freeline-101 - Flipbook - Page 192
ASH GEDEN
tu r ne d and swam st raig ht b a ck out and i nto t he d e pt hs of t he Ol d
Fat her, le av ing my litt le f lu oro p op - up on my r i g , ho oke d up to
t he mesh at t he b ottom of my broke n , e mpt y ne t .
Af ter t hrow ing t he ge ar arou nd t he s w i m for a bit , l ot s of
s we ar ing and s ome chain s mok i ng , I re p o s it i one d a l l t h re e ro ds
w it h a lig ht top-up of b ait ove r t he are a . Wit h su ch a go o d st amp
of c ar p p ossibly st i l l b eing i n t he are a , t he re w as no w ay I was
l e av ing , s o I force d mys elf to st ay on for one more n i g ht i n t he
hop e t hat t he y were st i l l ab out , I felt l i ke a broke n man . T he
n i g ht was quiet, and I woke fe el i ng e ve n wors e t han I d i d, but
st i l l, out went 5kg of b ait, and I d e c i d e d to g ive it a we ek’s re st ,
re p e at ing t he b ait ing pro ce ss t h re e d ay s l ate r du r ing t hat p e r i o d
of my abs ence.
My next ac tu a l f ishing s ess i on b a ck w as mu ch l ate r t han pl an ne d,
but I had come b ack ref re she d af te r a c oupl e of n i g ht s’ bre a k
sp ent at my sy ndic ate water w it h su c c e ss , i n b e t we e n a bus y we ek
of work and a lot of hours sp e nt t r a ck i ng d ow n t he s e noma d i c
T hames c ar p in ot her are as of t h is bi g r ive r of d re ams , a l l t he t i me
ke eping up w it h t he b ait appl i c at i on r at i o – t he more pr i m i ng t he
b e tter! I f ishe d t wo bl an k n i g ht s i n a row. What was goi ng on ? I
t houg ht… w here were t he y? I was n’t to o put of f by t he qu i e t sp el l
t houg h, as t he are a was fe el i ng p ol ishe d, e sp e c i a l ly w he re t he
m i dd le ro d was p osit ione d, r i g ht i n t he c e nte r of t he b aite d sp ot .
A f u l l mo on was coming up on t he 26 t h Au g ust , and I was
fe eling s omet hing was going to k i ck of f, as it ha d b e e n st r angely
qu iet re cent ly. It was 3am on t he 2 3 rd Au g ust , and I fou nd my s el f
st ar t ing to come to my s ens e s i n t he g l are of t he br i g ht mo on
t hat I had b e en watchi ng g row by t he d ay, sto o d i n t he marg i ns
of t he r iver w it h t he ro d st ar t i ng to d oubl e ove r w it h a he av y and
st rong but ste ady mov ing we i g ht on t he e nd. T h is felt s e r i ous ! I
FREELINE 72
