Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 23/10/2021

                          The last week on Road Lake storms ahead

It’s the final week of Road Lake before it closes till February 2022. Seeing what it delivered the previous week, all expectations were high. We welcomed 11 keen anglers this week, for some of them it was their first time on the Gigantica complex, for others it was a return trip. After the walk round everyone was ready for the draw. (at Gigantica we do a walk round so the anglers get a good idea of each swim before the draw takes place). Well let’s see how they got on……

First in the draw was Charlie Sumner who wisely chose Tea Party 2 to be able to fish to his strengths. Charlie’s preferred tactic is to cast solid bags at showing fish. He hasn’t done much spombing. This is why Tea Party 2 was a good choice as he only had to fish 14 wraps out. All 3 rods went out towards the big tree right of Turtles Corner at 14 wraps. Mainline Cell and Link boilies, mixed with maize and our house pellets, were spombed over the top. SSM on spinner rigs was his go-to rig. Sunday morning saw loads of activity over his spot but he just couldn’t get a take. Charlie was fishing at 14 wraps and started off spombing at 14 wraps but after a little chat with the bailiff, an adjustment was made to the spod rod. Then he was spombing at 13 ½ wraps to allow for the swing back. Half an hour later and he was into his first fish, a 20lb common. Shortly after “Vouvray”, at 42lb 8oz, graced the bank. The little adjustment definitely paid off as he ended Sunday with 3 fish. Monday came and so did another 3 fish, the biggest one being “Ron’s Common” at 33lb. The following day 3 more fish were landed with “Inky” at 38lb 8oz being the icing on the cake. His next action came on Thursday, two low 20-pound commons. The best was yet to come… Friday he managed to land two more fish, one of them was a new PB for him “Breakfast O’clock” at 48lb on the nose. Charlie ended the week on 15 fish. Loads of bait went in which kept the fish coming steadily all week long. He is now known as the spombing machine!!! See you again soon mate, top angling. 

A few meters to the left of Tea Party 2 we had Marcus Leek in Tea Party 1. Marcus started off fishing all 3 rods towards Turtles Corner at 18 wraps over a bed of Mainline Cell, maize and our house pellet. After seeing loads of fish a bit further out on the first couple of days he decided to move 2 rods towards Turtles Corner at 21 wraps. This definitely paid off as he was into his first fish shortly after, “Hazy Maisie” at 29lb was the culprit. A few hours later and he had gone and smashed his PB with “Long Common” at 52lb. Two more fish were landed on Tuesday. The next day he managed to get 4 takes which resulted in 4 fish being landed, the biggest one was “Chamonix” at 39lb. The bait kept on going in. Thursday saw “Goose” at 38lb in the net. Marcus finished off his week with a lovely 27lb 8oz common. Not a bad session for your first visit to Gigantica… Well done mate!

Next up we have Darren AKA Daz Watkins over in New Beach. All 3 rods were set out at 21 wraps towards the bund. Mainline cell mixed with maize was the bait choice for the week. Plastic dumbels on combi rigs were fished over the top. It took until the early hours of Monday for the first action, a lovely 24lb 12oz common was landed. After seeing the over ??? others ??? in Tea 1 and Tea 2 ??? catching on SSM Darren went heavy on the maize, introducing 10kg on Wednesday. This paid off and he was rewarded with 2 fish the following morning. “O.G” at 28lb being the biggest. Unfortunately this was Darren’s last action for the week, ending the week on 3 fish.

Jon Parker stayed on for another week. Somehow he doesn’t get the best of luck in the draw. The previous week he picked the last number, guess what happened this week. Yes it happened again number 11 out of 11….. With not many swims left, he chose The Birches for the week. All 3 rods went out at 18 wraps towards the 45-degree tree. Mainline Link mixed with our house pellet was his bait choice for the week. Wednesday saw his first action, a 26lb common called “Feigling”. It didn’t take long for the next bite to come, a lovely 16lb common. Half an hour later and he was in again. This time it felt like a much better fish. It turned out to be “Le Flair” at 45lb. The fish kept on coming. By the end of Wednesday he had managed to convert 11 takes into 9 fish being landed. Unfortunately this was his last action for the week as he had to leave on Thursday. 

Two swims down from Birches, Alex Leslie found himself in Decoy for the week. The plan for the week was to fish two rods down towards the bund at 14 wraps, with his 3rd rod being fished at 18 wraps towards The Cage. On the baiting front, he chose Mainline Cell mixed with some maize and our house pellet. The fish have seen loads of this pellet so it’s always an edge to have it in your mix. Alex heard a few fish boshing out in front of him so 2 rods went out at 18 wraps, with one left at 14 wraps towards the bund. In the early hours of Thursday he finally got rewarded. A fish known as “The Oaf” at 36lb was the culprit. The fish definitely turned up in numbers as Friday saw him land a fish on all 3 rods, the biggest one being “Cracker” at 43lb. He made the most of it when the fish eventually turned up in numbers. Alex ended the week on 4 fish. Good angling mate!!

Over in The Poo there was a young lad named Will Hague. Will started off fishing all 3 rods straight out in front at 14 wraps. After reading the catch reports of the previous weeks and seeing that the 12 wraps spot towards Turtles Corner had produced some larger fish, he chose to move two rods. Mainline Cell and Link mixed with maize and house pellet were spombed over both spots. Everything came to plan on Wednesday when he broke his PB with “Errol” at 51lb 12oz. A new 50 pounder for the Road Lake, this brings it up to 31 fish over the magical 50 pound barrier. This was his only action for the week, but what a fish it was! You fished it really hard and definitely deserved more fish. I’m sure you will bag more fish next time. 

On the opposite side in Shingles, Rashaun Grizzle had set his stall. Going on the catch report from the previous week, he decided to fish the same spot. All 3 rods went out at 18 wraps towards the dot island over a big bed of Mainline Link, maize and house pellet. There were loads of fish showing in the area from off the start but it took until Thursday. Thursday lunch time saw him land his first fish of the week, a 10lb stockie. Not the biggest, but definitely more than welcome. Half an hour later and he was in again, this time it being “Blowt Fish” at 36lb. The best was yet to come when he had a very slow take. This is often the sign of a better fish. It turned out to one which smashed his PB, “Baldrick” at a new top weight of 54lb. One more fish was landed thereafter. Rashaun ended the week on 4 fish.

Next door, we had Anthony Bennent fishing in Double Boards. His plan for the week was to fish all 3 rods in open water at 14 wraps over some Mainline Cell mixed with maize. It appeared that there weren’t many fish in this part of the lake for the first few days, but on Thursday it all came good when he landed 4 fish, including “Mr Massive” at 45lb 4oz. He made the most of this short spell. Good angling.

Last, but no means least, we had James Hunt over in Bacheliers. Two rods went out at 21 ½ wraps towards the big tree with his 3rd one at 20 wraps. It was a tough week fishing but he managed to pick up a little stockie from his 20 wrap spot on Wednesday. Unfortunately the fish didn’t turn up in the numbers we had hoped for. You have unfinished business on the Road Lake, James! See you next time.

Not a bad week to end the season on the Road Lake with 51 fish being caught including 3 50s. This year the Road Lake has not only produced some big hits but it also has a new lake record at 66lb. The future is definitely bright! Bring on next year…..

Tight lines,

Jason