Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 13/09/2025

Records Broken on The CarpFix Social!

This week we welcomed The CarpFix Social to the Road Lake, Big commons with Records broken in one particular swim. Let’s see how everyone got on.

Let’s start off with the man of the moment Rob Burgess setting himself up in Tea Party 2. The plan was simple but precise, fishing 21 wraps slightly left of the Scary Tree. A wide spread of fishmeal boilie covered the area, and with the rods clipped up and rigs sitting perfectly, everything felt right. Rob’s presentation was spot on as always, with ten inches of Dark Matter nano tubing pinned to the deck, a 3.75oz Heli lead running system. The Slip D Multi Combi Rig tied with 20lb IQ2 for the boom and Armour Cord for the loop section. A size 8 longshank barbless hook sat neatly with a match-the-hatch bottom bait positioned an inch off the bend. The action began almost immediately. Alarms screamed into life and didn’t stop for the rest of the session. Double takes, even triples at times, left Rob fighting fish from more than one rod on several occasions, with Nathan next door on hand to help when things got busy. The carp were on him in numbers, and every cast seemed to produce another carp in the Bag. By the time he reeled in for the final morning, Rob had landed an astonishing eighty carp, smashing the Road Lake record without even fishing three full nights. Among the constant stream of thirties and forties came some true giants. ‘The Wedge’  54lb 8oz, ‘The Grey’ 52lb, and ‘Missing Link’  50lb 2oz. But the capture that will be remembered above all was the Korda Social Common ‘53lb 4oz’ — Number 80 was in the net! Along with Rob smashing the Road Lake record to bits. What unfolded at Tea Party 2 was more than just a good trip. It was a session that rewrote the lake’s history books. For Rob, it was relentless action, a string of huge carp, and a record-breaking haul that few anglers will ever come close to experiencing again. Watch out for the up-and-coming video on CarpFix to see all the action unfold! Congratulation’s Rob world class. 81 next week on the Korda Social?

Next door in Tea Party 1 we have Nathan Mercercoming out 3^rd in the draw, With Nathan knowing it was more than likely Rob would hold the carp in the area, it was a wise call from Nathan to make the swim choice. The tactic for the week would be fishing 2 rods out towards the 21 wrap spot and 1 rod at 15 wraps towards the church spire. Nathans Rig choice for the week would be a multi comb, Size 4 wide gape, with a yellow 15mm wafter soaked in isotonic goo as the hook bait! Feeding 15mm Fishmeal boilie, whole and crumb with Hemp. With the action not kicking off on the longer spot straight away, Nathan listened to my advice and deployed a solid bag towards the church spire at 15 wraps. What a devastating tactic this is on the road lake, netting ‘Hobnob’ 48lb 4oz. Nathan was away with his first bite and a massive relief it was! Into Tuesday and finally the spot started rocking out on the 21 wrapper. A couple of 20’s through the evening and it was into Tuesday evening when Nath got into a larger resident with ‘The Oaf’ 40lb 4oz.The impressive weight of fish carried on for Nathan throughout the week with ‘Lady lucy’ 39lb and ‘Breakfast o’clock’ 42lb. The spot was well and truly rocking! But lets talk about Nathan’s largest of the week, Grabbing himself a new PB with a stunning common in ‘Maggie’ 52lb 8oz. Well-deserved mate fished well all week landing 22 bites and helping rob next door with numerous  double and triple takes. I hope you enjoyed the soaking on Friday! Look forward to your next trip back at the Big G!

Next up we have Robert Stewart on his first trip out at Gigantica, coming out 2^nd in the draw. Delighted with a great draw it was all smiles for Rob and decided to set himself up in Turtles Corner after seeing plenty of fish showing on the walk round and the previous week getting into a couple of Big girls. The approach for the week would be his trusted Combi Multi rig size 8 Longshank, with a match the hatch 15mm hard hooker as the hook bait. The bait approach would be 15mm and 18mm Fishmeal boilie, House maize, pellet and hemp. Fishing slightly off to the right towards the dot island at 21 wraps and onto the margin spot at 23 wraps would be the spots for the week. After setting up and tucking into the green Thai curry it was all actions go!  Starting off with a flurry of bites, landing ‘Brown Ale’ 22lb 8oz a couple of mid doubles and his biggest of the day in ‘The Bouncer’ 33lb. Lucky enough to name this fish, pretty ironic running the doors back at home! Great start mate! Into Sunday evening when Rob was next off the mark with 3 bites during the hours of darkness with the biggest going 44lb…. There getting bigger! With regular and consistent baiting, it was holding the pack In the swim with the bites coming more and more regular. Now what a day Monday turned out to be for rob, it was 5 through the night with the biggest being 48lb 4oz. Rob wasn’t done there and really wanted to be break his PB. What happened next he couldn’t believe and was in total shock, giving me the call just before the breakfast run, ‘ Tom ive a flipping massive common in the Net mate ‘ I’ve shot round and new exactly what it was . ‘Mable’ 59lb 14oz. This was a new PB for Rob congratulations mate and it was great to share the moment with you, Very well deserved as I know how much time you put on the bank! Into Tuesday we go with more bites coming from the 21 wrap spot. Sticking to the same approach Rob was into more, 9 bites coming his way, with ‘Koi Common’ 20lb and ‘The Hallucination’ 27lb 4ozbeing the largest of the day. Into Wednesday and it was going off again with another 3 landed before dinner and 5 landed with so many fish being landed of the pond Rob decided to do some self takes and get the Rods back out to get back into the action wanting the greed is good approach for some of the larger residents of the pond. Thursday saw him landed more 20’s and 30s with the biggest of the day being the ‘Sausage’ 44lb. Landing 40 carps for the week and smashing his PB this was a dream session for Rob. Well done on a fantastic week mate and we shall see you next year!

Across the pond we have Pep Spanjerberg, pep set himself up in The Bund for the week after previously breaking his PB in the swim at the start of the year. It was a slow week for pep up the end of the pond. How ever last knockings Friday night I had a call from pep at 1am in the morning that he had a 50 in the net and he sure did! With ‘Nailed’ 55lb 4oz. He did it again breaking his PB at The Big G. The tactic was a Solid bag at showing fish, the hook bait choice was a Yellow mainline dumbell wafter with a squeeze of isotonic goo. Well sat out pep, just proving it’s not over until it’s over!

Over to Shingles we go, With Dave ‘Coxy’ Cox coming out 7^th in the draw with not a bad swim choice as he was not far off the pack of fish. The tactic for the week would be Fishing 18 wraps to the dot island, feeding 15mm iso fish boilie, with match the hatch style on a D-rig spinner. Dave did manage 9 bites towards the back end of the week with the biggest coming in at 28lb, it was a frustrating week as to why he wasn’t getting into any of the big girls, with all of his bites coming into the early hours of the evening. Unlucky not to get into any of the big girls, I’m sure your time will come when your back out here next year. Well done mate on getting into a few. 

Starting his week off in Dunkerque we have Ade Tallon. After a tough week for ade in there and sitting it out patiently it was time for a move on Friday evening once Tea Party 2 became available. It was pretty much repeat to what rob was doing. 21 wraps to the left of the scary tree feeding 15mm fishmeal boilie and match the hatch style on the rig. It was 8 bites for Ade, with the biggest coming in as ‘The Grey’ 52lb 4oz. A tough week for yourself mate, however a move certainly changed your trip around!  

 What a week! Plenty of beers, laughs and carps! 164 landed for the week and Rob crowned the king of the road lake!

Tight Lines 

Tom 

Team Gigantica