november-2026-free-line-part-2 - Flipbook - Page 39
FREE LINE / FIELD JOURNAL
PAUL OXENHAM
FIELD NOTES
Several laps later, we all had an idea of where we d like to start. To
make swim selection fair, I suggested we draw straws for our choices. I
immediately regretted this, as I got the short straw!
Phill went in Pole Position, Will in Waiting Man s, Andy on the causeway
between the Pads and the Split lakes, and I went on the Point. We felt
we had the lake well covered, and it allowed us good visibility if the fish
started moving in the warm weather, although very little had shown so far.
The afternoon flew by, and we all wound in early evening for a lovely
bankside curry in Phill s swim, Phill being our volunteer chef for the
trip well, volunteered by the rest of the group anyway! We wandered back
to our respective swims a little later than we had planned, and I wasn t
totally convinced that my rods were 100% on the spots, but after such an
early start, I was just glad they were out there and gratefully hit the sack.
Ray came by for a chat on his morning rounds. As we stood talking to the
right of my swim, Ray pointed out some very subtle bubbles in the Weedy
Corner bay, which, in all honesty, I had earlier dismissed. Now Ray knows
his stuff, and if he says that s a fish, then a fish it is! As he left me, I wound
in my right-hand rod, moving the single banksticks and alarm under the
canopy of trees.
FREE LINE
39
