freeline-95 - Flipbook - Page 79
EXCLUSIVE
c a rp in 15 minutes. I wa s b a c k
i n the game.
Fish were showing, an d I
d i dn’t want to waste t i m e
w i th photos on this o ne. My
m ate laughed, “You’re g ett i n g
c o nfident
now—not
even
s n apping pics!”
Then at 6:40am, the r o d
a b solutely ripped agai n. T h i s
o n e felt different. I kn ew i t
w as a big fish. I kept ste a d y
p r essure, guiding it aro u n d
t h e weed beds. As it cam e i n
c l ose, my mate looked at m e
a n d said, “This is on e o f th e
A - Team.”
He slipped the ne t un de r i t,
a n d we both leane d o ve r t o
p e ek in. What. A. Fish. T h e
h e ad alone was monstr o u s.
We grabbed the sca les, a n d I
j u mped into the lake with t h e
s l i ng. He didn’t sho w me t h e
d i al at first… then I saw i t :
3 7 lb 4oz. The big commo n .
Three weeks to the d a y
s i nce I started the campa i g n
l a nding 17 carp, 1 Tench a n d
l o sing the 1 carp.
I wa s b u zz i n g. I g r a b b e d m y
phone and rang my partner:
“ Wa k e u p i h a v e i t , G e t A m e i l a
out of bed and get down here—
s h e h a s t o s e e t h i s .” We l i v e
j u st d o wn t he r o a d, s o t h e y
w e re t h e r e i n m i n u t e s . H e r
l i t tl e f a c e wh e n s h e sa w t h a t
f i s h — p u r e ma g i c. M o m e n t s
like that will stay with her
( a n d m e ) f o r e v e r.
Sharing these experiences
with the next generation of
a n g l e r s i s wh a t i t ’s a l l a b o u t .
I’ve recently qualified as an
angling coach, and I now teach
around 30 local kids a week.
S h o w i n g th em h o w t o f i sh
safely on the local park lakes,
t e a c h i n g r e s p e c t f o r n a t u r e,
and giving them something
positive to focus on.
I t’s m o r e t h a n f i s h i n g. I t ’s
p u r p o s e,
connection,
and
c o m m u n i t y.
And
s o me t i m e s ,
just
s o m e ti m e s , i t e n d s w i t h a 3 7 l b
c o m m o n i n th e n e t , t h a n k s t o
a multi combi rig and a killer
bait combo.
BigCarp 77
