Specimen Rudd; 20th May 2019

 A stunning fish, this Rudd went 1lb. 11oz. on the scales. Remarkably, the fish had broken me off earlier in the same session, with the hook and short fluorocarbon leader clearly mine, which we came across when unhooking the fish! Happily, we were able to remove this and release the fish, not that this had put it off the feed!

Having just broken his Rudd P.B., Andy went and hooked this one, which went 2lb. 4oz. In the hand it was clearly a heavier fish, though Andy was delighted when the scales swung past the two pound mark...

This year, after just a single session last year trying for them, big Rudd were foremost in my thoughts after all of the early spring Pike fishing. It was a refreshing change of fishing pace to sit behind a quiver tip rod, bait fishing. I was joined by Andy Shaw, who was very keen to try catch a specimen Rudd, a fish weighing two pounds or more. We decided to hire a boat a a favorite venue of mine, a location where I have had some huge Rudd in the past.
 Preparing for this type of fishing, whilst not complex, is crucial. I prepared the groundbait, a couple of kilos of sweet fishmeal mix, to which I added sweetcorn, boiled hemp, salt and a little halibut pellet. Bait was sourced, maggot and red worm, as well as sweetcorn. In addition, we brought fake corn and some pop ups, in case small fish were a nuisance. This proved a wise course of action as it happened...

Video footage of the session here, click on HD for optimal viewing....

 On arrival, the weather looked very good. Overcast conditions, light breeze, with a warm front pushing in later in the morning. We quickly got the boat in the water and got into position in the reed margin and groundbaited just two rod lengths out in a metre of water, an area I knew held fish. We carefully groundbaited a small swim and the bottom of a shallow shelf and placed two helicopter rigs over it, with redworm/sweetcorn cocktails as bait. In the reedbeds to our left and right, the stalks shook and the water thrashed as thousands of Roach actively spawned. We were, in fact,  immediately catching small Roach after small Roach. No sooner had the bait hit the water, than the tell tale rattling bite would follow. Our baits could not settle for long, though I did have one better fish come off after a knot pulled, always a big dissapointment. In the end, we decided that switching to inline weights, armed with short, hair rigged hook lengths and fake sweetcorn was the way to go. This allowed our baits to remain in the swim and it was not long before the first take, a vicious pull that would of seen the rod in the water had it not been carefully watched. I raised the rod and the tail of a bg Tench broke the surface, before all hell erupted and the fish shot off to the left.  Then the hook pulled, my first Tench photo of the year would have to wait. I had a frustrating time over the session, on reflection it may have been down to using braided line. I hooked four good fish, at least two good Rudd and two Tench, all of which managed to shed the hook. Andy had a better time landing the fish on monofilament line, the first fish came during a hectic period around noon, when the fish were feeding heavily. It was a stunning Rudd of 1lb. 11oz., an immaculate, fin perfect bar of gold. Remarkably, this fish had my light fluoro leader and hook still in its top lip and was one of the fish I had lost an hour earlier! Still, Andy was rightly pleased, this was a new personal best for him. He had not long slipped this fish back when his rod hooped over a second time and as I netted this one, I knew it was an even heavier Rudd. It was quickly weighed and photographed, before it was released, a true speceimen of 2lb. 4oz.! Andy was made up and we fished on, though later in the afternoon the bites dried up and the fish seemed to go off the feed completely, which is not unusual here. We fished into the evening anyway, but failed to add anything substantial to our catch and decided to call it a day. All things considered, it was a success, given the main goal had been for Andy to net a two pounder. I suspect we will return before too long though...

Post Spawn Pike Fishing in Dalarna; May 2019

 Andy Shaw's best fish of the trip, don't think we weighed this one, which came on the final evening in glorious weather...


Dalarna is the venue each year for our annual trip after post spawn Pike. It is rather special, marking the begining of the summer season for each of us, as well as placing us in a breathtaking location that is brimming with Pike. They grow big here on the Dalalven system and the lake record at the site we fish each May is a staggering 17kg! We arrived on the first day of May and got out on the lake immediately. The forecast for the coming three days was nixed, with the prospect of cold northerly winds the following evening, so we felt it important to make the most of the early part of the trip, fearing dropping water tempertures might put the fish off the feed.
That evening the fishing was good, with a moderate breeze cutting the water surface and a fair degree of cloud cover. At the first stop, Phil had a small fish straight away, on just his third cast. We then headed into a large spawning bay and began to work our lures through the shallow margins. It was rather quiet for a couple of hours, we moved constantly and methodically hammered the reed lines. After a while we opted to try a slightly deeper area where the reeds pushed out into the lake and after a few casts I had a sudden heavy take. It quickly became apparent it was decent double figure fish. t was duly netted and weighed, pulling the scales around to a very respectabl 6.73kg. This fish took a Firetiger Pigshad jnr., a favourite lure of mine. After a few photographs, she was slipped safely back into the water and swam off strongly. A great stat! We continued to fish for another hour, but things wre inexplicably quiet. Eventually we headed back to the cabin for food and a social. We discussed the next days fishing and decided to head for the spawning bays again, felling there could be some big fish resting in the area...

 Nick Shaw with the heaviest fish of the trip. He left it late, taking this fish on the final evening session, when he and his brother took two good fish in quick succession.

Day two proved more difficult due to deteriorating weather, particularily a stronger wind from the northwest. Despite this, Phil and I enjoyed some wonderful fishing, taking several Pike during the morning session. The fish were striking lures aggressively and we had a fantastic bite period before the weather deteriorated badly and we decided to get off the water due to increasing wind. These lakes are not to be taken lightly, and the weather can turn nasty very quickly. We had five fish in total up to around 7lb., nothing huge, but extremely enjoyable nonetheless. In addition to the fish landed, we had several strikes on the lures, as well as some followers. We were loathe to return to the cabin, though the weather gave us little choice....
 Things deteriorated in the afternoon, as the wind continued to pick up strength. The evening was to prove a write off as the wind blasted down from the north and the thermometer plummeted. We were fearful that this might affect the fishing the next day, with Pike generally not like falling water tempertures at any time of the year. We stayed warm in the cabin, lit the fire and had a social that evening as the snow began to fall! This was to be a pattern of the coming days, with unseasonal, winter conditions and a strong wind hampering the fishing. On such a large body of water, strong wind required us to seek sheltered areas, mainly because of the wind chill factor.

 Sunset from directly outside our cabin

 I had a great trip and had a few good fish, this one came in at 5.16kg and slammed a weedless hidehook lure in bright yellow.

 Phil O Keeffe with a nice little jack...

 The weather was rather changeable throughout and was a big feature of the week, with some unseasonal winter weather making things rather tough.

Day three was tough, very tough. It was freezing cold and we struggled to catch. Nevertheless, we stuck it out and managed a couple of decent fish all the same. Under the circumstances, given the amount of work we had to put in, these were hard earned fish in very cold conditions. During the day we fished in a blizzard, whilst at another point we fished in warm sunshine as it snowed down vertically! As always, wildlife was everywhere, we enjoyed good views of a female Moose and a Beaver, whilst Bittern's boomed in the reededs and Marsh Harriers floated past us. The weather made it hard for us, but it was quite and experience on the lake that day. The fish we caught were generally small, though again there were a coupe around the 5/7lb. mark.

 Another angle on Nick Shaw's big ole girl...

Our final day was more promising weather wise, we awoke to sunshine and warmer conditions and promptly got out on the water. It was apparent the fish were rather reticent to bite and we had a number of half hearted strikes. Nevertheless, we had a great morning, topped by a good double that slammed into my lure in open water and gave a good scrap before we landed it. As the morning wore on, the weather improved and conditions became pleasant, very welcome after such a period of cold. Eventually, we did manage several fish, including the heaviest fish of the trip on a glorious final session in the evening. This fish fell to Nick Shaw and would prove the heaviest of the trip. Again, it came in the spawning bays. Despite the tough fishing over most of the trips duration it was thoroughly enjoyable fishing, with a few decent fish in the boat. What a wonderful place to wet a line. Many thanks to Phil O Keeffe, Andy Shaw and Nick Shaw for a fantastic weekend....

My largest fish, a cracking spawned out fish of 6.73kg. Both this and Nick's fish would of been pushing 20 pounds pre spawn.

Full video here taken from the GoPro over the four days....
Click on HD for best quality viewing.