The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Ruffe always reminds me of the lesser of two twins, the perch being the much better brother, better at sport, etc... I also see the ruffe as a washed out perch (almost put a capital on the front of that then, sorry GOS!), one that has been through the washing line and unfortunaltey lost its stripes.

tony1964 wrote:I always preferred the Ruffe. Sorry but I did. It was a prettier fish in my opinion and not in such abundance as the Gudgeon.

Our local canal seemed to be devoid of ruffe, it wasn’t until years later when I fished a Birmingham canal that I caught one.

For those youngsters that have no idea what we are on about. Most of the ruffe that I have caught have had a lovely pink tinge to them.

Sorry, mini barbel for me everytime!!

The Sweetcorn Kid wrote:Sorry, mini barbel for me everytime!!

I think the ruffe in the photo has got to be one of the ugliest I have seen; they are generally much prettier, honest :chuckle:

tony1964 wrote:

The Sweetcorn Kid wrote:Sorry, mini barbel for me everytime!!

I think the ruffe in the photo has got to be one of the ugliest I have seen; they are generally much prettier, honest :chuckle:

On the Severn, when you held ruffe up to the light, they were transparent!

Mark wrote:As a kid the gudgeon was always welcome in my keep net.

I very clearly remember the first gudgeon I caught. I was that proud, I put it straight into the keepnet.

At the end of the day (having had no more fish), I pulled up the keepnet, only to find the gudgeon with its head firmly stuck through the mesh (gudgeon mesh, obviously).

I had to cut it free, which ensured that nothing smaller than about 4oz ever followed it into that particular net! :lol:

As a boy I used to catch lots of gudgeon and ruffe on the Thames.
I was always amazed at how the gudgeon would 'squeak' when being unhooked.
Has anyone else had this or is it my memory playing tricks?

Nice gudgeon article

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/fish ... 95212.html

Snape wrote:As a boy I used to catch lots of gudgeon and ruffe on the Thames.
I was always amazed at how the gudgeon would 'squeak' when being unhooked.
Has anyone else had this or is it my memory playing tricks?

No, your memory serves you well, Snape. One of my uncles was a keen Thames angler and he never tired of telling the story about the concerned lady who happened to be passing as he unhooked a "squeaking" gudgeon.

"Doesn't it hurt them?", she asked.

"I've never had a complaint yet, madam", was his reply.

I'm sure that one had whiskers (barbules?) on it when Walton was a lad.