Which bait for river roach?

[Alan Stubbs]

I have been fishing maggots or soft pale pellets on the hook cast into a cloud of breadcrumb and semolina.

Although I can't claim a roach over 1lb 2ozs to my name, I have found I was attracting the larger stamp of roach amongst shoals of small fish in doing so.

 

I got the idea from a friend who targets roach on the local canal - he's an amazing angler. The psoriasis on his hands isn't psoriasis, it's fish scales!

 

The downside to this tactic is that skimmers and bream love it, too.

[BoldBear]

Over the last few years I have been extremely fortunate to have caught five Roach above the 2lb mark with the biggest at 2lb 5oz from the upper Lea near a vast bed of rushes. My best two Roach have both been caught on fresh flake in the early morning with 2 day old crumbled bread as loose feed, my third biggest was caught on a small lively redworm (not a lob) and the other two were caught on fresh caster. All of the Roach were caught trotting a small balsa stick very close to the rushes.

Edited May 11, 2009 by BoldBear

[Will Wilkinson]

I'm lucky enough to have half a dozen 2lb+ Roach to my name plus many just short of the magic mark. 5 of the 2 pounders were river fish and all bar 1 came to flake with the 1 exception taking caster. Most of my other big roach are stillwater specimens and the vast majority of these are caster caught with the few river fish mostly coming to flake or worm (often when after Chub).

 

Will

[sidney]

i always use mashed bread/corn in a feeder with a large bit of flake on the hook,i have every faith in it,and casters are always with me just in case.

 

i dont think it makes any difference if you use fresh baked loaf or medium sliced.i always go for medium sliced no matter what im fishing for be it roach,rudd or bream they all love it.

[Steve Burke]

The best bait will of course vary from day to day. However as a general rule I'd go along with he oft-repeated advice of bread on chalk streams. On clay-based rivers though I've had a lot more success with worms.

[tiddlertamer]

The best bait will of course vary from day to day. However as a general rule I'd go along with he oft-repeated advice of bread on chalk streams. On clay-based rivers though I've had a lot more success with worms.

 

 

Cheers Steve.

 

Which type of worm? Lob worms, dendrobaenas or red worms?

 

If lob, do you use a whole one? And what sized hook?

 

I often carry lobs when fishing but I find I lack the confidence to use them often as they seem so big compared to a double offering of maggot on a size 18. Perhaps I should just grasp the nettle and just pop on a big lobworm bait on a size 8 and see what happens...

[Guest tigger]

I'd just go with maggots and caster. I've had plenty of nice roach on them but saying that it's worth takin a few different baits and try them out as each water the fish can have a different preference.

[gozzer]

Cheers Steve.

 

Which type of worm? Lob worms, dendrobaenas or red worms?

 

If lob, do you use a whole one? And what sized hook?

 

I often carry lobs when fishing but I find I lack the confidence to use them often as they seem so big compared to a double offering of maggot on a size 18. Perhaps I should just grasp the nettle and just pop on a big lobworm bait on a size 8 and see what happens...

 

That problem is more common than you might think TT.

 

I had the same thoughts many years ago, probably due to my grounding in match fishing.

The way I over came it was to go fishing without maggots, (sounds simple, but wasn't then).

I forced myself to just take bread, cheese, and lobs. It made me fish with bigger baits than I was confident with.

You might be surprised at what you catch, even on a size 4 with a big lump of bread, (some greedy gudgeon and small roach spring easily to mind).

Although my fist love will always be trotting with maggot, caster, hemp or tares. I am now just as happy/confident going with a supply of the baits I described.

Go on "grasp the nettle", you could be pleasantly surprised.

 

John.

[tiddlertamer]

That problem is more common than you might think TT.

 

I had the same thoughts many years ago, probably due to my grounding in match fishing.

The way I over came it was to go fishing without maggots, (sounds simple, but wasn't then).

I forced myself to just take bread, cheese, and lobs. It made me fish with bigger baits than I was confident with.

You might be surprised at what you catch, even on a size 4 with a big lump of bread, (some greedy gudgeon and small roach spring easily to mind).

Although my fist love will always be trotting with maggot, caster, hemp or tares. I am now just as happy/confident going with a supply of the baits I described.

Go on "grasp the nettle", you could be pleasantly surprised.

 

John.

 

Thank you Gozzer.

 

A new season beckons and my one dimensional fishing tactics look set to broaden out slightly thanks to your advice.

 

Bring on the bread, cheese and lobs...

 

I even have the ideal opportunity. On June 18 and 19 I'm going on a fishing trip, the whole thing doubling up as a romantic break as I'm staying the night in a hotel with my fiancee.

 

With my other half busy at a health spa from mid-morning, I'll slip away to a nearby famous southern England river.

Day one will probably see double maggot on a size 18.

No fridge or car to keep them in and the fiancee might get a bit sniffy if I keep them in the hotel room overnight.

So Day two I'll switch to bigger hooks and baits - bread, cheese and lobs. (This means some subtle worm smuggling)

Assuming conditions don't change much, it'll be an interesting comparison between days one and two.

And assuming the worms don't escape overnight in the hotel room, I might even still be engaged on June 20...

Edited May 23, 2009 by tiddlertamer

[Steve Burke]

Cheers Steve.

 

Which type of worm? Lob worms, dendrobaenas or red worms?

 

If lob, do you use a whole one? And what sized hook?

 

I often carry lobs when fishing but I find I lack the confidence to use them often as they seem so big compared to a double offering of maggot on a size 18. Perhaps I should just grasp the nettle and just pop on a big lobworm bait on a size 8 and see what happens...

 

I've used all sorts of worms over the years, and find that what's best varies according to the conditions. Certainly though in cold weather in winter I'd opt for a big bait. This is contrary to the accepted wisdom, but I explain why in this article: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Coarse-Fishing...er_fishing.html.

 

Having said that I've used lobs most, and use a whole one on a size 6, half a one (either head or tail) on a size 10.