Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 06/04/2019

Week commencing 06/04/2019

This week continued with the cold theme in the first half with the temperature’s dropping below freezing however with a change due in the second half of the week and a massive drop in pressure things were looking good. This week we had all fresh faces on the Main lake after the walk around it was time for the draw and the best advice from the bailiffs was to choose a swim that you can fish to your strengths in as on the main lake the key is to fish with accuracy and to be prepared to still hit your spots if the weather takes a turn and the winds pick up you can still be confident you are fishing.

Paul Gilbank is up first fishing Alcatraz with fish showing out long Paul decided to fish the 28 wrap spot between stink and Big Southerly and wasted no time on getting a good bed of bait on the spot with a mix of maize, hemp and chopped boilie this was fished over with a 15mm yellow pop-up presented on a spinner rig his first bite however came to a 19ft zig placed over his baited area after seeing fish showing at the back of the spot while spoming out with a lovely common known as Long Spot at 28lb 8oz his second fish fell to the yellow pop-up rig with a slow and steady run just before mid-day on Tuesday it was undoubtable one of the big girls after an epic battle he slipped the net under a stunning deep bodied mirror a new PB and fish of a lifetime with Clarkey’s at a new top weight of 62lb on the nose this was followed up with probably one of the lakes smallest residents but still very welcomed 2018 stockie at 12lb.

Next up is Adam Beadle fishing Oblivion after setting up on the Saturday Adam choose to fish three singles at 27 wraps following on from the previous angler this paid off in the early hours Sunday morning waking up to a screaming run on his middle rod landing him The Leney at 42lb not a bad way to start the week. However, with a change in the weather the following day he struggled to get the bait out to the spot with a side wind blowing across the swim and the same forecast for the second half of the week Adam decided to drop back to 25 wraps and baited the area with maize, hemp and chopped boilie with a bite coming at the same time the following morning the decision had paid off with Weltons at 24lb falling to a white pop-up fished on a spinner rig.

Stuart Ives fished The Stink after starting the week on the opposite side of the lake and seeing fish show close to the to the far bank it was time for a move and with a cast around with a bare lead Stuart found a nice hard spot at 16 wraps and with a small amount of bait and as little disturbance as possible the traps were set and it was just a matter of time and at 4.15 the following morning the rod on the short spot rattled off only landing one of the very first of the fish stocked in 2016 A.K.A super stockies it was Hector originally stocked at 13lb she now weighed in at a massive 42lb 4oz with this being the first time out over 40 and looked absolutely stunning.

Tony Gardner fished Big girls with the corners starting to come into play this time of year the fish are defiantly getting there however they are not tight to the margins so Tony fished his first two rods just at the bottom of the marginal shelf and baited them from the bank to cause as little disturbance as possible his third rod was fished at 21 wraps towards the life ring just short of the point. The fish were showing at night with some large crashing through the first couple of nights but with no action on the rods after some small rig changes and a slight change in bait presentation to smaller baits Tony managed to winkle one out not the biggest but welcome all the same Willo slipped into the net at 25lb.  

Week Commencing 13/04/19

The Weather was looking increasingly better and everybody was raring to go after the walk round, a few regulars were on this week and a few new lads, so it was a good mix, we all hoped for a few bites!

Throughout the course of the week the fish were MEGA active all over the lake, but just did not seem to be massively on the much. Naturals in the lake possibly keeping them occupied. Still…a few really scaley bangers got caught!

Jason Donaldson doubled up with his pal GaryCobb after coming out early in the draw and after a discussion decided to fish the right hand side of The Alamo. Taking the advice from the Baillif the guys decided to concentrate their efforts at a comfortable range for both of them. 90 yards was the decided distance and Jason was aiming his rods towards the big tree left of The Beach. Gary fished the same range but kept a rod on the 15 wrap spot towards the clubhouse as well, this produced a quick bite for Gary on the Sunday one of the 2018 stockies which he has named ‘cobler’. Jason had to wait a little longer for his bite, but it was well worth the wait! He received a steady take on his middle rod and after a wicked battle he had the ‘King Fully’ in the net!! This is a seriously cool carp and me and Rob (The Korda Koach) couldn’t wait to photograph it! Weighing 42lb 14, this was a new P.B for Jason and Gary couldn’t wait to give him a bucket of water for his troubles. The scaley beast was nailed on a Spinner rig with an almond goo infused pop up, fished over a bed of our on site particle and washed out Sticky Manilla boilies, baiting up consistently everyday with 5kg . Jason also had a 28lb 12oz mirror that fell to the same tactics

Nick Miles fancied a bit of Big Southerly when his ball number was called out and it paid off. Fishing down towards the left marker pole at 14 wraps, he had to wait until the Wednesday for his first bite but landed a wicked 2017 stockie by the name of ‘old yellow’ @ 24lb2oz followed by another absolute weapon of a carp, ‘Mad Max’ @ 42lb, Nick was feeding 3kg of maize and Baitworks Royal Marine everyday and kept the bait going in consistentl and at the business end of the rig he incorporated a pineapple pop up and solid bag tactics fished over his bed over bait, Good angling mate!

Geoff Longley came out very early in the draw and jumped straight into Co’s Point, baiting the 31 spot at ‘the new tits’ everyday with DNA SLK Boilies, fishing Milky malt wafters inside solid bags of crushed boilies. Geoff had a couple of 2018 stockies to start the week off and saw fish cruising around the surface later on in the week with the warmer weather starting to come through, Geoff switch one rod over to an adjustable zig and fished it over his baited spot, changing the depth every hour until he received an absolute stonker of a bite which turned out to be another cracking mirror known as ‘The Resident’ @ 41lb8oz, Geoff saw fish on the last night showing well beyond his spot and wrapped a solid bag up to 38 wraps at the old tits and had a 9lb Stockie called ‘Plateau’

It was a tough week on the Main Lake with a lot of fish showing all over the lake but just not the right conditions for them to have a really good munch, still a cracking week though and I look forward to seeing everyone in the near future! 

Tight Lines,

Steve