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IGFA Corporate
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 Rudd might not be on the top of every angler’s hit list, but I can guarantee that an encounter with one of these large golden specimens will leave a lasting impression. They are without doubt the most stunning looking freshwater fish within our shores, with their golden flanks making them stand well and truly out from the crowd. I first came across this species very early on in my fishing. In fact, it was a Rudd that was my very first fish I caught back when I was nine years old; a fish that was to be start of many hours spent out on the banks of the Fenland Rivers and Drains enjoying not only the fabulous fishing, but also the great countryside too.
The Rudd is a species that are not to dissimilar to the Chub, for both of these species have very similar characteristics and can be caught on a multitude of similar methods ranging from waggler fished maggots through to ultra light artificial lures. For me though, my favourite method for targeting these fish has to be stalking them with floating breadflake. Rudd are a species that are designed to feed off the surface and can regularly be seen basking within the surface layers during the warmer months, so a surface orientated method really does make sense.
I personally prefer to free line floating breadflake as most of my Rudd fishing is done right in the margins. If I need to gain extra distance I opt to fish with a light fly fishing set up, this allows me to present a bait extremely close to the fish without spooking them; as you would with the added weight of a controller or floating putty. Even though they are a much smaller species, do not underestimate how greedy a specimen Rudd can be. When surface fishing for them, a piece of breadflake no smaller than a 50 pence piece is by no means too big, and I’ll happily fish mine slightly bigger if the Rudd I am targeting look in excess of 3lb. When the fly rod comes into play, I will use a piece of artificial bread as this withstands the cast on a fly rod. Be warned however, Rudd will usually gently suck a bait in without opening their mouth a great deal, this means that a real piece of breadflake will easily fold into their mouth, but an artificial piece will not; therefore much smaller pieces should be used to eliminate the fish spooking off of the bait. |
 When Rudd start to wise up to the surface fishing tactic; which I have found regularly happens, it is well worth fishing a piece of slow sinking breadflake. This is a method that usually works instantly; and will always be by secondary tactic should the surface baits fail to produce. Breadflake can be an extremely frustrating bait to use when small fish are active, and more often than not, when fished directly on the hook the bread will soon come adrift. This is when fishing your bait pinched onto a hair is the best option and is now the only way I will fish bread, whether ledgered, float fished or surface fished. For some reason this seems to last a lot longer and also exposes the hook well for hooking into them. All this said, if you are not using fresh bread, then none of this is relevant anyway, as the quality of the bait counts for a lot when fishing bread, so the fresher the better!
Although Rudd are physically built to feed from the surface, they don’t always follow the rules. In recent seasons I have had a great deal of luck with float fished baits hard on the bottom and ledgering with very scaled down bolt rigs. In these situations Pellets and Boilies seem to be the way forward regarding baits. This really is no surprise as when any species develops a taste for these high protein baits, they soon become extremely effective. In these situations, I like to loose feed with micro halibut pellets, 10mm boilies and mixed particles. Feeding like this can often attract the attentions of other species, so knowing the Rudd are in the vicinity is paramount to catching them, otherwise if your not careful you will end up with a one hundred strong Bream shoal in front of you, something I have learnt the hard way! 10mm Boilies are my preferred hookbait, but I have landed quite a few on 15’s whilst Carp fishing. As of yet I have not seen a great difference in effectiveness between Pop-ups and bottom baits; both seem to be just as effective, even if it does make sense that pop-ups would be the better option. |
 I have been lucky enough to observe them in all situations; from slurping chum mixers off the surface, through to hovering mixed particles up from the marginal ledge. As with all species, it has to be said that there is a lot to be learnt from witnessing your quarries behaviour up close and personal; and the Rudd is certainly no different. I have on occasions watched Rudd playing with their food; sucking in either bottom baits or surface baits, only to spit them straight out and then intercepted by other shoal members. I have found this only seems to happen with harder baits such as Chum Mixers and Boilies; because of this I try and steer clear of Chum Mixers and make sure that my ledgered boilie bolt rigs are kept to about 2 inches in length. In an ideal world stalking is always your best bet, as you can time the strike to the moment the fish takes the bait; there really isn’t any better bite indication than that!
I have in the past landed a few big Rudd over 2lb on small artificial lures, with small bronze Mepps spinners being my favourite for the job. To start with I stumbled across this tactic whilst Perch fishing and guessed it to be a fluke, but it has since proved to be an effective method at the right time, usually when small newly hatched fry are in abundance. The fact that Rudd can be predatory was proven to me a few years back when one of my 3 pounders coughed up a two inch Spined Loach in the net, serious proof if ever I had seen it! |
 Rudd are definitely more of a summer target, but they can be caught in good numbers on even the coldest of days if they can be located. When trying to find them at any time of year, a good set of Polaroid sun glasses, a loaf or two of bread and a catapult is all that you need. Just walk your chosen venue, preferably on a still day and introduce a few pieces of floating and slow sinking bread every so often. Looking for Rudd feeding on the surface or trying to spot them lurking below the surface with the aid of the Polaroid’s is the best way that I’ve found for locating them. In the summer months dense lily beds are without doubt the best places to search out as big Rudd are drawn to these like a magnet; a free lined piece of crust on the edge of them is usually readily taken. Just make sure they don’t spot you, they are not stupid and will soon disappear if they feel that something isn’t right.
Something I recently learned was the fact that they are not only a daytime feeder. Since I have started to target them with the methods described above during the night, I have had a lot of success. It would appear that the results shared between me and other friends have greatly increased since I lifted the blinkers on night fishing for them. The night feeders are always the better fish too, with the majority always being in excess of 2lb 8oz. I think it is well and truly safe to say that there really are not many conditions, come day or night that I would not feel confident fishing for them in, and the only reason I do not target them all year round is that I love all types of fishing way too much to stick to targeting one species.
The biggest hurdle with this species is without doubt finding a water with the potential first of all. Rudd are a species that, if you believed everything you heard, are very thin on the ground, yet I know of a fair few waters that have the potential to do very good fish. Most Ponds, Pits, Reservoirs, rivers and drains all contain Rudd. True a lot of them may not reach specimen size, but at the same time how many of these waters have been properly searched out for the species? Specimen Rudd shoals can sometimes be no larger than six fish strong, so there is no surprise that they often go un-detected throughout their existence. For the angler who enjoys searching out his own fishing, the Rudd is a species that fits the bill perfectly. The opportunities really are endless, it just takes a bit of pioneering; something that in this day and age, is not only what is needed to catch big uncaught fish, but also to find some of the last beautiful un-fished waters this country has to offer. |
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Matt Rand
