SPECIES: RUDD EXPERT: Andy Loble

Sonik-backed all-rounder, Andy's favourite style of fishing is targeting big rudd in Fenland drains

IN RECENT years the Fenland drains have become famous for big rudd. These golden-flanked beauties have roamed the vast network of drains in the east of England for years with only a handful of anglers really aware of their true size. But the secret is now out. Keen anglers, like myself, will travel hundreds of miles to fish for them. In fact, fishing for big rudd on the Fens has to be my favourite way of angling. Floating baits are unbeatable but it isn’t just a case of rocking up, chucking out a bit of bread and catching. If you want to sit back on a chair and wait for a bite this isn’t the type of fishing for you. If you don’t mind putting in the graft, however, it will be right up your street. To locate rudd you need to look for signs of fish feeding off the surface. If I see a spot that I think might be home to a few fish I take a slice of bread, discard the crusts and rip the rest into small pieces before catapulting it out. Squeeze it into a ball if you think the fish will be close to the far bank or leave it loose if you are firing it down the middle. You’ll almost certainly see lots of small fish rise and peck at the loosefeed but a big rudd is unmissable.

Rudd surface float

It’s one thing locating big rudd but it is another getting your hookbait in front of them without spooking them. If the fish are sat close to the nearside bank then freelining a piece of floating breadflake would be ideal but their shy nature means they are often well out of range for this presentation. Cast something heavy into the zone and every fish will dart off in an instant, so I’ve come up with a clever device that’s perfect. When you are surface fishing for carp you use a controller float, but these are way too big for rudd. To solve this I modify a small pellet waggler to turn it into a mini controller.

Rig adjustments

On some days the fish will refuse to feed close to the float, but on others they’ll gladly take a bait almost next to it. I start by having the float 3ft from the bait but I will extend this by a foot at a time up to 6ft if the fish are feeding on loosefeed but won’t touch my hookbait. Alternatively,

if I am missing bites I will push the float flfloat closer to the hook to increase the bolt rig effect. A long rod is important for this style of fishing. fifishing. I use a 15-footer so that I can hold the rod high in the air and mend the line when it loops into a bow. A 3000-size reel is loaded with 4lb mainline straight through to a size 12 or 14 hook. The last few feet of mainline that need to be floating will be greased with a little Vaseline to guarantee the section doesn’t sink. A specimen rudd used to be one of the toughest fish fifish to find fifind but the Fen population means there has been no better time to campaign for a personal best.