Witching hour ( 45 mins to be precise)

 The Saturday blues had me in their thrall, almost constant light drizzle with sharper bursts of rain. Two fresh pints of reds from Dangling Indirect and a few turning not so fresh ones burning a hole in the fridge and no prospect of pressing them into use despite the forecast showing 12 % chance of rain. 

Dangling Indirect though..currently victim to a cyber attack that diverts browsers to the long stay carp angler's favourite Porn Hub. Delicious irony there I think. And many a meme spawned. And of course since most of their online ware  is famously out of stock anyway no change there then....

All that aside I wanted to go fishing but not get wet and miserable. Chores done then a late lunch in a bowl and not the bankside flask. LIDL Deluxe Spicy Chorizo and Sun Dried Tomato (with added anchovy paste).  Cheap but lovely.

It wasn't until 3.15 that I was at the bridge pool and looking at a longer slack in the almost spot on conditions. There were even fish topping amongst  the drips from the poplars which were holding off the breeze. Banks slippery so standing to trot not really on and the dying back rosebay still obscuring some  of the trotting eye line making it a little difficult  and as the drips turned to rain the line began to stick a bit to the mid section where one of the flimsy single leg eyes had broken so it wasn't a well oiled machine in action but good enough for a bite somewhere on the trot. If it was as the bait was still dragging behind the float  as the back eddy straightened it was from a gudgeon and as I began to be able to effect some control down the glide it was from a roach or occasionally a dace, seemingly freshly minted with a roach like blue sheen and red rather than toffee fins.

I gathered a few in the shallow pan net  for  a farewell shot which came prematurely at 4pm as I got in in a tangle and rain robbed my enthusiasm to re-set the rig for the last 20 minutes.

As for witches in their hour of gathering, only a few bedraggled dog walkeresses but not  a besom or black cat to be seen.

I'd only used the old bait so that fresh two pints of grubs remain cosseted in fresh maize meal in the bait fridge. If the rain hasn't really affected the flow too much it's trotting again today, either back on the bridge pool which is obviously chock full of fish or perhaps prospecting for roach down on bungalow bend or a safer bet at the bottom of cyanide straight for  a chance of something bigger.