Rudd Fishing Tips | FIVE top tips to help you catch more specimen rudd
When temperatures are high and conditions are bright you can usually rely on rudd for a few bites.
Currently they are being caught to specimen sizes on a variety of tactics, and one man who has proved himself as something of a rudd expert is Dynamite Baits-backed James Champkin (see his 3lb 2oz personal best-equalling rudd on pages 2 and 3).
Who better to ask, then, for some advice on how to target big rudd right now? Here are James’ five essential tips for improving your rudd best, right now...
Evening rise
“There is no doubt that rudd, with their protruding bottom lip, are built for feeding up in the water.
“Big rudd love to slurp insects off the surface and roll on warm summer evenings, and this is the perfect time to locate them.
“Watch for swirls and splashes.”
Pop-ups and slow-sinkers
“Given their distinct feeding habits, my baits for big rudd are based around buoyant and slow-sinking items such as small pop-up boilies and corn.
“Bread has also become synonymous with big rudd fishing: crust can be fished on the surface or a piece of flake can be squeezed tightly to make a slowly descending hookbait. Deadly!”
Fish the Fens!
“Unfortunately, big rudd are nowhere near as widespread as they once were, and locating these golden bars can be difficult.
“If there is one place to target these elusive creatures, it’s the rivers and drains of Fenland.
“The waterways of Cambridgeshire, South Norfolk and Lincolnshire are the last stronghold of rudd, and they contain some absolute whackers!”
Bolt rigs
“A number of carp fisheries also contain some very big rudd.
“On these venues, the fish often hold out at range and they become accustomed to feeding over beds of boilies and particles.
“Mimic this approach in a scaled-down manner and you are more likely to single out the larger rudd.
“I use a cage feeder filled with a cloudy zig groundbait and a small pop-up boilie – yellow and white are great colours.”
Into the night
“The biggest rudd can feed at very specific times.
“I’ve fished a swim hard all
day with no bites, only to catch half-a-dozen big rudd with only a few minutes of daylight remaining.
“They can also feed randomly throughout the night, so make sure you fish well into darkness to give yourself the best chance of landing your own slab of gold.”