november-2026-free-line-part-2 - Flipbook - Page 45
FREE LINE / FIELD JOURNAL
PAUL OXENHAM
FIELD NOTES
As we arrived, we could see that Andy had the old Spirolite under full
compression in an effort to tame an obviously large and very angry carp
intent on charging up and down the margins.
After a very spirited ten-minute fight, a long fish was drawn over the net
cord to a round of back-slaps and well-dones for Andy. The Pads had
given up another one of its beauties, a golden, long lean fighting-machine
of a mirror at 30lb 8oz.
The rest of the sunny afternoon was once again spent in Pole Position with
the guys, celebrating the captures with a fine selection of cheese, onion,
chutney and cider a true Somerset supper
which reminds me the
Pads have comfortable well-maintained flushing loos near the car park.
During the day, Will moved around to Weedy Corner to put a bait on the
spot that I d had my two big fish from, but from a more accessible swim.
Phill persisted with Pole Position and Andy returned to Between the Pads
for the night. I stayed on the Point, positioning two baits in front and one
down the channel to my left. Nothing happened in the night for any of
us, and our final full day was surprisingly quiet. We suspected that the
sudden increase in temperature would have the carp up and basking in the
warm sun.
We gathered in Phill s swim in the early evening for our final group meal
of the trip. With the sun streaming down, it was lovely just sat there. Will s
masterstroke, however, was to bring a rod round with him. Why didn t I
think of that?
Will swung a light lead out to the right from Waiting Man s where we d
seen a little movement earlier and Phill got his new toy out, A DJI Spark
drone, which we d gained permission to use for Will s YouTube vlog.
As Phill scanned the water over the lake, it was clear why we d had a quiet
24 hours It seemed that virtually every fish in the lake was congregated
in the main pads area, all at various depths. Some simply looked big, whilst
others looked like immense grey submarines.
FREE LINE
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