The 2013 Avon Roach Project Match

[FishingMagic]

This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: The 2013 Avon Roach Project Match

 

[geoffmaynard]

Nice one. Makes me wonder if maybe a similar project could be successful on the Wye, and the other rivers which have suffered serious decline.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

This is a fantastic project to support.

The guys were co- speakers at a talk a gave in Hampshire a couple of years ago, and the passion they felt shone through. I was happy to make a donation to the cause.

They are well supported by the BS in their work.

Incidently for those fishing the Kennet I can tell you that many parts of the river are now stuffed full of deep bellied, redfinned roach most between 2-6 oz with the odd one to the 1lb. Fantastic as it's been pretty devoid of any roach in many sections for 30 years! The dace are back as well.

Put away those barbel sticks and try a days trotting!

Graham

 

[Paul Boote]

Cycles: as one species begins to wane (barbel, perhaps, now, in the Kennet's case), another makes a return and has its moment in the sun. High time, as I can remember some lovely roach fishing on the river in the late 1960s to early 1980s. Just got to keep the river flowing, clean and "unsplurged" by all the canal boat traffic. As for the Avon Project, it has had my tacit support for several years (a little money of mine found its way into its coffers via someone else a few years ago), for I can remember Avon roach fishing of a quality so fine that I used to curse the sometimes 1- to 2-pounders spoiling one-hour-long, dace livebait-catching sessions, especially if I hadn't had the time to buy maggots and had to use a few slices of Wonderloaf.

Good luck, chaps.


PS - How good? I once watched Jack Harrigan fill three huge keepnets with quality roach, dace and chub in just a few hours on the Avon below Salisbury. He twice handed me the keys to his MK 10 Jag and asked me to bring him another big can of maggots and a bag of groundbait. THAT good.

 

[Graham Elliott 1]

Hi Paul.

Although still a few around, just a few,.... did you ever watch the roach at Fordingbridge...off the bridge in those days. Amazing fish.

Graham

 

[Paul Boote]

Hi Paul.

Although still a few around, just a few,.... did you ever watch the roach at Fordingbridge...off the bridge in those days. Amazing fish.

Graham

Not the Fordingbridge fish, the only time I went down that way was to fish at Ibsley with Colonel Crow for salmon or with an elderly Bournemouth doctor, Doc Swain, to fish Avon Tyrell.

But the roach of the Avon between Salisbury itself to just below Downton....

To see the "run" of spawning roach out of the Avon and up the Britford Carrier in the spring was to see a Bernard Venables painting of roach run riot - hundreds of big fish in groups over many yards of that little, well-weeded, crystal clear river. A living aquarium. Another carrier, the Newcourt Carrier, not far away, was the same - the location for me having two two-pounders on float-fished bread one very short lunchtime, plus a couple of 1- 1.25-pounders for good measure. No feeding - just a few slices of white bread squidged up followed down by a pinch of flake. Dip, dip, float away, lift, in.