Common rudd | INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT - Common rudd! Where it lives and how to catch it!

Common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) is a fish of the carp family. It is also known as red-headed, black, and rudd. It is distributed in the waters of Europe (except for the Crimea, the southern Caspian Sea, and rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean), as well as Asia Minor and Central Asia. It has been introduced to Ireland, Morocco, Madagascar, Tunisia, New Zealand, Canada and Spain. In New Zealand and Canada, it is considered a harmful fish that displaces native species!
This fish reaches a length of up to 36 cm and a weight of 400-500 grams to 2 kg). The body is tall, flattened on the sides, and the scales are relatively large. The head is small, the upper mouth is oblique, the teeth are two-row. The dorsal fin is strongly shifted backward. The back is dark brown with a greenish tinge, the sides are yellowish-golden, and the belly is silver. The dorsal and pectoral fins are gray with red tops, all others are bright red. The eyes are yellow!
The rudd lives in quiet, clear water, in thickets of reeds and other aquatic vegetation. It rarely comes to open areas of the reservoir! It stays mainly in the middle layers of water, but in hot weather it rises to the surface. It is active during the day. This fish feeds on aquatic plants, in particular, filamentous algae (Spirogyra, Cladophora), caviar of mollusks and other fish species, various invertebrates (worms, larvae and insects)! Older individuals consume young fish!
It reaches sexual maturity at the age of 4-5 years with a body length of at least 12 cm! Spawning occurs in late May - early June, when the water warms up above 15 °C. The fecundity of eggs ranges from 96 to 232 thousand. The female lays eggs in several stages on aquatic vegetation. A week later, fry hatch from the eggs, which first stay in their birthplaces and then move to deeper water where they live with adults. Although the number of eggs laid is large, a significant part of potential fry dies during the incubation period!
The rudd does not have very good taste (bitter aftertaste) and low fat content (up to 7%), so its commercial value is low. In Ukraine, this type of aquatic bioresource is caught only in the Dnipro River delta, where the fish is quite abundant. The common rudd is also an object of fishing by amateur fishermen!
What is the best way to catch rudd?
The most common tackle for catching rudd is a float rod, used both from the shore and from a boat. The fishing line used is from 0.17-0.20 millimeters, a light foam float, a hook number 3.5-5; the attachments are very diverse - worms, bloodworms, grasshoppers and other insects, greens, bread crumbs and pieces of fish. For fishing, people choose windows between plants, places near reeds and water lilies. The nozzle is lowered into the middle layers of water or to the bottom. In hot weather, the rudd comes closer to the water surface. The bite of the rudd is confident, it attacks the bait sharply, and you need to hook it immediately, briefly, but very strongly.
In winter, rudd is caught mainly with a jig, the best results are shown by active, variable speed wiring. In winter, the rudd is well caught with baits such as bloodworms, bark beetles and burdock fly larvae (popularly called “burdock”, which can be obtained directly on the burdocks themselves, or in their cones), and towards the end of winter you can try fishing with maggots. This fish likes white baits. Large rudd is caught with dough or pasta. The rudd is well attracted by dough colored in pink tones!
Friends, have you ever caught a rudd? How was it and with what bait? Write your comments, it will be interesting to read! To all NO tail - no scales! SEE YOU SOON!!!
@amur_fc