freeline-97 - Flipbook - Page 175
JOHN BARNES
b a t shape. These were soo n fo l lowe d by an a n c i en t li t tl e l ow2 0 mirror. I’d kept the bai t g o i n g i n l i tt le an d o f te n a l l d ay to
c o unteract the millions of ro a c h t he re s h o l ds , to pp i n g u p w i t h
a bit more after each bite to o . A s th e eve n i n g d re w i n , t h e f i s h
were still fizzing at range , b u t I d e ci de d to t ake a ro d o f f t h e
a rea, opting for my deeper ma rg i n s p o t t ha t I ’ d b e en ke e p i n g
l i ne free but also bai ting l i t tl e a nd o f te n t hro u gho u t t h e d ay.
I a ctually call it my honey h o l e… an d i t p rove d me ri gh t . Af te r
g e tting the drop I needed to fe el , I p u t a c o u pl e mo re h a n d f u l s
o f just 12mm baits over the r i g a n d s et t le d b a c k for t h e n i gh t ,
b u t to my surprise it only to o k a fe w mi n u te s fo r th e a l a rm to
g ive a couple of bleeps an d th e n my Stow b o b b i n to j u s t ri s e
e n ough and hold up near my ro d , an d I wa s o n i t s t ra i gh t away !
I lifted into the bite, an d th e n t h e f i s h b o l te d o ff t h e s p o t ,
b u t after a short fight , it wa s s i t ti n g i n t he fo l ds o f my n e t . A s
I p eered over the mesh, I t ho u gh t , mm m… t ha t ’ l l d o … th i n k i n g
i t looked a good fish. Then my eye wa s d raw n to a s m a l l p a tc h
i t had on its back, and I re al i s ed th e b i g g e s t c o m m o n o n t h e
c o mplex was sitting there, a p a le ye ll ow S i gn a tu re h a n g i n g o f f
my size 6 Kaptor Curve ba n g c e n tre o f i t s b o t to m l i p – h ap py
d ays! I got the rod back o u t wi th a fe w m o re h a n d f u l s , a n d
t h en I called a mate who cam e a n d d i d a fe w s h o ts fo r m e . T h a t
was it for a few hours, but I s t aye d awa ke wa tc h i n g.
J ust before dawn, the b o b b i n li f te d a li t t l e to c a tc h my
a t tention, then went into m e ltd ow n ! T h i s f i s h wa s g o i n g m ad ,
t rying to make it up a culve rt p i p e to my l ef t ! S tee ri n g i t c l e a r
i n to open water, I could re la x a n d en j oy a g re a t f igh t . O n ce
n e tted, I realised I had go t a f i s h c al l ed t he Zi p ( fo r o bv i o u s
re asons ) sitting in the net , o n e o f t he p re tt i es t f i s h i n t h e 2
a n d 3 res. I then gave my p a l a s h o u t fo r a fe w s h ot s an d to l d
FR E ELINE 6 3
