Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 03/08/2024

Tom Daley

With blistering hot weather and the bites being fairly hard to come by the previous week, no one really knew how this week would turn out, but with everyone giving it their all there were some real notable sessions and captures for the boys.

The best session of the week definitely fell to Connor Rumsey who fished in The Decoy, with great form over recent weeks and the fish still clearly hovering around his right hand margin he knew this was the place to attack. Connor fished roughly 17 wraps down to his right towards the bund, the rig he chose was a Combi-rig with 2 pieces of slow sinking Maize as the hookbait of choice on a size 6 Korda Kurve, Connors baiting approach was simple, using a mix of House Maize, and Boilie roughly 70% Maize, he would walk up to the bund and spoon in a good amount to draw this fish down and kept this going consistently, roughly every 45 minutes to an hour he would go back up add another 4/5 spoons over the top and kept the bites coming. Connor banked himself 14 fish during the week but including 3 fifties and a mid forty, the biggest of the bunch was a fish called TJ weighing in at 56lb on the nose which was an overall PB for Connor which he had previously broken earlier in the week with his other fifties. The most notable piece of action for Connor was roughly a 30 minute spell where he managed to bank The Jewel at 55lb on the nose, Le Flair which weighed 50lb 4oz, and also Swaley’s Mirror which tipped the scales at 46lb 12oz so not a bad flurry of fish by anyones standards. The rest of Connors fish were made up of twenties and thirties but for his first time in France I think he exceeded his own expectations and everyone around the lake was absolutely made up for him. 

Next up we have Morgan Anderson who fished in Bacheliers, also being his first time in France he didn’t quite know what to expect, Morgan definitely reached his target weight of fish but unfortunately for Morgan the bites were a bit slower. Morgan started the week Brilliantly being the first person on the lake to bag one, and what a fish to kick things off with, on his first night with his first French fish Morgan only went and bagged himself The Wedge weighing 51lb 4oz one of the most sought after Commons in the lake due to its unique looks. Morgan caught the wedge from the reed bed to his left roughly 7 wraps out which isn’t one of the areas that’s been producing fish in this swim of late, using a Mix of House Maize, Essenital Cell Boilies soaked in Essential Cell Smart Liquid scattered over the rod, unfortunately this was Morgans only fish for the week as activity in the area seemed to drop as the week went on but all in all Morgan was made up with The Wedge which was also his PB and his first Fifty so he was over the moon. 

Then we have Jason Burnap who chose to fish in Dunkerque, Dunkerque’s form of late had been a bit hit and miss with some weeks it producing a few fish and others nothing. Jason tried a few different areas to start off with but quickly realised the place to pit his rigs was 10 wraps towards Decoy which is an area that has been producing fish recently, possibly due to the fish following the margins around from the back of the Beach and then coming across that area. Jason’s totals for the week were 6 fish banked including 3 forties 1 thirty and 2 twenties, out of the three forties that Jason landed 2 were 49lb’ers, The Grey which weighed 49lb 4oz and The Tish which was slightly smaller at 49lb 4oz two Commons that regularly break the 50lb barrier when it’s not so soon after spawning. The other forty banked for Jason was a fish Called Ava which weighed 43lb 12oz, The Grey was also a PB for Jason so the PB’s were coming thick and fast on the Road Lake this week which is always a good sign for things to come. 

Next up we’ve got Jason Foster in Tea Party 2, Jason fished his rods to the far margin at 24 wraps towards the Goal post Trees, Jason was using German rigs to try and trip the carp up and managed 3 fish up to 47lb which was a fish called Broken Tail one of the more recognisable Mirrors in the Lake the other fish Jason banked included a 31lb Mirror and a Mid twenty which was quite good going in hindsight as the fishing along this end of the lake has been a bit slow recently so to winkle an upper forty out is always welcome. 

After that we have Jack Razzell who fished in Tea Party 1 who also managed 3 fish during his stay with the biggest being a spawned out Eddy which weighed 46lb on the nose caught at 20 wraps towards Turtles Corner which is where the shallower plateau is and normally it’s the banker spot for this swim this time of year. Jack also managed a 24lb Mirror caught on a 14ft Zig early on in the week so trying different tactics was definitely working for him this week. 

Then we have Mark Walford AKA Tom Daley due to his ability to continuously fall in the lake. Mark originally started his week off in Billy’s but come Tuesday decided to make the move over to Brambles as during the night he was hearing a lot of fish showing out in front of there. The move definitely worked in Marks favour as he managed to land 6 fish from 20 wraps straight out ahead of him using Spinner Rigs with 2 pieces of fake Maize as the hook bait. Marks captures included three thirties up to 39lb so as he had a slow start to the week he definitely went home happy in the end. 

The rest of the fish this week were mainly all within the 30lb bracket, we have Ian Burnap who fished in the Beach and managed 6 fish up to 31lb, Mark Rumsey fished in The Poo who managed to break the blank with a 31lb Grass Carp which was the first Grassy he’d caught so he was happy with that one, and the last two anglers to catch were Rae Guy in Turtles who managed a 25lb Mirror to save the week, then we have Robin Anderson in Shingles who landed a 21lb Mirror from Shingles and that was it for the week. 

So to conclude every angler on the lake managed at least one fish which shows they are getting around everywhere and bodes well for the upcoming weeks. 

Until Next Time 

Rob