Rudd starts record quest

ONE of the biggest rudd of all time has been landed this week weighing in at a massive 4lb 3oz.

The hugely impressive fish was banked by Matthew Wood during a session on a gravel pit in the

Cotswolds where he was ‘hedging his bets’ by targeting the venue’s resident rudd and tench.

After introducing a variety of baits in a bid to draw both species into his swim, Matthew spodded out over 5kg of particles and maggots, before presenting a simple mini-bolt rig comprising 10lb mainline, a three inch braided hooklink and a size 8 Drennan Super Specialist hook over the top.

Following a slow start to proceedings, the Cotswold Specimen Group member’s bite alarm finally burst into life when the personal best specimen – which is just 7oz short of the British record – took his three hair-rigged rubber red maggots.

“It was turning into one of those sessions where everything was going wrong. Swans were feeding on my baited spot, weed kept drifting over my rigs and I was on the verge of packing up,” explained Matthew.

“Eventually I had three small bleeps on the alarm, before the bobbin lifted up slightly and held in place. I struck into the fish and it immediately swam towards me so I thought a small tench might be responsible. When the giant rudd surfaced, I couldn’t believe it. My initial thoughts were that it was over 3lb – thankfully I’d massively underestimated it!”

Having doubled his previous best for the species with the capture, Matthew has now set his sights on getting his name etched in the history books.

“The lake has a history of producing some monster rudd, but can it do a record this year? Only time will tell,” he added.