After leaving Sheffield at 5.30am I knew that we had a long journey in front us – close to 1000 miles to be precise. I was joining Carpworld editor Tim Paisley for my first ever trip to the lake where dreams are made, that lake is Rainbow Lake in the south of France. With the driving shared between us and the luxury of picking up the earlier ferry our destination arrival time was 11.30pm, a long old day considering we left in darkness and would be arriving in darkness. With those miles behind us we finally pulled up at the Rainbow clubhouse and were greeted by several familiar faces including Martin Locke, Steve Broad and Nick Helleur. After a quick beer and a natter with the lads there was already that expectant buzz by all the lads who were moving onto the lake the following day – me included, despite the tiredness I was buzzing. After a surprisingly good nights’ kip in the clubhouse I was greeted by an incredible sunrise and the November sun made it feel like it was like an English early-autumn morning. It seemed an age before we were given the nod to make our way into our swim for the week – swim 21 to be precise.
Swim 21 is a snaggy little peninsula that is best accessed by boat – so with all the gear laden into the vessels I made my first trip around into the swim. I was told that 21 was one of the most technically difficult swims to fish and I could see why immediately! A multitude of bars, islands and snags was certainly going to test this Rainbow virgin to the max. (Above: this is what my left-hand rod looks like - eeeek, it's hairy!)
By 4pm I was actually fishing with three rods. After some tense moments in the boat I’d managed to find some nice spots and dropped the rigs and a pint of mixed seeds and chopped boilies around each of them. Totally shattered I enjoyed my first Rainbow sunset and crashed out. What would the night and early morning bring eh! Time will tell! (Above: rods were locked safely into place!)
Until later, Jerry.
