Its the one that gets away /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif. Now before you think I`ve lost the plot let me explain.Many years ago, when I was about 10 years old, I was on holiday and me and my brothers were fishing from a rickety wooden jetty. We were fishing for the wrasse we could see nipping in and out of the weed which clung to the rocks and boulders strewn about the seabed about 10 feet below. We weren`t very experienced In fact, I think this was my first time. My rod was a fibreglass woolworths special. It wasnt` meant to catch anything bigger than a pound. The rest of the gear was just as basic and cheap.We were happily catching these small wrasse when my brother yelped and pointed to a dark shadow that was gliding under my legs and, without a flinch, it took my bait and lazely swam on unaware of the panic going on above.My rod was bent double and my clutch was screaming. I couldn`y stop it. It was all I could do to stop it from pulling me in! Finally I had no line left on the spool and the line parted company from my reel with a loud CRACK!The excitement of being connected to such a leviathan was electric. My heart was pounding and I could hardly speak. It didn`t matter that I didn`t land the fish. I never knew that fish could grow so big! I was trembling but I was hooked.
And so to the present day.
It was a last minute decision but I decided to target the chub and perch on my local river. Its not a prolific stretch of water but I`ve had chub to 5lb and perch over 2lb and I know others who have caught bigger.The swim I chose was under some over hanging trees and is a bit snaggy.I`d targetted it before and blanked so I was determine to catch from there. After all it looked so "fishy".Anyway after 15 minutes legering I had landed a 3lb chub. Not a bad start but I knew that the disturbance would have spooked every chub for 100 yds so I rested the swim and wandered down river with a spinning rod. After an hour and a couple of jack pike I returned to my original swim.Well, things were not going according to plan. Things were as dead as a graveyard. The sun was beginning to set and I was thinking of packing up. I wasn’t too disappointed. I`d caught from where I had blanked 4 times before so I could move to a new venue without having to admit defeat.Then WHAM! the rod tip flew round and for a few brief seconds I was connected to an express train. I just managed to steer it away from the snags on the far bank but it dived into the snags to my right and shed the hook. I have no idea what it was. A river carp? a massive chub? (here`s hoping). I managed to free the hook from the tree roots and slumped back in my chair breathless and with heart pounding.
For a few moments I was that 10 year old boy fishing at the end of a rickety old jetty again. /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif
