freeline-104 - Flipbook - Page 158
DAVE HYDE
o f touch with the feeding t i m es o f th e f i s h , a s I had n’ t f i s h e d
t h e lake since the end o f Ju n e , s o I d ec i d e d t h e b e s t t h i n g
to do would be to fish th ro u gh u n ti l m i dd ay a n d t h e n m ove
o n to another lake, which o f te n f i sh e d we ll i n t h e a f te rn o o n .
W hether I caught fish or n o t , I wa sn’ t f ul ly i n th e ri gh t f ra m e
o f mind, and I knew the mi d d ay m ove wo u ld b e th e bes t t h i n g
to do, by which time I wo u ld h ave e i th e r h a d a fe w ho u rs ’
s l eep or possibly a fish or t wo , ei th e r o f whi c h wo u l d ge t me
m ore in the mood for the re st o f t he s e ss i o n.
One bait was cast to a lily b ed ab o u t e i gh t ya rd s to t h e l e f t o f
my swim and the other to a b l o o dwo r m be d 3 0 ya rd s d i re c t ly
i n front of the swim. It wa s 7 . 3 0 a m be fo re I s p o t ted t h e f i rs t
f i s h bubbl ing furiously ove r my r i gh t h a n d b a i t . A fe w l i n e
b i tes followed until at 8.3 0 , j u s t as I ha d g ive n u p a l l h o p e o f
s t aying awake any longer, t he O p to n i c s c re am e d o u t i t s b a tt l e
c r y, and I was into a fish . F i r s t i mp re ss i o ns o f i t s s i z e we re
u n derestimated, as it swam s t ra i gh t towa rd s m e, b u t eve n tu a l ly
i t gathered strength and m o m en t u m to g ive a g o o d f i gh t u n d e r
t h e rod tip.
Some five minutes later, it was landed and weighed at 20lb
exactly. Not a bad start , I thought … at least the bait seemed to
work; in fact thinking back, I should have been very pleased,
as it was one of about only three fish that I had never caught
from the lake. Still feeling generally knackered and apathetic,
I decided to sack the fish and photograph it on departure from
the lake, but after five minutes of the fish sending wave after
wave of ripples across the flat calm surface, I decided to do it
there and then. I left the baits out , knowing that it always went
dead for an hour or two after a fish had been landed, and then
walked around the lake to the car park to photograph the fish.
FREELINE 2 8
