BIG CARP APRIL 2026 RICHARD - Flipbook - Page 223
THOMAS ROSSITER
ASH GEDEN
e l usive mirrors, but I was b u z z i n g n o ne t h el e s s . T h e p l a n wa s
c o ming together!
With the rods all sorte d fo r t h e n i gh t , I cra c ke d op e n a
c e lebratory can of Sp eckle d He n a s t h e ca r p p u t o n a n eve n i n g
d i splay, boshing all over t h e b ai t , a re al ly ra re si te o n t h e
re servoir. Needless to say I we n t to b ed a n ex t re m ely c o n f i d e n t
a n gler that night! At 0 4:1 5 , t he le f t h a n d ro d wa s away w i t h
a n other screaming take, wh i c h I m an a g ed to g e t o n f i l m ! T h e
p owerful fish took me into a la rg e s u bm e rg e d we e d e d, a n d I
was just pulling through wh en I c au gh t a gli m p s e o f a l i n e ar
p a ttern on its flank. The f i s h b e ga n p lo d d i n g a ro u n d i n t h e
s h allow margins with a h u g e c l um p o f we e d ove r i t s h e a d
when disaster struck and th e h o o k p u l le d . I wa s a b so lu te ly
d i straught … takes on the re se r vo i r we re fe w a n d fa r b et we e n ,
a n d I did not want to be l o s i n g th e m. A f re s h ri g wa s t i e d
a n d steam ed before bei ng f l i c ke d b ac k o u t to t h e c l e a r s p o t
b e tween the weed, and an o th e r 5 0 o r s o b ai t s fo l l owe d .
After guzzling down cou n tl e ss c up s o f te a a n d re l iv i n g t h e
h o ok pull incident i n my h ea d , I wa s l ef t s t a ri n g a t my l e f t
h a nd rod as the bobbin ra i s ed s eve ra l i n c h es . I l o oke d o u t to
t h e spot where I saw a huge f i zz o f b u b bl e s b re a k th e s ur fa c e
fo llowed by the unreco gnis a b le to n e o f my b u z z er ; th e ro d h ad
o n ly been back out an hou r, a n d i t wa s away a ga i n . T h e f i s h
s u rfaced almost instantly, an d af te r a n i n i t i a l s u rg e to b u r y
i t s elf in weed, I bullied it towa rd s m e wh ere i t p lo d d e d i t s way
i n to my net . A quick loo k th ro u gh t h e we ed , a n d I re c o g n i s ed
i t to be one of the origina l m i r ro r s .
With the fish recoverin g s afe ly i n th e re t a i n e r fo r a fe w
m i nutes, I was redoing th e ro d wh en my m i d d l e ro d m e l te d
o f f, and I was into anothe r a n gry c a r p . I wa l ke d u p th e b a n k
FR E ELINE 10 1
