Four loaves, a single cast, one giant rudd!

One the sport’s most prolific seasons for big rudd shows no signs of slowing down with the capture of this huge 4lb 1oz specimen.

Matt Boast stalked the new personal best during a session at a water that he’s been fishing for over 15 years with simple freeling tactics that featured a piece of bread folded around a size 8 hook attached to a 4lb fluorocarbon hooklink coupled with a braided mainline.

Big rudd are known for being incredibly shy and spooky, so the all-rounder from Ockley, Surrey, spent hours gaining the fishes confidence by flicking out pieces of bread.

He’d fed no less than four loaves into his margin spot before he made the single cast that led to his amazing capture.

“There are lots of small fish in this water and I could see the huge rudd rushing in every now and again where it would take a piece of bread and then disappear,”Matt told Angling Times.

“The worse thing I could have done is keep casting into the swim before this fish was confident and gave me the impression that I had a realistic chance of hooking it.”
Patience certainly paid off for the 35-year-old as he smashed his previous personal best of 2lb.

“My heart was in my mouth when I finally cast out as the fish made a beeline for the bait, but then turned away,” Matt continued.

“A small fish moved in for the bread which really sparked a reaction as the big fish turned around, bullied it out of the way and it was mine.

“Some anglers might be puzzled by the fact that I didn’t cast out again, but as I’ve seen bigger fish in the water I want to keep pressure and disturbance to an absolute minimum.”

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