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Hybrids (Rudd x Bream & Roach x Bream)
Specimen weight: 1.4 kg (3 lb).
Record weight: Rudd x Bream 7lb 10oz Monalty Lake, 1996. Roach x Bream Lower River Bann, 2002.
The roach x bream hybrid grows to over five pounds. These fish are eagerly sought by anglers and are not in short supply.
Cross fertilisation between different species of fish gives rise to hybridisation. In Ireland, the main hybrids are roach x bream, and to a lesser extent, rudd x bream and rudd x roach. All these hybrid forms can develop into fertile adults producing viable eggs. The bream hybrids are well sought after angling species and are renowned for their good fighting ability when hooked. After roach, they are probably the most common fish taken in catches on most coarse waters. Specimen weights: 1.6 kg (3.528 lbs.). Record weights: Roach x Bream 7 lbs. (3.175 Kilos.) in the Lower River Bann in 2002; Rudd x Bream 7 lbs. 10 oz (3.459 Kilos.) at Monalty Lake in 1996.
Some of the best hybrids waters in Ireland: River Bann at Portglenone, River Erne and lakes, Upper and Lower Lough Erne, River Shannon, River Suck, Loughs Derg & Ree, Shannon Erne waterway, Inniscarra, Lough Ramor, Lough Derravarragh and the River Inny and for rudd bream in particular, the River Barrow.
The rudd x bream hybrid, while not widespread, is a special Irish fish which combines some of the beauty of the rudd with the weight of the bream; it is hard-fighting and well worth pursuing; the record weight is over seven and a half pounds.
