As the bard once said, fool gudgeon

I had planned to spend a few hours looking for some trotting water and settle over some pellets into darkness. However tempus not only fugit but said sternly stet in Heydon, a chocolate box village exemplar which somewhat restricted my available "window".

 Posh car boot

So by the time I had arrived on the Syndicate lower beat it was almost this o'clock.

I decided that a sooner return would seem most chivalrous so the sit and wait would have to wait for another time. Plus, I wanted to be sure to catch. I'd discovered that the week old maggots had shrunk to pinkies and needed some recovery oats, garam masala and all spice. I pondered about stepping down to match the bait hatch but stuck with my current favourite pattern and size. I think perhaps that when playing bigger fish the wire might straighten then spring back once the hook has been shed late in the fight (Koi's for instance Scribbler) but generally a damn good hook.

The chosen glide ran deep between two bushes, and pleasingly free of the eel grass  common this time of year. This had spread itself over the shallower middle run.

Dace at first but these soon thinned out to gudgeon in their gold, blue and purple flecked splendour. The older we get the more precious things like these seem.

When I did find the dace again they were mostly small but tarpon silver scaled and a draw for the pike hanging in the cover and dashing out to strike..

Three pike were on but  lost, the last must have taken the line above my new fabourite Drenan 2bb stick somewhere in the strike. The Stygian gloom descending I decide to retackle for a live bait but couldn't bring myself to launch this red eyed beauty, all electric blue back out into the waiting pikey maelstrom so that was it.

Off home as the dew fell. What a difference a little HDR makes..toodle pip