freeline-99 - Flipbook - Page 184
LEE GRIFFIN
BILL
DICK
BOBBY
PHILLIPS
GAYNER
COOTE
h u ge, clearly full of spawn w i th am a zi n g co lo u rs to i t . T h i s h a d
to be the big common I wa s to l d a b o u t . Ab s ol u te ly bu z z i n g , I
s a id to my missus, “We nee d to g o .”
I had a b ig bucket of part i c le a t h o m e re ady fo r a b ai t - u p i n
R i chmond, but that was sw i f tly b ro u gh t b a ck to t h e s n a g t h a t
evening, and we planned a p i c n i c fo r t he n ex t d ay on a l aw n
j u st outside the fen ce with t he s n ag . T h i s way L e i l a c o ul d b e
s a t there with my boy and g ive m e a h e a ds u p o f any u nwa n te d
a t tention. As I approached t he b a i te d sp o t , th e re we re c l e a rly
f i s h feeding hard, as the si l t wa s b o i l i n g an d c l o ud i n g , m a k i n g
i t pretty hard to tell what wa s t he re . I re al ly wa nte d to s e e
t h is big co mmon again; it d i d n’ t eve n c ro s s my m i n d wh a t e l s e
m i ght be lurking. I ho ppe d b a c k ove r to s i t w i th t h e fa m i ly
fo r a bit , hoping the silt wo u ld s et t le a n d g ive m e a be t te r
v i ew. This paid off becaus e wh en I we n t fo r a s e c o nd l o o k , I
c o uld see a large fish. Exp e ct i n g i t to b e th e co mmo n , I ke p t
watch having to duck i nto t h e n et t le s a co u p l e o f t i me s to
avoid the police cars. L ei l a wo u ld g ive me th e h ea ds u p to
h i de. On looking closer, it wa sn’ t t h e co mm o n , b u t s o me t h i n g
e l se a little special; it was a b i g , d a rk , s t un n i n g l o o k i n g l i n e a r,
a n d from the moment I saw t h i s f i s h I wa n te d i t – mo re s o t h a n
t h e common.
As time passed, I starte d f i s h i n g t he l a ke i n t h e eve n i n g s
a f ter work. It was tiri ng an d p re tt y ha rd g o i n g b e c a u s e o f t h e
n a ture of the lake, but I wa s co n si s te n tly ca tc h i n g t h e s e s p e ci a l
ve ry rarely fished for o ld c ar p i n c lu d i n g so m e o f t h e n i c e r
c o mmons. I actually had th e l i ne a r fe ed i n g o n my b ai te d s p o t
i n the edge and photograp h ed i t fo r te n d ays o n th e b o u n c e.
I h ad to tr y and take adva n ta g e o f th i s o p p or t u n i ty, a s i t wa s
s t arting to cool off and she wa s ve r y h ap py to fe e d o n t h e s p o t .
FREELINE 60
