freeline-99 - Flipbook - Page 195
DICK GAYNER
BOBBY
COOTE
weed. When Mark was rele a si n g h i s c a p t ure , c ro u c h e d d ow n
w i th the fish in front of h i m i n t he s li n g , I wa s cl o s e to h i m
t a king shots when the tip s o f h i s tra i n ers m a d e c o n t a c t w i th
t h e slippery weed. He loo ke d at m e a s i f to s ay, “ He l p , D a n ,”
b u t instead of grabb ing hi s s ho ul d er s an d p u l l i n g h i m b a c k , I
l a ughed a lot and carried o n t ak i n g p i c t ure s a s i t u n fo l d e d . I
g o t some great shots, so it wa s wo r t h i t .
While we’re talking abo ut f u n ny s to r i e s , h ere ’ s o n e fo r
M ark… I was at the lake fe el i n g a li t t le wo rs e fo r we a r in t h e
s tomach department . T here i s a b ar wi th a to i l e t f ive m i n u te s
away that backs onto the lake , b u t t he re i s no way yo u c a n l e ave
yo ur gear on its own . I wa s h i di n g f ro m t he s u n , d es p e ra te fo r
M ark to hurry up an d get h e re so I c o u ld r u n t h e to i l e t . I wa s
c u rled up in pain calli ng M ark , te ll i n g hi m to g et a m ove o n ,
when I couldn’t wait any lo n g e r. I ru mm a ge d th ro u gh t h e k i t ,
g o t a spare bivvy peg, pulle d t h e f ro n t o f t h e b ro lly ri gh t d ow n
s o no one could see in, sq u at te d ove r a b u c ke t a n d ex p l o d e d .
A l l of sudden the peg cam e f re e, t he b ro l ly s p ru n g b a c k u p
l e aving me helpless try in g to c le a n mys el f a n d p u l l i t b a c k
d own to hide me away fro m al l t h e p a s s ers by an d b o a te rs ,
d i sgusted by what they h a d j u s t s ee n . Fu n n i ly en o u gh , M a rk
t u rned up five minutes late r, l au gh i n g at m e t h i s t i m e .
As the season wen t on, we s t ar te d to se e m o re an gl ers , a n d
i t was a little dishearten i n g, as we c o u ld n’ t a lways b a i t u p
o r get back on our sp ot th at ha d be e n s o k i n d to u s , s o I to o k
a more mobile approach u n ti l i t c o o l ed o f f a n d g o t a l i t t l e
q u ieter. Bobby was about , do i n g h i s e a rly m o rn i n g th i n g , s o
we carried on meeting up a n d d o i n g l ap s o f t h e l a ke, t ry i n g
to spot the ones we wante d to ti ck o f f o u r l i s t . B e s i d e s l i t tl e
A l fie’s cap ture and my cap t u re o f t h e l i n ea r, I h ave n’ t h e a rd o f
FR E ELINE 71
