Those nasty,nasty Pike.....gimme a break

[Dave Hill]

John Block,

 

UK Record... I think

 

RUFFE 00-5-04 West View Farm 1980 R.J.Jenkins

[Martin Salisbury]

I oftebn catch ruffe from the Lancaster Canal.

 

I've never caught them from anywhere else.

 

Record only 5oz? I might do some ruffe specimen hunting!

 

I've never had problems with deep hooking ruffe. They aren't as bad as an eager small perch.

[davidP]

When I used to fish the Llangollen Canal you could almost guarantee ruffe if you used red bait. You could fish all day on whit maggot andnever see one but put on a red maggot and suddenly ruffe city. They never seemed to grow verybg though - seldom more than an ounce or so. The only place I've ever caught 'big' ruffe (4oz) was on the Warwickshire Avon at Bidford (I think) when fishing a Civil Service match and I landed 3 of them, all on red maggot. I recall seeing at least a dozen others of around that size also being caught that day.

[Dunk Fairley]

Ref the Ruffe.

 

A few years ago, Laurie Harper, one of the SACG regulars, started a tongue in cheek "Ruffe Study Group".It made it into one of the weekly angling comics, who actually almost took it seriously. Sadly, Laurie no longer appears to be on the "scene" as it were, so Laurie, if you're out there, drop us a line.

 

Ruffe in the Medway are prolific, but aren't a major problem, unless you find a shoal and are using worms or maggots! If they become a pain, switch to paste for the bream and chub. I've noticed that all the holes where I caught them last summer, are good spots for pike in the winter to closed season period.

 

Big hooks for pike shouldn't be a problem, provided the barbs are filed off and the points kept v.sharp. Myself I prefer to replace big hooks on plugs and other lures, with smaller (Biggest size 2, which isn't that big). If the addition of a smaller hook affects the action of a lure, I balance the lure again by sticking lead wire to the bottom of the lure, with araldite. This is very rare actually, but can make a difference. As a matter of course, I replace hooks on lures regularly, and I find that those on new lures often have huge barbs anyway. My favourite hooks are "Owners". When I can find them in the right size I buy lots! They are very sharp, very strong and have smallish barbs. I not onlr recomend smaller barbs for the fish's sake, but because they are easier to get out of your net, jumper, leg, hand etc.

 

Incidentally,while on the subject of hooks, has anyone had trouble with Fox Trebles being brittle? I've had several occurences of them losing points or snapping. This usually occurs when I leave my rods tackled up between sessions, then use them about a week later, sometimes sooner. the hooks have been on my own made up snap tackles. I've now started using Drennan trebles again because of the problem, and wonder why I changed anyway! The other good thing is that when you snag a Drennan treble, provided you are using 15lb line or stronger, you can pull for a hook straighten, rather than a break-off. This is particularly handy on the Medway, where the EA have been performing their regular "lets chop down all the bankside vegetation and throw it in the river" operations.

[hunter]

Try Loch Lomond for ruff its full of them,brought there for live baiting for pike so they say.

IT WIZ THE INGLISH THAT DONE IT.

[Leon Roskilly]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dunk Fairley:

[QB]I balance the lure again by sticking lead wire to the bottom of the lure, with araldite.[QB]

---

Dunk,

 

I've found wrapping solder wire around the hook shank is good, or else try buying some adhesive lead strip from a glaziers.

 

This is more generally used for giving a 'leaded lights' effect to double glazed windows, but sticks well to the bottom of a lure.

 

The beauty is that you can carry lengths of either material in your tackle box and use them to make adjustments to the action of a lure at the waterside.

 

Tight Lines - leon

[John 'BLOCK']

Wow some great response on the ruffe.....

Have caught plenty of these on the GUC one quiet big....and in agreement they seem to hug the bottom and love the red maggots...and the mauve eye is quite strange...Leon what were you refering to when you mentioned the appearance of ruffe is used as part of the argument to ban the practice of live-baiting on some waters. :confused:

[Andy Nellist]

The Ruffe are thought to have been introduced from England via Pike Anglers using livebait i.e. in with their baits and released live into water.

 

Ruffe have a profound effect on several species when introduced into waters where they are not native and are considered a serious pest the world over to the extent that fish biologists have conferences to discuss the impact they are having. In Scotland/Lake district they are a threat to whitefish and Char populations.