Big Roach, how do you find them?

[no-one in particular]

This is prompted from reading Phillip's last post on the HDYGO thread. Thought I better ask on a new thread. I have never found big roach in numbers and yet Phillip seems to have found a hot spot, on a river as well which must be more difficult. Any roach over a pound is big in my opinion but 2lb is the magic mark. I just wondered what attracts them to a particular section or why they exist in some rivers and not others and if anyone has any ideas. I would struggle to find one roach over a pound on any river I fish, the nearest I got was a small stream, 4-6ft across and very weedy in the summer, that did hold some shoals of 1lb+ fish which now and again I could get going but never anywhere else. That stream has been neglected now and virtually choked up and I have given up fishing it.

 

[peter crabtree]

I believe those big roach are present everywhere, they’re just too wily to get caught that often.

 

[mikench]

That must be the case and perhaps the same with big perch. Getting back on topic, there are many waters Gordon and I fish with plenty of roach to say 12oz but none bigger. They must be there , particularly when there are no pike and maybe they are there but wily and wary. Maybe cormorants target the 1lb plus fish but I doubt that when there are far more around half that size. It's a quandary that I certainly will never solve but enjoy trying. As Boddington is known for roach, I'm just going to float fish for them and hope for a monster. I would be foolish to do otherwise I feel. I would love to feel the tell tale pull and zig zag runs of a corker on light Tackle.

 

[103841]

I must have caught several hundred roach from my local Stour, catching one over a pound was a rare moment and that’s it, just the one!

 

[theartist]

This is still a work in progress but it may help those after big roach and features locations as well as the method I use etc

Trotting Pellet For Big Roach

 

[103841]

Some lovely roach there Rob.

 

[mikench]

Great post Rob, as usual and some stunning fish. I'll try your antics, sorry tactics at the soonest opportunity.

You are too modest but that's an endearing quality.

 

[steve2]

Some lovely Roach pics, just goes to just prove how easy big carp are to catch compared to big roach. Even big barbel are now easier it seems.
I only know of two waters near to me that hold big "Roach" and I am not sure if they are true roach.

 

[ian g]

They seem to be showing in numbers on the stretches of the Severn . I had a few around 12 oz stealing my lob worms when I was fishing for perch last weekend , I plan to try and target them some time , they are beautiful fish.

 

[peterjg]

I would estimate that 99% of my fishing is 'trying' not necessarily 'catching' quality roach. I think that there is a connection with big roach and waters where there are lots of swan mussels and zebra mussels? We can all think of exceptions but generally big roach don't like bright light, light levels are more important than water temperature (as long as it's over 42F), so water turbidity is also important. I have caught big roach trotting but seem to catch more big roach on stationary bottom baits. Steve2 said that big carp are easier than big roach and I totally agree. Favourite baits include: breadflake, wheat, hemp, Robin Red pellets, corn, gungo peas. Roach are definitely more attracted to certain flavours. Another problem is trying to avoid other species. Re previous post: Ian g mentioned lobworms which can work very well - in some old books 'maiden' lobworms are said to be good for roach - they are the smaller lobworms that don't have a reproduction saddle.

Expect slow, difficult fishing - I am particularly good at blanking.

 

[rob48]

There seems to be a good head of pound plus roach on the Severn lately. In summer and early autumn it's noticeable how often they come out of what appear to be classic barbel type swims. Reasons for this may be the gravel river bed and streamer weed, and also the pace of the water probably gives them a respite from the pike which are all over the river at the moment. After a sustained increase in flow and colder temperatures the deeper stretches of the lower river seem to be better for them.

 

[markcw]

Some years ago I had a run of big roach on the Bridgewater Canal at Lymm.
These where more or less within a 50 yard stretch of the canal.
A couple of them went over 2lb, these were weighed on calibrated scales. They may have been the same fish caught a few times.
Method used was either maggot fished overdepth with groundbait, or chopped worms and chopped casters fed in balls of peat to create a cloud. Both methods were pole fished. Weather conditions varied, from warm days to cool overcast days,
People should try targeting the silvers on some of the commercials, they are getting bigger on there due to amount of food that can go in.

 

[103841]

I have one water that definitely holds big roach, it’s the massive Stonar lake which is dominated by carp, I often hear a carp angler say he’s caught a roach between 1 and 2lb on an 18mm boilie, normally described in a manner of disappointment that it wasn’t a carp.?.

Ive tried a few times but the thought of having to hook and most probably lose hundreds of carp before finding the roach is beyond my patience and there’s no way I’m putting out a heavy carp rig. The pigs slow down but don’t even stop feeding during the cold winter months.

 

[Keith M]

I’m definately no Roach expert by a long chalk, but my local stream has a few 2lb plus Roach in it but they seem to be very wary; and they very often move away to other sections very quickly once they have been located and targeted.

I have caught quite a few Roach over the 1lb plus mark in the last decade from my local stream but only five of them were over the 2lb mark (and only just over) and most of them have been caught just below quite large reed beds or close in front of them with a cleanish gravel bottom running in front of the reeds; and I’ve seen them moving in and out of the Reeds very occasionally.
Others in the club have caught Roach a lot bigger than mine; the now deceased Keith Speer being one of them.

I caught most of my largest Roach on Breadflake but I have also had them on fresh Caster, live Maggots, Cheese/bread paste, luncheon-meat and an 8mm Halibut pellet (the last two while after Barbel).

The very first 2lb Roach I caught was from an Estate lake in 1979 using a Cheese & Bread paste that was going a bit rife after being in and out of a freezer for at least a month; but come to think of it that was near some rushes too.

No doubt they can be caught near other features but by coincidence my experience of catching them has nearly always been near to or just below rush or reed beds and more often than not often over a gravelly bottom.

It will be interesting to hear about other people’s experience and what types of swims they’ve caught their larger ones from.



Keith

 

[silvers]

This is still a work in progress but it may help those after big roach and features locations as well as the method I use etc

Trotting Pellet For Big Roach

Hi Rob,

nice blog.
what type of pellets do you use for this? I’ve pretty much only used halibuts in the past as I mainly use them for barbel.
is it just standard skrettings/coppens?

on the cohabitation of roach and barbel .... I noticed this back in the 80s during the barbel explosion on the Great Ouse ... the best roach pegs were also where the barbel took up residence ... generally very different to the better chub pegs.

 

[silvers]

I’m also no big roach expert, although I’m very happy to catch them if they come along in matches that I’m fishing.

generally I’m fishing casters, maggots or hemp&tares, so not selective baits.

my experience is that they inhabit some waters but not others (unsurprisingly). I don’t think I’ve caught a roach over pound and a half from the Ouse, despite having fished it for 40 years ... whereas i’ve had three over 2 and lots of pound plus fish from the Wye ... which I fish only a couple of times a year.
equally ... I’ve had a 1:15 from the Warks Avon and not caught another over 10oz from that stretch in 20 years of regularly fishing it ... so perhaps petercrabtree is correct?
As far as rivers go, I’d say the middle severn and middle Wye are the meccas at the moment ... although my old friend Mick Burrell recounts tales of his youthful visits to the Wensum which are truly mind boggling!

do big roach live in different places to the shoal size fish? I don’t have enough data on this. i do know that bigger fish turn up amongst the shoal fish on the Wye at Hereford in the winter, where the roach migrate to the town stretch. But I was told by a local guide that the only local roach specialist targets out of town for the very biggest fish.

 

[theartist]

Hi Rob,

nice blog.
what type of pellets do you use for this? I’ve pretty much only used halibuts in the past as I mainly use them for barbel.
is it just standard skrettings/coppens?

on the cohabitation of roach and barbel .... I noticed this back in the 80s during the barbel explosion on the Great Ouse ... the best roach pegs were also where the barbel took up residence ... generally very different to the better chub pegs.

Hi Mate thanks,
Yeah I feel any halibut does the trick I've tried them all but just top up with bags of Dynamite out of convenience plus I like their uniform shape, recently been using robin red as it feels like there's a tad more visibility there with them in slightly coloured water.

Re the Ouse I had a 2lb 4oz way upstream at Tingewick above Buckingham many years ago so it can do them, this was pre the otter introductions to that area and pre that awful pollution incident.

 

[sam vimes]

Almost by accident and very, very rarely.

2lb+ fish are present in the local rivers, but they are remarkably rare and very nomadic. I can only think of one local stillwater where I've seen one banked. Try as I might, I've yet to break 1lb4oz there.

 

[silvers]

Hi Mate thanks,
Yeah I feel any halibut does the trick I've tried them all but just top up with bags of Dynamite out of convenience plus I like their uniform shape, recently been using robin red as it feels like there's a tad more visibility there with them in slightly coloured water.

Re the Ouse I had a 2lb 4oz way upstream at Tingewick above Buckingham many years ago so it can do them, this was pre the otter introductions to that area and pre that awful pollution incident.

Thanks ... most of my Ouse fishing has been from Harrold down to Bedford, rather than the upper river above Newport ... which is where **** Walker and the Taylors fished from what I know.

 

[steve2]

The 1970's were the time for big Roach they seemed to be in many of the rivers I fished but I still never caught a 2lb roach. A fishing friend at that time had a lovely 2lb 15ozs from the Suffolk Stour I had many upto 1lb 14ozs. We were honest anglers we could have so easily have said 3lb and 2lb. Another good water at that time was the Kent Stour from Plucks Gutter to Grove Ferry.