freeline-101 - Flipbook - Page 160
AIDEN SAVAN
t h e end result would be a b la n k . A f te r a b o u n ti f u l s t art to t h e
s e ason, the channel was st a rt i n g to s l ow d ow n b o t h i n te rm s
o f the river’s flow and the re su l ts I wa s g e t ti n g . I h ad a n o t i o n
t h at one or two fish may b e v i s i t i n g th e ma i n we i rpo o l .
I clearly remember a July mo r n i n g wh en I h ad t ri e d a t l e a s t
t h ree of the primed spots i n th e ch a n n el b ut to n o ava i l . At t h i s
s t age, the weirpool had b e e n ba i te d o n ly two o r t h re e t i me s
whereas I wanted in my mi n d to co nt i n u e b a i t i n g t h e we i r fo r
a t least another few days. H oweve r th a t mo r n i n g th e ma i n we i r
was in all its early seaso n gl o ry w i t h t h e an gl e o f t h e a l re a dy
r i sing but warm sun hittin g t he b a i te d a re a. I c o u ld n’ t re s i s t a
g o . A simple underarm flick w i th th e ce n t re p i n d e p o s i te d t h e
b a g up against the structu re . It wa s s uc h a b ea u ti f u l m o rn i n g
t h at I sat looking out into t he ste am i n g r ive r to t a l ly en t ra n c e d
by the view. I guess the re le n t le s s b o i l i n g b a i t s , b ai t i n g , t yi n g
r i gs and endless early morn i n g s we re c a tc hi n g u p , a s I s t a rte d
to nod off, only to be woke n by t h e s c re am i n g p i n . T h e ri g h a d
b e en set up to dump the he av y le a d o n t he ta ke , an d f ro m t h e
f i rst moment to the last , th e f i s h fo u gh t u n b e l i eva b ly h a rd ,
b u t fortunately most of th e f i gh t wa s h i gh i n th e wa te r, wh i c h
was a god send with the a mo u n t o f b o u ld e rs t h a t ad o rn t h e
weirpool. The fight was s p e c t ac u la r a t t i m e s , a n d fro m my
va ntage point , a lot of the b a t tl e c o u ld be w i t n e s se d a t f i rs t
h a nd as the fish twisted an d tu r n e d i n t h e c l ea r wa te r i n i t s b i d
fo r freedom. The carp gods we re s mi l i n g o n m e t h a t p a rt i c u l a r
d ay, as she was safely nette d an d re tu rn e d to
That stunning almo st leat h e r ca r p wa s t he l a s t f i s h I c a u gh t
f rom the lower river. A s th e f l ow re ce d e d, th e f i s h d ec i d e d to
m ove on to a new postcod e. I ke p t a n eye o n t h e c h a n n e l fo r
t h e rest of the season, but i t wa s to p ro d u c e n o more f i s h . T h e
FREELINE 40
