Date Fished: 16 June. Opening day and me and James were on the road at 2.30am - heading for a marathon 48 hours floating about in the boat chasing rudd. Boat was pumped up, plans made, gear sorted and a ton of bread for bait loaded - 5am - let the season begin...
Shhhhhhhhhh... Air rushing out of the side of the boat - crap - and despite our best efforts to patch it the boat was beyond bank-side repair. A bit (lot) of swearing before packing it up and a hastily Plan B was put in motion - an underprepared 12 hour walk looking for rudd.
Shorts and Cons are ideal in the boat - not so good for wading about in thistles and nettles - but we put the miles in. Floating bits of bread down the river, looking out for signs of big rudd hitting them. And late morning James hit his target - but I’ll leave that story for his blog.
I struggled to find a big rudd; landing 5 small ones, a bream and a bream/rudd hybrid (my first one). But late afternoon I saw the swirl I was searching for - my next cast was nailed by a mint 1lb 14oz rudd - a new PB and getting close to my target weight - great season opener!
With the wind picking up and a big thunderstorm either side of us - just after 7pm we made a break for the car. We chucked the gear in just as the heavens opened - nick of time! Not the planned trip, but a big rudd each was a cracking result - we’ll be back with the boat...
Hard work but a 1lb 14oz new PB - stunning!
Not the target but a bream put a welcome bend in the rod.
My first bream/rudd hybrid.
You do like to walk a lot :o) But that is a stunning rudd and well worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteNote for future - test equipment pre-season ;o)
I do like a nice walk - and one fish can make a trip!
DeleteYeah, was a mistake not testing the boat - we’ll check it next time - can’t wait to return, I’d love a two pounder while they still have their summer colours.