Snag fishing at Rainbow

I´ve just returned from a week session at Rainbow. Since I´ve start fishing the lake I love the place. The lake is beautiful, has got the right atmosphere and of course big carp! This time I was situated in one of the most snaggy areas of the lake. From a session earlier in the year I knew that I only had a couple of little spots to fish to. That made me decide to fish the small piece of the big island – what was my water in 17 – only with two rods.

In the spring I started with four rods and found out that I only could get takes on two of them. So I thought it would be better to get les lines into the snags. After an early wake up I was already fishing within an hour after the guys to my left had gone home. Because the guys around me were not fishing yet I was hoping to get un early take. So far I never had a take within the first hours at Rainbow. Only an half on hour later happened  were I was hoping for – the first rod went – and I could land my first fish of the session. When I saw the fish I knew directly that it was a good fifty. What a start!

 During the hole week I could manage to catch fish every day. Later in the week I tried a third rod on several spots but again I could only get takes on the two hot spots. The most funny thing about this session  was that I fished with very sweet Top Banana boilies and I didn’t caught a single mirror during hole the week. All of my fish were commons! 

 

Arjen Uitbeijerse

BYT does the job!

This summer I focussed my attentions on a club water local to where I live in the north. Situated in South Yorkshire, the venue offers both day and night fishing, although I myself only had day-book access due to a lengthy night permit waiting list. Having landed my target fish from another water in the spring, the start of June was the ideal time to put in some effort for the two targets I wanted from the new water, known as Trigga and Trio. Both mirrors had made forty-plus in the spring, Trio having topped 42lb when it was landed in May off the top.

Knowing the fish in the venue had a liking for yeasty-type baits I put my faith in the ever-consistent BYT. Being very weedy, I spent a lot of time searching with the marker float for areas worth fishing. The weed was especially bad in most areas, covering almost 90% of the lake bed. It took some serious effort locating the areas where the carp had been rooting, as where the weed was, it was almost top to bottom in 8ft.

I started pre-baiting the areas I’d found with copious amounts of 20mm BYT and then started fishing short trips before work in early June. Immediately I got amongst the fish, landing four on my first morning. Later that week I then got lucky with Trigga in my net weighing in at 37lb 2oz. Being one of the best looking carp in Yorkshire, it was a lovely start. I backed it up with a further eight fish that week, including a nice scatter-scaled 26lb mirror.

            Due to work and family I commitments, I didn’t really get much time to keep the trips consistent during the rest of the month, July or the start of August. I was mainly fishing short evenings when the weather looked good for a bit of stalking. On one particular day I stumbled across the venue’s biggest common, hooking it straight away on a Mixer, only to lose it at the net. Gutted!

I didn’t get back to any serious static fishing until the middle of August when I heard a whisper that Trio had been out at 39lb. The weight really got me excited as I had a feeling it’s next capture could see it over the magical 40lb mark. Arriving at the start for 5am I went on to land a little un’ on my first trip back, followed by a blank the next day and then four fish the next day. The BYT was working wonders, and the next morning, with the rain lashing down all around, I finished my time on the water with a low-double and Trio amongst a mass of weed! Weighing in at a whopping 39lb 10oz, the old character had fallen to a 20mm bottom bait fished over the top of 4kg of BYT freezer baits. It was the perfect result, and proved yet again that with a good bait fished in the right spot, even with limited time on your hands it’s possible to have a result!

Crowy

Rainbow Whackers!

Rainbow Lake is simply in another league when it comes to sheer amounts of big carp. September saw so many big carp banked that I think it probably broke all sorts of records! The great thing was that the the Solar team made up many of the anglers fishing at the time. There's no doubt that the Club Mix has been the number one bait at Rainbow for some time now and it never fails to produce the goods.

I was back in swim 18 for another two week session - only my second trip of the year, but right from the off the fish were out there and they were hungry! Literally every day of the trip brought action of some sort and normally with a big fish or two amongst them. Martin and Alfonse were getting amongst them too in 19 and especially Alfonse who was having the trip of a lifetime with fish to over 70lb (nice one Alfonse). Meanwhile Pidge and Steve in swim 5 were stacking them up too with something like 12 fish over 50lb!!

The island margins hold most of the hot spots in swim 18 and you have to get fairly close to the snags but the fish this time were pulling harder than ever and just to be on the safe side I fished a little further away and in slightly deeper water, but it seemed like the fish wanted the food and just followed it to where it was!

The best combination for me was a mixture of 14mm and 18mm Club Mix boilies along with Red Herring pellets, it's just a personal thing but it has worked really well for me. Double baits on the size 4 Stronghold Long Shanks accounted for every fish I banked. It was another great Rainbow session and great to be down there with all the lads. Roll on the next trip!!!
Keep catchin 'em - Briggsy