freeline-96 - Flipbook - Page 84
EXCLUSIVE
c o uld not hear him rust l i n g
t h rough the undergrowth a n d
t o my surprise he wa s sat d e a d
s t i ll on the platform to ta l l y
f o cused on spot where I h a d
d r opped the bag.
Now, if you are ol d eno u g h
t o remember A Passion f o r
A ngling, Bob James ha d a
b l ack Labrador called Rig s b y
c h a n c e t o l o o k d o w n a t F u d g e,
he was already by my side
standing on the mesh to my
landing net. It is funny really
but this is something he has
a l w a y s d o n e f r o m a p u p p y.
A st e a d y b a t t l e t o o k p l a c e,
a n d i t wa s n o t t o o l o n g be f o r e
t h e m i r ro r w a s r e a d y f o r t h e
n e t . To b e h o n e s t I h a d m o r e
t h at use to pull off his fl at c a p
w hen he was about to g e t a
t a ke. So, if you were to ask m e
d o dogs have a sixth sen s e, I
w ould say absoblo odyl u t e l y.
B y this point I was re a l l y
i n trigued as I called to hi m a
c o uple of times which fel l o n
d e pth ears, so I then deci d e d
t o place the rod back i n th e
b i vvy strap and see what h e
w as he was looking at. A s I
g o t level with the butt sec ti o n
o f the rod, the bobbin slo wl y
d r opped to the floor ind ica t i n g
I was in. I picked th e ro d u p
o f f my trusty Delkim an d t o
m y delight I was with a ste a d y
t e nsion as the fish kited a wa y
t o my right. By the time I h a d a
of a battle trying to get the
landing net off Fudge than the
a c t u a l f i sh , b u t I g u e s s t h e y
have just woken up. I lowered
the net into the clear water
and gently pulled the sulking
m i r r o r o v e r t h e c o r d t o t he n e t
a n d i n i t we n t . I t u r n e d a n d
looked at Fudge and said yes
Fudgey happy days. The net
w a s t h e n c o l l a p s e d, a n d t h e
m i r r o r w a s tr a n s f e r r e d t o t h e
unhooking matt where the
s l i n g wa s a l r e a d y w a i t i n g.
O n t h e sy n di c a t e i t i s p o l i c y
t h a t a l l f i sh a r e w e i g h e d a n d
documented so we can keep
t r a c k o f t h e g r o w t h r a t e.
T h e s c a l e s sp u n r o u n d t o
a r e sp e c ta b l e 2 1 l b 6 o z a n d
BigCarp 82
