What is the shortest amount of time you would generally consider squeezing a fishing session into? It all depends on the kind of fishing I suppose. Lure anglers might deem a few cheeky casts during their lunchbreak to be worthwhile, but I'd wager that the majority of bait men wouldn't consider a session of less than a few hours to be worth the effort, or indeed the expense. However, if there is one thing that the last three or so years have taught me, it is that even the shortest of sessions can produce miraculous results.![]()
Even with that in mind, tonight's dabble really was just that; a total of 30 minutes spent fishing, and no more than a dozen casts made. Fortunately, my knowledge of this canal ain't too shabby, so I knew where I could head and stand the chance of a good rudd, even with such a short window of opportunity.
Even with that in mind, tonight's dabble really was just that; a total of 30 minutes spent fishing, and no more than a dozen casts made. Fortunately, my knowledge of this canal ain't too shabby, so I knew where I could head and stand the chance of a good rudd, even with such a short window of opportunity.
It was twenty to 9 when I dunked a couple of slices of white bread in the margins for mashing up and tossing down the middle of the canal. With my rod still set up from silver bream fishing last week, I pieced the two sections together and pinched a piece of flake onto the size fourteen. Unsurprisingly, there was an instant response - a nice half pound rudd coming to hand. The next fish was much better, and I slid what appeared to be a middling rudd over the landing net. On closer inspection, I could see that I'd actually snared an unexpected canal PB in the guise of a roach/rudd hybrid. 1lb 4oz. A good, and pretty rare, fish at that size (worth not a bean in the bloggers' challenge, however).
A couple of smaller rudd then found the bait, but a change to a larger piece of breadflake managed to withstand their attentions long enough for a much better fish to muscle in. I thought I'd hooked a tench, but no, this rudd was just hell-bent on getting away. It even flat-rodded me and had me desperately fingering the reel in an effort to trip the anti-reverse. It actually surprised me that the fish was not much bigger as it felt both heavy and powerful. Nevertheless, a marvellously well-proportioned fish of a pound and nine ounces lay in the net. It was good to have Beth alongside me on such an occasion, for she has a great eye for a decent catch-shot.