freeline-98 - Flipbook - Page 160
LEE GRIFFIN
BILL
PHILLIPS
p h otographs. The remain d er o f t h e n i gh t d ra g g e d w i t h o u t
s l eep or incident apart fro m t h e s ti l l ne s s g iv i n g way to a s h o r t ,
v i olent storm.
At the first sign of li ght , I co n ta c te d cl u b o f f i c i a l wh o l ive d
n e arby to come and do th e we i gh i n g a n d p h o to g ra p h s . M u c h
l i ke most of the clubs in th e e arly d ays , t hey l i ked to o f f i ci a l ly
weigh big fish for the reco rd s a n d awa rd i n g o f tro ph i es fo r t h e
b i ggest of each species ann ua l ly. To my d el i gh t t h e we i gh t wa s
2 1 lb 1oz, my first from th e cl u b p o n d a n d a l s o my f i rs t ove r
t wenty fro m a water o ther th a n t h e c an a l. A l s o i t wa s my be s t
to date caught on margin c r u st .
I c ontinued to fish the club p o n d a t l ea s t t wo o r th re e n i gh t s a
week, almost always alo ne fo r ab o u t f ive ye a rs a n d to a l es s e r
d e gree for a further five b eyo n d t ha t wh en t h i n g s c h a n ge d
a great deal. Particularly d u r i n g t h e e arly ye a rs , I l e a rn ed
a massive amount about t he p o n d , i t s i n h ab i t a n t s a nd c l o s e
q u arter watercraft . I man a g ed to ca tc h p re t t y m u c h a l l o f i t s
re sidents during the first f ive ye ars , seve ra l o f wh i c h we re ove r
t wenty up to a best of 24 lb 4 o z. A l o t o f t he s e we re c a u gh t o n
m argin crust but also to ne w me t ho d s f ro m t h e ve ry s u c c e s s f u l
f ree lined single broad b e a n to s el f - deve lo p e d b o i l e d b a i t s
a n d baked floaters. In sp i te o f my i n i t i a l p ro b l e m s ga i n i n g
a c ceptance to the club, I d i d eve n tu a lly b e c o m e a re s p e c te d
m ember of the committee a s f i s h eri e s o f f i c e r, an d j u s t fo r t h e
re cord I managed to win t h e a n n ua l c a r p tro p hy a t l e a s t f ive
t i mes.
S u ch was the close p roxim i ty o f t h e f i s h i n g a t t i m e s th a t o n e
n i ght I had the shock of my li fe wh en a c ar p j u m p e d i n my
swim, hit the rods and kn o c ke d t h em cl e an o f f t h e re s t s . I
h ave so many stories I cou l d te ll f ro m t ho s e ma g i c al ye a rs a t
FREELINE 38
