Free Line 109 — October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 196
ALEX
GRAHAN
PAUL HANSON
STEVE
BENNETT
BRIGGS
STEVENS
actual 16th off, so I set out the night before and picked a swim on a public
mooring with a big overhanging willow on the opposite side and cast out
the rods at midnight. Sadly nothing happened that night, and just after first
light, I decided to set out and find some fish. It was already warm, and a hot
day was forecast, so I put on my Polaroids and set off.
It wasn’t long before I started to realise that there were a hell of a lot of
features in the section. It had it all – shed loads of overhanging trees and
islands, boats, inlets and outlets, marinas and private mooring cuts, as well
as the same features that are in every section – the top and bottom of locks
and weirs at each end. I was spoilt for choice… where did I start? I went up
and down the full length of the section twice before finally seeing a carp, a
good common, which was sitting between the branches of a spindly dead
tree at the bottom end of the section. It was the only dead tree in a row
of thick foliage. The carp was obviously sunning itself in the safety of its
branches without the fear of being run over by the boat traffic.
I circled back to an opening in the foliage downstream of the dead tree and
manoeuvred the boat straight into the gap. I then tied off the bow of the boat
to a branch and dropped a mud weight off the stern on the upstream side
and sat back to gather my thoughts. What I saw next blew my mind! A carp
topped in the middle of river, then another and another and another… What
the hell was going on? It was some show, like the carp Olympics. I did flick
a rod out to the dead tree, but it was about 10ft deep right next to it with a
clean gravel bottom. I was never that confident of bite once I felt the depth.
All the carp were obviously up in the water, but to this day, I don’t know
why they were showing so much. They were jumping, rolling, porpoising,
boshing, trying to fly and everything. Everyone I called that day even heard
them top on the phone, whilst I was telling them what was going on. “Was
that another one I just heard?” they’d say. “Yep” I’d reply. It was mad.
I stayed and watched them until the light started to go and then went back
to my mooring. I saw well over a hundred shows that day, which was quite
FREELINE 82
