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Have you ever seen a thirty? Frank Mathews with a tale of fry-ups, flatulence and a fantastic fish! It was snowing the day Stuart and I set off for a water which we both knew held pike to over 30 pounds. It was Tuesday 18th February 1992, and work had been forgotten on arrival at the lake. We had been behind a snow plough for about ten  miles, and wondered if we would ever get there. After discussing who would row I found myself sweating as I rowed to the point (about 3000 miles or so it seemed), where we would eat a hearty breakfast, and fish from the bank until the feast of eggs, bacon, sausage etc., had been eaten. Nothing came from our efforts on the bank so off we went in the boat, this time Stuart at the oars, after 10 yards or so Stuart was breaking wind and sweating under the pressure, and I offered to take over the rowing before an ambulance was necessary. After a further 3000 miles or so we tied up to a mooring in a likely spot. I was deciding whether or not to fish or collapse and sleep after the ordeal of rowing. The rather large trout baits under even larger floats were put out to work and we settled down to a quiet chat, calling each other names, seeing who could belch and fart the loudest, you know the things pike anglers do, while waiting for a run.   About an hour or so had past when Stuart babbled something frantically, looking at his float I just saw the last foot of it disappearing out of sight. At this point Stuart was asking "How long should I leave it Frank?", I rejected his request with, "Don't ask me, decide for yourself". By the way Stuart is a very experienced angler and it was just nerves that made him ask in the first place, I mean if your mate got a run on a trout about 3/4lb and a float about 18" long on a water with a number of fish over 30lb, would you want the responsibility of saying when to hit it?. I didn't either. Anyway Stuart said, "Right I'm going to wind down". I swallowed with anticipation as he went through the motions. "Yes" he said, "the fish is not very big Frank". I looked up at the rod top, it was well bent round so I said nothing. A few seconds later it was deep down but next to the boat, and line was being taken off the clutch. Then I saw this fish about eight feet below the surface. Ooh! I thought it looked big to me. "A good fish Stuart" I said. By this time he knew it was a biggie too and the panic set in, she came to the surface and we both noticed only one of his size eight VB's was in the very front of her upper lip, so I knew there had to be no mistake with the net. "Get it in, get it in" he said. I ignored the temptation to lunge with the net until she was right over it. "Get it in, get it in" he yelled. "It's in, it's in" I said. Thank God I made no mistakes I thought. A quick look at her in the net, and I thought to myself he's done it, he's bloody done it. Stuart was busy panicking and we set off for the bank, the fish in the landing net, not even yet seen properly by Stuart. "It's a good twenty, Frank, isn't it?", "25lb plus" I said, saying no more in case I was wrong. When we arrived at the bank Stuart jumped out of the boat and got a welly full of icy water, but he didn't notice, "...kin hell" he said as he carried her in the net to the snow covered grass. Scales and wet sling at the ready, round and round went the Avons, Stuart looking the other way. "Yes, yes" I said "It's in the red, it's a thirty". Stuart set off a whooping and a hollering, kicking snow around. By this time, the needle on the Avons was shaking, my arms were knackered, so the photo session started. Back on the Avons saw her read 30lb 12oz, then back to the water. I left Stuart in his moment of glory as he watched her sulk for a few minutes in the shallows before powering off back to the deeps, handshakes were in order now. Have YOU ever seen a Thirty? I promise you it was magnificent. Well done Mr. Thorpe. What a day! P.S. The trout baits were health certified fish, and were purchased at the venue. This article first appeared in Pikelines 59 (February 1993) - on this website 18/1/04 BACK TO ARTICLE INDEX

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