Last Gasp Whacker

There are several we accept as gospel in fishing lore. The one on my mind on Monday night was that it’s always worth fishing into a mild wind and in colder weather it’s accepted that we fish on the back of the wind. I arrived on my local water to find Kev following the rules and fishing into a mild westerly, a decision which had already brought him a fish of around 12lbs. The problem is that how mild is mild and as the temperature fell after dark would it still be the right move. As usual I had arrived after work around 4 and intended staying until 10 ish. I opted to fish in the shelter in the far corner based more on a gut feeling and the fact that I'd caught there recently. I fished the same area the previous week in a howling gale and failed to get a single run which is not a surprise in difficult conditions on a short session. I had a feeling that time was running out, the year was sipping away, the mild spell before the next big blow and cold weather was running short and the number of sessions where I can still set up in daylight are becoming a rarity. Still using DNA Baits Secret 7 boilies I cast 2 baits around 20yds into deeper water and a third rod down the margin. I started to doubt my descion when Kev managed a second fish and my indicators still hadn’t moved. By the time darkness had well and truly descended time really was running out. Much to my relief the right hand rod finally chugged off and to be honest I initially thought I'd hooked a bream but the fish managed to gain in weight and made quickly ended up on the surface. Other than a few heart stopping moments as the line pinged off a fin or two she was quickly in the net. The hook came out in the net and she pulled the scales down to 18lb 5oz which is amazing considering the fight. I bought a gadget from EBay. A £1.99 gadget. A gadget I should have bought years ago. It’s a camera adapter that attaches the camera to a bank stick. Brilliant. Brilliant but watch out for the flash in the dark.... the facial expressions can be spurring to say the least.