freeline-97 - Flipbook - Page 201
TOM STOKES
THE BURGHFIELD
COMMON
I n July 2018, Tom Stoke s c au gh t t he u l ti m a te o b s e s s i o n i n
c a rp fishing – the Burghfie ld c o mm o n , an d h e re i s wh a t h e h ad
to say after catching it …
“To be honest , I am still a t a lo ss fo r wo rd s . I rea l ly d o n’ t t h i n k
a nything I could say will eve r t r u ly d o j u s ti c e to q u i te wh a t
t h is capture means to me. A s a yo u n g la d f ro m t h e M i d l a n d s ,
t h is fish was once nothin g m o re t ha n t h e im p o s s i b l e d re a m
– the most incredible car p , l iv i ng i n t he m o s t c h a ll en g i n g
o f environments some 12 0 m i le s f ro m ho m e … A l o n g a n d
d e termined journey followe d, br i ng i n g b l o o d , swe a t an d te a rs
a l ong with it .
All those thousands of m i le s d r ive n , th e h u n d re d s o f n i gh t s
f i s hed, the tons of bait , the h o ur s o f wa lk i n g , c l i m b i n g , c yc l i n g
a n d baiting, not just on thi s l ake , b ut o n t h o s e I f i s h e d b e fo re
i t . Years’ worth of effort ju st fo r th e c h an c e to reve l i n t h a t o n e
m oment of ultimate glory, wh i c h i n re al i t y m ay n ever c o m e !
B ut , as many of you now k n ow, a t 5 . 4 5 a m o n Fr i d ay t h e 6 th
FR E ELINE 89
