freeline-105 - Flipbook - Page 226
DANNY HOLLAND
why ruin a set of dry clo th e s? At f i r s t , I wa s g o i n g to g o i n my
favourite peg that had prev i o us ly d o n e m e t h e L e a t h e r, b u t
a f ter a bit of thought , I had d e c i d ed to g o b ac k to a sw i m t h a t a
fe w weeks previously had p ro d u c ed t he b e au t i f u l 3 6 - p o u n d e r,
p e g 12. So , after being soak i n g we t , i t wa s b iv vy up a n d th e n
d r y out . I had decided to c o n c en t ra te o n t h e s am e g rave l a re a
I h ad caught from only we eks ea rl i er, n i n et y ya rd s s t ra i gh t i n
f ront . With a beautiful so ut h ea s te rly b low i n g i n to my c o rn e r,
t h e condit ions were abo ut a s go o d as i t g e ts i n s u mm e rt i m e,
e s pecially amidst a heatwave .
Using my usual style of f i sh i n g p el le t s a n d b o i l i e , I h a d ba i te d
t h is area as before and pla c e d a l l t hre e ro d s a l o n g t h i s grave l
b a r, hoping to repeat the tra p p i n g s o f so me we e ks a g o . We l l ,
i n typical Rockford style, I sp en t t h re e d ays w i t h ou t s i gh t o f
a fish let alone a bite, but I wa s s ti ll i n w i t h a s h o t , a s I h a d
a couple o f nights lef t . Th e n ex t day I h ad a b re a k i n my b a d
l u ck, but only for it to be t h e w ro n g so r t . A c o u p l e o f b re a m
h a d turned up, but at leas t I wa s f i s h i n g e f f i c i e n tly a n d t h ey
c o uld find the bait . On the l as t n i gh t , I d e ci d e d to d o s o m e t h i n g
d i f ferent , as before I had c au gh t f ro m th i s b a n k w i t h t h e u s e
o f only two rods taking a b i t o f p re ss u re o f f t h e are a s . T h e
Ro ckford f ish are renowned fo r t he i r awa re ne s s o f l i n e s in t h e
water, only this time I deci d e d to u s e o n ly o n e ro d fo r t h e f i n a l
n i ght . I had nothing to lo se . I to p p ed up w i t h a b i t m o re p e l l e t ,
a n d my fresh bottom bait wa s s et . I t wa s b la zi n g h o t a n d n o t
a breath of wind – things di d n’ t l o o k g o o d , b u t Ro c k fo rd d o e s
favour these conditio ns, s ti ck y a n d h o r r i b l e , b u t th ey s e e m
to feed in this, and mo st i f n o t a ll my p rev i o u s c ap t u re s h a d
c o me in hot conditions.
To cut a long story sho r t , I ha d g o t i nto b ed a n d wa s o u t
FREELINE 48
