Finding the big roach in a pond

[The Flying Tench]

I'm a member of a club with a nice little lake - no monsters but tench, bream to 6lbs, a few carp, a lot of small crucians, and roach and rudd (just a few of the latter) to just over a pound. This last winter they netted the lake, and the EA advised them they were over-stocked. So they got rid of most of the roach 6 inches and below. Quite reasonable in my view, what else would they get rid of? BUT, it has changed the roach fishing.

Last year I found the roach were always up in the water, regardless of the time of year ( I admit I never tried in the heart of winter) and there was always enjoyable roach fishing - hemp and tares, casters, maggots. But I tried a few days ago and there were no roach up in the water. When I tried up in the water I got crucians!

So what if the best strategy for catching the better roach? Where are they? It's not so easy to get a swim going up in the water without the small fish, but if the nice roach are still up in the water I guess that's where I must target them. But maybe the removal of the smaller fish has changed the dynamics, and they've decided to become bottom feeders?

How would you tackle it? 

[Peterjg]

At this time of the year I would use wheat.  Float fish laying on about 6 inches over depth.  Start at dawn where they feed at first, catapult 5 or 6 pouches of wheat and a couple of balls of ground bait straight away and then wait for the roach to arrive.  At 9am then try off bottom with a few grains going in fairly regularly.  On the other rod I'd leger 6mm Robin Red pellets.  Let us know how you get on.

[Martin56]

Peter / John, you might want to try DYNAMITES ROBIN RED, OOZING Luncheon Meat? I used it last Sunday & caught a decent (Float fished) Roach about the 8 oz mark, It's a nice (almost rubbery) consistency & stays on the hook well.

Ignore the "Use within 24 Hours" bit - It Freezes well after if you any left over. Comes in a Foil sealed plastic tub & ok in the cupboard till opened.

[Tigger]

One method which has worked for me is to fish the last hour of darkness and an hour after dark ( pretty much the same as anytime of year if targetting roach).  I would fish a self cocker, so no weight on my line below my float.  I would vary the depth as and when I felt it was time to adjust it until I got a result. My bait would be maggot, caster and bread.  

Only recently I was using this method using 8lb line straight through to a 8's hook for carp, anyhow I caught a lot of carp, but also caught a lot of chub and larger than average roach.  The roach didn 't seem botherd by my thick line and large heavy hook.  I could pretty much guarante a roach simply by using a smaller piece of bread and they were on it as soon as it hit the water.

If I wanted the bread sink slowly in the water I would just dunk it for several seconds before casting out.

I forgot to mention, I was using a 10ft 2 1/4lb test nash scope carp rod !....but in all fairness I hadn't gone out to catch roach.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Tigger

[The Flying Tench]

On 6/2/2022 at 2:41 PM, Peterjg said:

At this time of the year I would use wheat.  Float fish laying on about 6 inches over depth.  Start at dawn where they feed at first, catapult 5 or 6 pouches of wheat and a couple of balls of ground bait straight away and then wait for the roach to arrive.  At 9am then try off bottom with a few grains going in fairly regularly.  On the other rod I'd leger 6mm Robin Red pellets.  Let us know how you get on.

Thanks, Peter. I'm afraid I'm unlikely to fish at dawn, partly because my eye-sight doesn't like driving in the dark. Unfortunately it limits dusk fishing as well. Is the point of wheat that it's reasonably roach specific? Do I just buy it from the fishing shop? Does it need a hair rig? I'll certainly be interested to try it as I've never done so before.

Thanks to Martin also.

[Peterjg]

Flying Tench, wheat is a great bait, it's very underrated and it's cheap.  However; realistically it can be a bit hit and miss, sometimes it takes an hour or two to get going!  Put it straight on a size 16 hook.  I buy mine from a garden centre for £3.19 for 3kgs, it's much cheaper by the sack.  It swells up a lot so first soak it overnight in lots of filtered water, then bring it to the boil and then simmer until it's split and soft - overall it takes around two and a half hours to cook, it smells good.  Poorly cooked wheat is useless!!!  You can freeze it.  Good luck.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Peterjg

[Blackbird]

Blimey wheat is a long forgotten bait, however can I throw in casters? Not literally they cost a fortune But they will normally catch a better stamp of fish. Wouldn't consider float fishing if being pestered by other species, a feeder with a helli rig set up might be worth thinking about....dead reds and fishmeal in the feeder...or the deadly bolt rig for bigger Roach, small feeder bomb in line with a short hooklink,but you need to be patient sit on your hands John.

If the bottom of the lake is weedy you might consider popping up the hook bait or at least having it negatively bouyant.

It does sèem your lake might be suffering from oxygen depletion, do the fish gasp on the surface?

 

 

[The Flying Tench]

Thanks, everyone.

Peter, re wheat it may be a problem for me if I have to cook it as my wife might not like the smell! The key question for me, anyway, is whether it would deter the small crucians and skimmers which are the predominant species, and no-one has been quite clear on that. So maybe I'll try bread first.

Blackbird, no I don't think there's an oxygen problem. They've got a fountain device which increases the oxygen level.

[Martin56]

You could get yourself a little Camping Gaz burner & do it outside or shed?

(The things we do for Love!!!)

Edited June 7, 2022 by Martin56

[chesters1]

You used to cook hemp by putting some in a vaccuum flask and filling it with boiling water and leaving it overnight ,not tried wheat does it work? If so no smell at all you can put the flask in the shed .

PS dont screw on the lid!

Edited June 8, 2022 by chesters1