November 26th 2005
The alarm clock rang it’s morning war cry, it was 2am, all I had to do was get in the car and drive but first I had to wake up, the 4 inches of snow on the car soon saw to that. After picking up my angling chum Mark Bartlett, we both head off at full steam from Devon to Birmingham International Airport, we were already late. We made the check in with seconds to spare, both our bags were overweight, and we were facing a £200 excess baggage charge, however the very pretty check in girl took a shine to me and asked her boss if she could put it through as Sporting Goods for £15. After a little bit of a Cassanova moment from me she was sold and so was her boss, both of them were completely smitten by the Cann charm, now seeing as her boss was a dude, that was a first for me!
We were on our way to Bordeaux to fish the famous Rainbow Lake, to put it bluntly Euro Monster hunting, with a chance of catching the biggest carp I had ever seen. The trip was organised by Rob Hughes, and was the first Extreme Carp Club trip to the venue. (more information is available through www.anglinginternational.com )
The journey was pleasant and well organised, and we soon stood on the banks of Rainbow lake, the home of some of the biggest known carp in the world, trust me that was quite a buzz. There were 14 of us on the trip and we made the draw close to swim 1that looked grey and totally lifeless. I told all the lads that I would rather eat a gallon of raw snails than fish that swim, oh how such a statement can turn round and bite you on the ass!
I came out last in the draw and didn’t even get a chance to pick a swim I got what was left, the entrails that nobody on the whole lake wanted, the swim rejected by 20 other anglers, you guessed it, I got stuck with SWIM 1. As the boys left me to my gloom I asked if Pascal, the lakes owner would kindly fetch me my bucket of raw snails.
Once in the swim I made a few SOS calls, Locky and Frank Warwick both said they knew swim 1 to be a good one, and that the other lads may have missed a trick, so with that me and my partner for the week Mark got stuck in.
It was totally dark by the time we were set up, so out in the boat we went and did the best we could, we found a few nice spots with the fish finder, and fished over lightly baited areas for the first night. The weather was horrendous, the snow had stopped but oh deep joy it was now minus 5 degrees C, but the bling bling factor of the SS20s on the Century NG’s looked awesome frozen solid in the bright moonlight. We woke fishless the next morning to a torrential storm of freezing rain; things did not look good, I first glanced over to the rods not really expecting any action, but from this angle the stainless looked rude. The new 54" Century NG net was waiting patiently by my rods all of a sudden looked massive, and I could not imagine a carp ever filling it, but time was to prove me wrong.
The weather, if it were possible, got worse and worse, colder by night and wetter by day, some of the hardest conditions I’ve ever fished in, freezing horizontal rain by day and temperatures as low as -7 and -8 at night, really not good for catching in, plus it was the first cold spell, and that always upsets the fish.
It took me four days to sus out what the fish were up too, and had a total blank for those four days, on the fifth day I got my first bite, but disaster struck when suddenly a fully compressed Century NG sprang back slack, and I realised I’d lost it.
Christening a new net, especially one this big, is always a special moment, for now my new toy would have to wait. The weather perked up for the last full days fishing, and the temperature rose from -7C to + 5C and I thought there had to be a good chance of a bite. Eventually one of the rods, baited with the new ‘Dynamite Spicy Chicken’, roared off, I had hooked a "big un" at range, after a mega winter scrap, that I nearly lost, a big old girl popped up in the margin, gurgling and wishing she’d never taken on the Century NG, and glided into the waiting outstretched arms of my new net.
With the net well and truly christened I put the fish that was the most impressive creature I have ever seen, on the scales, it was so big I had to give it a number, I remember smiling to myself at the fact that I had just christened my new 60 inch net with a 60 plus carp, 61.8lb to be exact, that will do for me!!
I am currently planning my next trip to Rainbow, may be I’ll see you there?
PS. Simon, could you make me a 70 inch net for my next trip please?
Tight lines and monster Carp
Jason Cann
Jason Cann - Century NG Landing net