Bleak/rudd Hybrid?

Now I suspect that the majority of readers will think me mad, but I am certain that rudd are hybridising with both silver bream and bleak in the local canal. I have spoken before of the abundance of silver bream/rudd crosses that I have taken (and you should check out this quality sample caught by Dom Garnett too), but I am also catching, less regularly, bleak with faint golden flanks (similar to average-sized dace) and red fins. In the flesh, it is strikingly obvious that these are not true bleak. Unfortunately, my efforts with the camera do not offer irrefutable proof of my hybrid theory. It is also worth noting that silver bream are more closely related to bleak than they are common bream, so if the former is clearly hybridising with rudd, then the other doing it as well is not so outlandish after all.


Sadly it isn't possible to catch 8 tench every short visit to this canal, but I did manage to snare a couple this evening. The first was portly, immaculate, and about three pounds, however the second, a male fish of nearer to four, was the most battered old tinca I have ever seen. In fact, I am convinced that this damage could not have occurred any other way than by someone dropping and/or letting it flap around on the towpath. The flanks were badly scarred, and the fins torn and tatty. One pelvic fin was so badly damaged that it had all but perished, leaving just a stump. Even its mouth was mangled to such an extent that it would make parrot-mouthed commercial carp seem like beauty queens in comparison.

I also caught two pike - one on a worm and another which grabbed a rudd I was just about to swing. The latter gave me a right runaround, but fortunately the hook transferred during the fight and I was able to land it. For the sake of the challenge, I took a weight - 4lb 4oz. The rudd, meanwhile, were a lot more active during the day than they had been on my early morning sessions. For much of this trip I struggled to get the bait through both them and the mass of crap which had congregated in my swim. The two tench and a decent perch all arrived before the rudd did in earnest. Most of the rudd were an ounce or two, but steadily they grew in size, the best coming in at exactly a pound.