58 



thp: rudd. 



that hitherto have had very few, if any, in themi, so I am, hop- 

 ing that in the near future it may become better known and 

 more sought after than is the case at present. When cooked 

 and served at the table it is a very palatable dish, but has the 

 same objection that is raised against all coarse fish, it is rather 

 woolly in its flesh, and the quantity of smaJl bones are trouble- 

 some; but still, if very fresh, nicely cleaned, scaled, and fried 

 crisp, then served smoking hot with egg and bread crumb, it 

 is by nO' means to be despised. A rudd that scales up to 

 two and a half pounds or over should not suffer the indignity 

 of the frying pan, but ought to be treated to a glass case, 

 even if the lucky captor should be compelled, as an old friend 

 of mine rather rudely put it, " to pawn his shirt to pay for it." 

 I have seen several good rudd set up and cased, but somehow 

 or other the taxidermist does not do justice to this grand 

 coloured fish. As I have said, the colours soon fade and dis- 

 appear after death, and as our stuffer is, or ought to be, 

 somewhat of an artist, he should see a specimen fresh from 

 its native element, and if possible reproduce those colours 

 in all their natural beauty. Until this is done an ordinary 

 stuffed specimen only gives the beholder a faint idea as to 

 •what the fish is like naturally. 



In my opinion, which is based on careful observation of 

 the haunts and habits of these fish, I should say that the 

 rudd spawns a little earUer in the season than roach, perhaps 

 even as much as three or four weeks ; at any rate, I have 

 found them during the latter part of June and the beginning 

 of July to be a lot cleaner and brighter than the roach are 

 at the same date; but this forwardness depends in a great 

 measure on the mildness or otherwise of the spring. In a 

 particularly mild spring rudd may spawn as early as the 

 latter part of April and the beginning of May, the extreme 

 brightness of these fish at the time when the roach are very 

 rough and slimy confirming this opinion. 



In suitable localities and under favourable conditions the 

 rudd reaches a very respectable weight. A two-pound roach 

 is a fine specimen very seldom caught, whereas a two-pound 

 rudd is not considered even a fair specimen. I should say 

 the very top weight would be four pounds ; but I may as well 

 at once confess that I have no grounds for supposing that 



