A 3lb Rudd; Tench trio and big Bream...

What a days fishing, a full day session over thirteen hours. Things were slow at first, though eventually the groundbait fed into the swim saw fish moving in. Andy Shaw was with me for the day, I had the first good Bream, though it would be his day for that species..

 At about 1.30pm I struck into a very good fish on my leger, a Redworm/Sweetcorn bait on a running set up.  It fought well and I wasn't sure what it was until it surfaced and I was flummoxed, a massive Rudd! I had never seen a three pound Rudd until that moment, though there was no doubt in my find this was a three pounder and a dream fish. It was netted and weighed at a staggering 3lb 6oz. A dream come true and beyond my wildest expectations when I planned these sessions in the hope of specimen Rudd...

3lb 6oz Rudd, a dream fish in every way. It was in immaculate condition...

Somewhat elated, it took me a while to get back into my fishing. Andy was doing very well however and took some cracking Bream. The first came on an 8mm halibut pellet, a fantastic bite which hooped his rod over in the rests. Others came on trimmed 10mm pineapple pop up boilies, which we were trying today, they were a big success and we had some good fish on them...

Andy with a very nice Bream...

Another Bream, this one on halibut pellet..

In the afternoon came a stunning Tench for me, a 4lb fish. It took a Redworm/Sweetcorn bait off the bottom. This site is proving excellent for the species. I followed it with another  fish of 4lb 11oz, before hooking and losing a third! The second fish was a new Swedish PB for me which took a pineapple pop up and fought like a demon. Later in the evening, I bettered it by an ounce on the halibut pellet! This was my best result with Tench in Sweden to date, my Swedish PB now standing at 4lb 12oz. A five pounder is the next target weight...

Above;4lb 11 oz Tench, a lovely fish..

 A 4lb 12oz fish which came right at dusk..

There were a few more bream for Andy, we both caught loads of Silver Vream to around 10oz. Andy had a roach of around 12oz, I had a respectable Rudd of 1lb 9oz. There were period were it was downright madness, with free biting fish coming constantly. At times it went quiet, though there was so much quality through the day. A fishing session I will never forget, we had a blast. 

Below; Andy with a typical Silver Bream from the swim, we had lots of these today...

Tench; A brace of Tinca are the first of the year..

Out again for an evening session at the site of recent specimen Rudd. Things were very quiet for a while after 3pm., though eventually a few small Rudd were followed by a better fish of 1lb 9oz. A few minutes later I struck into a solid fish, another belter of a Rudd was landed and it went exactly 2lb, my fifth two pound plus fish in the past ten days...

 Ed Bowler arrived a short while later and the fishing remained quiet for long periods, then would come a period of fish feeding. Several Bream, Silver Bream and small Rudd were taken before I struck at a gentle bite on the leger and was met with a powerhouse of resistance. I should of realized it was a Tench before I did, the fish boring away with a lot of power, giving a fantastic account of itself. Eventually it did tire and Ed did the honors with the netting and the first Tench of the year was photographed and returned. The fish weighed 3lb 11oz and is the first Tench I have ever had from the site...

Above and below; 3lb 11oz of pristine Tench, first of the season and very welcome..

After that things went rather muted again before Ed decided to set up a Pike rod. The roving float rig requires a bait, so Ed duly fished a double maggot under a waggler to get one. Having a bite straight away he was amazed to realize he had a Pike on the bait rod, much to both our amusement...

Double maggot caught Pike!

We fished on until dusk, again not a lot of activity, until my boilie rod began to twitch. Fish had been active on and off over the boilie baits, which had been put out with PVA bags of 8mm halibut pellets and boilie segments as free offerings. I missed a couple of takes, possibly small bream, before a positive take was struck and the rod hooped over. Our suspicions were confirmed a short while later when a Tench surface, another lovely fish. The first had been a big surprise, the second told us that the species may be regular here. It went an ounce more than the earlier fish, at 3lb 12oz. This venue keeps throwing up surprises and is really fishing well right now. Planning a full day onsite in two days, who knows what might happen, with a little luck...

A second Tench went an ounce better at 3lb 12oz. This one took a boilie presented on a short hair and inline lead rig...

Monster Dorado; Dave Kampf in Mexico

Here's a shot of a monster Dorado caught of the Mexico coast by a mate, Dave Kampf. Good job my son, what a fish that is!

Specimen Rudd; Silver Bream put in an appearance..

An evening back onsite after specimen Rudd. I arrived at 3pm and set up a couple of boilie rigs, whilst on a third rod I set up a helicopter rig again and fished the Redworm/Sweetcorn cocktail bait on a size 10 drennan hook. An hour later after a couple of reasonable Bream I hooked a large fish which bored away strongly. The fish showed under the surface and I could see it was another big Rudd. It then dove into the drop off, an all too familiar tactic which has lost me some good fish in this swim. The fish found snags easily in the underwater bank here and the hook pulled out. A tough break, but I fished on. More Bream followed, the largest a little over 3lb., as well as a few Rudd up to 12oz or so. It was around then another species appeared out of the blue in numbers, Silver Bream. These fish came out of nowhere and demonstrated the sites ever changing nature. The venue had been fished three days in a row, each day was in some way different from the others. Again, here was another species appearing in the swim, seemingly transient shoals moving into shallow waters pre spawning. It would be nice to get a big Silver Bream here in the future, a species that doesn't grow huge and perhaps is overlooked and more than a little neglected in Sweden.

Ed Bowler with a cracking Rudd, which weighed in at 2lb 4oz. Nice to see him get a reward after making the drive out after work for a few hours fishing. The fish is a new PB for Ed, a really nice fish in superb condition...

Ed Bowler arrived around 7pm and after a frustrating time on the waggler with small fish, he decided to concentrate in the leger rod. Not long after that point he struck into a gentle bite and his rod hooped over, bucking as a good fish felt the hook. As we hoped it proved a Rudd and what a fish, at exactly 2lb 4oz.! Ed was rightly delighted, the fish dwarfing his previous personal best. The fish was in immaculate condition, hardly a scale out of place and superbly conditioned.

 After that, there were periods where it was quiet, with occasional periods of fish biting, though nothing exceptional followed. As darkness fell, we packed up, content after banking the fifth two pound plus Rudd in two days! It was especially nice to see a friend getting one of these very special Rudd and sharing in the pleasure of catching these huge bars of gold...

Silver Bream. Note the large eyed appearance, silver appearance, reddish pectoral and pelvic fins. Quite a few caught today, all small specimens.

Below; Helicopter Rig, which has accounted for some good fish of late..

Rudd; a new personal best and four Two pound plus specimens!

Every once in a blue moon all your plans and hopes come to fruition, today was one of those days. The target species was Rudd, perhaps my favorite coarse fish. I have been fishing intensively for this species of late, having decided to plan an early season campaign to try and put some big specimens on the bank. My personal best stood at a respectable 2lb.4oz, it would take a good fish to better it. As yet, cold water tempatures had seen no Rudd, though in recent days things suddenly started to show real promise. The venue had potential I knew, my previous personal best came from here and having lost a big Rudd just the previous day I returned hopeful of a good late afternoon and evening session. Hopes were high I might get a good fish, though I never could of foreseen the events unfolding as they did...

This fish, above and below, will be easily recognized should it be caught again, due to the dark spot under the right eye. This fish went 2lb.1oz and was in perfect condition...

Again with one eye one a four hour period coinciding with the moon zenith I waited. A couple of good Bream came first. Having tweaked the boilie rig to an inline lead with a short hook length and short two inch bolt set up I was delighted to hook and land a Bream on the boilie, my first fish on the method. This told me the rig worked and gave me confidence in its ability to catch fish. A short while later the legered worm and sweetcorn rig, now a helicopter rig, registered a very gentle bite. A good tussle followed and soon a huge Rudd broke the surface. I was elated to register a new personal best of 2lb.5oz. I photographed it and slipped it backed, a very satisfied angler. An hour later, another 2lb.1oz specimen came on the same rig, an amazing turn of events. Quite incredibly, the boilie rig then screamed off and another huge Rudd resulted, I was incredulous as the scales went to 2lb.7oz! My personal best gone after a half an hour!

2lb.5oz, what a cracking Rudd!

Dreamland, at 2lb.7oz, a stonking Rudd in every way, an immaculate fish which had probably never seen a hook. This one on a boilie...

An hour passed, during which time I briefly connected with two fish that shed the hook on the helicopter rig. Having three two pounders in the bag it couldn't really hurt too much and I was on cloud nine. Then the boilie rig went again and a really powerful fish bored off strongly. Eventually it surfaced beaten on the top and my jaw dropped. It's mouth was damaged and healed sometime in the past, this fish was truly massive. I thought it might even go three pounds, it was so deep and heavy. The scales settled on 2lb.13oz, a monster Rudd... The fish was deep and thickset, I took great care unhooking and photographing it before releasing it. I was quite blown away by this particular fish, which raises questions. Just how big do the Rudd get at this venue? Do these fish remain here all summer? Is a record fish a real possibility? Hopefully, given time some of these questions might be answered. I will certainly be fishing this venue more often.

What a day, an unforgettable experience!

Above and below; 2lb.13oz Rudd

By any standards a huge specimen and a dream come true. Could this venue have a three pounder? Surely the answer is yes....

Planning ahead; A recon to a Tench lake!

Recon is an important part of fishing, checking out new waters, or visiting little known venues to explore for swims, signs of fish, contours, features and general potential. This Stillwater is of interest as it holds a good head of Tench as well as a few Carp rumored to be present...

Swims like this will be useful to know about later in the summer...

As it happened there were Carp present, several were active right in the middle of the lake, a rather extreme distance to fish at from the shore. Confirming their presence was a bonus though. 

Also during the day several swims were located and briefly fished to get an idea of depth etc. The lake is rather shallow in general, with prolific weed and lily growth. This will require clearing come the summer if we want to catch Tench here. Also this lake is rumored to have another species I would very much like to have a crack at, should they prove to be present, Crucian Carp.

A nice looking bay here. Carp were active in the centre of the lake, upper doubles and twenties. Do these fish use the margins? Perhaps at night?

Couldn't resist dipping a few lines and getting an idea of depth and features. As can be seen below, there were small Rudd present and lots of them. The numbers of these fish is high and will mean larger baits may have to be used to target Tench on this water. Weed growth will also be prolific during the summer months and swims will have to be cleared...

Zander; the first Zed of the year...

A nice four pound Zander which fell to a free roving live bait, a nice fish for Ed Bowler. Ed had four runs on the live baits , the first three were dropped, typical of Zander. Happily Ed managed this nice Zed off the fourth run at a favoured site of his for predators...a nice start to the season for him. This species is most active over the summer months and will hopefully feature in the coming months on the blog...

Orfe; A new personal best, along with some quality Bream. 13th May 2013

 A visit to my main target area today in order to leger for big Rudd. A very educational day for me today. I arrived at 14.10 and carefully set up a running leger, with a half ounce pear lead, bead and swivel to a 14 inch hook link. On the second rod I decided to try boilies. I hair rigged a whole 16mm boilie to a 12 inch braid hook length, a one ounce lead on a safety clip. This was free running and I thought I would tighten up direct to the reel, with the rod on rests. Also utilized were a bite alarm and light bobbin.

On the running leger I used a sweetcorn and large Redworm cocktail bait. I carefully catapulted out loose corn, a few 8mm halibut pellets and some broken up boilies. I then sat back and enjoyed the comfort of my new Korum chair, which proved very comfortable indeed. It was quiet for a while with the odd bite, at first just a few smallish Rudd were landed as well as a plucky Perch, my first of the year. I was watching the clock carefully as I knew the moon timetable showed the moons zenith at 15.05. Sure enough, at 15.00, I had a solid take on the running leger. The result was a Bream of 4lb.7oz., which gave a good account of itself. I quickly weighed and photographed the fish, using the timer on the iPhone 4S camera. Ten minutes later there was some activity on the boilie rod which almost caused me to miss a delicate bite on the running leger rod. I managed to connect though and a good fight ensued with what I thought might not be a Bream. When the fish surfaced after three minutes and slid towards me I was not surprised to see a Rudd, but this was a very big specimen indeed. I put it well over two pounds and was just about to land it when the rod went slack, the hook pulled and the fish slowly righted itself, turned and swam off into the murk. I was gutted, choked. This was the fish I had wanted so much and it had slipped away. It took me a while to get my head back together after losing such a good fish, and a short while later two more fish slipped the hook before I stopped, thought it through and decided to change to a bigger hook. Off came the size 16 Kamasan and on with a Drennan Crystal Size 10. I told myself that the Rudd was a positive sign, I now knew a specimen was a real possibility. I waited...

At 6lb.1oz. I was delighted with this fish. Having hooked a couple and lost them I was much relieved to get this one on the bank, as it was the biggest of the three. The fish was very thick across the shoulders and back and gave a very strong, dogged fight. Easily smashed my previous best with this fish, having not come across this species very often in the past...

After a long quite period the bites began to come again, Rudd and Bream, though nothing remarkable. Then a gentle pull and I struck into a solid fish which dough strongly. After a couple of minutes it was under control and it was landed. I knew it was my biggest Orfe to date the second it surfaced. It was very thickset and heavily built, though I was genuinely surprised to see the scales settle at an ounce over 6lb. I weighed it on a second set of scales to record the same weight before I grabbed a few shots and slipped it back, very pleased with myself. The larger hook had held well and gave me a big advantage in the fight...

A nice Bream of 4lb7oz. Whilst the smaller fish are a nuisance, bigger fish are more welcome. At this time of the year Bream are plump with spawn when female and require careful handling.

Plenty of Bream in the 2-3lb range today, as well as Rudd and Perch...  

Later it was still quite busy until about 19.30, though I failed to catch a big Rudd and was left to rue my lost chance. More Bream to 3lb did come, as well as many Rudd to 12oz after them. 

Interestingly the boilie rod was receiving attention from fish, though I hooked nothing. I decided to attach small PVA bags to the hook before casting. Loaded with halibut pellets and boilie fragments. This caused huge amounts of line bites, tugs and activity. By the end I hooked nothing and began to whittle the boilies down in size, figuring they were too big. Activity continued, with more violent tugs but no hook ups. I figured more resistance was required in order to hook the fish, though time was up. Having seen a huge Rudd get away I decided another session was in order the next day, when I would tweak the boilie rigs..

Waiting for the thaw; Early season planning

The scenario at the end of April, still iced up and unfishable at a point by which we are often already active. A really late cold snap this year has held up the fishing season by a few weeks...

It's been tough waiting for the winter to end, though planning has begun for an early season assault on various species. Ed plans predators at a favoured site of his, in the past he has had some cracking Zander and Perch, as well as good numbers of Pike, though he is still waiting on that elusive twenty pounder. Also close by him are a couple of interesting small waters which may hold good Rudd and Bream...

Early May and a sudden and quite rapid thaw. The water is still very cold at this point though, a few early trips to a number of venues drew blanks...

I plan a campaign for big Rudd first of all and have identified a location which I know has good fish in May at least. These are among my favorite fish and I would dearly love to get a specimen or two. Always the possibility of a big Bream, Roach or perhaps a surprise along the way...

The first warm days of the year saw a lot of inactivity, by both fish and on occasion, the fishermen. Andy Shaw here catching a few Z's on a slow early season session. The only fish hooked on this session shed the hook, it was on my rod and was most likely a Sik, judging from the rapid runs...

Andy wil be concentrating in a large Stillwater close by his home, which could prove excellent. It certainly has the potential to produce big specimens, with Bream, Rudd, Zander, Perch and Pike perhaps the most likely species to grow large there..

It will hopefully come good for us all, indeed Ed had this fine Pike whilst we were fishing one of our target waters, a long lean fish that went over 9lb. The same day we had a huge number of Roach, with a few over half a pound. The season is underway, we have gathered our tackle, done the research and are now anxious to get fishing, watch this space...