Gudgeon Problem

[Richard Wylie]

Hi,
Anyone got an answer to this one: One ofmy local stretches of canal has a really good head of quality roach unfortunately it also has a massive head of gudgeon. The problem I have is getting past the gudgeon to the roach Ive tried fishing up in the water and feeding on line with groundbait and one with hemp and caster. the problem is the gugeon just move up in the water. The roach are ther because every know and again you will get a good roach amongst the gudgeon.
Any ideas?

Barnet Angling
http://www.badac.co.uk

 

[Daniel Webb]

Have you tried keeping the bait moving, gudgeon are normaly bottom feeders (although you are able to catch them up in the water!!), and they won't normally grab a moving bait, so try constantly lifting and dropping the float. Another thing would be to try a double bait like double pinkie, triple squat etc, they will not instantly reconise the bait as food, giving an extra few seconds for something else to take the bait. You say you have tried feeding hemp and caster, have you tried feeding more hemp than caster, or tried hemp on the hook? Sometimes even canal roach will take sweetcorn, it has been known, so it could be worth a try. But how do you know there are actually enough roach in the canal for you to make a decent catch of? Try also finding out about what's been caught in matches on this stretch, if any matches take place, or speak to other anglers who fish the stretch. Failing all this you could always try and feed them off, with masses of bait.