a 2lb roach...

[richjones]

I have heard many many times that a 2lb roach is a "fish of a lifetime" and "one most anglers will never even see".

 

However what i would like to know is, is this a weight based largely on southern waters, and would me catching a 2lb roach up here in the relative north, be much more of an achievement... or not?

 

let me know your opinions, thanks

[dogstick]

I have heard many many times that a 2lb roach is a "fish of a lifetime" and "one most anglers will never even see".

 

However what i would like to know is, is this a weight based largely on southern waters, and would me catching a 2lb roach up here in the relative north, be much more of an achievement... or not?

 

let me know your opinions, thanks

 

Up where in the relative north? Or do you mean down there in the relative south ?

[gozzer]

I have heard many many times that a 2lb roach is a "fish of a lifetime" and "one most anglers will never even see".

 

However what i would like to know is, is this a weight based largely on southern waters, and would me catching a 2lb roach up here in the relative north, be much more of an achievement... or not?

 

let me know your opinions, thanks

 

Wrexham, north?

 

A 2lb roach to me is the fish of a lifetime. Nearly 50yrs I've been at it and never caught one, 1lb 13oz being the best. Plenty up to 1lb 12oz, but never the magic 2lb. I believe Dave (Vagabond) is the same.

 

When my mates have caught 2lbers, I have caught them to up to 1 1/2lb from the next peg, same bait, tactics etc !

There is a lake in Leeds that produced 2lbers many years ago but not to me. (Though some of the '2lbers' had the ability to shrink when the scales appeared. )

I've just about given up on the possibility now, unless one makes a surprise appearance some day.

 

John.

[BoldBear]

I count myself privileged to fish part of the Upper Lea where they are a little more common in certain places however they are not that common as I only see a couple each year if am really lucky. I hear reports of catches of 2lb+ roach but I take them with a pinch of salt unless I see them myself.

I remember when I once had 5 Roach between 1lb 4oz & 1lb 12oz and within a week they had all magically grown to over 2lb. Its amazing how they grew as info was passed on from mouth to mouth.

 

However I would have thought that they would be caught in parts of the river dane as well.

Edited July 30, 2008 by BoldBear

[Emma two]

I would like to contribute to this thread, not because I consider myself a Roach angler, the species had never held an especial magical charm for me. My first attempts to catch 'em, along with dace and bleak were for Pike and Eel bait. I have however caught sevaral 2lb plus specimens, perhaps as a result of luck rather than design. What is significant is that the 'big ones' have come from waters in the north of England (I have lived and fished in the south and midlands too). We used to live in a village in Lancashire between Preston and Blackpool. The area was dotted (probably still is) with small ponds, I thik the locals called them 'pits'. The location of these waters was not always readly visible often occuring in a fold of ground in a field. We were lucky to have one within a couple of hundred yards of our front door and fished it often. This one contained Roach and Rudd, and hybrids of the two species. Using floatfished maggot we caught lots of small fish. One evening I fancied a go and was out of maggots, so I took half a loaf of bread, I had read the theory of using bread but had never tried it. The results were remarkable. After evenually settling on a self cocking float with set at 12" regularly took fish over 2lbs. Perhaps because positive itentification of the species wasn't secured, some of 'em looked like Roach, some looked like Rudd, and with some it was difficult to say. But they were lots of 2lb plus fish, and I continued while we were there in the hope of a 3lb'er. This isn't a 'chinese whispers' story where the fish get bigger at each time of telling, and I have some photos somewhere.

 

During the 'match fishing chapter' of my angling life in Germany 2lb'ers came along too. In some of the waters especially in Berlin there were lots of Roach/Bream hybrids, what the Germans call 'Guster, but on some of the rivers like the Weser ' , it wasnt at all unusual to get a 2lb (true) Roach during a match, the methods of choice being feeder and quivertip or the pole, the British at that time favouring the feeder and the Germans the pole. While it's fine to get good fish like that in a match, the target species was Bream given their greater average weight.

 

My most recent 'big Roach' came just after dark one evening last summer. It took a ledgered popped up (air injected) large lobworm on a size 4 hook intended for Perch on my local lake. (very firmly in the north of England) I was quite surpized to see what it was, I know that the lake does hold good Roach, but had never bothered fishing for them, prefering to concentrate my efforts on Pike and 'Stripeys', and my first thoughts were, and I actually asked the fish 'how did you get all that in your mouth?' Not being over concerned with precise weights of my fish I can't report it's size accurately to the ounce, but the guage bounced between 2 1/4 and 2 1/2 lbs. Maybe that one doesn't count as it came aling as pure fluke and certainly with no 'Roachy intent' on my part.

 

So there are big Roach to be had 'up north', perhaps I have been luckly?

Edited July 30, 2008 by Emma two

[Andy Macfarlane]

We're quite lucky as far as roach fishing is concerned. There just isn't that many waters that contain roach or that many anglers interested in catching them and both go about their business largely unmolested. As a result, there are some huge roach to be had in some very bizarre locations.

A few years back, 2 good friends and I went targeting them over the summer at our local ressie. This came about as a bait collecting mission at first. It probably took us a week or so to actually start catching any at all but after 3 weeks or so, all 3 of us had taken roach over 2 lbs. The biggest went to my mate David who had one at 2.75lbs, caught on tinned sweetcorn. Our methods would probably have us laughed off most serious coarse fishing venues but we still caught plenty of fish that your average roach angler would have paid through the nose for.

I have to admit, a big roach is quite a thing to look at.

[bluerinse]

There are plenty of big roach in Sweden and thats even further north!!

[andy-g]

I was fortunate enough to catch a 2lb 13 oz roach...in a Nottinghamshire lake...waggler fishing on very fine tackle..A few specimen hunters were rather envious