freeline-104 - Flipbook - Page 171
ASH
DAVEGEDEN
HYDE
my jumper, and I had a bu m f ul l o f b l ac kb e rr y b u s h t h o rn s ,
which made it feel as if I wa s s i tt i n g o n a p i n ea p pl e , a n d ye t I
was as pleased as P unch. I h a d by n ow c a u gh t te n f i s h i n t h e
p a st twenty hours of f ish i n g , s i x o f th e m ove r 2 0 l b a n d fo r
a total weight of over 20 0 l b ; i n fa ct t h e t wo wa te rs b e t we e n
t h em only held nine twen ti e s , s o I co n si d ere d t h a t I h a d n’ t
d o ne badly at all. I’ve had t wo t we n ti e s i n a s e s s io n o n a g o o d
n u mber of occasions and t wi c e h ad t hre e b u t to t a ke s i x i n a
s e ssion was certainly beyo n d my w i ld e s t d re a ms . I fe l l a s l e ep
fo r a couple of hours before t he h e at o f t he e a rly m o r n i n g s u n
woke me.
I t was a beautiful morn i n g , fo r s u nb a t h i n g t h a t i s , b u t
c e rtainly not carp f ishing . I s tra i n ed my eye s to pe er o u t
a c ross the lake, which was d i f f i c ul t wi t h b o t h t h e s u n a t a l ow
a n gle and the reflecti on fro m t he wa te r. N o t h i n g wa s m ov i n g ,
n o t even bubbling over t h e u s u al a re as . I s a t wa tc h i n g fo r
a b out three quarters o f an ho ur wh i ls t en j oy i n g s eve ra l c u p s
o f coffee and then decided to re tr i eve th e ba i ts a n d we i gh t h e
f i s h caught a few hours prev i o us ly.
Photographing the fish p rove d d i f f i cu l t . I c o u l d h ard ly eve n
fo cus my eyes let alone the c a me ra . Hav i ng t a ke n a fe w s n a p s ,
I t hen returned the no t s o b e a ut i f u l lo o k i n g m i r ro r o f 2 2l b
7 o z to fight another day, wh i c h no d o u b t i t wo u l d , a n d fa i rly
s o on as well, as it was the m u g f i s h o f t h e la ke . T h e p rev i o u s
s e ason that fish had beco m e qu i te a p es t to m e . D u ri n g th e
s p ace of eight short sessi o n s , I h ad ca u gh t i t s i x ti m e s an d
h o oked and lost it on the o t he r t wo . I t wa s a s t a n di n g j o ke a t
t h e time that I used to keep i t i n my ru cks ac k a n d t a ke i t o u t
a n d hook it up on arriva l ea c h se s s i o n . We l l , t h at c e rt a i n ly
wasn’t true, but I’m sure t h a t i f f i s h c o u l d h ave g row n l e g s
FR E ELINE 41
