What a week for rudd!

It’s been another incredible week for big rudd captures, with a raft of fish over 3lb.

Fenland has long been a hotbed of big rudd action, and once again it proved a rich hunting ground for the enigmatic summer species.

Leading the way was Norfolk all-rounder Phil Spinks, who finally bagged his first Fen ‘three’ after countless near misses.

Phil told Angling Times: “Over the past few weeks I’ve banked 24 rudd over 2lb, including fish of 2lb 13oz, 2lb 14oz and 2lb 15oz. One evening session alone produced nine two-pounders, including the 2lb 15oz fish. 

A 3lb 2oz rudd, Phil Spinks’ first three-pounder.

On my last trip, when the scales settled on 3lb 2oz, I was absolutely delighted – it made all the hard work worthwhile.” 

While many species have proved hard to catch in the hot and muggy conditions, rudd have shown no such reluctance to feed on rivers and drains alike.

According to Phil, calm evenings often prove to be the best time to catch a specimen rudd, although he points out that tracking them down can be hard work.   

“Big rudd are among the few fish that seem to love the hot sunny weather, so over the last couple of weeks I’ve walked many miles along different Fenland drains and rivers looking for a specimen, battling with stinging nettles, high temperatures and all manner of biting bugs along the way.” 

Many anglers have been using a boat to track down their quarry, but Phil found a lot of his success fishing from the bank and underlined how important it is to adopt a mobile approach.

“It’s a style of fishing I really enjoy,” he said. “Sometimes I fish from the boat, while at other times a more stealthy approach is needed from the bank. Having very little kit and keeping mobile is the key. Nearly all my recent fish – 23 out of the 24 bigger rudd – have been caught on floating breadcrust fished alongside a float, with a 4lb mainline straight through to a size 10 hook.

“Location is everything,” Phil added. “Big rudd are very greedy fish and once you’ve found them they can soon be persuaded to take floating crust. I hate to think how many miles I’ve driven recently on my days off work, and I’ve put the legwork in too. Effort definitely equals reward, but it’s all been worth it in the end.”

Another angler to land ‘the fish of a lifetime’ was Dave Horton, who broke his personal best with a fish weighing a smidge over 3lb, again taken on breadcrust.

Dave Horton’s rudd weighed a touch over 3lb.

 The predator fanatic is no stranger to specimen rudd either, and said: “I started to enjoy rudd fishing in the Fens back in 2011 and have had multiple catches of two-pounders along the way, but the mythical ‘three’ kept eluding me. I recently missed the mark by less than an ounce but having discovered a little pocket of fish I was desperate to get back. 

“The mad rush 50-odd miles across country, through the rush-hour traffic, paid off when I bagged a couple of 3lb-plus fish as well as one of 2lbs 12oz! The biggest was my 60th over 2lb and my 17th over 2lb 8oz!”

Yet another angler to land the rudd of his dreams this week was Dave Spence, who smashed his pb twice on his first serious session after the species. The Dynamite Baits employee began with fish of 2lb 7oz, 2lb 9oz, 2lb 10oz, but then, at last knockings, a ‘final cast’ in the fading light produced a monster of 3lb 1oz 5dr. 

A 3lb 1oz 1dr rudd for David Spence.

Dave told Angling Times: “The session far surpassed my wildest expectations – I ended up with half-a-dozen fish over 2lb… topped by the three!”