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Bailiff Comments
Week Commencing: Sat 02/09/2017
THE LUCK OF THE DRAW….OR NOT!!
In the minds of most continental carper’s, September is “THE” month to take a trip to snare a monster or two. At Gigantica, the lakes residents are still putting on the weight they lose during spawning, but the first signs of the high summer temperatures receding can trigger the fish into a bit of a feeding frenzy. As you would expect, we had a full house this week, with most of the anglers being long time returners. What would the week ahead hold; it was all on the dreaded draw.
Jeff Maskall had the unfortunate honour of being number twelve of twelve at the draw bag! Once he had picked himself up off the floor he had the difficult decision to make, of where to fish for the week. Left with only Stock Pond or Baxter’s, he opted for the latter and got himself organised. He was accompanied by his better half Michelle, who certainly kept morale up after the poor draw! Initially Geoff decided to fish three rods at 20 wraps towards “The Stink” and baited up with 5kg of Sticky Baits Krill with the Spomb. He used three Chod Rigs initially, which he baited with White Scent From Hell Pop-Ups. At 4am on Sunday morning he had his first bite, and called Andy the Bailiff to say he had landed a 50lb plus Common. What a result considering the poor draw. Once transferred from the net to the recovery sling, the early estimate of 50lb turned out to have been a little conservative. Nestled in the sling was non-other than the stunning Immaculate Common, which tipped the scales round to a whopping 76lb! Once the photo session had been completed Jeff went on to catch consistently every day. On the tactical front, he listened to the bailiffs advice and had a good look around the right hand margin corner, finding himself a nice 22ft depression in the lake bed. He walked down the bank, baiting accurately by hand, and on Monday night got a pick up which resulted in another chunk! This time Spence’s at 62lb was his reward; what a week he was having. From that moment on, things just went from good to amazing for Jeff, he went on to have a week he couldn't have possibly dreamed of. During the week he rang the changes with his presentation and after catching three fish on Chod's switched over to fishing double 20mm Krill Tuff Ones on IQ D-Rigs tied with 20lb Korda IQ2 and Size 4B Korda Kranks. Getting at least a bite every night, he picked up eight fish including, 1 x 70, 1 x 60, 3 x 40’s and a trio of thirties! He was baiting up every day with 5kg of Sticky Baits Krill and demonstrated that it doesn't matter where you come out in the draw, some exceptional results are there for the taking. A big well done to Geoff; however, we still think it was all down to the female pheromones in your swim. Michelle can definitely claim an assist!
Gareth "Gaz" Harrison couldn't believe his luck when he got chance to fish in Co’s Point for the week. It had been the swim of his desire on all his previous visits, but the draw had never gone his way. Rightfully, chomping at the bit to get started, he wasted no time in getting himself out to the 27.5 wrap spot towards the “Boobs”. It was impressive to see his Spomb hitting the clip every time and him laying it down with accuracy. We felt confident that he was going to get a result by the way he approached his fishing. On the bait front, he went with Baitworks Royal Marine mixed with Sticky Baits Krill, which he soaked in oils and lakewater prior to putting them out. A hardened bottom bait with a White Scent From Heaven Pop-Up on IQ D-Rigs proved to be the winning combination. On Sunday morning he called the bailiff to say he had a bit of a chunk in the net, and sure enough, he had got off to a great start. Most of us prefer to have a bacon sandwich for breakfast, but Gaz is obviously a connoisseur, and his bacon has to come from Denmark! The Mirror known as Danish Bacon had slipped up, and on the scales at 58lb 12oz made it a breakfast to remember. A familiar pattern emerged, and Gaz picked up fish every day, but most notably off his middle rod, which was smack in the middle of the baited area. On Wednesday evening things went a bit bonkers; after being called out for a big fish in the Treeline swim, the pictures had barely been taken when Gaz shouted across that he had a massive fish in the net. After finishing the photo session in Treeline, Andy the Bailiff galloped his way round to Co’s Point to see what awaited….Gaz wasn't wrong, it was ‘kin massive. After getting a few helpers from adjoining swims, we hoisted the beast up onto the scales, which span round to 79lb 8oz!! Yet again the greed of Fudgie’s had betrayed her. She certainly has a penchant for Co’s Point. Gaz continued to put in the bait, using 25kg during the week, and got his reward every night. By the end of the week he had landed 1 x 70, 2 x 50’s, 2 x 40’s, what an average.
Chris Clarke set up his stall in The Stink for the week, and being comfortable at distance fishing, opted to go out to 29.5 wraps to see if he could snare one from further out. He chose to fish IQ D-Rigs tied with 20lb Korda IQ2 and Size 2 Korda Kurvs, or with a Spinner Rig for a Pop-Up presentation. Like Gaz, he was also using Baitworks Royal Marine and Sticky Baits Krill mixed together. Putting all three rods close together, it had only been an hour since he finished baiting up on Saturday that he got his first bite! After an epic tussle he landed the first monster of the week. Pip’s at 61lb 12oz set him a new PB and what a way to start off your session. In the early hours of Sunday morning he was in again; the fish were clearly feeding hard on the spot. Chris landed a fish which by Gigantica size seemed fairly insignificant, but little did he know that he had landed the largest Stockie from the class of 2016. The chunky Mirror known as Hector had made his first appearance in almost a year. At 22lb, Chris had just missed out on the bounty prize by a couple of weeks! Never mind, we are running the same competition for the first Stockie to go over 30lb, better luck next time Chris. Using the Spomb to bait up, Chris was putting in 5-8 kg of bait per day.
Dave Martin fancied spending the week in the Treeline swim, and after taking the advice of the bailiff, he started fishing one rod to the end of the fallen tree at 21 wraps, and then put his other two rods out into open water, towards “The Stink” at the same distance. Dave baited up his open water spot every day with the Spomb using Sticky Baits Krill and fished with IQ D-Rigs and matching Krill Wafters over the top. Despite fishing well; the carp managed to evade capture and Dave was scratching his head a bit to see what else he could do to induce that all important bite. As is nearly always the case at Gigantica, there was little Dave could do other than remain patient. He was rewarded in style late on Wednesday evening, when out of the blue he got a bite from one of the open water rods and after a bit of a battle royale, he slipped the net under a big Mirror. Up on the scales “The Clown” weighed in at a healthy 57lb 12oz, setting a new PB for Dave, and its first capture for all most a year.
Numero Uno this week was Steve Farnon and he went into a swim which he had coveted during his last two trips; Alcatraz. The 23 wrap spot towards Scottie’s Corner on the “hump” was the obvious choice, as it has been producing fish all year. Steve started off fishing two rods to the hump, and one at “The Stink” at 27 wraps. He baited up using Sticky Baits Krill mixed with pellet and maize, then fished running leads and IQ D-Rigs made up with Korda IQ2 in 20lb and Size 4B Korda Kurv Hooks. All was quiet until late on Wednesday evening when he was the final link in a chain of big fish landed in ninety minutes. A rip snorting take and a heavy dogged fight resulted in Steve’s first Gigantica carp. To say he was pleased would be an understatement; I think they heard the shout in Paris!! The very pretty Mirror known as “Baby Cluster” at 47lb 12oz, ended nearly three blank trips. Very hard earned, and very well done Steve.
The only vacant swim left this week was the Stock Pond, so Andy the bailiff put out his rods out for a few nights. Initially baiting up with 5kg of the Mainline Prototype Fishmeal at 26 wraps towards Oblivion, he fished running COG leads on Korda Dark Matter Leaders and IQ D-Rigs baited with matching wafters. Spending quite a bit of time listening for fish in the dark told him there were fish in the area, but a bite did not materialise. The majority of the bites this week had come on the back of the wind, and he felt that a change to fishing closer, behind the wind line could perhaps give him a result. On Friday evening, his convictions proved to be true, as a pretty 24lb Common known as “Anger Issues” picked up his wafter fish at 8 wraps to a clear area in the weed, and saved what would otherwise have been a blank week.
It was a really interesting and enjoyable week, with much learned. There were also some huge carp caught, which always goes down well. For the first time in months, the hoody is being worn on a morning, and there is a noticeable shift in the overnight temperatures. Once the carp get used to the drop, it is a sure bet that they will be feeding even harder. We can't wait to see what surprises the lake has in store over the coming weeks. Until next week…
Tight Lines and Bon Peche
Andy
Team Gigantica