Lichtenbergs: Back to Rainbow Lake

For me Rainbow Lake has always been something special. The whole atmosphere, topography of the lake and the sheer size of some of the carp swimming around there makes it an awesome venue to tackle - nothing is left to chance when it comes to gear, only the toughest hooks, line and end tackle will do. This December trip would be a fortnight spread over two very different swims. The weather was mild and the lake had been hit by the fist frosts of winter a week before we arrived cooling down the water a fair bit. 4 rigs were put out in deeper water, spread out nicely around the swim and as expected the fishing was slow and we were not seeing or hearing any signs of carp in the area. After 3 days I had the first take ending up with a hard fighting 53lb mirror in the net – this would prove to be the only take the during that week and moving to another swim was a very welcome change.

This 24,1 kg mirror was the only bite during first week in swim 14.

After getting set up in the new swim, 3 rods were placed against the far bank of an island fishing up to a mass of fallen trees and the last rod was place in open water on a raised bar. Late morning the following day I had a take on one of the rods fishing against the trees and after a quick battle a 30lb mirror was in the net – a welcome result after the last week’s slow fishing. I quickly got the rig back in position and decided to leave the other rods out for another day hoping not to spook any remaining carp out of the swim. Unfortunately the fish were not interested and the next two days went by without any further action. I started to notice that after dark I could hear a few fish – definitely carp boshing out over deeper water around 30 foot of water. So after no action in 3 days I decided to move one rod into deeper water – I found a hard spot just where the bar I was fishing on flattened out into the silt. The rig was lowered into position and a couple of handful of boilies were scattered around the rig. After just 5 hours the rod was away and after a good battle from the bank a nice 43 lb common was in the net – a quick result after trying the new spot. After getting the rod back on the spot I took the chance and moved one more rig away from the snags and onto a harder slightly raised area in about 28 feet of water and a again just a few handful of boilies scattered around. The next morning the rod was away again and this time I was connected to something more serious, no head shaking or quick bolts, just a steady, heavy bend in the rod. I applied maximum pressure to get it away from the bottom, in my experience; you can’t afford to give the carp too much line, as you never know what obstacles are hidden on the bottom of Rainbow Lake. The fish came quite quickly close to the bank, but decided to stay deep and as soon as I would gain a few yards it would take them away again and after what seemed like a lifetime of being towed around, the fish finally gave up and I could coax it into the waiting net. I broke up the net and coaxed the fish into a sling, so I could move it onto the unhooking mat. On the zeroed scales it went 35,1kilos, or 77lb 4oz! - A massive common and in awesome condition. After a quick photo session it powered back into the murky depths. A true trip and season saver – the days of waiting and choice to try something different had paid off big time.. The last few days went by, producing a take or so every day – hard fighting mid 30 commons that were very welcome. We decided to leave a day early due to all the demonstrations in and around Paris – as the20 hour plus drive home was long enough without the delays of eventual roadblocks. My choice of tackle for the two week’s fishing was comprised of 50lb Apex main line, two rod lengths of 65lb XT snag leader, two meters of 70lb XT Lead core. The rig end featured a Hybrid Lead Clip and a 9 inch combi-rig which takes a bit of time to tie up. For the main part of the rig I use 45lb Durakord with a loop spliced in both ends. To stiffen and get the boom effect I insert a length of 0.65mm Boom as the” core”. Baits used were DT Baits Coldwater Mix with Green Beast flovour....