targeting bigger roach

[moonlight angler]

a local stillwater near me has produced roach close to 2Lb and i have decided to give it a go and target them sometime.

 

what method is best ? feeder/legering or float work and wade through the tiddlers?

 

which bait do you feel will be best ?

 

i also gather line strength should be low like 4Lb or am i wrong in thinking that :S

 

just i havent targetted roach in years and never nice sized roach!

[DavyR]

Float fishing needn't mean tiddlers - lay on with a big piece of flake or a lobworm at dusk and you might be surprised. Unless you're having to cast a long way with a biggish lead or feeder, 4lb bs line shouldn't be necessary even for big roach. I would think 2-3lb would be fine enough if you're using baits big enough to deter the small ones.

 

Do you know at what range and on what baits the 2lb'ers have come out on in the past? Local knowledge is vital as roach from two different waters can act like fish of entirely different species!

[benacre]

Caster laid on and or Breadflake and mashed bread. a nice 18 fine wire barbless to bury the hook in a floater will usually score.

[Vagabond]

float work and wade through the tiddlers?

 

 

If you do go that route, once you have a feeding frenzy established,

1. Use a bigger bait (flake as suggested by other posters, cockles, chick peas, several grains of sweet corn, 6mm halibut pellets, even a lobworm) on a bigger hook.

2 Fish on the edges of your feeding area - either side, or far edge.

 

....but what do I know, he says, still looking for that first two-pounder.

[Worms]

My very first roach was 2lb 1oz, (sorry Vagabond) none of my subsequent roach have been over 1/2lb! (mind you they're not very common fish on my local rivers) Lobworm did it for me!

[wayne baker]

My favourite big roach bait is flake.With small worms a close second. Even if you are catching smaller ones the onset of dusk often improves your chance of a better one. As for line i really wouldnt feel the need to go any higher than say 4ib

Theres something really special about a big roach, A real specimen hunters fish.

[BoldBear]

I have only had one still water Roach of 2lb with 3 others between 1.25 to 1.75lb (all on the same day) and I was using a softish cheese/bread paste. (near some rushes)

 

I have had five 2lb plus roach (best 2lb 5oz) from the upper Lea over the last 10 to 15 years with several others between 1lb upwards and they were all caught near to some huge rush beds using Breadflake or small redworms although a couple of near 2lb'ers were caught on caster.

The latest near 2lb'er (1lb 14oz) which I caught the other week was caught next to rushes on a 6mm halibut pellet and was the only Roach I had.

 

funny how I have only ever caught big roach next to rushes, that must say something or is it just coincidence?

Edited August 21, 2009 by BoldBear

[Vagabond]

My very first roach was 2lb 1oz, (sorry Vagabond) none of my subsequent roach have been over 1/2lb!

Lobworm did it for me!

 

My PB of 1-14 (equalled several times since but so far unbeaten) came on a lobworm I was freelining for chub!

[chavender]

the only big roach from a pond (just under 1kg ,(i weighed it after the weigh in ) was from a commercial fishery (roy marlows glebe) in a match ,i was using a on the drop sprayed maggot approach (while i fed up my carp spot feeder fishing later in the match & pole line) with a incerted waggler .plumb up set the rig up so the bait is no more than 1-3" over depth ,4/5ths weight capacity is casting weight the last bit is spread evenly down between float & the hooklength leaving the hooklength clear (i used styles) ,i fished two maggots top& tailed to prevent spin .I actually had made up verious waggler rigs onto long pole winders knowing the ponds i was likley too draw and roughly the depths.

 

i was actually fishing for the rudd and small carp & chub but we knew there was some good roach in there as well ,by casting out and simply firing out half a dozen or so maggots every few minettes .you quickly get too know the fall rate of the bait from the time it takes for the float too settle ,and if your really good can figure out a correct feeding rate ,me i just kept too my haphazard method of counting in 7 maggots into me catapult then firing them out ,recasting frequently ,wait a minuet or so after the float as settled the put your tip under te water and a quick few turns too drag the float down and away from the feed area beforelifting the rod to wind the rest of the way in too recast,but was on a pond stuffed with fish ,just work out your feeding rate too suite where your fishing

 

great tactic for rudd but also scores for other fish ,who`ll feed on the drop

[Anderoo]

I must keep a closer eye on commercials, all those lovely big (and totally ignored) roach growing fat on pellets... Not the same as a river fish, but still a very worthy capture.

 

I've been lucky enough to catch two 2lbers over the years, both real scrapers (2lb exactly and 2lb 1.5oz) and both total flukes. One was float fishing maggots at the relief channel in Norfolk as a kid, and the second was float fishing a lump of luncheon meat (meant for tench) in the margin of a local gravel pit.

 

The biggest roach I've caught on purpose was 1lb 4oz, part of a 5-fish catch from the river Wissey, quivertipping flake at dusk in Autumn many years ago.

 

A proper 2lb roach caught by design would be the highlight of my angling life, and is the reason I endure the annual weather battering at Timsbury (still haven't caught a single roach from there!).

 

Maybe one day...but then if I did catch one, what would I dream of?