Flatline

Tuesday 11th November, 16:00 - 19:15. Brandon Marsh. A cold 8C and soft rain all evening.

I returned to Brandon to try for a Carp. It had been a struggle the night before to cajole myself into packing the gear into my car. The missus caught me standing at the back door staring into space weighing it up and then after I'd bolted to the garage I did more of the same, deliberating on what approach to take. I've taken most approaches other than dynamite at Brandon this year and have not found reward anywhere yet. Brandon has all the qualities of a black hole to me, relentlessly dulling, blunting and consuming all the 'sharp' ideas and fresh approaches I've thrown at it. I elected to aim both rods at a Carp, knowing full well I would most likely miss.

I had one rod on standard Carp tactics cast towards an island and a second set up with a float in lift style on the near marginal slope. Both rods had a bright fruity boilie on the hook and a few freebies and chops scattered around them.

It was a wet night and the fading light was replaced by the distant glow of road lights soon after I arrived. Tiny droplets of rain fell with almost no wind. The drips from the trees came both singularly and in mini-crescendos as one droplet hits a leaf and releases two more and so on.


I put a starlight onto my float but soon found my eyes were shutting whilst watching it and so changed the float over to a light bolt rig straight through to my centrepin reel.

I nodded off.

I woke about twenty minutes later, slightly chillier and with a bit of a stiff neck. I tried to visualise a massive Carp descending on my baits but my lack of positive focus turned this into a comedy conversation between fishes. My visualisation didn't work.

I stared out into the gloom waiting for something to happen. I considered the coming cold months and how in the absence of any warm weather data catching something decent from here would become even more tricky. Fishing into winter on the back of a fruitless summer is like someone spinning you round when you're already lost. Tactics-wise I'm in a cul-de-sac. 'There's no way I'm going to the AGM next year if I'm still Carp-less', I thought.

I got bored - not something that happens often when I'm fishing - and went home.

All a bit depressing really. Sorry.



Cheers.

Tune in next week when I sit in the cold and dark somewhere else! Welcome to winter folks!