Fishing for rudd is pure bliss

For the first time in a while I went fishing for rudd. On a sunny day in late spring I went to a small lake that had once been a gravel pit. Everything about the place and the day was so pleasant that I couldn’t understand why it was so long since I’d done this.

Then I remembered one reason. The ridiculous amount of gear involved in coarse fishing. It all has to be carried from the car to the wooden fishing platform on the lake shore and then assembled. Rods and reels, landing nets and keep nets, bait and groundbait and a large box full of bits and pieces that will never be used. Luckily the box also doubles as a seat and, considerably later, I was actually sitting on it in the sun watching a float in the water. Shortly after that I caught a rudd.

I fell in love with these fish when I was young. Not the mightiest species that swims in our waters but very pretty. Mature specimens are a dull golden colour with crimson fins. They like intimate waters like small lakes and ponds, though I’ve also caught them in canals and slow moving stretches of rivers. These are all pleasant places to be on a nice day.