Big rudd

[Anderoo]

Yesterday evening I tried surface fishing for carp at a local gravel pit (what I actually did was fed dog food to seagulls) and stumbled upon what I think was a group of big rudd. They were not far out and feasting on a big fly hatch. Quite exciting!

 

It's basically a carp lake but it does hold other species, although I doubt they're ever fished for.

 

Back there this evening with some more suitable tackle I think

Edited June 13, 2014 by Anderoo

[poledark]

Careful Andrew, you will end up like me,you may even get a pole to catch them :)

 

Den

[Anderoo]

Sounds like a story there Den, do tell!

 

I would like to try to catch them on the fly but it's too wooded for fly casting. I would also like to use maggots (very few small fish there) but it's hard for me to get to a tackle shop. So this first attempt will be float fishing shallow with corn or bread, which will hopefully work.

 

I've known about the rudd at this pit for ages, and have caught a couple accidentally while tench fishing, but never got round to trying properly for them. With a bit of luck they'll be as big as they looked yesterday and will provide a nice local summer challenge.

[kirisute]

should be fun...if it were me id have a self cocking float....a small bodied variety (drennan crystal) set to about 2 foot depth with no shot at all.

then just hand feed a few bits of corn and cast amongst it with corn as bait.

works really well with the rudd on our local lake and will suit maggots etc as well if you ever get yourself any

[Anderoo]

Cheers Kiri, that's what I had in mind too. The water is very clear so It'll have to be fine lines and small hooks. Hopefully they'll like a bit of corn and won't be too preoccupied with the insects.

[Steve Walker]

It's a shame maggots are a problem. We used to catch fish off the top on the pole using a short (one inch) length of peacock quill attached with rubbers, a crinkled hooklength and no shot down the line. And we used to feed heavily with maggots or casters.

[Anderoo]

Floating casters would be perfect...

 

I do have some 6mm expander pellets, perhaps they're worth trying. Mini surface fishing for carp!

[Steve Walker]

Liquidised bread feed and punch or flake?

[RUDD]

If you cant get maggots / casters I have found corn husks (sqeeze out middle) or bread flake work well for decent sized Rudd but beware - Big Rudd are very wary, you may only get the chance to hook one or two before they all spook.

[Anderoo]

Well that put me in my place!

 

I found them in the same area as yesterday and tried floating little pellets, little bits of crust and flake, and corn. No interest whatsoever. I tried feeding the different baits and they weren't interested. Even casting the float right into the shoal couldn't buy a bite. They were very transient, drifting around all over the place and feasting on the hatching insects, totally preoccupied.

 

I'll get some maggots tomorrow and try again. If that fails I may well try a team of little dry flies under a float. Not quite cricket but it would be matching what they're eating at least.

 

There are quite a few smaller ones (more than I thought yesterday) but some of them are really quite big. Very intruiging!

Edited June 13, 2014 by Anderoo