Ruddy Fantastic

Tuesday 18th May, 16:00 - 21:00. Disused golf course with Danny. Warm 16C, light SW.

The target for a rudd point in our fishing challenge is 4lb 10ozs. Reading about both Sean and Jeff’s results after fishing the set of pools on disused land on the outskirts of Coventry I arranged to give them a go myself.

My plan went a bit crumbly round the edge when first Jeff said he couldn’t make it and then I had a meeting at work which was scheduled to finish after five. As it happened Jeff gave me good directions to the Rudd pool, the meeting finished a little early and then Danny managed to join me later on. He swaggered up with his brand-fire new, cutting edge pound shop Chinese made bamboo pole. He’s such a tackle tart!

I was fishing by four o'clock on the dot and soaked up the suns warmth like a sponge.

I didn’t know quite what to expect of the pool and so played safe and set up a pole float on my long float rod and centrepin reel with light line, intending to fish it whip style but with the insurance of a running line should anything larger grab hold.

The warm weather of late is working its magic and the pool was greener and more inviting than Jeff’s description from just a few weeks ago. Iris pointed skywards and there was a wealth of other marginal weed in the edge. I saw newts and tadpoles amongst the weeds. The immediate surroundings were pretty sparse and there was the ever-present edge to the place which I’ve come to associate with any free fishing near a conurbation.

The only disruption to the uniform breeze-riffled surface of the pool was an occasional roll or bow wave from one of the small head of carp, or the infrequent scattering of small fish from an unseen threat.

I saw one of the carp clearly under the surface later on. It was a common of about eight pounds and looked in good condition.

I sat low and fed liquidised bread, red maggots and a little hemp. As the session wore on I dropped all feed other than a trickle of maggots.

First cast a Rudd.

Second cast a Rudd.

Third cast a Rudd.

Things blur.

I tried to keep a running weight total but lost count after twenty minutes at two pounds eleven.

I chatted with a large group of lads who briefly fished the other end of the pool and also two guys doing the rounds on a motor cross bike. They were helpful and told me about the other lakes, the fish in each and where the biggest fish lived.

I tried larger baits on the hook but found I couldn’t discriminate in favour of the better fish with any of the variations I tried. I settled into a rhythm of a single red on the hook and a steady half dozen grubs every twenty seconds and found the smaller fish fell away and the larger fish came to the fore - probably a result of feeding-off the smaller ones.

I also tried a soft rubber red maggot on the hook and found I could catch with that too.

Rudd on a rubber maggot.

  

After two hours constant action and after Danny had arrived I thought I’d done enough and so weighed in - 9lbs 9ozs of pristine Rudd.

9lbs 9ozs of Rudd.

I then spent the last couple of hours sitting with Danny chatting and trickling in maggots for him whilst he fished for rudd and I had an exploratory go for any large perch that might inhabit the pond.

 Tres enjoyables.

Here are the current scores:

Cheers.