november-2026-free-line-part-2 - Flipbook - Page 143
FREE LINE / FIELD JOURNAL
CONNOR SMITH
FIELD NOTES
I was fishing in the shallower swims and catching a good number of the
fish that had been born and grown in the lake. It was a numbers game now,
and I knew the law of averages would have it that if I kept doing what I was
doing, eventually one of the bigger fish, hopefully the Big Lin, would slip up.
Another few sessions had passed. Some had been blanks; some had been a
bit more progressive with the odd better fish turning up, but still not the
one I was after. I decided that on my next session I'd head up to the deeper
water where I could fish up to an island. Now this probably would have been
an area most people would have started at, but the bigger fish have learnt
over the years that the island means danger. Anyway, I decided not to fish
close up to the island but about 3-5 rod lengths away from it, as I figured
that the carp must eat the food that anglers put there, but they must also be
very cautious close to the island, so maybe having my hookbait away from
the island they'd drop their guard feeding there but be cautious close up to
the island.
So the night had come when I decided to put my plan to action. I pushed
my heavy barrow into the swim whilst thinking about my game plan. I
was confident that tonight would be the night it all came together. I got to
my chosen swim and it was empty. This made me even more confident. I
decided to spread my rods out, one in the open water to my left, my middle
rod towards the island like I planned and my third rod out in the open to the
right. I managed to get my rods where I wanted them and got a bit of bait
out around my chosen areas before the birds dive-bombed the life out of it.
Up went the bivvy and on went the kettle. I sat there hoping and hoping as I
waited for the dark to come in so I could get some bait out without the birds
disturbing the areas.
Around 9pm, it was dark enough to put a good head of bait out, so now
was the time to go ahead with my baiting plan. I put around half a kilogram
of Priority Baits Supreme Marine boilies as close to the island as I could
and then around 20 boilies about three to five rod lengths back where my
hookbait was.
FREE LINE
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