River Rudd and reservoir Perch. A varied summers fishing. Part 1.

It's been a while since my last blog and this one is going to cover what I've been fishing for over the summer. They say variety is the spice of life and I believe that saying goes for fishing too. Most of my time was spent targeting fenland river Rudd with a few trips chasing big Crucians. I even managed to fit in a rare Carp fishing session!

The summer really kicked off on June 16th. The opening day of the river season. Fishing with Giles Cawston once again and joined for this special day by another friend Chris Netto we would be targeting fenland river Rudd.

We were in the boat so we set off to the known areas from last season. We found some Rudd and cast our float fished bread flake baits out into the crystal clear water. Chris had a bite and was into a good fish. It was a spirited fight and we were glad to see a sizable Rudd go in the net 1st time! It weighed in at 2lb 1oz and was Chris's biggest by far. He was over the moon and we were for him too.

In amongst the Rudd fishing Giles was casting lures around in an attempt to catch one of the fenland Pike that prey on the golden fish we were after. Well on one cast a Pike couldn't resist grabbing hold of Giles lure and proceeded to lead him a merry dance on his light set up! Over 10 minutes later Chris chinned the fish and lifted it into the boat and onto the mat. The long summer Pike weighed 15lb+ and was a personal best for Giles.

It was now late afternoon and it was my turn to get into a good fish and after dropping my bread crust bait on the surface it wasn't long before it was gulped down by a good fish. I struck into it and the fish bolted! I managed to keep it's head out of the weed and a couple of minutes later it was in the net. It was a beautiful battle scared fish with character. The best looking type of Rudd in my opinion. All 2lb 4oz of it!

It was now late in the evening and my bread crust was again smashed on the surface! Another spirited fight and another 2lb 4oz Rudd was in the net. This was a totally different looking fish without a silent scale out of place! A great end to a fantastic day on the river.

Now into July and I fancied a change of scenery. It had been a while since my last reservoir boat trip so I soon found myself at Pitsford water chasing big Perch. I knew the areas to target from previous trips so headed to the Dam wall tower. Drop shotting rubber worms is my go to method when targeting big Perch and it didn't take long for a big stripey to fall for it! Several strong vertical runs later and a big Perch was netted. The needle settled on 2lb 15oz. No matter how much I shook the scales I could not get that extra ounce! Lol

A few more big 2lbers came my way before something a bit special made and appearance. I was smiling from ear to ear when a long 3lb 7oz Perch topped the lot from the tower. Giles had his fair share and the best was also 3lb+ before the action dried up.

Time was getting on and we started back to the boatyard stopping off at the road tunnel for the last few minutes. The echo sounder was picking up masses of fish inside the tunnel but you are not all to fish there for them. We anchored up away from the opening and cast our lures close to the tunnel bouncing them back to entice a take. This worked and a good fish hit hard! The fight was amazing and powerful. A pristine 3lb 7oz Perch was my prize. My 2nd 3lb 7oz fish of the of the day. Giles took an awesome picture of me and this fish and will take some beating to better it.

Those were the highlights of the 1st half of summer for me. But there was even better still to come!