Another fine display of ahletecism. Field weekend 3 was turning into a non event apart from two kahawai. but I was fishing good water at Mohaka just back from the river mouth. At about 5am I had set the rods with new baits, put my deck chair away from the back of my wagon, placed the chilly as a step and climbed into the back to get out of a nasty offshore breeze. I was sitting there comfortably nice and warm when suddenly out of the side window I saw one of my rods fold in half followed by some awesome tugs on the line.. What happened next would have won me a gold in the gymnastics at the Olympics.

I shot out of the back faster than Usain Bolt out of the starter blocks, missed the chilly bin, hit the ground, tripped on a rock, did a sommersault with a triple twist, landed, went through my chair which catapaulted me into the air, during which I managed a glorious swandive with a half pike only to land face first in the sand some 15 meters from where I started.
I got up sanded myself off and promptly looked around to make sure no one had seen this act. Then brain engaged again and I remembered the rod. I rushed to it, struck the hook only to see a B####Y seagull tangled in the line. But like a trooper I rescued the afore mentioned bird and sent it on its way, though, only after I had cut the line on the wrong side and didnt realise I had done so until I went to pick up my sinker only to find it was only a peice of driftwood and my sinker was still some 20m out to sea.
All this after I had to rescue my wagon from a swamp which took 2 hours but that is another story.