Free Line 109 — October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 216
ALEX
GRAHAN
PAUL HANSON
STEVE
BENNETT
BRIGGS
STEVENS
sent a quick pic of it in the net to a few friends who all replied with similar
comments: “That looks a chunk!”
At long last, I’d finally caught one from the granite section, on the 16th of
August, exactly two months after the start of the season. I prepared the carp
care, weighing kit and camera and bought it aboard. I was a bit surprised
with how little it weighed when I picked it up in the net, only needing one
arm to lift it in the boat. On the mat, it was clear to see why; it had an unusual
shape – all back end and no front, it reminded me of a Savay escapee, and
could well have been. On the scales it went 24lb 8oz, but it looked massive.
It didn’t matter though, as it was a special fish to me. The rest of the day
passed without event, and I couldn’t wait for the night to start.
The bream were a bit quieter, and I’d actually managed to get to sleep
when the middle rod screamed off at some rate of knots. I lifted the rod
and got the fish under control, when out of the blue the hook pulled, or so
I thought… It had actually snapped! Oh well, I thought. Actually, that’s a lie!
I was furious! I have been with the JPrecision hooks team since the owner
Jamie Peters started out, but I hadn’t used a sharpened hook on the river
before for obvious reasons. But now thought I’d try, as the hook holds I’d
had whilst using them on lakes had been mega, and they are super strong. I
tied up a few new rigs, rebaited all the rods and got them back out.
Nothing happened until first light the following morning when the righthand rod melted off again. This time a double figure ghostie common was
the culprit, with a good hook hold. This was the second time I’d had a large
mirror followed a night later by a smaller common. One bonus was, as I
was unhooking it, I noticed some erroneous line in the net. I grabbed hold
of it and pulled it in, and I ended up getting the rig back that I’d lost the day
before when I pulled for a break! I did return to the spot a couple more times,
but only had bream. The swim was now a bit blatant, and other boat anglers
were getting in there, which made prebaiting a bit pointless and expensive,
especially when you total up the time and distance it takes to get to the boat
FREELINE 102
