freeline-96 - Flipbook - Page 238
BOBBY
JACK
THOMPSON
COOTE
b e fore. There literally was no t a s c al e o u t o f p l ac e , a n d to s ay
t h is fish was pristin e would be a n u n d er s t a te m en t . Af te r a fe w
p h otos, I let the fish slip t hro u gh t he p al m s o f my h a n d s b a ck
to the dep ths of the estate . I t h en p a c ke d u p t h e l i t t l e g e ar I
h a d and made my way back to th e va n a n d d i s a p p e a re d f ro m
t h is place for another year.
N ow the big sand pit had h ad t i me to wa r m u p , i t wa s t i m e
to start introducing a bit o f b ai t to a s p o t I h ad a fe w f ro m
l a st season. Out came the t ru s ty i n f l at a b le b o a t , wh i c h ha d n’ t
b e en blown up since the p rev i o us ye ar, an d I s e t s ai l o u t
i n to the very deep, snagg y p i t . Wh e n I wa s o u t i n t h e p o n d
i n troducing my buckets of b a i t , I co ul d he a r a s h a rp wh i s t l i n g
n o ise coming from beneath m e. A s I l o o ke d d ow n , I co u l d s ee
b u bbles jetting out from o n e o f t h e r i b s t h a t wa s s u b m erg e d
i n an inch of water. Obvi ous ly a t th i s p o i n t i t wa s o n ly n a t u ra l
to start panicking, and as I lo o ke d fo r sh o re i t s ee m e d to b e a
l o ng way off. I grabb ed the o a r a n d p a dd l ed a s fa s t a s I c o u l d
towards the swim. It seem ed to b e a lo n g j o ur n ey b a c k row i n g
what seemed to be like a b a g o n wa te r. Eve n t u a l ly I d i d ma ke
i t back drier than expecte d, wh i c h d i d n’ t m a t te r a ny way, a s
t h is was only a baiting up s es s i o n , b u t I wa s s h o r t ly to re t u rn
fo r my first night .
A couple of days had pas s ed , an d I wa s h ea d i n g b a ck u p to
i n troduce some more bo ili e s to t he s p o t , th i s t i m e a rm e d w i t h
my sawn-off and a bag of f l o at i n g t ro u t p e ll e t s . T h e we a t h e r
was warm and the sun was s h i n i n g b ri gh t – p e rfe c t co n d it i o n s
fo r stealing a bite off th e s u r fa ce . T he p rev i o u s ye a r, I ’ d
m anaged to stumble acro s s t h i s ve r y sp ec i al s e c t i o n o f t h e
l a ke that you could o nly ac c e ss t h ro u gh t he ove rg row n j u n gl e
b e tween the lake and the p a th , so me t hi n g th a t d o e s n’ t b o t h e r
FREELINE 94
