Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 29/08/2015

Water temp 24. Air Temp 37 degrees at start falling to 20 by end of week, W and NW winds dominant with the odd swirly day.

 

Saturday night/Sunday

With temps up to 35 degrees setting up was a mission! Ian Bailey snapped a bank stick and almost passed out in Alamo – liquids, Bailey!

Wind was calm and the night super muggy yet just before first light the fish came alive, particularly in big girls, oblivion, Alamo, stink and big southerly. Danny F in big girls got made a fool of by the carp, failing to score when it was black on him...

Tom Dove came out 11th out of 12 again and got Stock Pond and promptly caught the first carp! White lines at 48lb 12oz at 22RL on two giant tigers, a size 4 Krank B on a helicopter combi. Top angling by Tom from an unfancied swim, just like last year. The cream always rises to the top!

Sunday was a scorcher and no more bites came.

 

Sunday night/Monday

A quiet night with the first bites coming at 7am to Paul Harris is big southerly, sadly he lost the mid 30 common at the net as the damaged line snapped, gutted for him!

DF then gets a bite off the 21RL spot in big girls, it didn't run out into open water so he was forced to play it by the weed bed and the hook pulled as he coaxed it back out the weed. Two balanced tigers on a lead clip and combi rig got the bite.

Then Neil Raison has a beautiful scaly 21-pounder off the left rod in the tree line and sadly loses another huge fish he simply couldn't stop getting in the trees, again gutted for him. Jay in Co's had them all over him at 25RL between 6 and 8am yet no takes came, a regular occurrence from these wily carp!

That was it for the day, again a scorcher but with moderate SW winds swinging NW by nightfall.

 

Monday night/Tuesday

A storm rocked over briefly after dark and temps dropped significantly. Harris was away at midnight, also on his right hand rod, and he quickly tamed a scaly 23-pounder, some consolation after losing the mid-30 common the previous morning.

DF had what he thought was a liner at the same time but after a fish-less morning with the fish showing all over him he reeled in a blunt hook, the liner must have been an aborted take, ruining the hook and his chances. Raison sadly lost one in the tree line due to a hook pull.

Even in biblical weather the carp remained elusive with many anglers refusing to rest their swims as is usual on the Korda week, instead fishing all day to try and buy a bite.

 

Tuesday night/Wednesday

The strong NW wind abated on dark and our first cold night came in, down to 13 degrees as a welcome relief after nights of 25 degrees at he start of the week. Fish continued to show from Big Girls all the way down Alamo bank to Scotties, yet by first light no takes had come.

Fish were now showing in front of Dalton in Alcatraz, the new clear spot has been created at 25 wraps by the bailiffs and with it now well fishable, Dalton looks good for bites by the end of the week. 

Harris starts the day with a 25 on his left rod at 14.5 wraps, double tiger as usual. Then Bailey opens his account with the awesome Apple Slices at 39lb, 27 wraps out of Alamo on a banoffee wafter over 6-7kg Spicy Active boilie put out over previous three days. Well done to Bails for keeping his head and fishing solidly despite the lack of action due to the intense hot weather at the start of the week. Fish continued to sheet up bubbles over his area yet no takes came. Bails rig incorporated 8" of 20lb Dark Matter braid to a 4 Krank b, Dark Matter anti-tangle sleeve onto a hybrid lead clip, tubing and 4.5oz lead - simple streamlined and effective.

In a cruel twist of fate, DF lost one whilst doing Bailey’s pics when his receiver failed to go off two swims down the bank, the left rod in the corner of big girls at seven wraps on a double balanced tiger. He was lucky not to lose the rod at such close range, it's not been his week with two loses so far. Harris is then in again on his left rod with another mid twenty. And follows that up with a stunning 22 pound almost fully scaled.

The fish have now moved into the middle after the rain and cooler temps starting 24 hours ago. Experienced bailiff Steve Rocke reckons it always takes 24 hours after a change in temp for the fish to really get their heads down. Fish are spotted over all the open water baited areas at dusk, which is a very good sign for Wednesday night.

 

Wednesday Night/Thursday

It’s 1am and Rob in The Stink has a one toner at 28 wraps which he cannot slow down! The fish powers right and cannot be stopped, it eventually cuts him off on the snag in Big Southerly. He is beside himself and professes the next day that it was the most powerful fish he has ever hooked. A change from a semi-fixed to a running lead clip was pivotal in turning a pick up into a run.

At the same time Bailey has an occurrence in Alamo at 28 wraps with the bobbin slamming into the blank, a defo aborted take, on a fixed lead clip. This has been a running theme on Gigantica, fish using the lead to throw the hook. We recommend running rigs whenever possible to stop them throwing the hook with the weight of the lead.

Jay on Co's lands his first fish, a 27 pounder on his left rod cast into the sparse weed to the left, popped up tigers on a naked chod doing the bizz. Harris moves back from a night in scotties to Big Southerly and loses two in an hour from his 14-wrap spot - two cut offs so he moves over to 20lb line, a move he really should have made on day one!

At 8.30am, DF in Big Girls gets a ripper from his 21-wrap spot on a running lead clip and after some tense moments in the weed over the euro tree line, manages to coax a pristine 28-pounder to the relief of everyone. He doesn't cope well with losing them! Two tigers slightly balanced on a 6" combi and 4 Wide Gape X does the trick over 10 big pouch loads of tigers.

Fish continue to show over Carl in Oblivion, Bailey in Alamo and Rob in The Stink yet no bites come. Jonny Mann in pole gets a bite off a carp at 5.30pm and sadly loses it, consensus of opinion is he hit into it too early as he was right by the rod but who knows!

 

Thursday night/Friday

It’s 3am and Rob takes Scale Perfect at 35lb 12oz from The Stink at his 28 wrap spot, on a size 4 Wide Gape, 10" of 20lb Dark Matter braid and a Krill wafter, the running lead clip making the difference again. At the same time Bailey in Alamo gets an aborted on a semi fixed lead clip! Lessons learnt for bails!

Then 5am Rob is in again on his raining rod at 28 wraps, same rig with a banoffe wafter soaked in squid goo - this is a monster that holds deep, then disaster! The hook pull half way in for no reason, gutted for him!

Harris in Big Southerly has a 30lb mirror on two tigers hard on the bottom on his left rod at 14 wraps. We don't know the weight because the fool lets it slide out the net as he transfers it into the sling, doh!

Jon Mann is finally off the mark with a 19-pounder in Pole Position on a garlic pop-up fished naked chod-style in the weed to the left of his baited area at 27 wraps, good angling for targeting the weed JM!

Then at 10.30am Carl in Oblivion has the Koi Common at 45lbs 8oz, on his right hand spot cast at the marker pole in Big Southerly at 12 wraps on four tiny pea tigers. Well done to Carl for not losing his head and fishing solidly all week. It's amazing - his 24RL spot didn't do bites but the fish showed over it for most of the week.

Tom Wager moves out of Beech to Scotties and has them all over him Thursday night but no bites come. It is no surprise that the fish turn up on Tom’s old bait in The Beach as soon as his lines are out of the water for a few hours....

 

Friday Night/Saturday

Very quiet on the whole lake, Bails expects another chance now armed with running lead clips but both he and Rob in Stink see nothing and catch nothing.

Then DF had the only bite of the night at 7am on four tiny pea tigers and sadly gets cut off as he lifts into the fish! A cruel end to his week and an unexplained cut off that must be from mussels in the weed. He vows to return with 20lb line and make amends.

So that's another Korda trip over, as many were lost as were caught but 24 bites in a week is not to be sniffed at. All the lads loved it as always and can't wait to get back next year, except Tom Dove, who's back in two weeks!

Take heed from this week - if you fish tigers, fish tiny stacks hard on the bottom with no cork at all as fish do seem to be sussing balanced tigers out. Also fish running rigs and semi tight lines, fixed leads are causing loads of aborted takes as the fish shake the hook out using the weight of the lead.

If you can fish in low lying weed rather than totally clear still with slow sinkers or bottom baits you will catch more than off the big clear areas. And if the weed is deeper, naked chods with our own banoffee pop-ups are a top choice.

The fish are feeding well out in open water and our own banoffee wafters remain the best hook baits but definitely use match-the-hatch Spicy Active hookers too, the perfect complement to our exclusive Spicy Active boilie from Mainline.

 

The team also managed some serious games of poker and enjoyed the excellent hospitality from the bailiffs Buzz, Adam and Steve – the whole Korda crew would like to extend their thanks to the bailiffs and Danny for letting them all fish for the week and enjoy the amazing sport that Gigantica has to offer.

 

Tight lines

 

Team Gigantica