freeline-105 - Flipbook - Page 170
EXCLUSIVE
b u ndled a clump of weed i n t o
t h e net and peered insid e.
I couldn’t believe it . I
s p rinted round to Jo n’s b i v v y
a n d woke him as gen tl y a s
p o ssible… which resulted i n
h i m launching uprig ht l i k e
s o mething from the un d e a d .
H e stared at me, conf u s e d,
w hile I simply mum b l e d,
t h e d a y - t i c k e t a t m o s p h e r e I ’d
imagined at all.
I even managed another
twenty from the bottom and a
couple off the top on the lake
behind. I drove home absolutely
buzzing — the fire was well and
truly lit. Before I’d even left the
complex, I’d booked time off
work four weeks later.
“ F ish,” before leggin g it b a c k
t o the swim.
Once the fish wa s o n t h e
m at, we were gobsm ac k e d .
N ot only had I caught on m y
f i r st night , but it was a t r u l y
s p ecial one — a sc aly m i r r o r
k n own as The Dinosau r, a r a r e
v i sitor to the bank th at o f t e n
w ent years between captu r e s .
S o metimes it’s better to b e
l u cky than good. I didn’t sl e e p
a wink after that, starin g a t
t h e back of my old Niko n i n
d i sbelief. The next day sh o w e d
m e what a great bunch o f
a n glers fished the l ake. C u p s
o f tea flowed freel y, a n d
l a ds from all around c am e t o
c o ngratulate me. This wa s n ’t
T h e n e x t s e s s i o n c o u l d n ’t
come quickly enough. Jon and
I h e a d e d b a c k , e x c i t em e n t
b u i l d i n g w i t h e v e r y m i l e.
Wa l k i n g d o w n t h e m a i n t r a c k
t o w a r d K i n g f i s h e r, I w a s
r e a d y t o b u r s t . U n b e l i e v a b l y,
P o i n t O n e a n d Tw o w e r e f r e e
a g a i n . We f l i p p e d a c o i n — I
w o n — a t r e nd t h a t c o n t i n u e d
for several trips, much to
J o n ’s su sp i c i o n t h a t t h e c o i n
might have been doublesided. Soon I met the Kingy
f a i t h f u l — B i r c h y, Ke v H e w i t t ,
G a r y De n n i s , Ja s o n H o l d e n ,
L i t t l e D a v e J o n e s , M a l t b y,
the Bells — anglers who, in
t h e m o n t h s an d y e a r s a h e a d,
would become great friends.
BigCarp 168
