Specimen angler Kevin Sanders has started his year chasing big fish with a bang, landing a 3lb 3oz rudd on a recent session.
Upon arriving at his chosen venue, Kevin found himself a little underwhelmed by the conditions he faced. A cold wind and overcast skies were not the typical warm weather conditions he favors when targeting rudd. However, without the luxury of time, he decided to give the session a go anyway.
"My tactics were to use the method feeder and a trusted bait combo of 2mm F1 Sweet and 4mm Source pellets, while feeding 12mm Source boilies over the feeders. Hookbaits were Yellow Hit N Run popups," he said.
"To my surprise, on the first cast, I landed a lovely rudd weighing around 1lb 8oz, which was a great start, with a tench soon following."
A few tench continued to grace Kevin's net over the next few hours, keeping him entertained and interested. However, he was beginning to believe that the rudd he caught on the first cast would be his only one that day. Yet, after a more timid take, a fish was hooked and lost soon after, leaving a sour taste, knowing that another rudd could have been on the end.
"I kept recasting and feeding the source boilies, and not long later, I had another take. This too felt like a rudd, and thankfully, it was soon in the net. Weighing in at 2lb 12oz, I was very happy and could have left for home a satisfied angler if that was the biggest fish of the day."
Another bite quickly followed and the fish instantly felt different, thinking it was a bream Kevin was a little disheartened until he saw a huge golden flank flash in front of him.
"I saw the fish and now knowing it was a big rudd I went into panic mode, the swim was muddy and as I made a desperate lunge to scoop up the fish I fell flat on my backside!"
"Thankfully I managed to bundle the fish into the net without anymore drama, upon weighing the fish went 3lb 3oz, making it my second biggest rudd ever," he concluded.
WANT TO CATCH A SPECIMEN RUDD? OUR WHERE TO FISH GUIDE HAS SOME EXCELLENT VENUES TO TRY.
