UK Specimen hunters enjoy rudd success!

Two monster rudd of 3lb 2oz have once again shown that now is prime time to target this beautiful but often elusive summer species.

A large gravel pit in the north of England produced the first ‘three’, taken by Angling Trust campaigns officer James Champkin who has been enjoying a successful year so far.

The specialist from Milton Keynes, Bucks, has been fishing the difficult venue on and off for the last few years, with just a handful of smaller fish to show for his efforts – but his pursuit of a dream three-pounder finally came to an end during his most recent outing.

He said: “The weed is savage in this water and the rudd are highly nomadic – only feeding in very short spells. 

“Consequently, the last two years have been particularly challenging, and I have landed just a couple of two-pounders after an awful lot of effort each season. 

“This summer I returned for another crack at the pit and on my first trip over the last couple of days I managed just two bites – one each night – resulting in the 3lb 2oz fish and another of 2lb 3oz.”

James new personal best fell to a small pop-up boilie fished in conjunction with a feeder filled with a combination of Dynamite Baits Zig Cloud mix and Silver X Roach groundbait. 

This was fished over a bed of particles and broken Complex-T boilies.

Hertfordshire angler Joe Royffe hooked the second of the week’s biggest rudd with the capture of a 3lb 2oz fish (above) from Cambridgeshire’s River Cam.

The delivery driver banked a personal best 2lb 8oz fish from the waterway at the beginning of July, but was determined to return to try for an even bigger specimen he suspected was in the area.

“I started the session by wandering off downstream for about a mile and eventually saw some decent rudd making bow waves as they swam through just below the surface,” Joe said.

“I quickly set up my float rod with bread flake on the hook and cast into the river.

“Almost immediately there a big swirl on the surface, quickly followed by a loud slurp as the first fish engulfed my floating piece of bread!”

Joe’s new personal best was just one of seven 2lb-plus rudd he managed to catch in July in what has been a prolific summer for the species so far.