freeline-104 - Flipbook - Page 170
DAVE HYDE
m oment was a few hours’ un d i s t urb e d sl e ep .
I always have very vivi d dre am s wh en I’ m f is h i n g , s o m e t i me s
even night mares, and this o n e wa s p ro b a b ly h a l f way b e t we e n
t h e two. I awoke with a sta rt to f i n d t h e O pto n i c wa s i n d e e d
b l eeping slowly and the ind i c ato r wa s c rawl i n g to t h e to p o f t h e
n e edle. I leapt from the bed c h ai r, ma n a gi ng to a t t a c h mys e l f to
o n e of the ribs of the umb re ll a a n d s tr u c k f i rm ly. At f i rs t t h e
f i s h didn’t even realise it h a d b ee n h o o ke d, a n d i f i t wa s n’ t fo r
t h e fact that I was battlin g to f re e mys el f f ro m t h e u m b re l l a ,
which was firmly caught i n t h e sl e eve o f my j u m p e r an d a t t h e
s a me time try to free my fe et f ro m a t an gl e d s l e e p i n g b a g, I
p robably would have land e d th e f i s h s tra i gh t away.
The carp soon realised s o m e th i n g wa sn’ t q u i te ri gh t a n d h a d
ga thered up considerable st re n gt h a s i t swa m f ra n t i c a l ly f ro m
o n e side of the swim to th e o t h er. It wa s n o s p e c t acu l a r f i gh t ,
b u t after five minutes or s o , I b e ga n to re a l i s e t h a t i t wa s
b i gger than I had though t . I c o u ld s t i ll h ard ly move a t t h i s
s t age, being stuck on a na r row p l a tfo rm a n d o n e b i g t a n gl e d
m ess of sleeping bag, and wo o l f ro m th e j um p e r s l e eve , wh i c h
was now receding at a ra te o f kn o t s i n t h e p a n i c to f re e i t .
Eventually everything was s o r te d o ut , by wh i c h t i m e t h e f i s h
h a d totally given up and d o n e eve r y t h i n g b a r th row i t s e l f o n
t h e bank, unhook itself an d cl i m b i n t he c a rp s a c k .
I could see it was anoth e r t we n ty b u t d ec i d e d to l e ave th e
weighing part of the opera ti o n u n ti l th e m orn i n g . Ve n u s wa s
a l ready high in the sky, and d ayb re ak wa s cl o s e . By n ow I h a d
h a d a total of 16 hours’ sle e p i n t h e p a s t f ive n i gh t s . I ha d n’ t
e a ten for over a day, someth i n g th a t h ad b ee n to t a lly fo rg o t te n
i n all the excitement . My u mb re ll a wa s wre c ke d a n d t a n gl e d
i n a few hundred feet of wo o l , wh i c h wa s o n ce t h e s l eeve o f
FREELINE 40
