On the second of April, 2015 one of my wishes had come true with an amazing memory that had been made.Â
It all took place on the Berg river just a few kms outside Hopefield. My friends and I decided to set up our camp on the river bank of an untouched area called "Rasgat". We'd been fishing since the calm, peaceful hours of early morning which had rewarded us with fresh bait, Carp. Once the carp were off the bite we decided to bait up some nice big, bloody and gutty carp fillets for my dream freshwater fish, the Barble, aka Mr Whiskers. I was excited to cast out my smelly bait right underneath a few wild finch nests hanging over the water covered in ripples due to the wind that had been blowing on this perfect summer's day. With my new setup, the Penn Fierce loaded with 0.14mm TripleFish Cobra braid with my 9ft Shimano Scimitar, I got the perfect cast right underneath the nests where the barble had been gulping for air and teasing us by flaunting their whiskers but not biting on my friend's bait, hopefully I thought it would change now that my bait had been lobbed in. So with a 3 min wait with high expectations, that felt so very long, I heard the long lasted music to my ears, my real started singing my favourite song: the sound of a big fish on the end of my line.Â
Quickly, but also gently, I lifted my rod up off the stands to give a light strike to set the hook and then tightened my drag just enough for my adrenaline to carry on pumping to the sound of my drag. The feeling knowing that you're bringing in a good sized catfish from over a distance of 70m for me was truly pure bliss and my perfect definition of happiness! So after which felt to be roughly 10 min of the most amazing and exciting feeling I've ever felt I could finally catch a glimpse of the beauty which had my adrenaline and nerves on edge. Just as my friend was to guide the fish out, it decided to make a dash for it, making the line peel off my reel as if it were the smoothest sellotape.Â
About a minute later my best catch was lifted out the water by my best mate!Â
There were shouts and laughs of joy and appreciation all around, the loudest coming from me.Â
After a few photos the fat and healthy 8.4kg beauty was carefully released. What made this catch of mine so memorable is that this first Barble was a catch that made my dad, a freshwater enthusiast, so very proud and gave him a smile that only a fellow fisherman would treasure and appreciate.Â
It all took place on the Berg river just a few kms outside Hopefield. My friends and I decided to set up our camp on the river bank of an untouched area called "Rasgat". We'd been fishing since the calm, peaceful hours of early morning which had rewarded us with fresh bait, Carp. Once the carp were off the bite we decided to bait up some nice big, bloody and gutty carp fillets for my dream freshwater fish, the Barble, aka Mr Whiskers. I was excited to cast out my smelly bait right underneath a few wild finch nests hanging over the water covered in ripples due to the wind that had been blowing on this perfect summer's day. With my new setup, the Penn Fierce loaded with 0.14mm TripleFish Cobra braid with my 9ft Shimano Scimitar, I got the perfect cast right underneath the nests where the barble had been gulping for air and teasing us by flaunting their whiskers but not biting on my friend's bait, hopefully I thought it would change now that my bait had been lobbed in. So with a 3 min wait with high expectations, that felt so very long, I heard the long lasted music to my ears, my real started singing my favourite song: the sound of a big fish on the end of my line.Â
Quickly, but also gently, I lifted my rod up off the stands to give a light strike to set the hook and then tightened my drag just enough for my adrenaline to carry on pumping to the sound of my drag. The feeling knowing that you're bringing in a good sized catfish from over a distance of 70m for me was truly pure bliss and my perfect definition of happiness! So after which felt to be roughly 10 min of the most amazing and exciting feeling I've ever felt I could finally catch a glimpse of the beauty which had my adrenaline and nerves on edge. Just as my friend was to guide the fish out, it decided to make a dash for it, making the line peel off my reel as if it were the smoothest sellotape.Â
About a minute later my best catch was lifted out the water by my best mate!Â
There were shouts and laughs of joy and appreciation all around, the loudest coming from me.Â
After a few photos the fat and healthy 8.4kg beauty was carefully released. What made this catch of mine so memorable is that this first Barble was a catch that made my dad, a freshwater enthusiast, so very proud and gave him a smile that only a fellow fisherman would treasure and appreciate.Â
