looking for big roach

[caught any mate]

fed up with fishing commercials,I'm looking at getting to grips with big river roach.I know they are hard to locate,hence this post.Looking around the middle Severn area,many thanks

 

[thecrow]

I am unsure what your thanks are for or who they are aimed at I doubt very much that anyone will be giving the hard won information they may have away on here or anywhere else, do some research find stretches that have produced good roach in the past particularly ones that are not fished much now then start to narrow them down to smaller sections until you have a reasonable area to concentrate on is the only advice I would give.

 

[flightliner]

fed up with fishing commercials,I'm looking at getting to grips with big river roach.I know they are hard to locate,hence this post.Looking around the middle Severn area,many thanks

Hens teeth in the main- hard to find. They are out there for sure but guys catching the odd one or two seem shy to reveal which river.
Maybe a good idea to find a copy of Mark Wintels excellent book "Big roach 1"
Or "Big Roach 2" to give you an idea of where to try.

 

[dicky123]

The rivers will be very difficult. I'd suspect you would have to find a river that was doing lots of small fish 4-5 years ago. It also seems Roach have been pushed out in many rivers for Chub and Barbel. I was lucky fishing the Wensum in its hay-day. And took a lot of very big roach.

But the big lakes and reservoirs could be a real option. Get the Angling Times for a few months this autumn winter and see what going on in your area, or travel.

 

[Keith M]

I think you might find that the anglers who target big roach regularly will be keeping fairly quiet about the locations where they catch them or at least they will be very misleading. So be prepared to find them through your own efforts.

Ive found that big Roach can be easily spooked once you find them; especially if they get too much attention and they will; more often than not; move away from their locale once they start to get targeted; this is why big Roach anglers tend to keep very hush about where they find them.

But good luck on your quest for big Roach and don't tell everyone where and if you find them else they will not remain there for long

Keith.

 

[dicky123]

I'll also add, it won't be like fishing commercial waters and catching almost every cast. On a big river you could go dozens of fruitless trips before you even see a big roach. It's no coincidence that commercial waters are so busy, the rivers have been fished out in many places.

A few seasons ago I fished some commercial waters for a few summer months. I was amazed at the stocking levels and had many 100lb plus bags on 6 hour fishing days I did.
The guys are right too, I doubt anyone will give you such information. Look at the local match results in you're weekly paper, they often give size of fish sometimes.

 

[peterjg]

Good luck with your roach quest. In my humble opinion big roach are the hardest of all specimens to catch; everything is against you:

1/ they are rare just to start off with
2/ if you use a bigger bait to avoid the small ones you catch chub, tench, carp, bream, etc, etc and if you use a small bait you usually catch just small fish
3/ the bigger roach usually only feed in perfect conditions, especially in winter
4/ I won't mention the effects of cormorants, crayfish or otters
5/ because they are shoal fish you scare one you scare them all
6/ big roach are usually really jittery and sneaky
7/ they feed best in water that's a bit coloured but their food, where they grow big, thrive in clear water

I find them absolutely fascinating, good luck!

 

[Tee-Cee]

No easy route to big roach. You may catch one by chance on any number of rivers, but generally speaking, if you want to catch them regularly it takes a lot of effort and dedication....

I suggest that rather than ask others for opinion, you may do better to say what you have already done yourself in your quest to catch them. Yes, you have a wonderful river in the Severn to look for them, and if I were in your shoes I would be checking club websites, match results and even joining clubs with Severn stretches of water just to gain knowledge.
I have fished famous stretches of water for months on end, and all over the place with very big roach in mind, and although reasonable successful, the really big fish have passed me by - or I have passed them by!!

You have to decide how much time and effort you want to dedicate to the catching of them, and then make a plan covering a year or two - to begin with............

Good luck, anyway!!

 

[Keith M]

I've personally caught most of my 2lb plus Roach from cleaner and slightly deeper gravel runs that run in front of or just downstream of large rush beds, and I've often seen them moving in and out of these rush beds; but there are many other types of features to look for where they can also be found. But keep the actual locations quiet once you've found them..

Good luck on your search

Hopefully Mark Wintle will be along to help soon.

Keith

 

[Philip]

Forget all that watercraft nonsense. I know where there a big shoal of untouched 3 pounders, its GPS reference *à@-‘’##éé&)°]**’^

…dammit my numeric keypad has broken. Oh well, sorry lads, another time then..

but seriously...nothing really to add to the above. I think there is allot of hard work involved in tracking them down so I doubt anyone will give specifics. The general advice gives good pointers however of the sort of places to start looking.

 

[no-one in particular]

You may find this a help for identifying best conditions, it features big roach.
https://fishingweathergb.yolasite.com/

However, you still got to find and catch one, no easy feat. I have never fished the Severn but I would just target a stretch and keep fishing it in likely looking swims with features maybe and when you done them to death start targeting unlikely swims with no features (funny how often they turn out to be good!) and then when you done them to death look for another stretch. You might get lucky in the first year or the second year or it may take a lot longer. If you get to the stage of dribbling and mumbling to yourself, move on and target something else. Seriously though you have to find them, someone could tell you where some big roach were caught but it may be old hat information (will they still be there!) or they might even be cruel enough to miss-direct you! A systematic approach and a lot of hours put in and more satisfying if you find them yourself anyway but a fair dollop of luck involved as well..

 

[Tee-Cee]

caught any mate......If you look down the list of threads running at the moment, you will find one giving details of a River Wye fish-in coming up in July. Not a million miles from you and an opportunity to meet some quality fishermen on a river famous for its big roach over the years.
It is the sort of event that could help you, plus it is much easier to ask questions face to face or watch others with years of experience.

Many years ago I used to watch big matches on the Thames and then watch the weigh-in and it is amazing how much you can learn from this. Mind you, it was at a time when weigh-in's had a size limit so only fish of a certain size could be weighed!

I think you have had some decent advice from all who have posted, so I hope it helps!!

Good luck..

 

[Mark Wintle]

Location, location, location....

What stretches? What swims? Finally where in the swim? Then think about conditions ie does the river need to be up a foot in winter and falling, or hot weather in summer? Consider methods; hemp and tares in summer? Trotted maggots in winter?

Ask around, do your homework. Finally worry about the gear and put the time in to explore and keep trying.

Although past form is no predictor of future performance, Arley, Above Bewdley, Stourport and Upton all have a history of producing big roach.

'Big Roach 2' is still available but the first volume 'Big Roach' is out of print and hard to find.

 

[caught any mate]

thanks for the response,but if I,m honest should I stumble upon big roach,I would keep stum I come from a match fishing background,where I know anglers keep their cards close to their chest and sometimes fib.The book recommendations I appreciate,and no matter how challenging my task,I think it will be more rewarding than commie bashing.

 

[robertroach]

Sometimes they are in the most surprising locations. I was in Salisbury town centre a while ago watching some whoppers swimming around in the Avon as it goes right through the shopping centre. It's a chalk stream where there are no cormorants or otters and no fishing pressure in that location. Crowds of people walking around don't seem to bother them.

By contrast you can fish for miles of scarcely fished and remote river where otters and cormorants have a free run and struggle to find fish. The shoals are very concentrated in certain places and even when you find them it's difficult to pick out any bigger ones.

Hemp and tares are always reliable in the Summer and pick out the bigger ones. I had my first outing with tares on a stillwater last week. Almost every cast was producing a fish, but mainly 2 ounce roach. In frustration I changed to a larger hook and put 3 tares on. This did the trick. No more tiddlers and loads of netters up to 1 pound. There's a tip for you which might also work on the river.

 

[robcourt82]

Lmao at almost everyone. Someone asks a question and gets shot down in flames. It's no wonder forums are disappearing!

To be honest you have answered your own question. There are plenty of big roach in the middle severn. Walk along and talk to the barbel anglers. It's not uncommon for them to land great big roach on 10lb line and pellets!

 

[theartist]

fed up with fishing commercials,I'm looking at getting to grips with big river roach.I know they are hard to locate,hence this post.Looking around the middle Severn area,many thanks

I had one bang on 2lb from the middle Severn couple of years back and a few pushing two last year, find they like hanging with the barbel especially early season. The barbel will push them out though if on the feed. When the Severn is low you can actually spot them with polaroids in some areas but it has to be really low to do this. They are not shy about being in fast water especially if there's a slack near it and don't mind the shallows especially if it's a 'glide'

 

[dicky123]

These days I've found river anglers agree any roach over a 1lb is worthy.

If i could find a river that produced fish around that size on a regular basis I'd do two things.

One. I'd fish it as often as I could as I never tire of catching nice roach trotting. Two. I'd also keep and eye on it over the next few years. Sadly I know of no such place.

Binka. I don't know about you but i have seen some nice roach rise to hatching flies on the Trent in June/July time. They all look good fish of around a pound or so. Have you seen this at all buddy?

 

[rayner]

Just fish for roach, if bigger fish turn up all the better.