Nudd represented the England team at international level for more than 24 years, during which time he became arguably the best known angler in the world. The highlight of his professional career was victory in front of a home crowd at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, in 1994. In 1991, he received the most votes ever in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award but was denied victory by the BBC, who ruled that a campaign to vote for him in the weekly fishing newspaper Angling Times was against competition rules. He was awarded an MBE for services to fishing.