freeline-94 - Flipbook - Page 174
GREG SADLER
I t was the mid 90s and i f yo u ’ve re ad my l a s t p i e c e, l i fe wa s
i n full swing. I was, howeve r, ma ny m i l es away f ro m t h e l o c a l
water that had absorbed my te en a g e ye ar s . Of c o u r s e, by n ow
I ’ d ventured to pastures n e w a n d h a d a c qu i re d m e mb ers h i p
to a variety of other ven ue s , b ut n o t h i n g h a d re a l ly c au gh t
my imagination or come cl o s e to s u c c es s fu l ly fe e d i n g th e
a d diction. So, with a ticke t st i l l va li d fo r B ro o m b a n ks , t h e
s i mple solution was to p u t i n a fe w ro a d m i l e s , h e a d b a c k
s o uth and fish chunks o f ti m e ra th e r t h a n ‘ q u i c k ove rn i gh te rs ’
( a s opposed to ‘slow overn i gh te r s ’ ( an o th e r mo d e rn - d ay c a rp
p h rase that is rather odd i n i ts t r u e m e an i n g a n d d o e s m ake
m e chuckle).
At the time, being invo lve d i n ed u c at i o n me a n t t h at t h e
p e rks of lengthy summer b re aks we re a re al be n e f i t . B l o c k i n g
o f f a few days and nights p e r we ek wa s n o t re a l ly a p ro b l e m ,
a l though getting to grips w i th t he th i rd la ke o n t h e c o m p l ex
c o uld have been. I wanted to ma ke t h e m o s t o f th e s e v i s i t s a n d
m aximise my free time, so I f i g u re d t ha t I n ee d ed to s o me h ow
ga in an advantage. Now, b e ari n g i n m i n d t h a t t h i s wa s m a ny
ye ars ago, it was certai nly th e c as e t ha t eve n i n Ke n t , s o m e
c l ub waters really were s t i ll ra th e r q u i e t . I f yo u m an a g ed to
f i nd the time to fish midwe ek , t he c h an c e s we re t h at yo u ’ d
o n ly see the odd green do me d o t te d aro u n d ove r t h e en t i re
t h ree-lake complex. So, in te r ms o f m e ‘g e tt i n g away w i th i t ’,
my simple plan was to ge t wa te r b o u n d , h ave a g o o d m o o c h
a round in the lake, f ind s o m e d e c en t fe at u re s a n d lo a d t h e m
u p with bait .
On one previous occasio n , I’ d ‘ b ee n i n’ to n e t a f i s h s t u c k i n
t h e weed off the Horse Ba n k Sw i m. Fo l low i n g t h a t a dve n t u re ,
I knew that bottom of the la ke wa s a m a ss of s t i n k in g s i l t , s o
FREELINE 6 4
