THE R U D D . 



CHAPTER V. 



RUDD AND RUDD FISHING. 



Rudd atid Rudd Jishing—A little kficnvn fish — Chai-acteristics of the 

 Rudd — Weight of Rudd — Habits and hautits of the Rudd — Luring them 

 out — Food of Rudd — Baits for Rudd fishing — "Fine and far off" — The 

 outfit — Floats — Gut lines and gut hooks — A slozuly-sinking bait — Fishi7ig 

 the runs — Playing the fish — Dr. Normatis experiences — The Norfolk 

 style — Fly fishing for Rudd. 



"The Rudd, a kind of roach, all tinged with gold, 

 Strong, broad, and thick, most lovely to behold." 



At the outset of this chapter I miist confess that I had 

 been a fisherman something like a quarter of a century before 

 I got what I could honestly call a real practical insight into 

 the subject of rudd and rudd fishing. 'Tis true I got an 

 occasional small one out of the Trent when fishing for roach, 

 and knew them well enough to know that they were a fish 

 separate and distinct from the roach; but beyond that I 

 knew nothing. They were a sealed book to me as far as 

 their nature and habits were conceri.e ', for it did not matter 

 what book on fish and fishing I was lucky enough to get hold 

 of, the information on rudd was of the scantiest possible de^- 

 scription; even the great Francis Francis, Esq., dismissed 

 him. in about a dozen lines in his work on " Angling," and 

 says : " For all angling purposes the directions given for 

 roach answer for the rudd equally." Now, as a matter of 

 fact, the directions given for roach will not do for the rudd. 

 The Bedfordshire Ouse is supposed to be the ver)- best rudd 

 river in England, and it is also very much noted for its roach. 

 Now, in roach fishing we generally fish on the bottom, use 



