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Big roach


tiddlertamer

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Recent threads have discussed the wonderful roach in great detail.

In one thread, when discussing which fish we’d most like to catch, the 2lb roach emerged as the favourite among Anglers Net aficionados.

Another thread explored why big roach are so few and far between.

 

My question though is what conditions, what tactics, what baits, and which rivers and what types of swims produce the best chance of snaffling a 2lb roach?

 

Obviously we won’t discuss where particular swims are though I dare say a few of us would love to know where the phenomenally successful angler Dr Mark Everard fishes on the Bristol Avon with his amazing record of over 200 2lb roach! :)

 

Moving swiftly on let’s discuss conditions first.

I’d go for a mild autumn day with overcast conditions, low pressure, and coloured water fining down after rain. I’m sure many others would want similar conditions only in the depths of winter.

 

For tactics and bait I invariably fish double maggot on a size 18 hook long trotted under a bulk shotted avon float. Disastrous tactics on many rivers methinks. Perhaps breadflake, lighter floats and button shirt style shot patterns would appeal. I always find lightly shotted floats are too easily pulled off line if held back making unnatural actions which put off fish but I’m sure many swear by lightly shotted floats for finickety roach.

 

Of course many people will ledger. Who can forget Bob James epic haul of 2lb roach on a Passion for Angling with a swimfeeder and bread flake as the hook bait.

For the river I’d check out the Hampshire Avon rather than my local river Lee. The Kennett appeals and I hear the Norfolk rivers are starting to get back to their former glory.

 

And swims – as a trotting fan I enjoy a steady flow perhaps running alongside a reed bed.

 

Although a relatively novice fisherman, this being only my third season, I have had some big fish.

Sadly not roach though.

My biggest?

A paltry 8 ounces... :rolleyes:

So what do I know...?

What about you?

Edited by tiddlertamer

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. (Hemingway - The old man and the sea)

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what conditions, what tactics, what baits, and which rivers and what types of swims produce the best chance of snaffling a 2lb roach?

.

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For the river I’d check out the Hampshire Avon rather than my local river Lee. The Kennett appeals and I hear the Norfolk rivers are starting to get back to their former glory.

 

And swims – as a trotting fan I enjoy a steady flow perhaps running alongside a reed bed.

Over the last 10 years my mates and I have had several 2lb+ Roach plus quite a few approaching 2lb from the Upper Lea and every one of them were caught near large reed beds. They were not caught that often, but on exceptional days we have caught 2 or 3 all around the 2lb mark in the same session, signifying that the larger ones usually seem to swim together.

 

Most of them were caught trotting breadflake, Caster or small redworm alongside the reeds or immediately downstream of the reeds close to the Bank but I remember one or two also being caught on corn or paste baits while legering.

 

According to my old logs, the best days we had were on mild winter mornings (after a cold spell) where the temperature was rising with broken or overcast cloud and a gentle to brisk wind from the west or southwest and also just before Dusk on the same days.

 

I haven't targetted them quite so much over the last few years but I still occasionally catch a roach over a pound while after Chub or Barbel;

the last one I caught was 2oz under 2lb and was caught while trotting a balsa several weeks ago. (See Pic below).

Roach1lb14oz020709%20(600%20x%20450).jpg

 

One of our club members has recently recorded a 3lb plus Roach upstream from Hertford in a swim that is little more than 4 metres across and 3ft deep which also runs alongside deep rushes on the near side just below him. This is now the club record and was verified by a few other members on the day.

Edited by BoldBear

Happiness is Fish shaped (it used to be woman shaped but the wife is getting on a bit now)

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My biggest of 2.5 lbs was caught on waggler fished corn. I might add that I had to bulk shot about 6" above my bait, just to get my bait past the smaller fish, which often tend to congregate above the larger fish. Perhaps it's a herding instinct...who knows but that's what I'm telling myself.

I didn't even use groundbait at the time. Loosefed corn was all that was required with the odd spray of maggots/caster to keep the smaller fish feeding near the surface, away from the bigger fish.

 

It's a method 3 of us have used on numerous occasions.

 

My biggest stands at 2.5lbs, my mate David Friendship (as mentioned in the records Scottish Roach post) has had a 2.75lb Roach and my other mate Stephen Campbell has had one at 2.25lbs.

 

By the way, we use size 8 hooks with double corn on 4lb line. None of this namby pamby 1.25lb hooklength nonsense and size 22 hooks. We use 'man' tackle.....lol

¤«Thʤ«PÔâ©H¤MëíTë®»¤

 

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"I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do. I envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do"

...Izaac Walton...

 

"It looked a really nice swim betwixt weedbed and bank"

...Vagabond...

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Over the last 10 years my mates and I have had several 2lb+ Roach plus quite a few approaching 2lb from the Upper Lea and every one of them were caught near large reed beds.

 

One of our club members has recently recorded a 3lb plus Roach upstream from Hertford in a swim that is little more than 4 metres across and 3ft deep which also runs alongside deep rushes on the near side just below him. This is now the club record and was verified by a few other members on the day.

 

I used to fish near to the Hertford Football club ground in a swim very similar to what you describe, it was always good for Roach, the closer you could get to the rushes with your float the better, caster was usually the best bait in daylight with bread being better in the dark.

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I'm thinking of having a go for a good roach - I'm thinking of Bristol Avon on the Amalgamated card, or possibly Thames. I know at least one area on the Avon that has produced big roach (in fact, I've fished it before with a few ANers), but the Amalgamated card covers a lot of other water I could also try.

 

I'm also thinking that some bits of the Avon have some stonking perch, which are the other species on my mind at the moment. And I'd like to fit a little barbel hunting in. So little spare time, especially at this time of year with the dark evenings.

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By the way, we use size 8 hooks with double corn on 4lb line. None of this namby pamby 1.25lb hooklength nonsense and size 22 hooks. We use 'man' tackle.....lol

 

I think I'd be marched off the Hampshire Avon by the river keeper who's taught me how to fish if I used a size 8 hook and double corn bait.! :rolleyes:

 

He's of the school of thought that small hooks and baits aligned with light lines wins the day. I don't use light hook lengths but do fish 3lb line straight through to the hook.

 

I know that some people on this forum fish straight through with 6lb line, :yucky:

 

But your results show that some of the ideas about presentation are perhaps a bit precious.

 

I'm off to Tescos tomorrow for some Jolly Green Giant sweet corn... :)

 

And the 3lb line is gonna be left in the flat. 4lb line here I go...

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. (Hemingway - The old man and the sea)

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For the river I’d check out the Hampshire Avon rather than my local river Lee. The Kennett appeals and I hear the Norfolk rivers are starting to get back to their former glory.

 

As someone who regularly fishes the Kennet I've got to say the roach are not what I understand they were. Sure, the dedicated roach anglers still get good fish from time to time, but that is partly through a lot of knowledge of swims. The Kennet is a great river, but I'm not sure I'd recommend travelling a distance to fish for the roach.

john clarke

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I think I'd be marched off the Hampshire Avon by the river keeper who's taught me how to fish if I used a size 8 hook and double corn bait.! :rolleyes:

 

He's of the school of thought that small hooks and baits aligned with light lines wins the day. I don't use light hook lengths but do fish 3lb line straight through to the hook.

 

I know that some people on this forum fish straight through with 6lb line, :yucky:

 

But your results show that some of the ideas about presentation are perhaps a bit precious.

 

I'm off to Tescos tomorrow for some Jolly Green Giant sweet corn... :)

 

And the 3lb line is gonna be left in the flat. 4lb line here I go...

 

I should make it clear that I'm not really a match angler/speed fishing type, aiming for large bag weights. I tend to aim for a handful of larger specimens when I go roach fishing, hence the over-sized tackle. I'm quite Happy coming away with perhaps 5 or 6 large roach when I go for them as Andy_1984 will testify.

If it's just large roach you're after then I'd defintely opt for the overgunned approach.

If I was going for bag weights or I was fishing a match, I would most likely opt for the light, finesse approach.

 

You could even fish 2 rods and use both methods.

 

 

....Andy....

¤«Thʤ«PÔâ©H¤MëíTë®»¤

 

Click HERE for in-fighting, scrapping, name-calling, objectional and often explicit behaviour and cakes. Mind your tin-hat

 

Click HERE for Tench Fishing World forums

 

Playboy.jpg

 

LandaPikkoSig.jpg

 

"I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do. I envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do"

...Izaac Walton...

 

"It looked a really nice swim betwixt weedbed and bank"

...Vagabond...

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I’d go for a mild autumn day with overcast conditions, low pressure, and coloured water fining down after rain.

 

Me too! TT, are you going to Timsbury? There's a genuine chance of a huge roach there...

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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Dick Walker said that, of the dozens of 2lb roach he'd caught, no more than a couple were on baits that were off the bottom or moving in any way. He also observed that both bait size and tackle strength could be increased at dusk and after dark without affecting the chances of catching good roach.

 

I've not yet had a roach much bigger than 1lb, but all my fish of that size have been on bigger baits (bread flake or crust) fished hard on the bottom at dusk or after dark, on 4lb bs mono straight through to a size 10 hook (there's an outside chance of a big carp on the water I've been targetting recently).

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