freeline-96 - Flipbook - Page 223
BOBBY COOTE
morning before and also had the next morning free to come
and fish for a few hours. Likewise my friend Danny had said
to me, “Sod it! I’ll go into work a little later and join you
f o r a f e w h o u r s i n t h e m o r n i n g a s w e l l i f y o u d o n’ t m i n d .”
H e s a i d h e w o u l d n’ t f i s h b u t j u s t j o i n m e . S o m e t h i n g y o u
always really need over the docks is a spare pair of hands,
as it’s really hard to net the fish alone and deal with them,
a s t h e b a n k s a r e q u i t e h i g h a w a y f r o m t h e w a t e r. S o w e m a d e
a time to meet up and both met down the docks on that
m o r n i n g . We w e ’ d l i t e r a l l y b e e n t h e r e a b o u t t w o t o t h r e e
minutes, and as I peered over the edge onto the baited spot
there was one fish all on its own absolutely tearing up the
bottom, bubbles coming up and the silt being clouded up in
t h e e d g e . S t r a i g h t a w a y I s a i d t o D a n n y, “ T h i s i s a b i t e , m a t e .
We w i l l l a n d t h i s f i s h w i t h i n a c o u p l e o f m i n u t e s ,” a n d h e
w a s l i k e , “ Yo u r e c k o n ? ” I t o l d h i m , “ 1 0 0 % ,” a n d h e s a i d , “ I f
you do that , it will be the quickest bite I’ve ever seen over
t h e s e d o c k s .”
So I ran straight back to the car and grabbed a rod, the mat
and the net . I always fish unleaded snag leaders, so I attached
one, coupled with my favoured multi rig on a size 4 hook
with a 4 or 5oz lead and a 20mm white pop-up and lowered
i t i n s l o w l y b e h i n d t h i s f i s h’ s t a i l … B a n g ! W i t h i n 3 0 s e c o n d s
this fish turned its head around and just grabbed hold of
t h e w h i t e p o p - u p a n d t o o k o f f l i k e C o n c o r d e . N o w l u c k i l y, a t
first , it never went underneath the jetties; it just powered
o f f t o t h e l e f t a n d j u s t k e p t g o i n g l e f t w i t h i m m e n s e p o w e r.
Like I said, if the fish go left , I’ve got a 85/90% chance I’ll
l a n d t h e m s a f e l y, b u t e v e r y t i m e I t r i e d t o s t o p t h e f i s h a n d
t u r n i t a r o u n d , i t j u s t w a s n’ t h a v i n g a n y o f i t a n d j u s t k e p t
FR E ELINE 79
