Rudd are usually a fish of summer, but that didn't stop specimen hunter Kev Sanders from targeting them on a local river earlier this winter. This move rewarded him with a staggering catch of three 2lb-plus giants, weighing 2lb 12oz, 2lb 3oz and 2lb 2oz.
"They aren’t a typical winter target, but they can certainly still be caught when it’s cold," Kev told us.
“With the river still way above normal level, I targeted slack areas where the fish would hopefully be.
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"My hookbait and feed would be bread – liquidised through a feeder with flake on the hook.
“To give these some added attraction in the murky water, lashings of Dyamite Baits strawberry liquid were added, which would hopefully help the fish find my hookbait.
“I opted for a simple set-up – a 40g cage feeder, 10lb mainline, and a 6lb fluorocarbon hooklink going down to a size 10 hook."
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His tactics proved spot on, as he caught a rudd of 1lb on his very first cast but then battled debris coming down the river for nearly an hour before the bites came again.
"I’d had three hours of the best rudd fishing I could have hoped for," he said.
"They were obviously hungry after fighting the strong flows of the previous weeks.
“While you may not have big rudd in your local waterway, my catch proves that, if you time it right, superb fishing can be had under the most unlikely conditions."
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