Six of the best at Rainbow

Rainbow Lake was on good form recently and it was yet another incredible session on the best carp water the world has ever known. I was in swim 18 for two weeks, it's a swim I know well and it seems that the fish spend more time there than ever now since the storms of February 2009 when several more trees were blown over in to the lake. The fish continue to grow well but the latest result still surprised me. I started catching straight away but on the third day I latched in to a 68lb 4oz mirror and I would have been happy with that one - but that was just the start!!

The fish kept feeding and action came most days. Normally in April it can be tough but the fish average can be on the big side as the smaller fish tend to spawn first but they head for the other end of the lake, it certainly seemed to be the case again as the smaller fish were just nowhere to be seen.

Some of the fish I'd never seen before but at least three of the 60lb+ fish that I caught I had previously landed when they weighed a bit less. Re-captures are never what we want but it is good to see how the fish are doing and without exception they are just getting bigger every year!

Bait for this trip was the new Chinese Takeaway boilies and pellets and also the ever-reliable Quench. The right bait is always important and also the right gear, the fish were fighting extremely hard this time and the Stronghold size 2's were definitely put to the test but came through with flying colours.

Over the last few years I've had some great Rainbow sessions but this one topped most of them I think with 24 fish landed in total but with six of them over 60lb and a further four 50's and eleven 40's.

We all hear about the big Rainbow fish and you can get a bit blase about what goes on there but there simply isn't another place like it in the world and when you are there catching them it's a bit special - there isn't anywhere that can compete with it. But of course you only catch them if they want to eat the bait, so well done Martin on coming up with yet another winner!!!

Big Bill falls to the Clubs

It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to fish one of the most exclusive lakes in the country, so when the chance to fish at Acton Burnell’s Bottom Lake for a week with my good mate Steve Briggs came up I jumped at it. The two of us fished the rock-hard 7 acre estate lake a couple of years back, Steve coming away exceptionally well with six carp from seven nights of fishing. When you consider there are only 21 carp in the venue, he did amazingly well, with a little bit of luck also coming his way.

 On that occasion I only fished four nights, losing one on my last morning, so I really did want to make amends on this occasion. The first night I managed to get off the mark straight away with a cracking 33lb mirror, falling to Club Mix 18mm bottom bait in a deep channel in the middle of the lake. The following day I decided to rest the swim as the Bottom Lake doesn’t tend to fish very well in daylight hours, putting the rods back out at 8pm. The conditions were absolutely electric, perfect for big fish, and less than an hour later I was latched into the venue’s most sought after fish, Bill at 51lb, a stunning old common that’s seen the net of some really famous anglers over the last twenty years, including Kevin Maddocks, Alan Taylor and Dave Moore to name just a few. It only comes out a couple of times a year so I feel very privileged to have caught it in such a short space of time.

The amazing Club Mix had done it once again, assisting me to land yet another good fish. It seems to keep catching the biggies wherever it is used, just ask the rest of the Solar team who have also been having some exceptional success with it. Long may it continue, that’s all I can say!

Simon Crow