freeline-95 - Flipbook - Page 223
ROBIN MONDAY
s h ocked that we never had c a ta p u l ts , b ut i t’ s t r u e , we wo u l d
t h row out our free offeri n g s my h a nd . Fre d wa s s o g o o d a t
t h rowing them he could have th re e b a i t s i n t h e a i r a t a ny o n e
t i me, throwing them o ne a t a t i me .
Spods, I’m sure, were f i rs t u s ed by s o m e Ke n t b oys wh o
i g nored the HNV bait revol ut i o n i n favo u r o f p a r ti cl es , s u c h a s
c h ickpeas and peanuts. T h e ea rly co ns t r u ct i o n wa s a p l as t i c
washing up bottle with a we dg e o f co rk o r p o lys t y ren e i n t h e
n o se to make it float after i t l a n de d . L e ad s a re a n o t h e r i te m o f
t a ckle that were only just evo lv i ng , wh i c h wa s why we wo u l d
o n ly freeline our baits. Fre el i n i n g a ba i t c re a te d n o re s i s t an c e
a p art from any drag create d by t he l i n e i t s e l f , wh i c h gave u s
t h e chance to actually twi tc h a b a i t b a ck i f a f i s h p i c ke d i t u p
a n d spat it out . This was al mo st a s exc i t i n g a s s u rfa c e f i s h i n g ;
yo u could pull gently on t he l i n e a n d a f i s h wo u l d p u l l b a c k
a t the other end. It was li ke te as i n g a swe e t f ro m a c h i l d .
M i ssing the take was a co m mo n o c c urre n ce , b u t a t l e a s t yo u
were actually fishin g. Marke r f l o a ts we re n o t i nve nte d e it h e r;
i f the fish showed on the s u r fa ce t he n yo u f i s h e d h i gh , b u t i f
n o t , you fished on the botto m .
Anyway, back to the fishi n g… M y f i rs t f u ll s e a s o n wa s s t a rte d
o n Brooklands, formerly E l li n gh am’ s p o nd s i n D a rt fo rd , a
l e ased lake under the cont ro l o f D a r tfo rd a n d D i s tri c t A n gl i n g
a n d Preservation Society. Pa ul an d I h a d s e t u p i n t h e r u s h e s
swim on the 14 th June wai ti ng fo r th e s t ar t o f a n e w s e a s o n ,
t wo rods each set up fish i n g fo r ru n s. T hi s wa s a d i f fe re n t
s e tup to the three takes I ha d ha d t h e p rev i o u s w i nte r. We
n ow had s ilver paper coil s o n t h e l i n e be t we e n th e b u t t r i n g
a n d the reel, the bale arm o f t h e re el wa s o p e n , a nd wh e n a
t a ke occurred, a coin would fa ll o f f th e sp o o l to a l l ow t h e l i n e
FR E ELINE 87
