Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 31/12/2018

"Southern Monkey" Steve Bartlett bags himself a big Northern Lass in Co’s Point.

With the temperature’s dropping fast it’s definitely starting to feel like winter. December is always a busy month with the Work Party, but the weather is not going to slow us down. There is loads of work being done, rebuilding swims, tree work and removing snags around the Main Lake (in particular, the removal of the fallen tree in Treeline). This was followed by the Korda Koach Trip with Rob Burgess on hand for some, one to one coaching for  first time visitors, talking them through tactics and how to approach their winter fishing.

Week Commencing 01/12/18.

With day time temperatures struggling to get above 5 degrees, the guys were definitely battling against the elements. This didn’t stop them getting amongst the fish though; starting off with Dean Ennis fishing Co's Point. With the fish still showing at fairly short range, Dean opted to fish at 22 wraps towards the “Tits” with all three rods. His baiting approach was to spod a mix of crushed Sticky Manilla boilie with maize and fished a large black tiger nut on a blow back rig with a Size 4 Krank B. This resulted in three fish for Dean during he week, with the biggest being one of the new Stockies at 31lb which he has now named Boreas.

Richard “Tricky Dicky” Winter took the option of fishing in Alcatraz and startedwith two rods on the hump at 24 wraps, and his third rod fished at 31 wraps towards The Stink. After a few quiet days disaster struck when he lost a big fish during the fight, and it knocked his confidence. But, he got back on the horse and landed two fish from the hump; with the biggest being the “Little Plated” at 37lb 8oz. Both fish falling to Korda IB Pop-up Maize fished on a blow back rig, over a bed of maize.

Week Commencing 08/12/18

With the work party kicking of this week, the fishing was restricted to nights as the guys got stuck into rebuilding the swims and removing the snags. During the week they rebuilt Oblivion, Alamo, Stink, Big Southerly, Scotties, Co’s and Bob’s Beach and removed all the sub surface snags from Treeline right the way around to Big Southerly. They also did some overdue work on the clubhouse’s, putting a new roof on the Road Lake Clubhouse, and covered the storage area on the Main Lake.

The boys definitely had their work cut out, but they still found time to get amongst the fish and the cheese and wine! Top rod for the week was Radu Mitrea fishing Baxter’s Hole who landed himself five fish up to 30lb. His approach for the week was to fish an inline lead with a blowback rig tipped with a 15mm Scent From Hell pop up fished over a mix of chopped boilie and maize at 21 wraps towards The Stink.

Next up was Paul Carpenter fishing in Pole Position with four fish landed for the week, the biggest being 26lb. Paul fished all three rods at 27.5 wraps to the right of “Stink” his baiting approach was to spod 4kg of maize and chopped Sticky Manilla boilies per day. He fished Spinner Rig tipped with a Gigantica Special Mingle Fruit Pop-up over the top to get the bites.

Wayne “The Monk” Barker landed himself the biggest fish of the week, with “Bullet” at 34lb from The Alamo. The stunning Mirror fell to Slow Sinking IB Maize fished at 15 wraps towards the clubhouse, over a bed of maize.

Week Commencing 15/12/18.

The Korda Koach Trip decended on the Main Lake, with Koach Rob Burgessdoing the business with eight first time visitors to the Main Lake. He wasted no time in getting stuck into tactics and the best approach to tackle the Main Lake. The fishing turned out to be hard going for most of the lads, with only one Stockie caught in the first half of the week. 

Rob Burgess had the opportunity to move into Co’s Point for the last couple nights, when one lad went home early and being a class act, Rob made the most of the opportunity. He started fishing at 32 wraps towards the “Tits” baiting the spot with twenty Spombs of Sweetcorn and fished over the top with a Mystic Spice infused Pop-up on a Spinner Rig. Over the course of the next 48 hours he went on to land six fish, including “Woods Common” at 31lb 12oz and “Well Hung” at a staggering 54lb 12oz. The fish had piled on a massive 13lb since its previous capture in August! Although the fishing proved to be difficult for the lads, they had an amazing time taking away some great tips to improve their fishing back home, and ready for their next visit to Gigantica.

Week Commencing 22/12/18

Christmas week at Gigantica was always going to be celebrated in style with James the Bailiff and his two daughters, Sophie and Rocha looking after their guest for the week, Steve Bartlett. First and most important job for the week was to trim tree with terminal tackle and recovered lake Spombs. In lieu of a fairy we opted for a Nanny Pat hat.

Having guest privileges, Steve Bartlett opted to fish Co’s Point after the success Rob had the previous week. Two rods went out to the 32 wrap spot, which he continued baiting with a mix of hemp and sweetcorn, fishing a Pink Almond infused Pop-up on the Spinner Rig, and one at 14 wraps towards The Alamo. Over the course of the next few days, Steve landed an incredible eighteen fish!! In amongst them were some absolute stunners, including “Saddam” at 31lb, “Kling-on” at 40lb, “The Bean” at 48lb, “The Cod” at 37lb and “King Fully” at 44lb. This was backed up with a number of the new stockies weighing in at up to 33lb. 

With everything looking spot on for a Christmas carp it was a bit of an anti-climax when the day passed uneventfully. That all changed 1am Boxing Day when his short-range rod burst into life. Now considering what he’d already caught, what could possibly improve the session and put the icing on the cake? After an epic battle one of the most elusive “superbeasts” in Europe slipped over the net cord; the one and only Northern Scaly at a massive 80lb! She has been on the missing list for over 4 years what an incredible way to finish 2018. 

It’s been the best December on record here at Gigantica and it will just keep getting bigger and better with the stocking policy in place. With a lot of people hanging up their rods during the winter they are missing out on catching the fish at their biggest weights, and in their best condition. The lads who do brave the elements, deserve all the luck they get.

Here’s looking forward to seeing you all in 2019.              

James

Team Gigantica