november-2026-free-line-part-2 - Flipbook - Page 85
FREE LINE / FIELD JOURNAL
JAMES COTTEE
FIELD NOTES
I was on the rod in a heartbeat, and as I picked her up, she hooped straight
over as the fish started to flat-rod me and take line, charging up the side
of the tree-lined island to my right. She stayed on that line no matter how
much side-strain I gave her; she just kept towing. She must have had 30/40
yards of line off me, heading straight towards another swim when I saw her
up in the water by the island, and my heart sank as the line pinged off its
pec as she turned back towards me in the distance.
She came back to the margin rather quickly after that first good, strong run,
but she wasn t done. Callum had come round shortly after seeing me get
the bite and offered his assistance with the netting. As she got closer to the
shallow water, she did what all carp do in that situation and bolted but not
before we got a good glimpse of her! That s the last thing you want to see
a big common attached to your rig approaching netting territory from 115
yards and then a whining Emblem being stripped of line as it shoots back
out into deeper water. My knees were definitely going at this point. Luckily
enough, she was nailed though, and shortly after another good run, she was
sulking in the net.
After taking a closer look, I realised she wasn t the common I was first
thinking of when I saw her in the shallow water. She was about 10lb shy,
not that it matters, as she was still absolutely pristine. She swung the needle
round to 35lb on the nose! Pukka! After a load of kisses from the dog and
some cracking shots being taken by Callum, she was back to her watery
home, kicking strong. Buzzing! What a result, and well worth sitting on my
hands. Interestingly, after speaking to a good friend of mine, he had caught
the same carp two years previously at 27lb. That s some growth rate! Some
epic carp are going to be caught from the Quarry in the next few years. Its
future is only getting brighter!
The afternoon passed, and there were no more bites to be had for me. Matey
opposite to my left had a bite and had got weeded up, so he was out on
the boat not too far from where my left hand rod was on the 80-yard spot,
which also turned out to be a tench I tried not to laugh!
FREE LINE
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