freeline-96 - Flipbook - Page 250
BOBBY
JACK
THOMPSON
COOTE
m i racles can happen, and wh en th e m i r ro r s u rfa c e d , I s c o o p ed
i t up in the net and let out a m a ss ive s i gh o f re l ie f . I t l o o ke d as
i f I just bagged myself a se c o n d th i r t y i n two d ays! Ha p py wa s
a n understatement when t he s ca l es c o n f i r m e d i t . Yo u re a l ly
c o uldn’t have written it th at t wo a ma zi n g m i rro r s wo u l d tu rn
u p and all that was neede d wa s a b i t o f b re a d , b u t t h i s s t i l l
wasn’t the end to this unbe l i eva b le d ay. . .
I packed up the stalking gear and headed back to the van to get
some lunch whilst I rested the swim. I headed off to another lake,
which is a secret for now, and found myself catching another
beautiful fish from this venue before trying my luck back at the
sand pit for my very last afternoon. When I arrived back at the
spot , it was black with fish, like nothing had gone on earlier
that day. It was full of mid double commons, but there was one
very special fish I had been watching for weeks that had evaded
me – a big, scaly mirror and probably the best looking fish I’d
seen cruising around. It was hanging around a bit further out
from the other fish, so I managed to climb along a tree that had
fallen over into the lake, which was still alive, but this gave me
the extra reach I needed to get a bait to it .
There was something about this sinking bread that they couldn’t
resist… First cast, and I was attached to this crazy character
doing the same as all of the others and giving me a savage run
around. Only this time in mid-fight, a boat decided it was cruising
by, so I had to keep the rod submerged and pray the fish wasn’t
going to find safety, or worse, I’d get caught attached to one of
the residents. I’m not even sure what I would do in that situation
– probably still get the photograph I desire. When it eventually
passed, I was lucky enough it didn’t find any snags and managed
to get the prize in my net. The amazing mirror bounced the scales
FREELINE 10 6
