There's an unfished water near me where I've seen small rudd taking fly on a calm evening. I thought of trying for them with nymph or dry fly. Am I right that with nymph it doesn't matter what the water surface is like (though it's easier to see them rising/splashing if it's calm) but for dry fly they wouldn't see the fly so easily if it's rough?

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...and that's GOOD

If fish see a dryfly easily in clear water and flat calm, then they tend to recognise it for what it is - fur, feather, metal, man-made fibre etc - not edible.

When there is a chop on, they get a fleeting glimpse of the fly, and its "grab it or miss out".

Ask any still water fly fisher.

Bit of ripple on the water is good, also helps the fish not spot you

Definitely easier when there is a slight ripple. It might "drown" your fly a bit quicker but that's a small price to pay.

As everyone has said, a slight ripple is best to help disguise the leader and fly, but even a flat calm is OK, especially at dusk (the best time for rudd). For flies, try to match whatever they're taking - probably small gnats, etc. (emerging buzzers). You could try a team of small buzzers or maybe (on a 3-fly team) one dry gnat, an emerger, and something like a dry hawthorn.

I've been thinking about doing the same thing actually, so let us know how you do!

Most of my fishing (until recently) has been on the fly and I don't have a problem with a dry fly and calm water. Instead of a fly that floats high in the water, look for something that sits right in the surface film, what we call an emerger. My choice would be a Shipmans Buzzer
http://www.yorkshireflyfishing.org.uk/inde...p;page=shipmans
The leader should be degreased so that it doesn't float (important that) and the fly can have a tiny bit of floatant, probably at just one end. Fished correctly it lays flat and just makes a dimple in the surface. It should just be on the point of sinking. Fished in the evening I would put money on it. Enjoy

Thanks - lots of helpful advice.

But I guess there's a point where the ripple becomes too much like waves?

Not really, I have fished (and caught) on Highland and Hebridean lochs where there has been a two foot lop.

Come to that, there can be fair chop on the salt flats at times - you have to take the rough with the smooth, as in life

Thanks - useful stuff - but I wonder if it might be different with rudd?

I went again today to a lake where they were rising all round the lake yesterday evening when it was calm - admittedly very small fish as far as I could see - but today, with waves on the water, there was not a rise to be seen, until the wind dropped, briefly, and they started rising, though not as many as yesterday. I guess it could partly be that i didn't see the rises because of the disturbance on the water, but I'm sure it wasn't only that.

Thinking about it, I rarely see Rudd topping unless it's calm - but as you say, that may be because they're more difficult to see when it's choppy.

When it's calm you may have to fish very fine, light tippets and small flies, so be careful not to snap off on the strike.