To Ty Edmonds, it felt as if there was a brick at the end of his line.
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The 24-year-old reeled in what he estimates was at least an 100-pound codfish Wednesday night at Copeton Dam. The monster codfish measured 127 cm and was pulled in using a Jackall Gigantarel lure.
The catch was a dream come true. “I’ve been persistently looking for a fish over the 125-cm mark for about six years now,” Edmonds said.
“I’ve caught 20 odd fish close to that size, but this was the biggest for me. I know that there are even bigger ones. I’ve seen pictures.”
“It took three hours to finally catch it in a quick after-work session,” he said.
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The feeling was overwhelming. So he gave his trophy fish a winning kiss before setting her free. “Yes, I’m sure it was a female. They turn female after they go over 80-90 cm,” Edmonds said.
For Edmonds, the joy isn’t in taking the fish home but in the thrill of the chase.
“Watching them swim away is just as good as catching them,” he said. “We can save them for another day for someone else to catch.
“At the end of the day it is the respect for them, I suppose. I have 1000 per cent respect for the dam and what goes on there.”
The young fisherman knows better than most about what goes on at Copeton Dam because a great deal of his life revolves around it.
Edmonds is a farmhand by day, and a fisherman by night. “That’s all I do: work, fish, sleep – that’s me,” he said.
His cut-up hands, filled with brassy abrasions, betray his hobby. “It’s called cod hand. It is a trademark for fishermen,” he said.
“I got addicted when I was 17 and got my first metre plus,” he said. “I started making my own spinner baits.”
The passionate fisherman even does a bit of guiding with his mates. “But I’m still progressing,” he said.