freeline-96 - Flipbook - Page 218
BOBBY COOTE
things away in the car and leave the one rod out fishing
w i t h t h e n e t a n d m a t t o h a n d . I w a s o v e r a t t h e c a r, w h i c h
w a s o n l y a b o u t 1 0 / 1 5 ya r d s a w a y f r o m w h e r e I f i s h w h e n a l l
of a sudden I heard the bottle cap hit the floor and the reel
j u s t s t a r t e d g o i n g i n t o o v e r d r iv e . I h a d t o r u n o v e r a n d g r a b
the rod and leave all my stuff on the floor at the back of my
car with the boot wide open. Bear in mind it’s not the safest
of places to be leaving your stuff all over the floor and your
car boot wide open, as your stuff can easily grow legs and
disappear if you’re not careful.
N o w I ’ d h o o k e d s o m e t h i n g t h a t a t f i r s t I t h o u g h t w a s n’ t a
carp at all; I thought it was a catfish. I was now trying to
concentrate on playing this fish as well as trying to keep a
c l o s e e y e o n m y c a r a n d a l l m y s t u f f . L u c k i l y, a t f i r s t , t h i s
fish never went the usual carp route underneath the jetties
or around the snaggy area but went left where I like all
t h e f i s h t o g o , a s i t ’ s r e l a t iv e l y s n a g f r e e , b u t t h i s f i s h w a s
steaming like a train and just going and going without any
stops or breaks in between. Then she slowed down, and I
was getting the upper hand when all of a sudden the line
went really slack, and I was winding down as fast as I could
but feeling nothing at all, and I thought at first the fish had
come off. I was winding and winding, proper cranking the
big pit reel, and the fish must have been swimming so fast
t o w a r d s m e t h a t I j u s t c o u l d n’ t c a t c h u p w i t h h e r.
Then all of a sudden the rod just bent around to the right,
a n d t h e f i s h w a s n o w u n d e r t h e T p a r t o f t h e j e t t y. I q u i c k l y
dropped the tip down into the water as always, but now I
c o u l d n’ t s e e m y c a r p r o p e r l y, a n d I w a s g e t t i n g i n a r i g h t
pickle worrying about my stuff as well as trying to play
FREELINE 74
