THE RUDD. 69 



going 140Z. to 2 lb., that is on Potter Heighani' Sounds and 

 Horsey Mere. Moor the boat, sav. twenty yards from the 

 reed beds, always selecting a little bay or short break in the 

 reeds ; fish with the wind so that you can cast your line well 

 and accurate to where you see a feeding fish. You draw the 

 fish out of the reeds by throwing pieces of bread, say, half the 

 size of your hand and an inch thick, towards the reeds, a.nd 

 as the bread draws near to the reeds, the fish, if in a biting 

 humour, come out in shoals, flop over the bread, showing 

 their fins and bodies, and suck at the bread. You could hear 

 them smack their lips half way across the broad. As a fish 

 shows himself you cast for him at once. As my fishernran 

 observed : ' It is like shooting your fish.' It is most exciting 

 sport, what with the expectancy of seeing the fish come out 

 of the reeds and rolling over the bread, then trying your skill 

 as a marksman, and finally of bringing and playing your gol- 

 den-hued game fish to the net. '1 he Norfolk Broad rudd, 

 especially the larger ones, are in my opinion the handsomest 

 fish — bar trout — that swims in freshwater. What a pity it is 

 that their glorious orange golden sheen cannot be revived by 

 the preserver. After being out of water a few hours the 

 colours fade to a pale yellow." 



I consider this letter gives a very good description of rudd 

 fishing, and agrees with my own and Mr. Bryant's experiences 

 so accurately (with the exception that I find red worms far 

 better baits than gentles) that the reader may rest assured, if 

 he has a chance at the rudd, the instructions here given are 

 thoroughly sound and trustworthy. 



This fish is also a capital one for the fly fisherman, al- 

 though he is not w^hat we can call a brilliant riser. Still, 

 feeding on, or just under, the surface, at times he takes the 

 fly well. The dry-fly fisherman in this case would not stand 

 so much chance as one using a wet sunk fly. You throw out 

 from the boat towards the haunts of the fish and allow the 

 fly to sink an inch or two under the surface ; onlv use one 

 fly at a time, and let your gut cast be fine but strong, one 

 three yards in length, tapered from strong to finest undrawn 

 being better than the extra fine drawn gut. Eyed flies are 

 the best, and they should be of a medium, size, a No. 8 or 9 

 hook (Redditch scale) being about right. A Red Palmer is 



