Rudd on the fly...

After 3 days of rain, a fortunate break in the weather allowed rays of sunshine to heat up the top layer of water bringing the rudd back up to the surface. With this extra heat and a touch of humidity from the previous days rain a good hatch of flies emerged, skipping off the surface as tail swirls erupted below them as the rudd rose.

Matching up a similar sized fly (a small brown nymph) I set about the first cast, the line straightened at the end of the cast and the floating mono straitened presenting the fly next to a bed of lilies, no more than a second after the fly had hit the surface it had been nailed and a lively small rudd was the first fish of the day. The takes continued as I rolled the fly back onto the surface, it soon became apparent that this instinct to strike at the fly was a reaction to anything hitting the water, a leaf fell from an overhanging tree and it was soon in the middle of a tail swirl as a rudd created a whirl pool from underneath it.

Altering my approach ever so slightly I started to overcast on purpose dropping the fly onto the edge of the lilies and then retrieving it slowly so that it had chance to sink slowly on the short piece of mono. Watching the link between my main line and the leader disappeared in an instant and I was into a good rudd, playing the fish in the middle of the swim I briskly brought it over the surface of another bed of lilies and banked a nice looking rudd. The biggest I have taken on the fly to date.