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...

Stockholm Specimen Hunter's Group.

It's early 2013 and I think the former 'Fantasy Fishing League' format of the blog and other factors needed consideration. Many of the guys haven't had the time to get out consistently, due to rearing new families, as well as work commitments. The limited time that some have on the bank, as well as others now becoming more interested in target particular species, has led to a rethink with regard to the blog and I have decided to do away with the old league system...
 In it's place I think that the formation of an expats specimen fishing group would be a better proposition. So, with this in mind, the Stockholm Specimen Hunters Group has been formed...
 Over the coming year, those involved will target multiple fish species, with an aim to try sort out a few clonkers along the way and see what we can learn in the process. This approach should see us seek out and enjoy new waters and broaden our horizons a bit. Any success along the way will be welcomed and knowledge pooled, thus benifitting those who wish to take part...

Seatrout fishing in Stockholm City

 The second fish of the day for me, well over a pound...

A 2lb fish was the first catch for me, a stunning looking fish. Both fought very well...

A trip to Stockholm Ström with Ed and Rob for Seatrout, again the tempature gauge was in the minus range. We legered prawns to start with, before I tried a maggot bait on a size 14 hook and quickly had a bite. A lovely fight ensued and I was delighted when a fine Seatrout broke the surface! After that we all had maggots on the hooks. An hour later I had a second fish, not quite as large as the first. though it was long, it was not as deep as the first. Ed was unfortunate to miss a couple of bites after that, before we called it a dat as the cold begsan to bite..
 A couple of days later I returned with Andy Shaw, though we didn't land any fish on the day. In almost five hours we had two bites apiece and missed them all! Andy had a quite remarkable bite, a violent take which lurch the rod over and almost pulled it over the railing, before it bounced back and onto the ground. It seems pereseverence here might pay off with a good fish, they grow big here and the record is far in excess of 30lb.!

Tweet

Sandasjön; Ice fishing for Rainbow Trout

A few shots here of a day out ice fishing at Sandasjön in Nacka. An early Febuary trip that was not for the faint hearted as the tempature was a wicked -14 degrees! Despite this Andy Shaw and I travelled out to fish and we had plenty of bites, which were tentative at first, though later the fish seemed to come on the feed and we had several positively ripping bites. I lost what must of been a very good fish, which straightened my hook out after a few minutes, this was a very powerful fish that made several runs before coming off. Andy then lost a good fish and missed a few bites before eventually landing a lovely trout, somewhere over the pound mark. A good day out and nice to wet a line during the winter months..


Tweet

Urban Salmon Fishing; Stockholm City, Sweden.

I was down on Skeppsbron today checking the gulls for rarities among them, a cracking sunny day it was too! After a while I wandered up tp Stockholm Strommen, passing by the crews setting up for the Triatalon World Championships. On arrival at Strommen it was apparent there were a few fishermen around and the reason became clear, the sluice gates have been opened for 24hrs. on account of the triathalon! I watched for 30 minutes as around eight fishermen fished trot leger flies across the current in wide arcs, before there was a hook up, a what a fight it gave it's captor! This cracker weighed 22lb., a pristine fish in perfect condition.
 The Salmon rune is well underway in the centre of the city, the royal palaces here are the backdrop. Salmon now running in numbers, with the peak still to come. Seatrout are also running, though the peak will be a little later, a phemonenal Seatrout venues this with double figure fish not unusual and twenty pound plus fish occasionally taken. Urban fishing maybe, but the quality of fish being caught here is quite remarkable...

Tweet

Perch; Albysjön; Tyresta N.P.; 4th July 2012

 A 360 degree panorama of the swim at Albysjön, it doesn't get more scenic. A stunning place to fish, the lake contains Pike, Zander and Perch and has a reputation for big specimens of the latter...

 1lb. 7oz of Albysjön Perch, first fish of the day which tok a float paternostered Bream..

 1lb 8oz. later took a Roach on the same rod...

The rods set up on the pod, bite indicators ready to go...


An afternoon and evening session saw me land two good Perch at this fabulous location on my first outing of the year. Will try ro get out a bit more soon. Both fish took float paternostereed livebaits over a rocky bottom...



Tweet

Marlin fishing; Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria; 22nd June 2012

 Marlin boats at dock, Puerto Rico. We took Cavalier, the boat with the best catch rate...

 Setting up the rods, ten of which were trolling from the back of the boat on the surface..

 Ealry in the day on the deck of the boat..

 Bryde's Whale, one of the 'medium sized rorqual whales. 12 metres long and around 25 metric tonnes, a really impressive sight...

 Above and below, the huge game fishing Penn and Shimano multiplier reels...

 Above; A 150kg Blue Marlin goes nuts behing the boat! An amazing experience, it took two german anglers 20 minutes to get this fish into the boat...

 The fish alongside the boat. All fish here are catch and release...

One last shot...


Fished for Blue Marlin on the sport fishing boat Cavalier! A superb day out, lasting six hours, from 9am, costing just 60 Euro. Fishing with the backdrop of Gran Canaria on a stunning day was incredible and the boat was surrounded by seabirds, turtles and even a whale on one occasion. Flying Fish were also seen.
 The fishing was trolling on the surface and Blue Marlin are the main quarry, though, Dophin Fish, Wahoo, Albacore, Bigeye and Bluefin Tuna are also present. This type of fishin is a waiting game and we all relaxed on the boat until, after three hours, all hell broke lose and a Marlin struck one lucky anglers bait. It tore 400 metres of line off before going airborne, before the lad got strapped into the chair and a twenty minute fight began. The photos I got speak a thousand words and it was an amazing experience just to see one caught.
 Another couple of hours passed and it seemed as if nothing else would strike, hen right at the death a Blue Marlin came in from the left of stern and grabbed a lure, releasing it without being hook. The fish wanted more though and ploughed into another lure and a reel began to scream. Incredibly it was my rod! We rushed to wing the other rods in as line screamed out and the fish ran. When I got strapped into the fighting chair there was 800 metres of line gone. Then the fish jumped and threw the lure..
 I have never been so gutted in my life folks, I can tell you. I decided I will come back, next holidy doing three or four trips, cos I gotta get one someday. Anyone else wanna tag along?


Tweet

Dammtorp; Tench Fishing

 1.41 Kilo, a lovely Tench late on the evening on float fished maggot....

1.13Kilo, this fish came almost straight away..

Spent the evening Tench fishing at Dammtorp with Ed, whilst Karl dropped out to get his face into a photo before heading off.
 We were using float tackle, standard wagglers, I used maggot as bait while Ed opted for gilthead worms and a grain of sweetcorn. We grounbaited with a litle sweetcorn as well as loose maggots and I had a bite immediatel. A small Rudd! Then another bite. Another small Rudd! Then another bite..
 I was expecting a Rudd but the fish pulled back far to hard and started to fight in a manner that meant only one thing, Tench. After a good scrap on light line Ed slipped the net under her and I had my first Dammtorp Tench of 1.13kilo. Took a photo and slipped her back and fished on. It was three hours later before any action, despite Tench bubbling in the swim occasionally. I eventually loose fed some  maggots with th catapult, soon fizzing bubbles began to rise to the surface and after what seemed an age the fish had followed the trail into my swim. Bubbles were all around the float for a few minutes before the fish took my bait and the float lifted upwards. This fish almost did not know it was hooked and practically swam into the net for me before going ballistic! The fish was a cracking deep specimen of 1.41kilo, nice. Ed then had a reasonable Rudd, before frustratingly lossing a Tench before we packed up in fading light...

Tweet

Dammtorp; July 2011

 Andy Shaw with his first Tench; 1.66kilo.

Spent the evening at Dammtorp with Andy Shaw. We float fished with gilthead worm and sweetcorn as bait, always a good bait. At about 4pm Andy got a small Ruud, before losing a good fish, almost certainly a Tench. A while later Tench bubbles fizzed about his float, before it sailed away. The fish gave him a great fight before we slipped the net under it, a long female fish that weighed 1.66kilo despite having just spawned. This was Andy's first Tench and he was well happy with himself.
 The rest of the evening was, to say the least, frustrating. Fish bubbled everywhere in the swim, perhaps four or five fish, yet the floats registered only line bites as the fish swam around our baits for two or three hours without touching them. We concluded the fish had either detected our hooks and heavy braided line or they were preoccupied feeding of the small pellets I had groundbaited the swim with. Next time we will try light mono line and bait smaller hooks with maggot, groundbaiting with the same...

Tweet