Good Roach - is it in the clouds?

[no-one in particular]

I like the idea of elderberries

Will give that a go then if I can get there this Sunday. Have another go for those roach. Hope its a cloudy day.
Thanks for the tips on using elderberry; as said I have got two trees in the gardens.
I used to fish Richmond bridge way back in the 60,s Ray. Used to get just dace and tiny roach back then although I did see a barble caught at Twickenham a few years back.

 

[Tee-Cee]

In my experience the hemp & berry method CAN take some time to be productive on a given day.I've had times when its taken more than an hour for the first bite to materialise but perseverence with continual trotting the same line with gentle feeding of hemp usually brings results...
NOT to say bites can't start immediately but........

When I first used this method back in the early 60's I followed the advice of a very good Thames roach man who suggested I use a short length of peacock quill fixed bottom end only and a free running coil of lead wire stopped 6" from the hook.The very fine coil of lead was wound around a matchstick(the night before)to lengths of approx 1" and then trimmed on the day to give perfect float presentation.The lead coil rested on the only shot on the line.
The reason for this was to do away with any lead shot(visible to the fish)on the line and stop false bites caused by the fish going for the lead shot mistaking it for hemp!!

Now this may sound odd BUT from experiments this chap carried out in a tank he proved to himself that the fish did in fact go for any single shot on the line when hemp was dropped in.....

Anyway he caught some amazing bags of roach all along the Thames from Windsor to Goring and beyond so who was I(a spotty 18 year old)to argue with him...and no,I don't use the method now as lead is off the allowables...

 

[Mark Wintle]

I'd say the hemp and caster is slightly more reliable than the berry or hemp on the hook but it will work if you persevere. I got rid of the shot bite problem by using very small shot strung out; a small olivette will also work. All this talk of Thames roaching is getting frustrating. I may get a chance of a day on the Thames soon though.

 

[slime monster]

Roach do indeed go for shot , If anyone is in doubt Put a no 4 back shot on long pole tackle as a stabiliser in wind , you do not have to be feeding hemp but the Roach will constantly take the shot albeit briefly.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Will give that a go then if I can get there this Sunday. Have another go for those roach. Hope its a cloudy day.
Thanks for the tips on using elderberry; as said I have got two trees in the gardens.
I used to fish Richmond bridge way back in the 60,s Ray. Used to get just dace and tiny roach back then although I did see a barble caught at Twickenham a few years back.

Had Roach to the 1lb mark at Richmond Bridge the season before last, but it didn't fish well there last season.

 

[Tee-Cee]

Strange as it may seem I also caught good roach on the berry with a caster on the point...this,when both baits had ceased to be effective fished alone.
Maybe it looked like a little snail..who knows-but by doing this I could use the next hook size up as decent chub also liked the cocktail!!
..worth a try if all else fails....

 

[no-one in particular]

Tried the elderberries sort of!

For various reasons couldnt get berries on Sunday but, did pick a few overhanging from a garden on the way to the river. Didnt have any hemp either so, not a good try out. My species reckoner gave it as good conditions for big/roach and bream which proved almost right as I caught 12 fish - a mixture of roach and small bream but only two roach that I would describe as good roach not big. All caught on bread but did throw some berries in and tried it on the hook for an hour. Only 1 bite on this after a hour - very quick and missed it (getting slow). I might be able to go on Wednesday when I intend to try the berry properly.
I was wondering if fish take the berry in mistake for hemp when thats used as ground bait or does the berry work on its own when used solelyas ground bait.?
I must say I like using these berries ; something just feels right about it. More natural way of fishing.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I'd recommend using the berry with hemp. The hemp will turn the roach on with its oils. I fished for roach today and had some berries but couldn't find the big shoal that I did three weeks ago, plenty of roach though with one over a pound. These were on maggot.

 

[no-one in particular]

Must try with hemp next time.

Youre probably right about the hemp Mark. Tried fishing yesterday with just berries without hemp. Needed to satisfy my curiosity as to wether they fish on thier own. Didnt have much luck and only had a couple of bites. In the end resorted to bread and caught several roach and a few bream one a nice size and one or two of the roach wern't bad either. I know this will fish better with some hemp. I guess not many people use berries and there are not any elderberry trees overhanging the water I fish (do they grow along river banks?). I guess the fish are not used to them. I will give them a go with hemp next time and I bet that makes a difference.
Wish I was fishing today - better conditions - but I think they are beginning to favour bream a bit more so, might be giving them a bit more attention although roach fishing should still be good. Water temperatures holding up ; I recorded 60 degrees yesterday.