Tap, Tap, Tap

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JackCroxall
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Tap, Tap, Tap

Post by JackCroxall »

*This is actually my dad's story. After I wrote up 'Old Monastery Pool' (http://bit.ly/1PDZqVb), I was asking around for other fishy ghost stories (I'd love to compile them into a book, how much fun would that be?!) and low and behold my own dad had a belter! We wrote it up together and here it is!

I was fishing as a boy, crouching by the water’s edge, totally absorbed by the dark shadow flirting with my hook bait. The wind was up and so frequent ripples kept me from tracking the shadow perfectly, but I was sure something big lurked beneath the surface. A low branch behind me kept knocking into my shoulder in the stronger gusts. Tap, tap, tap. Irritating, but I knew the minute I turned to deal with it my float would slide under and I would miss a bite.

Despite my vigilance, the shadow came to nothing and my float remained untouched. Numb with inactivity, I stood, stretched and looked behind me. There was no low branch. In fact, no tree or bush or anything tall enough to make contact with my shoulder.

Weeks later I was telling a friend what had happened and where I’d fished. It was a small pond on Leicestershire farmland, well hidden from the local lanes and footpaths. Years before, it had served as a watering hole for a farm’s grazing animals and was fed by a tiny stream which ran along a shallow fold in the landscape.

My friend told me that he knew the pond but no one fished there alone because it was haunted. He explained; during the Second World War, a German pilot bailed from his stricken aircraft nearby. Severely burned and injured, the pilot stumbled along the stream to where it met the pond. It was a windy day and the noise of the wind silenced his slow, agonising shuffle. The pilot could just make out a small figure crouching by the waterside, a small boy engrossed by his fishing. Unable to speak because of his trauma, the pilot tapped the boy’s shoulder in hope of assistance. The boy turned and, horrified by what he saw, shot away as fast as his legs could carry him. Upon arriving at the nearby farm he relayed his terrifying experience to a herdsman who, realising what must have happened, rushed to the pond.

Tragically, by the time the herdsman got to the pilot, he’d succumbed to his injuries and was lying dead in the spot where the boy had been fishing. Buried according to wartime practices, the pilot’s spirit is said to linger on at the pond. Should you ever fish there alone you may just get a tap, tap, tap on your shoulder.

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SkimmingTheCream
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Re: Tap, Tap, Tap

Post by SkimmingTheCream »

Good post JC ( and dad )

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JackCroxall
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Re: Tap, Tap, Tap

Post by JackCroxall »

SkimmingTheCream wrote:Good post JC ( and dad )
Thank you! I was pretty creeped out when Dad told me that one! Hope I managed to convey that in the write up :Scared:

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Scott
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Re: Tap, Tap, Tap

Post by Scott »

Cracker, I love a good yarn. I wonder, is there a book out there somewhere dedicated to ghostly fishing stories?

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JackCroxall
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Re: Tap, Tap, Tap

Post by JackCroxall »

Scott wrote:Cracker, I love a good yarn. I wonder, is there a book out there somewhere dedicated to ghostly fishing stories?
Hope so! :D
Last edited by JackCroxall on Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Julian
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Re: Tap, Tap, Tap

Post by Julian »

Scott wrote:Cracker, I love a good yarn. I wonder, is there a book out there somewhere dedicated to ghostly fishing stories?
Yes, ' Something Fishy ' by Phil Woodhall , published by Medlar Press
Its a good collection of stories but not very long . It was a limited numbered edition for around £50, but is hard to get now.
Amazon have one copy for £110
There is no peace on earth like the peace of fishing in the early mornings

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