If you could catch just one of the following...

[tiddlertamer]

Apologies - having started the discussion I then went on holiday without laptop and was therefore not able to contribute as much as I would wish.

(Have just found internet cafe but at 10p a minute won't be on-line too long!)

 

The only fish from the list I have actually caught was a double figure barbel.

An amazing thrill and a great fight lasting for quite some time.

 

The odd thing was that for the first ten/fifteen seconds I though I'd hooked the riverbed. Then the riverbed moved...

[Stretpegger]

Without doubt it would be a two pound roach for me but if i was being really picky i would prefer a river two pounder please.

In an angling career getting on for 40 yrs now i have had precisely two roach over two pounds and both of those were caught in matches on lakes.Having already stated my preference for a river"two" im putting in the time on a local lake this winter after it turned up some big roach last year.

 

Of the others on the list i have achieved some and come close to others but the one that stands out for me is pike.I am by no means a mainstream pike angler but i usually have two or three trips out each winter and considering what little time i devote to them i have been unusually lucky in catching the biggies.This probulary due in no part to the fact that i am put on good waters by my angling buddie who is a very talented piker.

 

One fish not on the list that i would really like to meet up with is a big eel.The memory of a carp angler landing a five pound eel from the next swim has stayed with me for years.

[tincatinca]

On the subject of Roach, I have been fortunate enough to have managed a few fish over the 2lb mark but that was a very long time ago and nothing approaching it since. What seems strange is that they all came from relatively small rivers although at that time I spent a lot of time on some of the larger rivers such as the Trent, Avon and Severn. Living in the Stafford area I used to spend a lot of time on rivers such as the Sow, and Meece with the former holding some big Perch, Chub and Roach whilst the Meece in the old ordinance factory at Swynerton held Dace to just over the 1lb. The upper reaches of the Sow from Shaky Bridges to Chebsey before the M6 was built was a haven for large Chub and Roach the former which could be caught to 6lb although 4lb plus fish were more the norm . One of the standard proceedures for big Roach was to fish the cattle drinks during the first couple of hours of darkness with breadflake being the main bait and a float illuminated with a torch over the top of the water. The town water stretches of the Sow held some huge Perch particularly against the old gasworks wall which benifitted from a warm water outlet and further downstream opposite the playing fields. Fishing off the Gasworks wall, I once lost a fish what I believe to be a Roach which looked enomous and to this day I still wonder what might have been. Perch between 2 and 3lb were not unusual but at that period in time big Perch were highly sort after for the table along with Pike. I also remenber a guy named Tom Hawkins winning a News of the World rod or reel for the capture I think of a 27lb Pike from out of the Sow in the upper reaches. He also used to do pretty well with the Chub as well. There were also some cracking farm pools around and one which I cant remember the name but was in the Ellenhall area used to contain some very big Roach but was difficult to fish due to the depth. The methodology used then was a sliding float but you had to ensure that the bait fell thrugh the waterat the right pace. Get it right and you could have a field wheras get it wrong no chance. The first 2lb Roach that I ever caught came from the confluence of the Meece and Sow at Chebsey in the middle of a snowstorm and was the only bite of that particular day. Another Great Chub river was the Blythe which eventually flows into Blithfield reservoir. One of the clubs club that I was in at the time had a couple of miles stretch which was full of bends and holes but required a totally mobile approach.

Sadly those days have long gone and the Sow is now in the main like a brook with, overgrown and very little depth although if you are prepaired to do a lot of walking I am sure it can still turn up a few surprises. These days I spend a lot of time on the River Gipping which has a lot of similarities to how the Sow was and which in my opinion is very underated. With regard to Chub, I have seen 2 Chub which I would put into the very large class one being in the Sow and the other in the Gipping

[Andy Macfarlane]

If any of you 2lb Roach hunters ever come up to Glasgow for any reason. Give me a shout and I'll do my roach Ghillie bit for the day. I reckon there's a better than average chance of banking one or a PB at least. If a 2 doesn't show up, I can at least guarantee some spectacular roach fishing and they're purer than snow. There's no possibility of any hybridisation going on. Fish over 12 ounces are commonplace, so the fishing would at least provide a substantial buzz. If I can get them, a roach fanatic certainly could.

And just to give you an idea of what tackle we're using, think carp wagglers, size 8 (that wasn't a mistake BTW!) hooks with 2-3 whole pieces of corn or over-size dendrobes.

 

(I'm 100% serious.... )

[poledark]

Andy, I well believe you mate, the biggest Roach I have seen (over 3lbs) and a couple of big twos were caught by carpers using tiger nuts on a hair rigged no 6 hook.

 

The 1lb 5oz one I caught a couple of months ago was on a couple of grains of plastic corn on a hair and No 6 hook. Not a two I know, but it was a surprise catch (no one fishes for Roach in that lake) and has set me off on a quest for a bigger one

 

Den

[Steve Burke]

I've been lucky enough to catch many of the fish on the list. What turns me on though isn't whether the fish is a specimen or not. Rather it's how hard it is to catch.

 

Because specimen fish are often harder to catch it's usually specimens I'm targetting. But not always. Sometimes smaller fish can be a real challenge on a particular water. It's that challenge that makes me really think about my fishing, and keeps me going back again and again.

 

I also much prefer to fish pretty venues. Then too, having fished alone for many years, I appreciate some good company. Only one other angler though, or at a push two.

 

Of those on the list I haven't caught I think a 10lb barbel would be tempting. But only because I've never fished for them and they'd therefore be a nice challenge, plus a change from Wingham.

 

Of those I have caught I'd like to catch some more 12lb+ bream. These are by far the most difficult fish I've ever gone after, and I know a lot of other specimen hunters agree.

 

And I can't forget 3lb+ perch, despite losing count of the number I've caught. Although I'm very much of an allrounder, perch are my favourite species, partly because perch fishing varies so much from water to water. For me this makes them particularly interesting.

 

They're also very impressive fish. As Dick Walker, the father of specimen hunting said, "Perch are the biggest fish - and they know it"!