Bailiff Comments

Week Commencing: Sat 08/02/2020

The boys are back in town....Gigantica Work Party 2020

They come around so quickly, but it was time for the Work Party once again. We had a long list of jobs which we hoped to complete, and eleven willing volunteers lined up to help us out. In February each year, the top priority is to rake all the swims on both lakes. The reason for doing this is twofold, one is to remove any weed present (which is now very) minimal and the other is to pick up any branches, debris and lost tackle on the regularly fished areas. Also, on the agenda, was cutting out the remaining dead trees on the Main Lake, which we have been working on for the last three years and some general site maintenance.

It goes without saying that, the boys would be fishing the nights and the draw was the usual tense affair. Deacon “The Beard” Olley just couldn’t help himself; he loves fishing in Big Southerly and has had a lot of fish from there over the last few years. He put himself straight back in there and went out on solid bags. The weather was “wild” to say the least and with massive Southerly winds and horizontal rain ploughing into the swim on Sunday night, Deacon’s rod cast at 14 wraps between the two marker poles proved to be a very productive rod! During the night he helped himself to three fish, which he estimated at 30lb, 40lb and a possible 50! As it happens, his guestimations were absolutely terrible! The amazing trio turned out to be “The Viking” at 39lb, “The Weld” at 60lb 4oz and he topped the lot with “Fudgy’s” at 78lb!! Considering the atrocious weather, it was a credit to him that he persevered through the night, recasting the rod after each bite. Brilliant angling mate. 

Dean “The Excavator” Cullen went into Co’s Point and we wondered how he would get on. The majority of the bites had been coming during the day, with fairly quiet nights. With working all day, his rods would be out of the water and he wouldn’t be able to bait up to hold the fish. We needn’t have worried though, as he caught on the first evening! He baited up each morning with 20 Spombs of corn and hemp, which usually resulted in a bite before he had to wind in at 9am for work. Straight after finishing work, he would repeat the process; but the nights are noticeably quiet in Co’s at present. During the week he landed six fish with the biggest being and old original known as “Wayne’s World” at 36lb 8oz. The fish all fell for two grains of IB Slow Sinking Maize on IQ D-Rigs fished on Heli-Safes at 28 wraps.

Paul “Simo” Simm fancied a go in Bob’s Beach and set his stall out fishing all three rods at 22 wraps towards the Alamo. Like Dean, he went with twenty Spombs of hemp and corn and fished Slow Sinking Maize over the top. Inexplicably, it was quiet for the first few nights, so he sensibly cut back on baiting. Quite often people keep putting in the bait, which has the effect of extending the amount of time it takes to get a bite when the fish do arrive. It proved to be the right decision as on Friday he landed himself his first Gigantica Carp, a pretty 27lb Mirror. 

Ionut “Jonni” Stamate went for Alcatraz and having a successful trip last time using solid PVA bags, he stuck with the tactic. Fishing at 29 wraps towards The Stink, it only took him until Sunday morning to get a bite. A twenty pound Common took the pressure of a blank off. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the end of the action, and the fish seemed to drift over more towards the Alamo side of the lake. 

After some dodgy underhand dealings, James “Bob the Builder Bailiff” Jones got the chance to chuck his rods out of Co’s Point as Dean didn’t mind sharing. We think it was completely outrageous considering it isn’t a double swim, but he refused point blank to move out!! Lol. Fishing out to the 28 wrap spot, he wasted no time in helping himself to a few fish. One of the stand-out captures was one of the 2016 Stockie’s which had never seen the bank before. The fish known as “Sling Back” weighed in at 30lb and was the best of the fourteen fish he landed during the week. James used two grains of IB Slow Sinking Maize on Spinner Rigs and used the Helisafe on 50cm Dark Matter leaders.

Loads of work was completed during the week and the boys dug out blind. We finally completed all the tree work on the Main Lake which was long overdue. Those who have visited us before will notice a huge change this year from their last trip. We also made a start at removing the brambles from the Road Lake and that will be our focus for the next few work parties. We do have a waiting list to get onto the Work Party, but if you want to get involved in the future, just let us know when you are at the lake. A really enjoyable week with some hard graft, a few fish and plenty of liquid refreshments. Here’s to the next one in December. 

Until next time

Tight Lines and Bonne Peche

Andy

Team Gigantica