freeline-101 - Flipbook - Page 188
ASH GEDEN
i nst ant ly got to work gett ing t he ro ds out on t he sp ot , w h i ch w as
a s ma l l rais e d are a out i n t he m i d d l e of t he r ive r, on and arou nd
w hich t hre e r igs were acc ur ately p o s it i one d w it h a top - up of b ait ,
around 30 sp o ds. That s ounds l i ke a l ot of b ait for an ove r n i g hte r,
but t r ust me; you get cle are d out i n no t i me, d e p e nd i ng on sto ck
l e vels and sp e cies etc. The sp ot felt ve r y cl e an to me w he n t he
l e a d touche d dow n on t he r i g ht hand ro d, and I t houg ht , t hat w i l l
b e away come mor ning .
Sure enoug h, 8am c ame rou nd, and ag ai n I w as d istu r b e d f rom
su ch a lovely sle ep (I ne e de d it ! ) by t he s ou nd of an a l ar m , but
t h is was dif ferent – just a fe w bl e e p s , as a stutter i ng t a ke su d d e n ly
k i cke d me f u l ly into life af te r pi ck i ng up t he ro d and t i g hte n i ng
up to s ome t hing k it ing upst re am at sp e e d and now st r ippi ng l i ne
f rom a t ig ht clutch. I cou ld n’t d is e ng age t he b a ck -w i nd qu i ck ly
e noug h – I hate pl ay ing f ish on t he clutch ! Af te r w hat felt l i ke a
l i fet ime, t he p ace st ar te d to sl ow, and a fe w bi g he a d sha kes and
t humps l ater, I manage d to tu r n it . It t he n pro c e e d e d to ma ke a
b e eline st raig ht b ack towards me at sp e e d w it h me c r an k i ng d ow n
hard on t he re el for a go o d e i g ht s e c onds i n an atte mpt to c atch
up w it h t his uns e en tor p e do he a d i ng st r ai g ht for me.
The sun was b e aming dow n , and f rom 2 0 - o d d y ards out I cou l d
s e e t his long , le an, si lver f i g u re t w ist i ng and tu r n i ng as I l e d it
up to t he sur face w it h my l itt l e f lu oro p op - up just v is ibl e i n t he
c or ner of its mout h. I k ne w e x a c t ly w hat I ha d ho oke d ; I ha d
s e en it a hel l of a lot i n t he are a b e fore c om m itt ing to t he b ait i ng
c amp aig n, and it was ab out to bre a ch , s o at any atte mpt at ne tt i ng
it , I was going to t a ke. I g rabb e d t he ne t , t h re w it i nto t he wate r
b e t we en t he ot her t wo ro ds , ju mp e d i n w it h che st w ad e rs on and
hovere d on t he e dge of t he marg i na l shel f. ( I’ve got i nto t he habit
of gett ing my waders on w it h i n s e c onds up on w a k i ng up to a
FREELINE 6 8
