Confessions of a Rainbow virgin – day 6.

The weather was on the change - it felt freezing!

Thursday turned out to be a cold, cold late November day, totally unlike the incredible warm sunny days we’d experienced during the early part of the week. It was almost as though a switch had been flicked from summer to winter during one phase of never-ending darkness. Following the captures of Tim’s 65 and Tom’s 82, our spirits were so high and there was a real buzz around the whole lake as we entered big-fish Thursday. Something I’ve witnessed this so many times on overseas trips that do a roll-on, roll-off system on a Saturday. Basically imagine this – you arrive at the lake Saturday, you’re knackered and generally it’s carnage as everyone gets into their swims and generally causes loads of disturbance. At Rainbow it’s been no different – Saturday was slow, Sunday the odd fish were getting picked off and then as things started to settle down, so naturally do the carp as well. By Monday, bait has been on the spots for three days and the fish seem to respond by being slightly less cautious. By Wednesday / Thursday things are getting even better – the fish are accustomed to where they can feast around the lake and as the bait starts to be gorged those biggun’s start to get confortable, they trip up and get caught.

Motor at the ready!

 For me Thursday was great day, witnessing an 80-pounder on the bank is an experience I’ll never forget as long as I live but for me personally it was soon to get even better. Back in swim 21, nothing had changed dramatically except for the large banks of mist and fog that were drifting in just before dusk. It was cold, damp and generally pretty gloomy, BUT, and a big but, it was big-fish Thursday and Thursday wasn’t done just yet! By 10pm I was pretty fed up of the mist drifting into my bivvy and everything, including me felt damp. My crocs had been replaced by my winter thermal boots and the new Fox winter suit was cracked on as I huddled over the stove, perched on the edge of my bedchair trying to keep warm. After trying to upload yesterday’s blog several times and failing, I resigned myself to getting my head down and crashing out. I think I’d only just dozed off when my middle right rod let out a series of short, sharp bleeps. I jumped up, boots on, glasses on (steamed up) and went to investigate. The rod tip rocked again in my headtorch light and Tim who was by this time by my side said the same thing as I was thinking – “that’s on boy”! I retracted the rod from the butt rests, hit it and sure enough there was indeed something attached to the end – game on! 

Darkness descended - little did I know what the evening would bring in my direction!

 Life jacket on, into the boat and the old heart was pumping again and the reliable right leg doing it’s shaking thing again! I gradually wound myself over the first bar 30yds out, carefully navigating under my other two rods and then I had a clear run out to the fish. At this point the mist was savage and my headtorch for all its power was bouncing back off the fog and I was forced to drop it down a power notch just to be able to see where the hell I was heading. Before long I passed a landmark white post that was about half way between the bank and the spot, good I was getting there. As I gradually kept making line I caught glimpse of my float and a massive swirl erupted behind it. As soon as the fish saw me coming it tried to bolt away and shifted some serious water in doing so, but it couldn’t move because the line was trapped under something. By this point I was only 20ft away from the fish but a shallow bar no more than 2ft deep separated me from the fish. I couldn’t go over it and there was no way this fish wanted to come over it - stalemate. At that point I was slightly overwhelmed – there were just too many things to consider and they were all going on at the same time – it was just too much for my small brain! I caught another glimpse of the fish as it rolled up onto its side to try and get over the bar and possibly away to freedom – it was big, very big and bigger than anything I’d ever hooked before. By this time both of my legs were shaking and because I was totally pumped with adrenaline it was making me feel physically sick.

Sickness aside my first issue to overcome was to get the line that was trapped under something free because it was stopping me from making any line on the fish and it was still a stalemate situation. I had the fish to my left, the float to my right and I was somewhere in between. I rocked the boat off the bar and moved with the motor in reverse over to my right. “Get your head together boy – this is a biggun” I kept saying to myself over and over. I dropped the rod into the boat and hand lined myself over to where the line was trapped. I could see my float bobbing about, so carefully I used a long bankstick with a rod rest on the end to run down the line under the water and try and ping it free. It worked a treat (thanks for the advice Andy) and the first hang-up came free. I was by now getting ever closer but the fish was still visible off to my left hand side swirling and trying to surge away. By this point I was totally disorientated and had no clue at all where I was in the lake. Still feeling sick I knew that I needed to worry about where exactly I was once the fish was in the net!

I refocused my mind on the fish and less about my whereabouts and slowly pulled the braid closer to the boat in my hands. I found the next hang up and literally managed to rip off the top of a tuft of sandy grass on top of the submerged bar and suddenly the line was free. Immediately the fish felt the line go slack and powered off back into the deeper water. I wound furiously to keep in contact and ‘bang’ I was hooped over again with direct contact with the fish in sensible water-depth.  I kept pumping and winding until my float and leader were at the tip rig – come on son, she’s nearly yours!  One more surge and she came up in the water and up popped a massive head – geez, this was it, do or die and waste the whole incredible experience with a hookpull or net her and get the hell out of there!

 I pulled the rod slowly back behind me and with my left arm fully outstretched I somehow managed to pull her massive head over the net cord. It seemed like time stopped when the fish was half in and half out but with one last pull this time she was mine! YES – GET IN, I’d done it, she was mine. I felt for that split second sat there in boat, cold, soaked to the skin, disorientated  that my whole fishing life had prepared me for that battle and my fishing experiences through my life had got me through it! It was an incredible feeling I can tell you.

It’s difficult to estimate fish weights from the water but from what I’d seen of the fish in the water this was a definite mid-50! Fish secured, motor down and I’m heading towards the only light I can see which I correctly presumed was Tim’s headtorch.  Once ashore we did the weighing straight away…I was praying for the needle to go over 50lb for the first time and I was overjoyed when the Reuben’s confirmed a colossal carp weight of 57lb 8oz! A milestone had been reached and if I’d grinned any wider I would have given myself a Chelsea smile – what a result!

Job done - 57lb 8oz of Rainbow carp - buzzing!

By now it was midnight and I was still completely buzzed! Tim described the pre-described events as “totally epic” and in my small world for that moment I really can’t disagree. People will catch bigger fish than me this week but for me it was truly special - it was an amazing battle, from a massive fish on an incredible lake. I was shattered …mentally and physically done in!  What a night – roll on the next one eh!

Until tomorrow, Jerry Team CC.