With time rapidly running out for me to hit my target of 15 freshwater species in 2012 and noting a reasonably mild temp of 11°C forecast for today when I checked the forecast last night, I got up early this morning and headed down to Markle Fisheries near East Linton to target the resident rudd again. I arrived just after sunrise and setup my float rod, the wind making this task a bit of a pain. Thankfully though the spot I planned to fish was slightly more sheltered than the rest of the pond and my maggots were soon falling through the water column. Fishing was quite slow and after a couple of hours or so I started thinking about moving. I turned my head to eye up a new spot and when I turned it back again my float had vanished. I lifted the rod and felt the weight of a fish. I knew straight away it was too big to be a rudd though and a rainbow trout was soon landed, unhooked and returned. Thinking that this visit may well pan out the same as my last, my fears were compounded when a second trout was caught an hour or so later. I then decided to move along a bit and fish my float tight into some overhanging, partially submerged bushes. Casting out and letting the wind slowly carry my float in amongst the branches, carefully paying out line and being careful not to snag it up I was rewarded with my first rudd bite of the day, which I struck and missed. Damn! Repeating the process and waiting patiently I was soon rewarded with another bite however and this time the fish was hooked!
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| December rudd. Better late than never. |
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| My 14th freshwater species of 2012. A pretty one too. |
Quite happy and another step towards my goal I carried on fishing but for whatever reason no more bites were forthcoming until the sun began to dip over the horizon. Then a feeding frenzy began! The rudd were obviously becoming confident as light faded and there was quite a lot of little splashes as they fed high up in the water and on the surface. I adjusted my depth accordingly and this saw me land a further seven rudd and lose a few more, all of them about the same size.
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| Their upturned mouths make them look a bit grumpy. |
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| Such lovely little fish. Not sure if I prefer rudd or roach. |
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| The blood red fins of rudd might just sway it in their favour. |
Happy days and in the end I was glad I took the gamble and went down. Only three days left to catch my 15th freshwater species now and with some horrendous weather forecast I shall have to get my thinking cap on and come up with a cunning plan to give myself a chance of doing it!
Tight lines, Scott.
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