Scottish Coarse Fish Species - Rudd
Latin Name - Scardinius erythrophthalmus
The Rudd is one of the most attractive fish, it's colouring never fails to make the angler pause in admiration. The image of the Rudd as a warm weather, surface feeding, summer fish does not square well with the cold Scottish climate but surprisingly Rudd are more widespread in Scotland than most people realise. Perhaps through stocking for ornamental purposes and subsequent movement, Rudd exist in many stillwaters in lowland Scotland. Rudd above the Scottish Record qualifying weight of 2lb certainly exist in a few locations and it is only a matter of time before the record is claimed.
Scottish Record -
Vacant - qualifying weight = 2lb
|
Weight
|
Rarely 1.4kg (3lb), very few over 1.8kg (4lb). |
|
Length
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Rarely exceed 34cm. |
|
Age
|
Maximum 17 years. |
|
Location
|
Lakes, reservoirs, ponds, canals and lowland rivers. |
|
Behaviour
|
Shoaling, often in large numbers. |
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Preferred
habitat
|
Shallow still water, reeds, sand or silt substrate. |
|
Feeding
|
Active April-August, often feed near or at the water surface. |
|
Natural
food
|
Zooplankton, insect larvae and filamentous algae. |
|
Maturity
|
3-4 years. |
|
Fecundity
|
100,000-200,000 eggs per kg of body weight. |
|
Spawning
times
|
May-July, 14-20°C. |
|
Spawning
|
Weed: Phragmites sp., 0.1-0.9m deep. |
|
Migratory
habits
|
Limited home range; move to deeper water in autumn. |