River Roach Time.

I'm after opinions on what time of day you consider to be 'prime time' for catching large river dwelling roach at this time of year. In the past I always swore by early mornings, especially damp dank foggy ones, only bettered with a tinge of colour on a river fining down post flood.

But I'm starting to think dusk is better??

Your thoughts...

I'm hopeless at getting up early. Especially in winter so dusk is more usual for me so can't truly offer a comparison. One thing that seems to happen more often in recent years is all bites stopping suddenly on dark on stretches now frequented by otters.

The biggest roach I've ever witnessed @ 2lb:10oz was caught around midday on a southern river in bright sunshine 3 weeks ago.
I don't think time of day makes any difference.
I have found over the years that dusk and Dawn are certainly a good time to try. However, I believe the condition of the river and the weather, atmospheric pressure etc play a much bigger part?

Years ago we used to trot the upper Witham for real quality winter roach and by far the most consistent time of day was late morning and the feeding spell would last around an hour and a half to two hours, probably the least likely time of day I would have thought.

It makes me think that maybe local conditions and variables are more likely to influence a best time rather than the time of day itself.

The river in those reaches was about twenty five feet wide and averaged three to four feet in depth so maybe an increase and peak in air temperature (and consequently water temperature to a slighter degree) was the trigger?

A long time since I've deliberately targeted big roach, I must give it another go.

Dusk for me. The roach seem to come out to play and can often be seen topping at this time.
That last half hour was always the best on the Lea but as said in a previous post perhaps the re-emergance of otters has changed this for some venues.

The vast majority of my bigger Roach have come from very late afternoon on the river when the light is beginning to fade.

I would think that on average I probably fish 4 or 5 afternoon to evening sessions compared to 1 early morning (dawn) session, so I don't think you can draw any particular conclusion from my experiences.

That said, most of the people I know who fish a lot for winter Roach also prefer the late afternoon to early evening sessions too.

I have found it very difficult to actually pinpoint a particular best time for big roach. For me, staying after dark has not really triggered better results (so far?). There does seem to be a mid and late afterrnoon spell for better roach? However; without doubt, there is a definate correlation with reduced light levels and big roach feeding in both stillwater and rivers. The bait which breaks the rules is hemp in rivers, I have caught big roach in bright sunshine on float fished hemp.

I've had most of my better river roach in late morning - early morning on lakes

Light levels seems to be one of the main keys coupled with clarity of the water. Bright sunshine and clear water are more likely to see roach feeding early or late in the day. At the moment with rivers very colored and generally overcast conditions I think a good roach could happen any time of the day.
However, generally, it does seem that last hour of light seems to be the best time especially in the summer.

I totally agree with Peterjg.
Low light levels at any time are best (also low atmospheric pressure).
In the Summer I fish with hemp and tares on the hook a lot and they seem to feed all day long, even in the brightest sunshine.

Often i have found a better stamp of fish in the last hour or so before dark, with fish in the range say 8-12oz making an appearance in those last few casts when it was 4-6oz fish up to that point. I usually find it goes very quiet after dark. Totally agree with the low light observations (and the exceptions) noted by others. Ideally i would want a still, mild, mizzley morning at this time of the year and a river with nice colour.

It seems that if a best time does exist, it's dusk but dull days, a tinge of colour in the water will all help.
Cheers all.

Personally, I think time of day doesn't matter so much as light levels, be it early morning or from late afternoon...certainly all the decent roach I've caught have come on days when heavy cloud conditions, along with mild weather have been the order of the day. NOT so say big roach cannot be caught in bright sunshine, but IMHO I prefer the latter, if I have a choice. Having said that, I have also sat fishless in what would be generally described as 'perfect' conditions.....
However, as 'robertroach says above, I believe roach fishing with hemp and tares produces decent fish on bright, but not sunny days - at least it's the case on the three fisheries I fish on a regular basis !

I've long given up trying to work around weather patterns as a guide to success as I fish so often that I have to work with what the day brings. I have gone from a reasonable bag of roach last Sunday to a single roach midweek ( bits don't count !) from the same swim - with conditions very similar apart, from a little more wind !!

I would say, (very generally speaking !) that starting to fish from very early morning your chances of big roach (possibly ) recede as the day wears on, whereas fishing from late afternoon into evening the chances (possibly ) increase, but then someone else will think precisely the opposite, and that, as they say, is why we go fishing in the first place !!!

Goodness knows what tomorrows heavy frost will bring......................................