Bailiff's Diary

26 April - 3 May 2008

Firstly, I must apologise to Neil Summers who was on DL4 w/e 26Apr and did not receive due recognition for his New Record 48lb 10oz mirror…. well done Neil!

Another good session last week led to individual catches of up to 43 fish, the capture of 5 delightful 50lb+ carp, over 40 x 40lb+ carp, the usual shedload of 30’s and 20’s as well as a few cats to 111lb too…. all amounting to another week totalling well over 7 tonnes of beautiful DL fish!

The weather improved a bit too, with “reasonably warm days, some nice sunshine, a bit of rain and cool nights” according to Matt. Top temps were 18C (day) and 12C (night). The weather is looking even better for this week with plenty of lovely, warm sunshine…. roll on summer!

DL1 produced a Top Catch of 43 fish this week for Steve Butcher (Unknown – Fusion & BYT), and included 4 x 40lb+ carp to a 44lb 6oz common as well as 10 x 30’s to a 38lb 8oz common. Top Carp was a beautiful 58lb 10oz common which fell to Alan Grainger (Ladies Lair – Maple 8). Top Cat went to Martin Starkey (Sunset – Activ-8) with an 84lb 8oz monster moggy.

DL2 provided seven anglers with 20+ fish catches and Danny Illingworth (swim 2 – Plastic Corn) took Top Carp honour with an admirable 24 fish catch to a 47lb 8oz common while Scott Jaeger (swim 7 – Cell) took Top Catch with a 25 fish total to a 46lb 8oz common. Top cat went to Andrew Stansfield (swim 15 – Matrix) with a 75lb specimen out of his 20 fish catch. Other notable catches went to Leon Allsopp (swim 22 – Cell) with a 22 fish catch to a 37lb 12oz common and Matt Illingworth (swim 3 – Activ-8) with 20 fish to a 36lb 8oz common.

DL3/4/5 performed magnificently too with 3 x 50lb+ carp from DL3, carp to 48lb on DL4 and cats to 111lb on DL5. Spencer Sands (DL3 – swim 7 – Nayland boilies) took Top Carp with a 57lb common in addition to 4 x 30lb+ carp to a 38lb 8oz mirror while Craig Sands (DL3 – swim 6 – Nail’em Winter Fruit) had a nice 53lb 8oz common, 2 x 40’s to a 45lb 8oz common and 2 x 30’s. Yet another fifty went to Chris Freeman (DL3 – swim 5 – Plastic Corn) who took a 52lb 14oz common, a 41lb mirror and 5 x 30lb+ carp to a 38lb 10oz mirror among his 28 fish catch (another fifty went to Bailiff Gary). Top Catch went to Jason Smith (DL3 – swim 2 – Nail’em boilies) with a 39 fish total, including 2 x 40’s and 10 x 30lb+ carp to a 38lb common. At the same time DL4 delivered Top Carp to Jake Bishop (swim 4 – Plastic Corn) with a 48lb common and a 25 fish haul to a 46lb common made Top Catch for Barry Francis (swim 1 – Activ-8). Top Cat and Top Carp honours on DL5 came in at 111lb (cat) and 39lb mirror (carp) for Terry Pugh (swim 6 – Pineapple DLS) who also had other big moggies of 100lb & 86lb.

Sounds like a good time was had by all…… more news next week.

Chris Freeman 52lb 14oz Common DL3		Scott Jaeger 46lb 8oz Common DL2
Craig Sands 53lb 12oz Common DL3		Steve Butcher 44lb 6oz Common DL1
Jason Smith 46lb 4oz Common DL3		Steve Mills 45lb 12oz Common DL1
Spencer Sands 57lb Common DL3		Terry Pugh 111lb Cat DL5

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19-26 April 2008

What an awesome week… an amazing 4 x 50lb+ carp and 40 x 40lb+ carp were landed among nearly 7 tonnes of fish. New records were set for DL5 with a 50lb 12oz mirror going to Scott Bowden and a 127lb cat going to Dave Sparkes.

DL3/DL4/DL5 have had a nice week producing the new records mentioned above. Dave Sparkes (swim 1 – Pro-Active Pineapple) sent in some nice pic’s and told me that his party took 40 carp from DL5 including the 50lb 12oz mirror, 3 x 40’s to 49lb and 13 x 30’s to his 39lb 8oz mirror. All that in addition to his huge moggy that weighed in at a hefty 127lb. Meanwhile DL3 produced some nice carp to 41lb including a shedload of 30’s and DL regular, Simon Slater (swim 14 – Assassin-8), topped the bill with a 21 fish catch. DL4 managed to deliver over 50 fish to a 48lb common, one of 3 x 40’s for Neil Summers (swim 3 – tiger nut flavour boilies) and a 69lb cat, one of a 13 fish catch for Dave Harris (swim 1 – Pro-Active Pineapple), who also managed a 44lb common and 4 x 30’s to a 39lb common.

DL1 had a tremendous week producing 50’s for Matt Birkin (51lb common – Hornets – Scopex Squid), Alan Ward (50lb 12oz common – Kingfisher – Activ-8) and Jason Channell (50lb 4oz common – Pro-Active Pineapple). Between them, they also managed a total of 50 fish including 7 x 40’s and 16 x 30’s…… good stuff! Top Catch went to Richard Broadway (Slope – Activ-8) with a very impressive 32 fish haul including 4 x 40lb+ carp to a 45lb mirror and 12 x 30’s to 39lb 8oz.

DL2 was certainly not to be outdone either, and managed to deliver well over 2 tonnes of fish on its own; including a 37 fish catch to a 43lb common for Dean Lamb (swim 30 – Nash Squid), a 30 fish catch to a 41lb common for Brad Williams (swim 27 – Pro-Active Pineapple) and a creditable 26 fish catch to a 43lb 7oz common and 5 x 30’s for Anthony Bond (swim 16 – Essential Opal).

Matt tells me that the weather provided some lovely sunshine and warm temps to 20C (day) and 12C (night) last week. He also added that “PVA bags and chops are doing well and the new boilie mincers, provided on site to create boilie powder, are ideal for the Stick Method…. boilies only is certainly looking really good!”

There is certainly something really satisfying from a productive weeks fishing, and where else are you likely to see 40 x 40lb+ carp in a week - not to mention 4 x 50lb+ carp and a 127lb cat? And yet, I suspect there is more and better to come…. can’t wait for the next 10 tonne week!

David Sparkes 39lb 8oz Mirror DL5		Dean Lamb 43lb 5oz Common DL2
J Channell 50lb 4oz Common DL1		Jason Davies 46lb Mirror DL4
Neil Summers 43lb 12oz Mirror DL4		Peter Hurst 39lb 12oz Mirror DL3
Steve Kay 49lb 4oz Mirror DL1		Toby Green 41lb Common DL3
Mike Welfare 49lb Mirror DL5		Dave Harris 44lb Common DL4

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12-19 April 2008

Fairly disappointing weather again last week….. it is certainly not very Spring-like (and yet last year we had a heat wave!) Nevertheless, the sun did make a show and despite some chilly nights we had some really nice fish out this week.

It was also good to see DL2 outperform all the other lakes in both numbers and size of carp. Pat Kiley (swim 30-Nash boilies) led the way with a very respectable 22 fish catch to a 56lb 4oz common…. nice one Pat! At the same time Darren Pierson (swim 16-NRG/Cell) topped the catch stakes with a 25 fish total including 5 x 30’s to a 37lb common. There were also a good selection of 40’s, three of which went to Wayne Lindsay (swim 17-Activ-8), the biggest being 46lb.

DL1 managed to produce an outstanding 130lb New Complex Cat Record for Andrew Frith (The Lodge-halibut boilies) and a 53lb 10oz mirror along with 4 x 30’s to a 35lb 7oz mirror for Ross Nash (East Bar-Activ-8). Meanwhile Dave Miller managed Top Catch for the week with 22 fish to a 39lb 6oz common (Cherries-undisclosed boilies). Other notable catches include: Paul Hook (Beach-undisclosed boilies) with 4 x 40’s to 45lb 12oz; Stephen Rand (Ladies Lair-halibut boilies) with 3 x 40’s to 47lb 8oz and Paul Gillett (Snags- Minstrel Rosehip) with 2 x 40’s to a 46lb 1oz common.

Top Carp on DL3/4/5 went to 13yr old Ashley Head (DL3-swim 5-Mussel & Oyster) with a 45lb 2oz common. He also shared Top Catch with Neil Woodward (DL4-swim 1-Activ-8 & plastic corn) both taking 15 fish catches. Also noteworthy was a 13 fish catch for Ian Kennerley (DL5-swim 1- undisclosed boilies).

Despite the weather it has been really nice to read such wonderful feedback from everyone enjoying the fishing, food and helpful Bailiffs…. so many new PB’s too!

So far this week, the news is even better….. the weather has improved, the sun is out and the fish are jumping onto the bank. Everyone had caught by Sunday, DL1 had produced a couple of 50’s and several 40’s, DL2 was also fishing well with loads of 30’s and 40’s while DL3 and DL4 are also fishing “steady”. Star of the show so far though, is DL5 which has produced a 50lb 12oz New Mirror Record and a 127lb New Cat Record.

Looking good!

Pat Kiley, 56lb 4oz Common DL2		Paul Hook, 45lb 12oz Common DL1
Ross Nash, 53lb 10oz Mirror DL1		Stephen Rand, 47lb Common DL1

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5-12 April 2008

The weather is still not very Spring-like and has been providing many showers, rain, snow, cool days (5C to 9C) and chilly nights (-4C to 6C).

Nonetheless, last week we saw some nice fish on the bank including: a 51lb common, 2 x 40’s & 2 x 30’s among the haul for Tommy Farrell (DL1–Beach Swim–Tutti Frutti), 2 x 40lb+ commons for DreamLake regular Tony Gouldsborough (DL1–West Point-Essential Opal), a 76lb cat for young Harry Millward (age 10–DL1–Herbies Hole–Activ-8) and a 12 fish catch with 3 x 30’s for 13 year old Luke Drea (DL1–East Bar–Activ-8 & Cell). Several other 30’s and 40’s made an appearance making sure that there were no blanks last week.

DL2 delivered a 28 fish catch to a 34lb mirror and 71lb 8oz cat for Mark Robinson (swim 12) and a 23 fish catch including 36lb & 37lb mirrors for Mark Gibbs (swim 16). Top weights for carp were 39lb 9oz for Alex Kakoullis (swim 27–Maple-8) and 39lb 8oz for Steve Speakman (swim 23–NRG boilies).

Top Carp on DL3/4/5 went to 11 year old Josh Jellis with a 48lb mirror (DL4–swim 4–Activ-8) and Shaun Buckley with a 46lb common (DL3–swim 7–Activ-8). Other notable catches include: Dave Morris with 3 x 30’s to 37lb 8oz (DL3–swim 11–Activ-8) and a 38lb 7oz mirror for Matt Corston (DL5–swim 4–Pro-Active Pineapple).

Early news for the 11Apr trip indicate that we have a handful of 40’s and a new Complex Cat Record at a massive 130lb from DL1 (took three and a half hours to land!) as well as a 50lb+, 3 x 40’s and several 30’s from DL2…….. still waiting to hear the DL3/4/5 news.

Latest weather forecast is much warmer and brighter towards the weekend (up to 16C).

Josh Jellis, 48lb Mirror DL4		Luke Drea, 33lb Mirror DL1
Steve Cash, 33lb Mirror DL3		Tommy Farrell, 51lb Common DL1

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