Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 12/08/2017

Karl Grimwood says......It's Hammer Time!!

This week’s anglers on the Road Lake took off in fine style, following the 152 fish total the week before. There were ten anglers on for the week, who had been messaging each other frantically in a collective WhatsApp group leading up to the trip, which had raised anticipation levels to fever-pitch. We have started adding anglers who are due to visit into a WhatsApp group so they get chance to ask the bailiff’s any questions prior to getting here, and generally get to know each other.

The weather for the week was fairly set, with only a couple of light showers. Air pressure was moderate, and we had light SW winds and sunny days for most of the week. Daytime temperatures reached mid twenties, with overnight temps in the high teens.

Coming out early in the draw, Jon Loveridge found himself in the “in-form” Turtles Corner swim. He carried on from where last week had finished off, and got stuck straight into the fish. His first bite came within a couple hours of casting out, and he continued in the same vein for most of the week. He was fishing straight out in front at 16 wraps, which has been producing bites all year; setting up with running COG Leads and using the Korda Ready-Tied IQ D-Rigs in Size 4. He was baiting up with Sticky Baits Krill boilies and switched hookbaits during the week between the new Prototype Mainline Fishmeal Wafters and Sticky Krill Wafters. He was putting in 5kg of boilie per day, with the Spomb and then baiting up after a bite with the throwing stick. Jon finished his week with an excellent catch of 28 fish, including a new PB Mirror of 41lb 8oz. Good angling.

With most of the other anglers taking swims in the other half of the lake, Mason Loveridge decided to go into Billy’s where he hoped to intercept fish moving along the tree line. He started off fishing 2 rods to the tree line; one at 17 wraps and the other at 12 wraps. He then walked around the margin and baited up accurately by hand. His other rod was fish fairly close in to left hand side so he didn't cut off the tree line rods. Taking the bailiffs advice, he set up with running leads and IQ D-Rigs. After losing a couple of fish Mason finally landed a lovely 28lb Common off the tree line at 17 wraps, before going into a quiet spell. He decided to make a tactical switch and fished 2 rods straight out in front at 18.5 wraps, baiting up with 40 boilies every hour out of the throwing stick then a top up with the spomb. It took until Thursday for the fish to turn up on his baited area, but he made the most of the opportunity, landing 3 fish in fairly short order, including a cracking 40lb 8oz Mirror, which was an excellent result for some patient, solid angling. Like Jon, he was also using Sticky Baits Krill with White Krill Wafters as hookbaits. He used 30kg of bait during the week.

Kev Brown started his week off fishing in The Goo, and after a quiet start, landing a 27lb Common from a 10 wrap spot straight at Double Boards, he decided that he would move into the other half of the lake. He chose to fish Dunkerque, which had not been really productive the week before, but importantly, meant he had plenty of room as there nobody fishing either side of him. Fishing at a comfortable 16 wraps with all three rods towards Tea Party 2, he baited up with 5kg of Hull Particle Krill boilies to get the ball rolling. The next morning he got his first bite in what turned out to be a Red Letter Day. He finished up the day with 12 fish, including 4 x 40’s!! On the rig front, Kev chose to fish running rigs and IQ D-Rigs baited with Krill Wafters. He was baiting up regularly, and topping up after every bite. The fish were homing in on the sound of the baits hitting the water. During the week he used 25kg of boilie and 5kg Maize and ended his week with a very creditable 15 fish.

As with all the draws for swims at Gigantica, someone has to pick the last ball. This week, Craig Ramsey was the unfortunate recipient, and after some consideration opted to go into The Decoy. The week previous, the majority of the fish had been spending their time in the other half of the lake and initially he was a little despondent. The beauty of Decoy is you can have a two-pronged attack by fishing straight out in front, and also down towards the bund. Craig started off fishing one in front at 18 wraps, and two down the margin at 17 wraps towards the bund. With Tea Party 2 being closed, it wasn't long before the fish started to migrate back through the channel and Craig started to pick off a few fish. His bait for the week was Sticky Baits Manila, and he fished with a running lead setup and the popular Spinner Rig. Hookbaits were matching Sticky Manilla Pop-Ups and he baited with the throwing stick on a little and often basis, using 25kg of bait during the week. He experienced a couple of double takes during the week which got the heart pumping and his poor draw ended up being one of good fortune as he ended the week with 12 fish, including 3 x 30’s and two 40’s; the biggest fish being 44lb 4oz Mirror.

Tony Gladden was set up in Tea Party 1 for the week and he chose to concentrate all three rods on one baited area, which is a good tactic on the Road Lake. He fished at his lucky number 18 wraps towards Turtles Corner and baited up regularly with Mainline Hybrid boilies, with either the Spomb or throwing stick. By his own admission, Tony isn't a ninja when it comes to Rig tying, so he had opted to use the Korda Ready-Tied range and used either the DF Rig, Carp Rig or IQ D-Rig, all of which were successful during the week. He also rang the changes with hookbaits, to try and keep the bites coming, which is a really good idea, as a swim seemingly devoid of fish, can be brought to life by presenting a different colour hookbait. The highlight of his week was definitely the capture of 2 x 40’s in a couple of hours, and he ended his week with ten fish landed.

Shane Picken’s week got off to a bit of a bad start when he had vehicle trouble on the journey out, and consequently arrived on Sunday morning, instead of Saturday! Keen to make up for lost time in the Birches, he applied 5kg of Sticky Baits Krill boilie with the throwing stick at 19.5 wraps, and fished all three rods over the top. 6.30pm that evening heralded the first bite of the week and things went well from then on in. In a purple patch, he landed a run of 4 x 40’s with a new PB Mirror of 44lb being the best. He was receiving action every day with the best time being early morning, around 5am. During the week he used 30kg of boilie, and caught his fish on matching Krill Wafters on IQ D-Rigs and running leads. He liberally glazed his free offerings with Krill liquid to boost their attraction, which proved to be very successful, ending the week with 18 fish.

Paddy Hinsley fancied starting his week in Bacheliers after seeing a few fish in there, and encouragingly took a double on his first night from a 15 wrap spot. Frustratingly, that was the only action he received and on Tuesday became the latest angler to move into the other half of the lake, where there were numbers of fish showing. The New Beach was his destination of choice and his move paid off very quickly, with excellent results. A lot of fish were showing close to the bund, but he resisted the temptation of casting at them, and instead fished all three rods at 15 wraps and very sensibly, let the fish come to him. He was using the new Mainline Prototype Sweet Fishmeal mixed with a Dave Mallin created fishmeal and fished matching Wafters over the top on IQ D-Rigs. He went on to land seven fish during the week including 2 x 40lb Commons. His patient approach certainly paid dividends in the end. Well done Paddy.

Karl Grimwood went into The Poo swim and had a very bizarre start to his week. He wanted to re-spool with 15lb Korda Touchdown before starting, and whilst in the process of doing it, he cast one rod out to a 9 wrap spot which had been doing bites the week before; followed by a couple of pouches of 14mm boilies. Midway through doing his first reel, his Banoffee Wafter was picked up by an unseen leviathan and battle commenced. With the deep margins in Gigantica; what was clearly a heavy fish chugged around before begrudgingly coming to the net. A huge Mirror was nestled in the net, and when Andy the Bailiff came to assist, he identified it as The Hammer; one of the lakes eight 50 pounders. To say that Karl was shocked is an understatement; less than an hour fishing and he had landed a fifty. Up on the scales, the big Mirror weighed in at 50lb exactly! Karl was using running leads and IQ D-Rigs incorporating Size 4 Korda Kurv Shank hooks. Safe to say, that fish made Karl’s week!!

Lewis North had opted to fish in Shingles after the great result of the previous week. Following the advice of the Bailiff, he fished the same spot at 14 wraps and started baiting little but often. He quickly got the fish feeding in the area. And in very short order, managed to land a couple. The key to his success was getting into a rhythm of landing a fish, leaving it in the net while feeding in some more bait, and then recasting. Once this was completed, he weighed the fish and then did the photos. This is definitely the best approach to building a good hit of fish on the Road Lake. Bait for the week was Sticky Baits Krill, and Lewis fish running leads, with either Spinner Rigs and matching Pop-Ups, or with Krill Wafters. He finished his week with eight fish, the biggest being a 32lb Mirror.

Fred Moiser was out celebrating his 21st birthday with his mates, and decided to fish next to Lewis in Double Boards so they could have a social, as well as catch some fish. Fred had seen fish showing down to his right whilst setting up and flicked a bait down towards Single Boards, which resulted in a quick bite from a pretty double figure Common. Fred was using running leads and IQ D-Rigs with Krill Wafters. He went on to land another Common, but despite his endeavors, the fish had moved out of the area. Waiting patiently until Friday, Fred moved into Brambles for the last night and ended his week on a high by landing another fish before leaving.

It was a great week, with a great bunch of lads and 115 fish landed made everyone happy. The most noticeable thing about the group was that they all wanted to know the best methods, producing areas etc. and followed the bailiff’s advice. Everyone caught fish, and there were numerous PB’s caught during the week. As with all good weeks, the days just flew by, and I'm glad to say, it looks like a return visit is definitely on the cards next year. Well done lads…..what a brilliant week. Here's to 2018.

Tights Lines and Bonne Peche

Andy