freeline-106 - Flipbook - Page 206
JAMIE GIBBS
NATHAN
HIGHLEY
t h e upper 20s by 9am. Late r t h at day, i t wa s ex p ec te d to b e i n
t h e 30s with high pressure – n o t t he g re ate s t fo r f i s h i n g .
We walked into a swim k n ow n as Pa r ty Po i n t , wh i c h h as a
m assive plateau in front o f i t , an d we c o u l d n’ t be l i eve o u r
eyes when we saw a larg e g ro u p o f c ar p p a t ro l l i n g aro u n d
i t . After half an hour of wa tc hi ng , we ’d s e en e n o u gh a n d ra n
b a ck to Colney to quickly p a c k u p a n d m ove . I n n o t i m e, we
h a d packed down and go t ro u n d t h ere , a n d t h e f i s h we re s t i l l
t h ere but had been joi ned by ma ny mo re . We we re p l a n n i n g
o n doubling up in Party Po i n t , b ut th e th o u gh t o f s i x rod s i n
t h e area didn’t feel right , a n d wo u ld su re ly h ave sp o o ke d wh a t
was already there. After a q u i ck wa lk dow n t h e b an k, I e n te re d
a swim called the B each. I s aw o ne s tra i gh t away i n f ro n t o f
m e no more than a rod lengt h o ut , a n d I h a d a q u i c k l o o k i n t h e
b ay to my left and spo tted an o t h e r fo u r o r f ive c a rp , o n e m u c h
b i gger than the rest that h a d to b e t h e b i g ’ u n .
I decided not to fish the day a n d ju s t p ut t h e ro d s o u t b e fo re
d a rk to try not to spook wh at wa s i n t he sw i m . A l l th re e
went out f irst time, and I wa s me ga c o n f i d e n t o f a b i te . T h ey
were all put on Signature S qu i d p o p -u p s , as I k n ow f ro m p a s t
c a ptures that the big’un love s a b i t o f p i n k. T h e n i gh t p a s s ed
by, and other than a coup le o f l i n e r s , n o t m u c h h app en e d . I t
was so hot , and by 5 am, t h e te mp m us t have b e e n i n th e l ow
2 0 s. I was looking at the ro d s wh i ls t ly i ng o n t h e b e d , w i s h i n g
fo r one of them to go.
Half an hour later, I had a sl i gh t d ro p b a ck o n th e m i d d l e ro d
f i s hed over to the far marg i n . O n wa lk i n g d ow n to t h e ro d , t h e
h a nger lifted and stayed a t th e to p . I p i c ke d t h e ro d u p , o n ly
to be met with a solid resi st a n ce o n t he o th e r en d . T h e f i gh t
was nothing to talk about , a n d a f te r t he f i s h m a d e j u s t o n e
FREELINE 74
