The Chod Rig My Way

The Chod Rig has to be one of most my favoured rigs, I’ve opted to use it for a majority of sessions lately and with some personal preferences I think it’s as perfect as I could get it. Instead of using lead core I use a 48" Tungsten Ex Heavy Leader from TF Gear and instead of using beads, due to a lack of them in my tackle box, I’ve just replaced them with two 6mm Boilies that have been air dried for a week. After looking into it I am confident they will stay hard in the water for up to 24 hours.

My rig station, all the Components I need to make my chod,all my prep work done ready to do their job

Before I cast out I like to put two foam nuggets on the hook to prevent any debris getting attached to it as it finds the bottom of the lake and a small PVA bag of my favourite boilies. Then I can wait for the action but hopefully not to long

This beauty fell to my chod rig November this year
(It works for me so go out and give it a go)

Something to Chew on

Today I paid a visit to a famous Trout water, Chew valley lake in Somerset, which at the moment is open for Pike fishing from the bank. This was an opportunity for me to test out several new sample rods from our up and coming TFG 'Cutting Edge' predator range which we have been developing over the past few months.

I arrived at the lake at dawn and set up a pair of 3.25 test sample dead bait rods teamed up with TFG force 8 and Power bigpits on hardwear screw in bank sticks. On Chew It is often necessary to use a bait boat due the shallow nature of the reservoir. I placed a mackerel at around eighty yards and a smelt at hundred yards with a patriot boat and settled down awaiting a run.
All was quiet until ten' o'clock when a flurry of activity commenced. I landed several Jacks within the space of on hour and had several dropped pickups. Each run got the adrenalin flowing as on Chew you just never know what could pick up the bait next.

The action seriously slowed down around noon so I rigged up one of the test lightweight lure rods with 14lb grunt braid and a small rubber shad as I had spotted several large Perch crashing through the swim after some fry. I threw out the shad and bumped it back along the bottom bringing it right into the edge, a big stripy swooped in from nowhere and sucked up the lure into a mouth like a bucket. After a short but belligerent tussle a 4lb Perch was hoisted ashore. This was followed later by a 3lb 1/4. Several fish that followed the lure were bigger again - perhaps 5lb plus !

Through the afternoon things were slow on the Pike front, It was not till the last knockings that things picked up - I had a serious run which I struck into a solid resistance, unfortunately the fish turned and moved towards me at speed and then came off about twenty yards out. I thought this was game over as it was now practically dark when the Xsense alarm on the other rod bleeped into life with a real screamer. Lifting into the fish I felt an immense power, and far out in the gloom something angry boiled under the surface. Surely this must be on of those big o'l girls at last! After a terrific fight I reached out with the net into the dark and pulled it to the bank. To my amazement what was in it was yet another predator, a hefty brown trout of 11lb 1/2

I was made up with this capture and even though no big Pike had been seen I had achieved a predator grand slam and had a given the samples a good run in. The new rods performed beyond all expectations and will be certainly forming the core of the new range which will continue to be developed this winter by the TFG team.

Much awaited 35lb Snow Fish

On my latest excursion to France, the trip all be it a brief one – just three days – ended up being a real eye opener! The trip came about after speaking to David Keep of Angling Lines, David recommended the nearby Windmill Lakes. The venue consists of two lakes set amongst 32 acres of beautiful French countryside, the first lake is around 3 acres and holds carp to 30lb, and the second lake is roughly 4 acres and holds carp to 40lb. When I eventually arrived at the lake I was pleased to be greeted by Dave and Sue Bainbridge who kindly offered a much needed mug of coffee. I had a good walk around the lake looking for any signs of moving fish, sun was shining down and the temperature was about 12 oc. I found the spot in which I was going to fish and started to get set up when the rain soon came over and the temperature started to drop. No stopping me though, so I persevered and was soon set up ready for action.

The temperature continued to plummet and it wasn’t long before snow started to fall. The sudden drop in temperature left me and my party of anglers feeling uncertain as to whether or not they would catch. It all came good on the third day though when something decided to sample one of my hookbaits. My Bobbins dropped to the snow then up it come again as the alarm screamed off as I hit in to my rod I knew it was a good size carp.

A good 10 minute battle resulted in a nice 35lb mirror resting in the bottom of my landing net.

The mirror fell to a new bait on test, which was attached to an unusual take on the chod which I have been playing around with. Rather than using beads to hold the hooklink in place, I have been experiencing a lot of success by using two air-dried 10mm hookbaits threaded on to a TF leader and a 3 oz distance lead. Alongside this I presented a small PVA bags containing a dozen whole and broken freebies. I was the only one to catch during the trip and to do so during the snow make the experience even more special.

Predator Paradise

Every year a group of us here at TFGear take a predator-fishing trip and test some of the prototype TFGear at the same time. This year saw us revisiting Rutland water in Leicestershire for the opening few days of there Pike trials, so cars packed with as many lures, sample rods, waterproofs and thermal underwear ready for testing off we head. Now visiting any of the big trout reservoirs is always a very exciting time and Rutland at over 3,000 acres is no exception because you just never know what it is capable of throwing up. Unfortunately the weather conditions made testing waterproofs & thermal underwear out of the question, over 20 degrees, bright sunshine and very little wind meant it was more like the summer we never had!

The first morning dawned bright and clear with a little breeze as we headed off up the south arm to Manton bay an area we had done well on an earlier visit. With the bright conditions this meant the first couple of hours before the sun gets too high are really the best chance of any good pike fishing. Within the first hour we had a few pike following right to the side of the boat before turning away, a common occurrence on many trout waters, then a good strike to the jerk bait and a spirited fight ensues but as it come closer to the boat it turns out to be a good rainbow trout of about 5lb. Then Chris my boat partner hooks and lands a jack pike of 5-6lbs on a soft plastic lure.

With the sun now high follows die off so a quick call to the other TFGear lads Simon & Ceri to see if they are having anything. They are having takes in 35-40ft of water near browns island on soft jigs, with a nice zander lost by the side of the boat and two landed of about 1 ½ lb, so zander are still willing to have a go in the deeper water and we head over to join them. A few hours pass and nothing else to either boat we head off to the north arms tower. Quite a few fish appear on the echo sounder and we start getting takes straight away, now getting takes from zander is one thing but hooking and landing them is another. Both Ceri and Simon take a couple of fish each to 3 1/4lb and with ½ an hour to go I manage to boat a zander of about 1 1/2lb. This ends our first day on Rutland water and most of the pike boats have had a hard but enjoyable day.

The second morning is just as bright and even less wind, so we make a decision to concentrate on the zander unless the conditions change. A quick word with one of the rangers who points us in the area we should try for zander. So rigged up with one of the new prototype TFGear jig rods and a very special new braid we’re testing we head off. The breeze has now pick up a little so we set the drift upwind of the spot selected, drogue(underwater parachute to slow the boats drift) deployed to slow the boats drift and echo sounder showing we’re in 60ft of water and plenty of fish showing on the screen. Straight away we start to get takes on our vertically fished jigs and I’m soon into my first zander of the day landing it I find its hooked on the stinger treble.

A very important addition to the jig the stinger treble is attached to wire and threaded through the jig body coming out near the tail, without this you will seriously reduce your catch rate.
Quite a few more fish landed and lost then my jig is hit by something a bit bigger and the clutch squeals as line is taken, after a good fight a PB zander of about 8lb slide into the net and I’m over the moon.

We end the day with over 25 zander to our boat and Simon and Ceri have also had a cracking day landing fish up to 5lb and a bonus pike on a jig, all this and we get to watch a beautiful Rutland sunset in the bargain.

Spodding My Way

On one of the lakes I fish you need to place your baits out a good old distance and in a good size amount. But not having to worry too much about placing them exactly on the same spot every time but being able to create numerous feeding beds. So my initial approach was to opt for a simple throwing stick, and dot boiles around a marker, but soon came to realise that it was an option that had serious disadvantages. On one hand there is the limit to the bait that can be used and on the other hand there is the annoyance of seagulls. Many of you reading this most likely at some point have experienced seagulls picking up your boilies in mid air or as they hit the water. Gulls have come to recognise the sound of the boilie as it leaves the throwing stick and quickly gather in large flocks ready to pick up the bait in flight; those baits that escape are soon picked off as soon as they hit the surface of the water. Therefore I decided to give myself more of a fighting chance and get the trusty spod out.On some lakes I have fished the sound of a spod crashing into the water can draw the carp’s attention to the baited area around your marker float. When I started looking at spods I wanted one which would be easier to cast a fair distance whilst carrying a small amount of bait. This way it would be easier to make many smaller feeding spots around an area as opposed to larger beds that could spook the wary fish off. My personal choice is a Korda Mini Skyliner Spod, Its small but it suits me fine, I can cast out bait to my maker and have confidence in hitting the spot desired almost every time. Using this I don’t need a specially created spod rod set up all I use is my X Flight 50 3lb test rod, with 12lb line which does the job i ask of it perfectly.
My Spod Mix (lucky carp) maze, maple’s, hemp, black-eyed beans, mixed seeds, sea salt and a touch of magic in the form of fruity trifle dip. it smells good enough to eat even by my standards. But you don’t have to stop there you can add anything you wish.
After finding my spot with a marker float I then clip it up and back lead it so there is no line showing just in case I have a fish or the spod get stuck on it, when I have fond the distance with the spod I then clip it up so I can hit the distance every time.
When filling my spod I only fill three quarters of the way with my mix and then place some ground bait on top to plug the mix. this minimises mixture escaping whilst casting out.
Before casting I like to lower the spod into the water, this will give it more weight and helps to reduce any spillage therefore ensuring more bait hits the lake bed.
Ready for the big one all lined up ready for the cast. I prefer to watch the rod rather than look at the float as it helps me to release the line at the correct angle and not leave it too late in the cast. This way i have minimised line breakages in the initial cast and don’t get the ping back motion I first experienced when learning to spod.
Out it goes, all I’ve got to do now is lift the rod vertically and wait for the line clip to do its job.
On the spot she goes to create another small bed of bait.
Splash as it hits the water right next to my marker lets hope the fish don’t get too spooked off.
When I’m not using my spod I like to store it at the bottom of my rod, this will keep it nice and neat and help prevent the bottom of my rod getting scratched.
As I wait for the action the swans go for lunch (Bottoms up) eating all the bits that drop from my spod as I dunked it in the water.
The end result, a carp on the bank not a big one but a carp is a carp!

All the best with this method.

Hot Cats

For several years, I’ve been interested in the huge catfish from the Ebro in Spain, but never got round to actually going after them. Then, at the NEC in March this year, I finally arranged with Colin Bunn of Catmasters Tours that Fran and I would make our first visit on the 10th August.
At the appointed hour in Terminal B at Barcelona, we met Colin by the Black Horse statue, along with 5 other anglers, and all piled into his 8 seater mini bus for the two hour drive to Mequinenza. On arrival, we were all shown to our apartments, which are superbly equipped and comfortable, and arrangements were made to meet up later at the Bar Ebro. There we would have a meal, a few drinks, and meet our guides to make arrangements for the fishing the following morning. Fran and I had been allocated John Deakin as our guide, who I didn’t know at the time but who I now consider a great friend. Also with John were another older couple, although not quite as old as us, Phil Jones and Rose Knight. Phil and Rose had been there for several days, although not cat fishing.
On Monday morning, we started our fishing on one of the swims on Mequinenza’s promenade, which had produced some gigantic fish for John over previous weeks, although he did warn us that it had been slowing down because of the pressure. In fact, that first day, there was no action whatever, although we all sat it out until midnight. When John dropped Fran and me off at our apartment, we had decided that I would be up at 6.00am but that Fran would lie in until 8.00am. John would leave me with the rods while he called back to pick Fran up. We already knew that Phil and Rose had other plans for the day and, in the event, it transpired that they did no further cat fishing until the Friday.
On Tuesday morning, John and I set up at a new swim, immediately downstream of the main bridge over the river Segre, a few hundred yards above the confluence with the Ebro.
For five hours, all was peaceful. And then, in late morning, a tremendous bang on the nearest rod was followed by the high pitched rush of braid being torn off the reel against a tightly set drag. After tightening the star drag on the multiplier, I struck hard into the fish. The power of what I’d hooked nearly took my breath away and that first experience of a big Segre catfish was truly awesome. I could soon see why I’d been told to tighten the drag as much as possible. Although I could not physically take line against the drag, the catfish had no such problem. Braid was whistling out! I had to strain every sinew to keep the rod up and avoid being pointed, and after about ten minutes of truly arm wrenching action, with my groin well and truly bruised from the pounding of the rod butt, the fish approached the rocky bank. John carefully made his way to the water’s edge where he grabbed the trace and gently drew the fish to where he could get a firm grip on the jaw with a gloved right hand. While maintaining a firm hold, he told me to keep a tight line as he inserted a soft rope stringer around the strong jawbone and out through the top of the gill cover. Then he popped out the hook and the fish was secure. I’ll never forget John’s words at that moment. “It’s about 150lbs, mate”.

In the event, he was just 1lb out. After zeroing the sling, we confirmed the weight of my first Segre catfish as 149lb. Ten minutes later, photographs taken and the fish safely back in the water, I turned to John, only to get a full bucket of water over me. “It’s traditional for a 150lb cat”, he said, “and 149lb is close enough!” In truth, the water was very welcome. I was hot, sweaty and covered in catfish slime, but couldn’t be happier. The three of us had silly grins on our faces as we broke open celebratory beers from the cool box.
In mid afternoon, I was in action once again and this fish went off as though jet propelled. It was interesting as that was a pattern that was repeated for the week with the smaller fish. I use the word “smaller” in a very relative sense as this second fish was 72lb, a modest cat by Spanish standards but a monster back home. Once again, I was soon covered in slime and grinning like a hyena, with arms full of catfish. That second fish was returned about 4.00pm and there was to be no further action that day, although we fished until midnight.
What was really interesting over the next two days was that the late morning to mid afternoon feeding spell remained consistent. On the Wednesday, I had a fabulous brace in under an hour. At 11.30, my third cat of the trip pulled the scales to 103lbs and then my personal highlight was taking a beautiful buttercup yellow half albino of 128lb at 12.15pm. Again, the evening and after dark fishing proved fruitless.
On the Thursday, two cats again came in the same feeding time zone, with an 87lb fish at 11.30am and a 78lb fish at 2.30pm. After the second, carp moved in on the feed and three were landed between 3.00pm and 6.45pm. One was estimated by John at 18lbs and released, while the other two were brought on to the bank and weighed properly. I was delighted to confirm two gorgeous commons of 25lb and 34lb, although of course they’d had absolutely no chance on the strong catfish tackle.
That evening, the pattern was broken, with our first fish in the dark, a catfish of exactly 40lbs. Although I was pleased to have another one in the bag, John was telling me how unlucky I was to get three fish in a day and not have at least one over 100lbs. I tell you, what I would give to have three such fish in a day at home!

The next day, I was to get another 40 pounder at 3.30pm, but that was the sum total of the action in the daylight hours. We had to wait until 11.00pm, on an uncharacteristically chilly evening, before one of the rods roared off at last. This was another memorable scrap, with the fish hurtling downstream across the other three lines. This was where John’s experience proved so important. With me battling the fish as hard as I dare, John was playing knit one, purl two with the other lines. When I eventually had the fish ready for landing at the lowest part of the bank, John had managed to avoid even a momentary tangle. As we heaved it ashore, I could tell that it was another 100lb plus. So it proved as the needle swung to 107lb, and John and I cracked open two beers before calling it a night.
The next morning, our last, was truly memorable. We had decided that we would only fish until 3.00pm before returning to our apartments for a shower and change, and then meeting up in a good restaurant for a civilised meal and drinks. Up to now, we’d lived on take away meals on the bank, which John had fetched for us while we watched the gear. Phil joined John and me at 8.00am and would be staying until the end. The next run was Phil’s and, at mid morning, one of the rods hooped over and Phil joined battle with a real leviathan. For the first time, he experienced the brutish power of a Spanish cat. This was the first time I’d had the opportunity of being behind the camera for some action shots and through the viewfinder I knew that this was one massive catfish. When its tail broke surface some thirty yards offshore, John and I looked at one another. When it was eventually ready to bring ashore, it took the three of us to drag it to the tarpaulin, and two of us could barely support it for the weighing. Soon, we confirmed 184lb and, a few minutes later, Phil got two buckets over him. “It’s two for a 180”, explained John.
Not long after that monster had been returned, I was soon in action again with another big fish of 121lbs, and then Phil completed an unbelievable brace when we eventually hauled ashore another cracking cat of 175lb. At that moment, I promised that I’d send him some of the special cream I bought years ago, especially formulated for polishing golden appendages. On a serious note, I’d have loved to have caught on of those last morning monsters, of course I would. But I was delighted for Phil. If I wasn’t destined to catch them, I was certainly privileged to be there to witness them. It also proved that you don’t have to be a fanatic like me to catch monster fish. With the expert guidance that Catmaster Tours provides, anyone can enjoy such fabulous fishing. Give Colin Bunn a ring and get yourself on a plane to Spain. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

A Day Session Success

I decided to go down to the new lake I’ve started fishing this year and complete a short five hour session on the bank, just to get to grips with the water and hopefully locate any moving carp. This seemed somewhat a difficult task as the lake is 75 acres with just under 100 known carp to its name. So expecting no great achievements for the foreseeable future I set up for the session. As I was doing so I surprisingly caught a glimpse of a carp roll about 50 yards out by a small weedy patch. As any carper would probably do, I decided to put a bright coloured bait and a PVA bag filled with 10 boilies and a small amount of pellets over the top of it. Then all I had to do was wait line tightened and Delkin turned on.
In the meantime I put some of my favourite rigs together ready to put my other two rods out.

I always prefer to fish the withy rig in the margins usually over a bed of hot chilli hemp. I find this is a good method for picking up carp patrolling close in and it is easy to get all the hemp out in the required spots.

For a long distance rod I like to paste up 2 boilies on the hair and pair it with a PVA bag cast out as far as I can. The paste starts to leak flavour the moment it hits the water providing an ideal attraction needed especially on a shorter session. I enjoy picking fish up from the depths of the lake they always seem to fight that little bit better

Then it was time to get my other rods out, I landed the second rod to the left of me about 20 yards out in the margin and the third one 80 yards out in front of me. All was set and I was ready for a cup of tea as I sat down, with my son Rhys, watching the water for any movement of fish.

Not too many minutes later I had 2 bleeps on my margin rod, then it stopped, within ten minutes the rod scream off and I was in to a hard fighting fish. It soon gave up and in the net it went, at last my first fish on the bank and it wasn’t looking like one of the smaller ones either. Out came the scales, then to my surprise it weighed in at 32lb not bad for a few hours even if I do say so myself.

I was on cloud nine, but I still had time to catch other carp, this time I wadded out and dropped a few handfuls of hemp in the same place and slowly lowered my hook bait over the top of it. Then I spent the next 20 minutes watching the water hoping in anticipation for any more action.

As I looked out to the lake I noticed some bubbles about 70 yards out, not far from my bait, I watched and there seemed to be more than one fish feeding in the area with bubbles coming up all around. Numerous thoughts were going through my head shall I pull one rod in and put a bait over there? Or do I hope the fish will stay in the area and get onto my bait later? I went for the second approach. Well I waited and waited but no sign of them coming out. It was time to pack up and go home, I was putting my second rod away when out of the blue my last rod screamed off. I was into my second fish, and was a bag of nerves for some reason playing this one. What a fight! As it pulled more line form my clutch, rod bent over I started gaining distance and the carp was getting closer. Then it made for the surface and rolled over when without warning the worse feeling you could ever have - a hook pull. I was so mad but then that’s fishing, I carried on packing away and took the long walk back to the van...

Pursuit for Large Carp

A week's session

When I first arrived at the lake I took the usual walk around it to get my bearings and pick that all important swim to set up in. Within ten minutes of being there I had already witnessed a couple of fish crashing towards the middle of the lake. Then quickly decided to set up in a peg that would give me the opportunity to reach those fish. I chose some features to fish towards and carefully cast my rods out armed with TF 36inch clear leaders and a 3oz clear lead hopping with this approach wouldn’t spook any fish. This wasn’t very productive and didn’t achieve any instant results so I sat and watched the water with all theories and methods going through my mind. A couple of hours later when the sun was really beginning to warm everything up I noticed a small group of what looked like 40+lb carp cruising around the bay next to me.

Not wanting to spook them off I quickly loaded the bait boat up with some broken up fruity boiles and placed two lines very close to them. I then watched intently waiting for that take, which by amazement came about an hour later. There was what can only be described as an awesome fight and a 40lb 8oz mirror was in the net. This really put my hopes up for what promised to be an excellent week to come. The following night a 44lb 12oz mirror was landed from the same spot. Things became very slow going from then on and I soon realised this was no runs water but a lake you had to work very hard at in order to catch. I decided to take the rowing boat out and really get to grips with what was happening. It soon became obvious that the fish didn’t stay in one particular area but seemed to move every couple of days so I decided that my best option was to move with them.

All Set up and ready to go
I then set up in a peg round the other side of the lake with a bay in front and to the side of me and the island within reach as well. I could cover a lot of water from there really be on top of the fish. Luckily the water was crystal clear and it seemed far too easy to locate ideal clear spots in amongst the weed beds. I marked up some different areas and decided to feed small amounts of bait to them on a fairly regular basis. This helped land a couple more fish a day apart from each other so I decided to stick with it for the rest of the week being happy with the fish that had been caught.

40lb Carp in the Weigh Sling

Towards the end of the week there was the most amazing storm come over, it felt as though a steam train had just come straight through my peg. There was thunder and lightning all around and all I could do was keep my fingers crossed that the fish switched on due to it. It was like all my hopes and dreams came true and during the following 24 hours I landed some amazing fish ranging from 31lb 4oz up to 42lb.

All I can say is “What a week”

River Stripys on Lures

I have a little secret spot near my house that at certain times holds some absolutely cracking perch. Now looking at the stretch of water there’s no real cover or structure to speak of and I thought the river bottom was fairly even so what attracted these large perch here? Normally I fish this stretch in the autumn & winter months but now the river is down to its summer level is on went the chest waders a light plug rod and down off down the river to see if I could find some of the specimen strippy’s, wading into the river I found that the first few yards from the bank was a mix of silt and gravel but then the bottom changed to large rocks and boulders perfect hunting ground for the perch. In the colder months skipping a soft rubber lure over the bottom has done well but on this occasion I went for a floating Rapala plug which when cranked back will dive to about 5ft, reeling in till I feel it bumping across the bottom I then letting it rise back up a few feet watching the 15lb Tfgear Grunt braid that hangs from the rod tip for any movement. A slight twitch on the second cast and I strike into a solid feeling fish that puts up a great fight on the light 7ft spinning rod, the Grunt braid means I can feel every twist and turn the fish makes and within a short time a beautiful perch around the 2lb mark comes to hand, this seems to be the average size here. Over the next hour another 8 perch of similar size are landed great sport anywhere, then as the light starts to fade a really solid thump on the lure signals something larger, after a hard fight a superb stripy of 3lb 4oz is landed weighed and release great sport in just a couple of hours after work. Lure fishing is a great form of fishing and can be done with the miimum of gear.

Golden Delight

When you spend as much time as I do in a determined search for extra big fish, it can make a refreshing change occasionally to have a much less serious session. I had such a session last week. At the tench pit I took my 8lb males in the spring, I’d caught loads of rudd accidentally on tench tackle, so I decided to have a day after them with light float tackle.

When I arrived a little after dawn, I found that the water had changed a lot since May, in that there were great rafts of surface weed everywhere. Talking to the few carp lads who were fishing, it soon became evident that they were struggling, as the weed was really closing in. Nothing much had been caught for a while, the tench also having gone quiet. In the prevailing conditions, the one fish that would be worth pursuing in the upper layers would be rudd and I was bubbling with anticipation as I made a slow circuit of the pit looking for signs of surface activity.

Although there were lots of evidence of surface feeding carp, making me wonder why none of the carpers were offering floating baits, I saw no evidence of rudd until I arrived at a quiet corner where golden backs were breaking the surface. I’d found what I was looking for and was soon set up for a day’s “maggot spraying”, using my TFG Starving Whippet 13ft light float rod. At the business end was a Drennan large puddle chucker float, set three feet deep, with a hooklink of a ready tied Kamasan size 14 animal spade to 3lb mono, baited with a buoyant Enterprise red maggot and two real ones. That combination took around a minute to sink. By regularly casting and catapulting, I wanted to keep the bait slow sinking in the upper layers while freebies sank all around. Every thirty seconds or so throughout the day ten to fifteen maggots were catapulted around the float, to provide a constant rain of bait, and at the end of the day I’d got through half a gallon of reds.

After about ten minutes of casting and catapulting, the bites started in earnest and, as well as the fish I landed, I must have missed another twenty bites. I also had a ten second encounter with a big carp that made a complete mockery of my gear! I also had the mortification of losing the biggest rudd I hooked. It took the bait the instant the float hit the water, taking me a little off guard. There was a tremendous boil on the surface, a flash of red and gold, and then the fish was gone. It was certainly far bigger than anything I landed.

At the end of the day, though, I’d really enjoyed the change; I ought to do that kind of fishing more often. I had a total of 27 rudd, all over a pound in weight, with the best two 1lb 12oz and 1lb 13ozs, plus 13 nice roach to 1lb 6ozs. What was very interesting was the average size of the rudd. During the spring tenching, I’d had loads of rudd on my feeders, but the majority weighed only ounces. I also found out that the biggest verified rudd from the water, taken two seasons ago, is 3lb 11ozs. That one will do! However, I had no monsters and certainly no personal best, but what a brilliant day!