Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 30/03/2019

Week commencing 30.3.19

After being spoilt with weather that could have been mistaken for summer the previous week, the anglers this week were not going to be so lucky. With the average daytime temperatures hovering around 14 degrees and the nights dipping just below zero with some added high air pressure; conditions were less than ideal. Everyone arrived and after a quick brew it was time for the walk around. The Main Lake residents weren’t going to give up their location too easily, and there were very few signs of fish movement during the lap. Swim selection this week wasn’t going to be easy.

Paul Morgan came out early in the draw and opted for Big Southerly which made sense considering the result from the previous week. It turned out to be a bit of a waiting game for Paul. With some guidance from James the Bailiff on hitting his spots, Paul was soon fishing comfortably at 25 wraps towards Alcatraz, and with the rods hitting the spot every time and baiting up like a pro it was a case of sit and wait. 

After returning with a “food baby” from another epic dinner on Thursday evening, he recast his first rod at 14 wraps to the far marker followed by the second at 25 wraps towards Alcatraz. As he lowered the rod to settle the line, unbelievably the spool started spinning and he was into an epic battle! The result was a new PB of 50lb 4oz in the form of ‘Mr Chow’ which slipped up on three pieces of IB Pop-Up Corn. This was fished over 2-3kg of boilie and our Hemp and Maize mix. Big Fish Thursday had definitely lived up to its reputation once again.

Luke Cornelius still managed to bag Co’s Point even after coming out 9^thin the draw! Maybe nobody wanted to follow in the footsteps of DF who had managed over 20 bites in there the previous week. Amazingly, this was Luke’s third time in the swim; was it going to be a case of third time lucky?  With a good brief up from DF, Luke had his approach sorted and fished all three rods at 30 wraps towards the gap between the “Flat Oak” and “The Tits”. His baiting tactic was to fish with Essential Cell boilie over a bed of corn with a 15mm hook bait presented on a D-Rig with a Size 4 hook. 

After introducing around 5kg of mixed corn and boilie on Saturday night, the fish moved in on the spot and by 8am on Sunday morning Luke had bagged himself two very welcome carp. The biggest being a 2017 Stockie Common weighing in at 29lb which Luke named “Skinfade”. With the fish showing a preference for morning feeding over the baited spot like clockwork the next bite was at 8am on the Monday morning in the shape of Nanny Pat at 25lb and Twin Moon on the Tuesday at “yep you guessed it 8am you could set your watch by them” however the big girls just didn’t want to play ball.

Gigantica regular James (Get the boat) Hayden jumped into The Stink as it’s one of his favoured swims which he has enjoyed success from previously. He located a hard gravel patch at sixteen wraps for his first two rods which were fished over a bed of crumbed and chopped Mainline Cell mixed with Maize and Hemp. James fished over the top of this with an Essential Cell Wafter presented on an IQ D-Rig on a Heli-safe system. His third rod was placed at fourteen wraps.

With fish showing at fairly short range during the hours of darkness and early morning it was the sixteen wrap spot that produced for James at 6am on Friday morning. Not one of the hoped-for monsters but a very welcome Stockie known as “The Teacher” at 27lb 4oz. No doubt he will be back again soon for another epic Gigantica adventure (maybe give the 30,000ft skydive and 24km run a miss next time James)!!!

Next up was Killian Hallett fishing in Stock Pond. With most of the fish activity being out towards Oblivion at around the 100yrd mark and a little searching with a bare led, Killian settled on a spot at 20 wraps just to the left of Oblivion. All three rods were placed at this range with an initial baiting up consisting of 5kg of Maize and Hemp mixed 50/50 with Sticky Manilla boilie. He fished a Manilla Pop-Up tipped with plastic Maize over the top. With the fish showing over the bait, surely it was only a matter of time before one slipped up.  On Thursday morning at 7am he got a chance and landed a fish called “Beat The Germans” at 34lb. His next fish came the following evening with one of the 2017 Stockie’s, and another first-time visitor to the bank at 17lb 12oz.  The fish is now named as “Wee Man”.

Last but by no means least was Dom Grant fishing in Oblivion. Dom really struggled to get amongst the fish during the week, but I couldn’t write this report without giving him a mention. He was one of those anglers that epitomise just why we love and have such passion for what we do as both anglers and bailiffs. Every morning after delivering breakfast around the lake, Dom’s was the last swim on the list and every morning without fail I was met with an “Alright Buddy, kettle is on”. After a brew and a chat it reminded me that sometimes we get blinded by all the big fish in the lake and the pressure we put ourselves under to catch. Sometimes we forget why we are here in the first place; to relax and enjoy the sport we love so much. On Friday evening as I sat writing this catch report, I saw Dom standing at the front of the swim bent in to a fish. It turned out not to be one of the lakes enormadons, but a pristine 13lb Stockie which had never been caught before. On this occasion it wasn’t about the weight, it was the fact it was a Gigantica carp that had put the smile on his face…..priceless.

Until next time tight lines

James

Team Gigantica