freeline-99 - Flipbook - Page 216
BOBBY
STEVE
LEE
BILL
DICK
CRAIG
GRIFFIN
PHILLIPS
GAYNER
BRIGGS
McEVOY
COOTE
Warrior rod was bent doub le a n d my li t t le S hi m an o Bai t r u n n e r
was trying to give line, eve n t ho ugh i t wa s f u l ly t i gh te n e d . I
c l asped the spool and dip p ed t h e t i p b e low t h e wa te r. I h a d
watched the match guys d o t hi s at D ray to n re s e r vo i r to ga i n
c o ntrol of large carp on the i r li gh t s et u p s . I t wo rke d a tre a t ,
a n d I managed to turn her. T h e e n tra n ce to t h e m a rin a ro c ke d
a s the fish came through th e ga p to o u r s i d e . I ra i s e d th e ro d ,
a n d she sp ent the next five m i n ute s s e nd i n g u p h u g e b o i l s a n d
vo rtices in the torchlight . U p s h e ro s e , a n d we c a u gh t o u r f i r s t
gl i mpse of her, a pale comm o n t h at l o o ke d eve ry i n c h a g o o d
2 0 . My legs had turned to j e lly, a nd I j u st p raye d t h e h o o k
wouldn’t pull. I needn’t have wo r ri e d , as a fe w m i n u te s l a te r,
u p she popped, and I led h e r ove r t he wa i ti n g n e t !
“YES!” I shouted in com p le te e c s ta sy ! S h e wa s mi n e ! We
p e ered into the net , and we co ul d se e th a t s h e wa s i n d e e d a
g o od 20. My bro sorted o u t t h e m at , s c a le s an d c a m era , a s I
was shaking from the adre n al i n e t h at wa s c o u rs i n g t h ro u gh
my veins. We lifted her o n to t he sc a le s , a n d a t 2 5lb 2 o z s h e
was my new canal PB. I wa s b u z zi n g an d s m i l i n g e ar to e a r
a s I held her up for the ca me ra . S he wa s a wo n d e rf u l ; a l m o s t
gh ostlike in colour with no t a s c al e o u t o f pl a ce . As I s l i p p e d
h e r back I thanked her for ma k i ng m e o n e ve r y h a p py c a rp e r! I t
was a fantastic feeling, and a lt h o u gh I k n ew t h e re we re b i g g e r
i n there, I was just so hap py to have c a ugh t s u c h a wo n d e rf u l
c a rp.
I did indeed go on to catc h my f i r s t c an a l 3 0 f ro m h ere o n
o n e summer’s morning, b ut t h at ’ s an o t h er s to r y fo r a n o th e r
t i me. My brother is curre n tly t arg e ti n g hi s fi r s t ca n a l 3 0 ( o r
p o ssibly bigger) so I can o n ly di s c l o s e t h e n i gh t p i c t u re o f my
2 5 lb 2oz common, but watc h th i s s p a c e … It j u s t g o e s to s h ow
FREELINE 92
