freeline-94 - Flipbook - Page 152
DEREK STRITTON
s l eet , he could see rabbit fo o t p r i n t s l ea d i n g ove r to t h e i s l a n d .
I t seemed at last my miser y wa s ove r! T h e fo l l ow i n g s u m m e r, I
was sat talking to Fred wh en h e me n ti o n ed to me t h at h e h a d
a l so seen a rabbit in the wa te r by th e lo ng i s l a n d . T h e re wa s a
h i nt of sympathy in his voi c e , a n d I fe ll s t ra i gh t i n to h i s l ai r a s
a result . “What was it do in g? ” I a s ke d ra th e r fo o l is h ly ! “ B re a s t
s t roke,” he said, before ro a r i n g w i t h la u gh te r! T h a t wa s t h e
b e ginning of a further year o f to r m en t !
Mind you, I wasn’t the o n ly o n e to s u f fe r. O n e eve ni n g , we
were all fishing in adjacen t sw i ms wh en Ro b i n c a m e a l o n g
ex plaining he had just los t a re al ly b i g ca r p a f te r q u i te a l o n g
f i ght . Because there was s ti ll a d e g re e o f u n k n ow n i n t h o s e
d ays, such an event was a lways o f i n te re st , a n d h e d u ly g o t
sy mpathet ic comments fro m u s a ll . A fe w d ays l a te r, we we re
a gain fishing similar swi ms . B o b , Ro b an d I we re gat h e re d
to gether talking when a sl i gh tly exc i te d M r. W i l to n ar rive d i n
o u r swim. “Rob,” he said. “ I ’ ve b ee n th i n k i n g a b o u t t h e f i s h
yo u lost the other night . I t hi n k I ’ve wo rke d o u t a fo rm u l a
to tell you how big it was.” We a ll l i s te n ed i n te n tly to wh a t
fo llowed as Fred explaine d : “ I f yo u m ea s u re t h e a n gl e o f th e
b e nd in the rod, multiply i t by t wo an d t h en d iv i d e i t by t h e
t i me you had the fish on, i t g ive s yo u a n exa c t we igh t .” Fre d
was always coming up with th e o r i e s, b ut t h i s o n e s o u n d e d a b i t
ex treme! “OK then,” said Ro b . “ If t ha t ’s th e c a s e , wh a t d i d my
f i s h weigh?” “Seven teen p o un d s a n d te n o u n c es ,” s a i d a ve ry
a s sured Fred. “But how c a n yo u b e s u re o f t h at ? ” aske d Ro b
a gain. Fred’s response wa s c l as s i c , “ B ec a u se I ’ ve j u s t c a u gh t
i t , and it’s still got your h o o k li n k i n i ts m ou t h ,” w i t h wh i c h
h e began roaring with laugh te r! At le a st t h at s p are d m e b e i n g
r i bbed about the rab bit for a fe w we eks ! Fre d ’ s b ai t wa s a re a l
FREELINE 42
