Catch of the week Big linear is out
43lb 4oz pb after family bereavement
AN EMOTIONAL Eddie Warde caught the fish of his dreams just days after his dad passed away.
Having lost his father Wez to cancer, the Northamptonshire angler was determined to fulfil a long-standing social session – and it turned into a trip he will never forget.
“Two weeks before the trip my dad Wez was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and just five days before the planned outing I received the heart-wrenching news that he had sadly died,” said Eddie.
“I was devastated but adamant the trip should still go ahead. I told friends and family members that something special would grace my net, but I had one particular fish in mind that I really wanted and I said Wez would give it to me!”
Eddie and Rushden Angling Centre owner Nick Whitmill headed to nearby Ecton Lakes in search of that special fish.
On the first night, Eddie went to bed at about 11pm and told Nick “I’m having the Big Lin”.
Four hours later, Eddie was woken by a single bleep and hit into a fish. “The rod was solid with rafts of floating weed covering the line,” said the Higham Ferrers angler, who donned his waders to help with the fight.
“Gradually the fish came into view and it was one of the lake’s two big linears! At this point I was shaking and thinking ‘could it really be the one?’.”
Indeed it was – 11 months after its last capture, the Big Lin at a personal-best weight of 43lb 4oz.
“Nick was speechless and I was in pieces, so after weighing we sacked her as sunrise was almost upon us and raised a celebratory beer to my beloved dad, knowing he’d made my dreams come true.
“I just sat in the water with the Big Lin, sobbing until sunrise.
“A monumental moment in our hearts and minds, a trip that will never be forgotten.”