freeline-95 - Flipbook - Page 126
EXCLUSIVE
I had expected to be woken
by a bite alarm that morning
and for whatever reason it
had not happened. I was due
to leave the lake around 11am
so was in no rush to re-do any
of rods or cause any general
disturbance within my swim
preferring to just see out the
last few remaining hours of
another successful session,
chilling out.
After all Id had three bites
that session, landing two
and losing one which is a
top result for three nights
on Ecton. The kettle was the
busiest item of tackle in my
s w i m t h a t m o r n i n g, c o f f e e
after coffee was drunk as I
slowly packed the gear away
g e t t i n g r e a d y f o r h o m e. I w a s
half thinking about the third
r o d, t h e o t h e r 8 f t d e e p g r a v e l
spot that was yet to produce
a beep let alone a carp when
out of nowhere the shallow
i s l a n d r o d w a s a w a y. N o w, a s
I was fishing in prime duck
t e r r i t o r y, a n d i t w a s w a y p a s t
BigCarp 124
b i t e t i m e, I d i d n ’t i n i t i a l l y
think, carp – I thought It
was a duck or swan and got
up slowly to deal with it,
mumbling
and
grumbling
about the birdlife as I walked
up to the rod. At that point,
I looked up at the spot and
there was no ducks or swans
– it was another bloody take!
At this point the shallow
island rod had only produced
small fish for me (no real
surprise in 2.5ft of water) and
I expected this fish to be of a
similar ilk, that being within
the 10lb to 20lb in weight
b r a c k e t – I w a s w r o n g. A l l
the fish from the island spot
had weeded me up and came
i n t h e s a m e w a y, f e e l i n g v e r y
heavy and surrounded by
weed – this fish was the exact
same feeling through the rod.
It felt like it had weeded itself
up and was slowly coming
toward me but the difference
with this fish was, that when
it first hit the surface 20 yards
out, there was no weed at all
