go home too disappointed but of course he was hoping for a biggen which just didn’t come this time round, so with any luck for Dave on his next visit hopefully he manages one of the lakes larger residents. 

Until next time 

Rob