Weekly Catch Reports

Well, after each and everydays hard work, both Dan & Josh go back and get the rods out for the night. This has not been possible for at least the last 10 nights due to the servere cold weather had had frozen the lake solid.

However, Josh persisited and has been rewarded with the first Carp of 2010 ! Only 15.02 but still, a true hardcore winter result for the man, I salute you Sir !

With recent temps as low as -14 for several nights with daytime highs of -7 a fish was just a dream but as soon as the Ice has melted, baits have been fished each and every night. Stringers of Mainline Cell boilies with a Homemade-Davo White pop up nailed to the bottom tricked the fish.

At 15.02, the fish is now residing in our stock pond along with 26 other sub 20lbs caught late last year.

Our plan is to heavily feed them and later this year, once there in the upper 20 - 30lb bracket, will will re-relaese them into the big lake and start again removing the smaller carp. This will increase our average weight and hopefully increase the numbers of bigger fish for a patrons to catch throughout the new season.

As usual, I will update the site at the start of the new week with any addional captures and relevent news.

Be lucky.

The Grand Fromage

Shiny New Year winter Carp

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No clients this week due to severe weather, although Josh Sandars & Dan Bennet from Sparsholt college have arrived as part of a work placement for their college course.

We will be giving the whole site a facelift after what has been a very busy year.

Both lads will have the rods out at night if and when the Ice melts away. I will update when, if, hopefully, they catch any fish.

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We wish all our customers a Merry Christams and a Happy New Year, we hope your next carp is your biggest !

5 anglers, 3 from U.K. & 2 from Belguim. Again, a very tough week with no fish caught unfortunately. The weather, again, playing its part in what can only be classed as a tough week.

The English lads fished in Beach, Tree line & Co's Point, the Belguim lads choose to fish Pink & Stink.

With all recent evident fish movement the choice of swims were logical but again, the fish just didnt play ball.

Nothing was seen or heard for several nights until NYE when both the Belguim anglers and Wayne, fishing Co's point saw and heard several 'shows' through the night. Unfortunately, the activity didnt convert into a capture and it was back to the usual cold still nights upto the very last morning when again, Wayne, packing up on Co's saw several fish on the surface, roll but far to late to have helped as he was actually putting his gear away for the drive home.

It was strange that in, once all the anglers had left for home, I saw 3 fish in the same area that Wayne had pinpointed, with one fish, a clear 30lb+ fish coming clear of the surface.

Why hadnt they caught ? Im still scratching my head. Its been the last 4-5 weeks now, the fish have shown in the same general area and have been fished for, and fished for well but yet, still no chances ?  I just dont know, maybe were not fishing the feeding spots in the general area or are the lads fishing well, where there showing but just not eating in that area ? One thing is for certain, this recent cold area has shown up 2-3 areas that seem to be warmer for longer than the rest of the lake....perhaps this is a clue to where they may just be.

Only time will tell.

We hope you enjoy a great new year & look forward to seeing you, here on the banks in 2010, Be lucky.

What a week........ the only angler of the week, Chris fished hard in what can only be described as Antartic conditions !

Very heavy frost's of -14 followed by 5" of snow and ice never dented Chris' determination throughout the week. Strangely, the fish were very active throughout the duration and Chris was bang on them.

Fishing small, tight areas of a home made bait, with stringers over the top failed to entice any enquieries through the week unfortunately.

I had hoped that having braved such harsh conditions, and what with the fish being so active right where Chris was fishing, his hardcore enthusiasm would have pulled one out the hat but it was just too much to ask.

The fish just never fed with enough confidence for Chris to snag one. On discussion and with the fishes activity in mind, Chris even fished zigs at various depths to try and find their 'comfort' zone and induce a bite but even this failed.

It just wasnt too be unfortunately even though he fished very well. Worse was to come for Chris as he got caught up in the terrible traffic - weather problems on the way home, and with Calais closed and the Tunnel broken, his epic week managed to prove even more dissappointing.

Hardcore Chris, thats all I can say ! On a plus note, the weather has improved massively this week and its looking promising for next weeks anglers, be a nice Christmas present if they manage to bank one !

Be lucky.

Marc & Nick Brydon braved the Winter weather for the first full week in Dec, full of confidence of a true cold water carp.

Due to the fact that they were the only anglers fishing the week, they chose to 'double up'  in Co's Point and fish a large area that, historically hold's fish during the winter period.

The weather had been worsening the week prior and continued to worsen with temperatures falling fast. True winter conditions !

Nick, pulled it out the hat early on Monday morning, 04:30 to be exact, and banked a marvellously conditioned Winter 40 Common ! A real winter result, especially as at 40.14 it was a magnificant personal best !

Mainline Cell, tipped with a peice of rubber corn the successful bait - the Cell being a dominant bait throughout the year, now proving its winter credentals. Our fish have really tuned into the Cell throughout the year, catching a significantly large percentage of the captures through 2009, used as a Snowman set-up, it's almost unfair !

Nick was on a high during the photograph's and was totally amazed when one of his other rods pulled out the clip and was away, right in the middle of the photo's. Marc & Jake, rushed in to look after the common, whilst Nick played his second carp of the session.

After a short but spirited fight, they slipped the net under a beautifully scaled mirror of 18.08. Both fish looked amazing in the Winter sunshine for the photos.

The rest of the week, unfortunately, passed by without any further occurances, whilst the weather turnt even more wintery !

So, only 2 fish banked, but what a fish, well done Nick.

A Winter 40 Common & a PB as well !

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Danny F and 5 mates fished this week. weather looked awesome 14 in the day 9 at night and all southerly based winds, yet the lake fished hard. danny f started in oblivion and moved after 2 days to alcatraz, the fish then moved into oblivion and cleared up all his bait, he says 'i ignored my own advice and moved, had i stayed put i would have caught a few. but after making one mistake I stuck to my guns and stayed in alcatraz and managed a pretty 19 pounder that went straight in the stock pond to be grown on'. Steve's fish was a real stunner and he said 'its the best looking fish i have ever caught in France, when can i book for next year!' despite fishing hard the other guys failed to catch, Ivan lost one when a tangled hooklink snapped half way through the week. Danny says 'in hindsight i wish we hadn't used the boats and baited lighter at the start but no-one expected the fishing to be so different from my session just 2 weeks earlier on 24th October. The lake had risen 4 inches whilst i had been away and i think this new cold water had affected the fish in the short term. I expect the lake to stabilise in the next few weeks.

Wodka 36lb 14oz.

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19lb that went into the stock pond.

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The usual suspects.

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The weather took a massive turn for the worst this week and made it difficult for UK Eating Team, Peter Jones of Tackle Box, Dartford and Keith Palmer. With minus 4 at 7pm and bitter winds these two accomplished anglers and supreme eaters had their work cut out for them. warming through 8 Gallons of curry is normally a half hour job for underwear model Keith yet in these conditions it took over two hours to fully cook this gastronomic giant.

They fished in Stink and Alamo and Danny T did a night or two in Oblivion and at the end of the week Danny still couldnt explain why they had not caught, especially as some nights there swims were 'black with fish'. Danny T managed a 25lber on the last morning from Oblivion after a night of fish crashing one after the other, 'i should have caught more they were black on me, he said'.

it seems that at this time of the year the fish are affected massively by the weather, it can fish its head off or be super tricky, thats the chance we all take for the fish being at their biggest weights of the year.

10 Army boys made the long journey from Germany on a lake exclusive.

Big winds with lots of rain made the going tough.

234 came out of The Stink at 44lbs which is a new PB and a new top weight for that fish, Danny F had the fish in the later part of September at 38lb 12oz, thats over 5 pounds in a month!

all the boys have vowed to return and give the place a proper pasting!

2 3 4 at an all-time high of 44lb.

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Baby Black Eye at 35lb 8oz.

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Weather started perfect, mild and sw winds. Danny Fairbrass in Co's Point had to wait 24 hours for his first bite then had 6 in a night to 42.8 (Northern Scaly), his action continued during the week ending up with 19 fish to 44.8, all falling to CELL snowmen or bottom baits over lots 20mm freebies at 110 yards. Darrell Peck moved to Oblivion and caught from the first night taking 7 fish including a TOTALLY NEW 50+ nicknamed THE UNIT at 58lbs 12oz, what a result for the lake and for Darrell. He managed two other good uns a new 41 common named THE VIRGIN and BRUTUS at 50lbs 8oz, its first time over 50! Darrell used 15mm Fruitella snowmen on CELL botom baits and fed 3-8kg CELL per night. Darrell commented 'I broke my French pb by 30lbs and was amazed how quickly the fish responded to large beds of boilies'. Billy moved into Alcatraz when Darrell moved out and took a brace of 30 commons in the first hour! The weather deteriorated towards the end of the week and runs slowed down, still an amazing week! This session was filmed for SKY SPORTS show THINKING TACKLE and will go the air Feb/March 2010.

Brutus 50lb 8oz

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Singles Mate 44lb 8oz

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The Unit 58lb 12oz

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Nick the Greek had a 35lber off Co's and lost one at about 120 yards and our little star Rigadon aka Sleepy Neil slid into The Tree Line for 5 nights and caught a stunning 39 named Sasquatch and 43 we have not yet identified fishing about 60 yards straight out away from the trees. CELL and indian Spice doing the business, if it aint broke dont fix it.

Ian Stott returned for his 3rd week in less than a year and blanked in The Beech! Accomplished swim hogger Ian who is considered one of the best anglers in his remote village in East Anglia had a mare of a week, we all now how you feel Mr Stott! Stotties a mate so i'm sure he will enjoy the micky taking but in all seriousness our experinces at Gigantica have taught us that there is a very fixed winning method when fishing in open water, fish all 3 rods at the same range about a rod length apart, feed 2-10kg boilies on day 1 and keep feeding between 2 and 5kg a day until the bites start coming, if nothing happends for 3 days the fish are probably not on you, stop baiting until you start catching, Ian kept baiting no matter what and simply overfed his swim. He put in over 10kg on the last night after a week of no bites, crazy! if you are going with lots of bait, consider the time of year and always start with a big bed, dont end with one.

Also Ian purchased his CELL from a rolling service not from us or Mainline, for some reason bait rolled by Mainline is better than dry mix made and rolled by bait firms, we have experinced this fist hand and cant explain why it is. you have been warned!

Unknown 43lb.

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Sasquatch 39lb.

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The weather definitely beat the two Bristol boys on this week. they didnt help themselves setting up in the teeth of the easterly on the advice of Dave Fuidge aka FUDGY who fished Pole Position with great success in May! Hot swims change from week to week so choosing a swim based on a spring capture was, in our opinion a bad idea but when someone has a plan in their head its very hard to get them to change. Co's point out of the wind would have been a better bet but some people simply will not listen to full time bailiff Danny T!

Home made fish meals got the Belgium pairing in The Beech 11 fish including 3 forites, SHOULDERS 42LBS, plus two other 40's we have not indetified yet.

Co's produced a 36 common

Pole did 3 fish inc a 38 common.

Fish were caught form all over the lake to a variety of methods, big beds of boilies being the best tactic this week, by far.

Remko, with Black eye out of Pink

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This is the Frampton syndicates first ever lake exclsuive on Gigantica and big things were expected from this group of super talented anglers. sadly, the lake didnt respond to a toatlly new bait Shellfish B5 and this coupled with the fact over 200 fish had been out over the previous month or so meant the week fished harder than expected.

as our headline says the worlds luckiest angler 'Clarky' fluked the lakes second biggest known resident STAPLES at an all time top weight of 67lbs 12oz, what a weight for this male fish, this shows our policy of a mixed diet of boilies some pellets and particles is working, in all seriousness well done mate the micky taking is just CARP ENVY from Danny T and Danny F. Clarky's long suffering missus Katherine had THE CHEESE at 35lbs 10oz, first time out for a year!

Dishy Dave Waker (See CarpWorld) had a 18lb 12oz mirror from Alamo and openly admitted to Danny F when back in the UK that sticking to the Shellfish B5 was a mistake in view of all the CELL that had gone in over this season, he also said none of them expected to need as much bait as they did. B5 is a brilliant bait but it struggled to interest ths fish hooked on a fully established food source, in this case CELL.

Mz.Clarke with her PB 'the cheese' at 35+

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Clarky with the mighty Staples at 67lb 12oz.

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Danny moved into Co's Point after Ting Tongs super week as he continued to film the free DVD for 2010. he carried on were Tong finished and caught from the off sadly loosing his first bite which seemed like a good un. the fish came steadily and he ended the week with 24 bites landing 19 inc 3 real special ones DISCUS as new fish at 44.8, DROP TAIL at 55lbs out just a week earlier after going missing for 12 months and THE GIANT at 72 pounds all on either 20mm CELL bottom baits or snowmen with homemade CELL pop ups, like Tong he fished at 90 yards and fed boilies all week using almost 50kg by the end. ALI went in Alcatraz and managed 7 to upper thrities Tom Dove had 5 from Alamo inc THE TWIN at 53lbs both using CELL, of course. Fred from Holland had a new 40 we have named FRED which is one of most beautiful fish, he was well pleased and will be back with his mates next year. all these fish and more will be on CARP, TACKLE, TACTICS and TIPS in shops FREE of charge next Feb/March.

The Giant 72lbs

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The Giant 72lbs

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Fred 40.04, What a Carp

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weather was warm and sunny with mostly northerly based winds, later in the week the wind swung in all directions with mainly clear skys. Tong hit the ground running and caught from the first night. he fished all 3 rods at 90 yds with al least 10 yards between each hookbait. he didnt use a marker rod and simppy sprayed 20mm CELL boilies all over the area. He fished superbly ending with 33 takes landing 31 fish, showing what can be caught if the lake is fished dead right, hookbaits were either indian spice or tutti snowmen with a 20mm cell underneath or double 18mm CELL bottom baits. his only bad luck was that he didnt connect with any of the A Team, his best was just short of 37lbs. Dannt F fished in Pole Position and had 13 takes landing 12 inc PIPS at 41lbs again over large amounts of CELL. Adam Penning chased the fish and struggled with 2 to 29 and Dutch Jon had 4 stunners from the TREE LINE inc BLACK EYE at 41 and THE SNAGS LINEAR 38lbs. Andy and Chicken Legs had nothing in Pink and Stink so they fished a rod each for the day in Big Girls and Andy had Drop Tail at 52lbs 12oz another new pb, he then moved into Oblivion and had two more inc a 37 common.

Pips 41lbs

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Mick from Essex managed 7 out of Pole Position inc CHUNKY at 49 14 and FUIDGIES at 61 fishing just boilies about 80 yards out. Mick was over the moon with his result and cant wait to get back next year.

Micks mate Steve in Alcatraz had 2

BLACK EYE came out of the Tree Line AGAIN at 42lbs, that fish loves that swim.

9 fish inc 4 pbs's came from Co's point

9 fish from the Alamo, Andy and Colin had all their fish in the first 3 days inc The CUT TAIL COMMON at 47 2 and THE NUDE FISH at 45lbs up an amazing 8lbs in a month, they are really troffing at this time of year. Andy and Colin are both 'big old boys' and they couldnt eat all of Danny T;s big man menu! they will be back.

Another excellent week with experinced anglers making the lake look easy!

Chunky 49.14

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Cut Tail 47.2

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Si and Tom made the effort to speak to Danny T before their trip and totally took his advice and spent all their pennies on 70kg of CELL which they brought with them from the UK. They doubled up in our only 2 man swim The Alamo and fed heavily from the start and the fishing just got better and better. their rigs were super simple blow back rigs with indian spice pop ups fished snowman style with a cell bottom bait underneath.

John from Cornwall had SINGLE SCALE at 59lbs 2oz and FUDGY'S at 60lb 4oz as part of a 12 fish catch from Pole Position, fishing at Danny T's range of about 60 yards using his own boilies which shows like eds catch in August that if you aply the right bait at the right times you can catch on anyhting.

All in all a brilliant week with not just loads of fish but big uns too!

Single Scale 59lbs

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Spring Scaly 46lbs

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The Smiling Fish 47lbs

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the stock pond had been started in the winter of 2008 but after falling water levels it was re dug to house up to 40 doubles from thre main lake with the viw to growing them on to over 25lbs and then reinroduced back into the main lake. the ongoing plan is to keep removing the smallest fish and growing them on until the lake only has 30 plus carp in it.

Action was spread all the way round the lake and only two people actually blanked. the group were using Dynamite Baits Monster Tiger Nut and the fish repsonded well to this, bearing in mind it was the frozen version, not the shelf lifes.

THE IMMACULATE common came out for the first time this year at 44lbs, the picture shows pete was well pleased to get it! we had shaky photo's and no weight of this fish from last year so its great to finally get an accurate weight!

The Immaculate 44lbs

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Stoneacres

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Sparky and his brother lost as many fish as they hooked and Danny T couldn't underdstand why he lost so many. Sparky moved to Stock Pond for the last night and had two more.

Ian Stott manged 3 from The Alamo to low 20's and vowed to come back! Like many people Ian refused to listen to Danny T and fished his own way which cost him many bites. he is an accomplished angler in the UK and this shows just how critical it is to follow Danny T's advice on what bait and how much to use and when to feed it.

Alan from the packing department at Korda spent a weeks holiday with his girlfriend and son in Co's point. after following Danny's advice to the letter he bagged the majority of the fish out that week including FUDGY'S at 57lbs 8oz and THE NUDE FISH at 37lbs, NUDE PATCH COMMON at 42 and half tail common at 32. All fish falling to CELL snowmen over large amounts opf boilie at between 70 and 90 yards. WHY DONT MORE PEOPLE TAKE DANNY'S ADVICE?

TREE LINE produced 2 fish inc The English fish at 27lbs 10oz

Fudgies 57.08

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The Nude Fish 37lbs

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Half Tail Common 32lbs

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Weather SW all week straight into The Alamo

Ed doubled up in The Alamo with another Dutch mate of ours and at first the action was slow. When his fishing buddy left after a few days and Ed started applying more bait and fishing all his rods at the same range he started to haul. He was using a secret protoype dutch fishmeal boilie with a simple blow back rig and bottom bait, he finished with the best haul so far this season with 22 bites and 18 fish up to 40lbs ROBERTS FISH. In total he used 40kg of boilies, every time i got up for a piss in the night Ed was baiting up< he fished hard and deserved what he caught showing us all how its done!

Jack and hamish on work experince from Sparsholt Collage had 19 fish from Co's point at 70 yards inc The Giant at 68lbs, well done Hamish you are gonna have to get some muscles if you plan to come back!

In The Beech Ralf only managed an 18lb'er on a Zig, he needed more bait in the swim as the fish were there.

Roberts Fish 40lbs

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Koen has 3 off of Co's Point to 33lb a nice common.

Danny F has 8 from The Alamo inc a 36 and 37. A 5 day trip for Mr F mainly to dive the lake between BIG SOUTHERLY and THE PINK to remove any snags they find. danny reports 'Danny T and i were amazed at how many snags were present in this area, we removed loads, some huge branches sticking bolt upright from the bottom, others semi buried but covered in zebra mussles. some snags were covered in line and rigs, all of which were removed. We have made this area far more fishable, its no wonder Ting Tong lost so many from here in June, both neighbouring swims will continue to benefit from what snags we couldnt remove and both are now far more fishable. on the fishing front i had a great few days in The Alamo, i learnt alot, mostly that if i had fed more i would have caught more, on the last day i put 2 kilos on their heads after a bite at 5am and had one 10 minutes after, had I rebaitied sooner after each fish i would have caught more. our carp are now addicted to large beds of boilies, too little bait will often go unnoticed!

Jack on work experience had 2 from The Stink

Danny T had 9 from Pole Position inc THE HEAD at 41 and 234 at 41, Indian Spice and Cell at 50 yards again, this swim just keeps producing the 40's close in!

The Head 41lbs

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Thick Wrist 37lbs

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A lady catches her new pb at 27lbs fro ALCATRAZ

Danny T takes 6 from POLE POSITION inc a 42. Danny only fishes on quiet weeks and keeps to 50 yards range in the summer to show how close the fish can be caught, he fed 20mm CELL fishing Indian Spice/Cell  snowmen ove the top.

Rene returns to catch the CUT TAIL common from ALAMO we;; spawned out at 43lbs, a low weight but good news for later weight gains!

BIG SOUTHERLY produced a new pb of 34lbs.

3 English verses 3 Germans verses 3 Dutch/Belgiums (benelux) in the first of an annual match between the countries. Anglers are spread all around the lake to make the match as fair as possible. winds mainly from the North and East and Sunny. Arjen of benelux in TREE LINE started strong with a small one and mid thirty but Tong BIG SOUTHERLY and Danny F ALCATRAZ came back with fish the first night and second day. that pattern continued during the week and Danny and Tong continued to extend their lead as the other countries failed to get to grips with the place, the final tallys were Germany 0 Fish! Benelux 9 fish for 190lbs and England 18 fish for 380lbs. Danny recalls 'we gave the other teams as much info as we could regarding winning baits and rigs yet most did their own thing which cost them dearly, i was happy with our result and proud of Tong and Tom Dove who soldiered on getting two fish on the last night when the wind turned in his favour. at this time of year when the fish have just spawned you simply cannopt give them enough bait and next year i will be training myself in advance to cope with the feeding regime as we do not allow boats for this competition. we all had a great time and the other teams were brillaint sports. the match was covered by SKY SPORTS and appears on the latest THINKING TACKLE series 4 DVD out in shops in Dec 09.

Danny with No Name at 30lb 8oz.

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This is the first week of our new season and we are as green to what works on this water as anyone else.

Our two paying customers started in The Pink and The Stink and moved around during the week without success. in handsight sticking to one swim and baiting it consistently would have brought better results.

Danny F and Neil came over for just 3 nights to help Danny T finish building the last of the palatial swims, Alcatraz, Pole Position and The Stock Pond. Danny writes 'I never knew how much hard work it would be building swims, aftre each day i was f+++ed! i fished in Alcatraz whislts it was being built and managed a stunning upper double on the second night and an even more stunning 34 we nicknamed Alcatraz on the last night. I spodded our particle mix and chopped Cell boilies for the first two nights but was too tired on night 3 so used the boat. The fish were clearly not scared of the 6 foot scaffold poles being banged in the swim during the day. A very satisfying few days topped off by Neil AKA Rigadon getting a new 40 at 40lb 4oz fcasting over to the Stock Pond out of bounds bank right in the edge. Good angling mate'!

Danny continues 'This is my first taste of the water at this time of year and i reckon you cannot use enough bait, i would start with a 10 litre bucket of particle, pellets and boilies or at leats 5kg boilies on day one and build that during the week. The fish have woken up and are looking for food!

Rigadon 40.04

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Alcatraz 34

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