freeline-101 - Flipbook - Page 180
AIDEN SAVAN
h a d been washed downstre am h a d n ow n e c es s i t a te d t h e u s e o f
a dinghy to safely land any h o o ke d f i s h . I wa s fo r t u n a te th a t
my girlfriend, Kami, was a s i n tox i c ate d w i t h c ar p fi s h i n g a s
m e, and on plenty of occas i o ns we c o u ld b e fo u n d m id - rive r a t
3 a m playing a fish from the d i n ghy. He r h el p c e rt a i n ly h e l p e d
to put a few more fish on t he b a n k .
The buildup of tufties aro u n d t h e b a i te d a re a wa s b e c om i n g
a real pain. Every few days mo re an d m o re o f t h e s e fe a t h e re d
ve rmin were playing havo c w i t h a ny a tte mp t to f i s h . We al l
k n ow there are certain tri c ks to s low t h em d ow n , b u t eve n
t rying to get them to a leve l wh ere we c o u ld f i s h wa s b e c omi n g
i m possible.
Kami had mention ed abo ut v i s i t i n g he r p a re n t s fo r a we e k
i n late September. To beg i n wi th , I wa sn’ t t h a t re c e p tive to
l e aving the fishing, but w i th t he o n s la u gh t f ro m t h e t uf t i e s ,
i t would probably do the are a s o m e g o o d to to t a l ly l e ave i t
a l one. It was with ab so lute j oy t ha t we re tu rn e d a we e k l ate r to
w i tness a tufty-free zone. I n a l l re al i t y, t h e w i n dow to w i n k l e
o u t a last ditch carp or two wa s q ui te s li m .
On the first night back, a o n e - to n e r le t u s k n ow i n n o
u n certain terms that an a n g r y c a rp wa s a t ta c h e d to th e l i n e .
A s we took to the dinghy, t he c a r p fe lt s p e c i a l – a re a l s o l i d
b a ttle curve. In our abse n c e we ha d ha d a fa i r b i t o f ra i n ,
a n d the extra flow was now wo rk i n g i n t he c ar p’ s favo u r. At
t i mes she could be seen tw i s ti ng a n d tu r n i n g i n t h e to rc h l i gh t ,
o n ly then to power out in to t he m ai n f l ow, a n d t h i s s c e n ar i o
was repeated time and tim e a ga i n . I t mu s t h ave t a ke n a h a rd
2 0 -minute fight to get her c lo s e to n e tt i n g , a n d i n s h e we n t .
S h e was a classic Thames wa r r i o r th a t d i d n’ t q u i te p u l l th e
n e edle round to 35lbs. To ca tc h my T h a me s 30 wa s a d re a m
FREELINE 60
