freeline-101 - Flipbook - Page 197
ASH GEDEN
Af ter w hat felt li ke a life t i me, I sl ow ly g ai ne d cont rol as we
foug ht e ach ot her f rom out i n t he m i d d l e of t he r ive r a l l t he way
b a ck towards me, now abs or bi ng t he p owe r f u l lu nge s w it h more
c ont rol as it charge d of f up and d ow n t he marg i n i n f ront of me
i n b et we en t he ot her li nes. Hav i ng a l re a dy got i n t he w ate r af te r
e d g ing my way for ward w it h t he ne t i n p o s it i on du r i ng s e ve r a l
st ages of t he f ig ht, I had le ar nt f rom t he l o ss of t hat 3 f t c om mon
to st ay w here I was for nett i ng , d e spite want i ng to ke e p t he f ish
aw ay f rom t he ot her lines as mu ch as p o ss ibl e. I got re a dy. I c an
st i l l s e e it now, just t his mass ive or ange y / yel l ow g l ow c om i ng
f rom a stupid ly size d blo ck of che e s e of a c ar p, just w a l l ow i ng
around b e aten b elow t he t ip and re a dy for ne tt i ng . I re c og n is e d
t he f ish st raig ht away ; it ha d b e e n ove r f ive ye ars si nc e my l ast
s i g ht ing of it! I w i l l ne ver forge t it . As i f i n slow mot i on , I e ve r
s o gent ly f u l ly sun k t he net arou nd t he b e ate n b e ast and s c o op e d !
Inst ant ly I felt sick, st andi ng t he re i n utte r d is b el i e f, hav i ng just
ha d t he adrena line r ush of my l i fe, I a c tu a l ly ha d to s it d ow n .
Wit hin a couple of mi nutes , my he a d stopp e d spi n n i ng . I got i n
t he water, c aref u l ly un ho oke d t he f ish and s afely s e c u re d it i n t he
re t ainer w hi lst I c a l le d a f r i e nd w ho ha d b e e n on st andby. “I’ve
got t he C he es e!” I s aid.
My dre am went 42lb 10oz .
I f ishe d a couple more s ess i ons on t he sp ot ove r t he ne x t c oupl e
of we eks, ke eping to t he s ame b ait i ng p atte r n . I went on to t a ke
anot her t wo c ar p f rom t he sp ot , anot he r re c aptu re f rom b a ck i n
2 0 13, w hich was a mir ror goi ng 2 7 lb 2 oz on t he 3 rd of S e pte mb e r
and a common of 17lbs on t he 6 t h S e pte mb e r, b ot h e arly mor n i ng
bites again, b efore c a l li ng it an e nd to t he c amp aig n . S e ve n bite s
f rom t he sp ot resu lt ing in f ive c ar p l and e d i nclu d ing my f i rst
4 0 lb-plus Thames c ar p is a s e as on – t hat su rely c ou l d n’t b e topp e d,
FR E ELINE 77
