68 THE RUDD. 



be very carefully baited for two days at least, and a long 

 willow wand stuck in the mud in the middle of it. Anchor 

 the boat very quietly twenty-five or thirty yards off, throw 

 your float near the willow, and you will have such sport as 

 few will imagine. It is really a case of no sooner in than 

 under ; and, as an old piscatorial friend said, after an hour's 

 hard work, ' Even in my wildest dreams, doctor, I never had 

 such splendid fishing.' I once took three at a single cast of 

 the line that weighed over five pounds, and a very pretty com- 

 motion they made in the water. Another evening, after a 

 very early tea, we landed no less than 194. Sunrise and sun- 

 set suit these fish best, but I have had capital sport on a hot 

 autumn day, although that is rather rare." After reading 

 the above experiences of rudd fishing in Norfolk and Suffolk, 

 and knowing that Dr. Norman was an authority on all mat- 

 ters connected with fishing in those counties, and as this 

 experience was somewhat at variance with mine, I wrote to 

 a friend since penning the above, for his experience in rudd 

 fishing in Norfolk and Suffolk. This friend, Mr. J. 

 Deplidge, has had a wide and long experience in 

 this branch of angling, and he very kindly replies 

 as follows (this letter is so very instructive and interesting 

 that I give it in full, and make no apology for doing so) : — 

 " With respect to rudd fishing in the Norfolk Broads, the 

 only successful modus operandi is tO' fish Nottingham style — 

 ' fine and far off ' — and as near the surface as possible. The 

 plan is to use a cork float, say about seven inches in length, 

 which will carry three or four heavy shots, and still show well 

 about the water at eighteen or twenty yards ; a No. i plaited 

 silk line, casting for your fish from a moored boat ; the shots 

 are placed close to the bottom tip of the float, the loop to 

 attach the hook length being immediately below the bottom 

 shot ; a No. 8 or 9 crystal hook is just the thing, and you fill 

 it with eight or nine gentles. If the point of hook protrudes 

 it does not matter, the fish bolt it ravenously ; indeed, a good 

 fish always takes the float under with an unmistakeable run. 

 You strike just as the float disappears in a slanting direction 

 towards the reeds. A fish that does not take the float under 

 with a bang is not worth striking. When you get to the right 

 spot you will be little troubled by ' scripers,' every fish almost 



