Catching a ruffe !

[Mat Hillman]

Now I know this will sound silly to some people, but I've never caught a ruffe, but have been told that there are a few in the Chelmer and Blackwater canal.

 

So. always being one to try something new, and the fact that I have to walk about half a mile along the canal to reach my favourite chub swim, I thought I'd have a go at catching one!

 

What sort of swim would I look to catch one in?

My first thought is to find a "perchy" looking swim and try some maggots or a small worm there, but always open to advice!

 

Mat

[Peter Waller]

Best way I know to catch ruffe is to fish for pike. Use a five inch plug, this guarantees that a four inch ruffe will be caught.

[Mat Hillman]

That will certainly be tried at some point, I had the same stretch of canal in mind for some winter piking as there are a couple of nice looking pedunkle ambush points long there where the Chelmer and the canal meet and seperate.

 

I'm just waiting for the first frosts to kill of some of the weed!

 

Mat

[chuby]

Blimey,havn't caught a daddy ruffe(pope) for donkey's tears---Thank god

[Dunk Fairley]

Try a small worm. Ruffe are pretty lazy and don't move much, so you may not even see the bite. i pick a few up on the Medway, when Chubbing with big lobworms. All I see is a slight knock on the tip, usually a very quick flick.

[lyn]

I caught my first one this year at a local pond, then I had a second one last month. One on maggott and one on worm.

 

I wasn't fishing for them as I did not know there was any in there. I was well pleased with the little chappies though

 

lyn

[snotty]

My son caught a whopper on our local canal, but not knowing what it was and thinking it to be a deformed perch hybrid returned it without a thought.

He caught it on the near shelf using maggot fished on the drop with an insert waggler.

 

I have spent hours fishing the same swim just hoping that it may still be there... no luck yet.

[Peter Waller]

Dunk Fairley:

Ruffe are pretty lazy and don't move much

The beggers that take my lures aren't particularly lazy!

 

But strangely I have never caught a ruff on a lure on a still water, only on rivers.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Personally I would try Loch Lomond if I wanted a Ruffe (not that I would). Apparently it's the commonest fish in the big water, even though I've never seen or caught one, no one I know has seen or caught one and no Piker (the chaps apparently responsible for putting them there) I've seen has them for baits either.

I reckon Lomond has more Burbot in it. Let's put it that way.

[Liam7]

I caught one in Loch Lomand at Easter with the spinning rod newt gave me

 

liam