Roach best in a flood

Olly Luker trotted a single maggot on the River Itchen to net this superb 2lb 5oz roach.

While others struggled for a bite on the Hampshire waterway, Olly took a mobile approach and worked his float close to slacks, bends and overhanging trees.

His personal best was beaten on a rig made from a 3lb mainline, a 1lb 2oz bottom and a size 20 hook.

“The conditions were terrible and the river was about to burst its banks,” said Olly, from Wiltshire. “So I knew trotting straight down the river just wasn’t going to work. On the other hand, staying mobile worked a treat.”

3lb 11oz stillwater roach heads up catches

The biggest roach of the season – a giant weighing 3lb 11oz – has been caught this week.

After travelling to venues up and down the country in search of a new personal best, Daniel Woolcott finally struck gold at Highbridge Fishery in Norfolk on the first session of his latest winter campaign.

Last year Daniel landed a flurry of fish to 2lb 10oz from the same venue, prompting the Londoner to return for a second season targeting the big roach that inhabit the six-acre lake. 

Setting up for his first trip of the winter, he fished a helicopter feeder rig a couple of rodlengths out in a shallow area of the venue, with sweetcorn on the hook.

His rodtip didn’t move for several hours, but just after midnight Daniel had an unexpected take. 

He told Angling Times: “The biggest fish tend to kite off straight away and that is exactly what happened, so I knew I was into something special. As soon as it went into the net, I knew that I had finally beaten my previous roach personal best of 2lb 11oz.

“Strangely, I’d joked with the venue manager when I arrived that I would be calling him in the middle of the night to take pictures of a 3lb-plus roach, and so it proved!”

Daniel, who had earmarked a large chunk of his winter fishing time for targeting big roach, added: “To land one of this size on my first session of the campaign is almost beyond belief. I had intended to spend three nights at the venue, but I packed up soon afterwards to go and spend time with my family and have a beer.

“I don’t think I’ll be going back to Highbridge for a while, as it will be extremely tough to beat this fish. I am now going to switch my attentions to pike and perch.”

Daniel wasn’t the only man to set a new roach personal best this week in less than ideal conditions – Matthew Fernandez (left) raised the bar with a 2lb 8oz fish from the River Itchen. The Hampshire rod has been a venue regular for more than 15 years but had never banked a 2lb-plus redfin, despite many attempts.

He finally set the record straight when the fish fell for his double maggot hookbait presented underneath a 3BB stick float.

Matthew said: “I’d had fish over 1lb earlier in the session, but then I was left absolutely gutted after something much more substantial slipped the hook at the net.

“I thought my chances of a giant were gone, so to land this fish shortly afterwards really made my day.”

His successful rig was made up of 3lb mainline to a 1.5lb hooklength and a size 18 Drennan Super Specialist hook.

Two big roach from tiny river

Specimen fish often occupy the smallest waterways, as proved when Mike Townsend banked this impressive pair of roach.

The fish – weighing 2lb 2oz and 1lb 6oz – were caught on the float when the specialist from Doncaster, South Yorks, fished a tiny local river.

They were backed up by 40 roach over 1lb and all were all taken on a 2lb mainline, a 0.08mm hooklink and a size 20 hook baited with a single caster.

A 2lb Thames roach milestone

This is Martin Salter’s first-ever 2lb roach from the River Thames.

The National Campaigns Coordinator for the Angling Trust fished a stretch of the tidal Thames at Chiswick, West London, and used a groundbait feeder with worm and maggot on a size 12 hook.

He started picking up a few bream before the roach put in an appearance. Then, after switching to a lighter feeder and three red maggots on a size 14 hook, he began to connect more easily with the tentative bites and took a pair of specimen redfins topped by his first Thames two-pounder. 

“I’ve been lucky enough to have caught 2lb-plus roach from eight different rivers, but never one from my beloved River Thames,” he said.

Roach tops mixed bag

There are few more enjoyable methods of catching fish than by trotting a stick float down a river, as Adam Fisher did to bank this fine roach last week.

A day trip to the River Itchen proved fruitful for the Angling Dreams boss, who caught bream, chub and sea trout as well as the immaculate 1lb 10oz roach. 

“I knew it was a good fish so until I got it to the surface, my heart was in my mouth. Once it was finally in the net I wasso relieved,” said Adam, from Herefordshire. 

He took the roach on a single red maggot, mounted on a size 18 Drennan Carp Maggot hook attached to 3lb line.

UK’s rivers alive with huge roach

Experts are predicting a red-hot autumn of river roach sport following a flurry of stunning catches across the country.

Silverfish have made an incredible comeback on running waterways, and venue insiders are now claiming that sport will soon be better than ever before.

Several successful breeding seasons, Environment Agency stockings and localised restoration projects have all played a role in the transformation, and a positive weather forecast suggests the shoals are all set to feed in force.

Lancashire rod Alan Barnes included a 2lb 8oz roach in his latest haul from the River Ribble, pole fishing hemp for a new personal best.

The former Angling Times journalist has banked five roach over 2lb in the last 18 months, and is convinced the action will now step up another gear. He said: “I am certain we will have great roach sport this autumn. Several factors are helping roach stocks flourish, and one of them is the huge boom in barbel fishing. All the pellets going into our rivers are helping make roach bigger.

“I commonly hear of barbel anglers catching 2lb-plus roach after dark on 8mm and 12mm pellets. I think they have thrived on neglect and the shoals have regrouped while anglers have ignored them in favour of other species.”

Kent specimen angler Scott Cordingley has caught countless quality roach but hit a career highlight during his latest session with a personal-best 2lb 2oz fish from his local River Stour.

With limited time to wet a line, Scott made the short trip to the bank and legered breadflake in a deep hole – and soon got a lot more than he bargained for. He said: “The river is packed with roach but I’ve only had a few over 1lb to a best of 1lb 14oz. I never expected a fish this big.

“I’ve been trying for years to land one over 2lb and it’s great to finally make that mark. This is proof that it is definitely time to head out if a pb roach is on your agenda.”

Not just specimen anglers, but matchmen too have cashed in on the latest roach action.

A two-day festival on The Norfolk Broads system saw 68 anglers share over 2,100lb of silvers between them, with 36lb of roach the top individual catch.

Organiser Tony Gibbons told Angling Times: “The system is absolutely teeming with roach, and the sport we experienced during the tournament was absolutely incredible.

“We had 26 weights over 20lb, of mainly roach, on day two. I can see the action getting even better in the coming weeks.”

Similar levels of success have been achieved on both the Thames and Trent, with numerous 25lb-plus nets of roach being taken by both club and open match competitors.

Mike Lyddon's mighty mixture

Mike Lyddon enjoyed a red letter day when he banked his season’s greatest mixed bag... made up of crucians to almost 4lb, roach, tench and a personal-best carp.

The Gardner Tackle-backed rod spodded out a bed of groundbait at 50 yards and dropped a Method feeder over the top.

Then, in a breathtaking 48-hour stint, he netted an amazing 29 crucians over 3lb, the best of them going 3lb 15oz.

That was only part of the tale, though. Half-a-dozen tench to 6lb, stacks of quality rudd to almost 2lb, roach to 1lb 8oz and a UK personal-best carp of 34lb also muscled in on the act.

All Mike’s fish were beaten on a rig made up with 6lb Gardner Hydroflo mainline to a 4lb Mirage fluorocarbon hooklength and a size 16 Target hook.

River roach run riot!

An incredible 500lb of float-caught roach tops a long list of redfin hauls this week as venues nationwide prove why sport with the popular species is at an all-time high.

Venues from West Yorkshire all the way down to the South West have been delighting visiting anglers, while those fishing a contest on the River Great Ouse in Bedfordshire were treated to some of best roach fishing of their lives as they filled their nets with roach and dace.

There were more than 20 weights of roach and dace into double figures during the Bedford Hospital Cup, staged on popular club stretches along the upper river, and the top four anglers shared almost 80lb of prime silverfish, all caught on traditional float tactics.

“The roach fishing this year has been the best ever,” said Milton Keynes Angling Association chairman Trevor Johnson.

“This match is perfect proof, but this is just the tip of the iceberg – big nets of roach are being caught up and down the entire river.

“I believe the roach boom on this venue, and countless other waterways across the country, is down to the ongoing silverfish stockings carried out by the Environment Agency.”

The River Trent is another in a long line of rivers that have seen the huge shoals of roach they were historically famous for make a welcome return.

Anglers been flocking to Trent hotspots Burton Joyce, Long Higgin and Gunthorpe to take nets to 20lb-plus of roach on floatfishing tactics, and the owner of a local tackle shop has revealed that sales of traditional roach baits bronze maggots, hemp and tares are on the up.

“Roach catches on the river have been exceptional. It’s not only about quantity either, as there are so many big individual fish being landed too,” said Tim Aplin, who runs Matchman Supplies Angling Centre in Nottingham.

“All the areas that used to produce big catches of roach back in the Trent’s heyday are back in form, and more and more anglers are now fishing for them. It’s great to see,” he said.

“This is reflected in the fact that our bait sales for those visiting the river have increased in line with the general improvement of fishing on the Trent.”

Moving further north, 25lb catches of roach on the stick float have become a common occurrence on the River Calder in West Yorkshire.

It’s this sheer quality of sport that is seeing anglers regularly travel more than 100 miles in order to take part in the weekly contests held on the river around the Mirfield area.

“We get anglers travelling from Newcastle, Nottingham and Manchester to fish here.

“Every week matches on the Calder are being won with between 17lb and 25lb of roach,” said Mirfield Angling Club president Martin Highe.

“There aren’t many better ways to spend a day’s fishing than with a float rod in your hand, catching quality roach.”

Huge roach from famed carp water

This 2lb 14oz roach proves that specimen fisheries hold much more than just big carp.

Captor Luke Sparkes was fishing a carp match on Brasenose 2 on the award-winning Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire when he hooked the fish of a lifetime.

The Grimsby rod cast out a small bunch of maggots over a bed of red grubs that he’d introduced 120 yards out on the venue which has an ever-growing reputation for producing big roach, bream and tench.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when the big roach popped up. This is a truly special fish to me,” he said.

“Even though I was after carp I aim to fish with rigs that give me the chance of catching other species too, as I class myself as an all-round angler.”

Mini boilies account for a 2lb 7oz roach

Respected big-fish specialist Dave Harman’s big roach campaign took off when he netted this 2lb 7oz specimen.

His chosen venue, a large southern gravel pit, didn’t respond to maggot feeder tactics due to the sheer numbers of small fish present.

But a switch to mini boilies did the trick and he struck gold on his most recent session when, after spotting some big fish at dawn, he cast out feeder rigs made from 6lb Drennan Super Specialist mainline and size 12 Drennan Barbel hooks.

“About 30 minutes after casting out I had a steady run, and I nearly had a heart attack when the huge roach popped up just a few yards from the net,” he said. 

Short sessions yield huge roach

Short sessions are often the key to catching big summer fish, and Stewart Barnes proved exactly that when he banked a string of huge specimens topped by two 2lb roach.

The specialist from Hemel Hempstead set his sights on a tributary of the River Ouse after spotting big roach back in the winter, and a series of short sessions before and after work saw him net his biggest-ever roach along with 10 other fish to a best of 1lb 10oz.

But his river success didn’t end there. The Big Fish Gear team member became the envy of countless big-fish hunters when he also netted several barbel to double figures and a huge chub weighing 6lb 4oz.

“Sometimes I’ll get down to the river in my lunch hour and only get 30 minutes’ fishing, but it’s well worth it, as these fish prove,” enthused Stewart.

“To catch one 2lb river roach at this time of the year is incredible, but to land two is an unbelievable achievement.”

In order to create a feeding frenzy in his swim, Stewart cast out a simple leger rig with a single 10mm halibut pellet hookbait and then fed 3mm pellets constantly over the top.

He also fished his hookbait as tight as possible to the back of his size 10 hook with a short hair rig.

“Lots of anglers just cast out a lead with a PVA bag and then wait,” he said. “But feeding by hand over the top really creates competition in the swim and the fish soon become preoccupied with the free offerings.

“This makes them much easier to catch.”

Record year for roach is on the cards...

The year 2016 is set to be a record one for roach, thanks to a series of revolutionary projects to rejuvenate the species on rivers and stillwaters nationwide .

Leading the charge to revive Britain’s most iconic fish is the longest-running conservation drive – the Avon Roach Project – which has seen a record-breaking year.

Species enthusiasts Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price created the scheme to boost redfin stocks on the Hampshire Avon by installing dozens of spawning boards. Roach lay their eggs on these and the juveniles are then nurtured with the aim of later restocking them back into the river.

According to Trevor, this year has been the best for the project, launched in 2005.

“The past couple of years have been the most fruitful for us by far and 2016 is going to be a special year for the species,” he said.

“The fish we restock are now bigger and better than they have ever been, and we are producing more numbers as we have honed our techniques after 11 years of running it. The work is starting to make a real difference.” 

However, the Hampshire Avon isn’t the only river with its own successful scheme to secure the future of the roach.

Other groups, including numerous river trusts, are using Trevor’s ideas as a blueprint for their own initiatives on their own waters.

One of these is the Kennet Roach Project. Run by Del Shackleford, fisheries officer for Reading DAA, it’s a project that has installed spawning boards into the Kennet for the first time and built two tanks to hold fry for restocking.

 “Fish stocks, in particular roach, have been in decline on the Kennet in recent years and we wanted to do something about it, so we have been working hard with the Environment Agency to improve fish habitats on the waterway and breed more fish,” he said.

Anglers are already feeling the benefits of the projects, with clubs and fisheries up and down the country reporting bumper match and pleasure catches which have coincided with increased demand for quality silverfish sport.

And it’s not just on our rivers where anglers are crying out for more roach.

Lemington Lakes fishery is one of many stillwater venues which have cottoned on to the renewed popularity of the species.

The Gloucestershire fishery has worked tirelessly in recent years to provide some of the best roach fishing in the UK, thanks to the help of leading fisheries consultant Andrew Ellis, of AE Fisheries.

He said: “A lot of people want to fish for big roach, especially the more traditional anglers, and plenty of fisheries have started to try to provide this, including Lemington.

“We have been netting and cropping the stock at Abbey Lake to help produce some of the biggest and best fish.

“This year’s netting saw us pick out a handful of roach to 3lb 4oz – the lake has some truly stunning fish in it,” he added.

3lb 12oz roach earns place in history books

The only bite of a five-month campaign to catch a huge redfin resulted in Josh Fisher banking one of the biggest river roach ever caught.
Weighing 3lb 12oz, it’s a fish that the experienced all-rounder has spent four years targeting. In that time he has dedicated thousands of hours in his quest to bank a roach over the magical 3lb mark.
All the Norfolk specialist’s hard work and dedication paid off when he targeted an ultra-tough southern river that he’s been visiting for the last five months without a single bite from a big roach.
“The fact that I hadn’t had a bite for so long just proves how tough these fish are to locate, let alone catch,” Josh told Angling Times.
“To catch this roach has been an ambition of mine for so long I can’t believe I’ve actually done it, and when I first saw the fish in the fading light I thought I’d hooked a big chub.”
The tattoo artist baited his swim with mashed bread before returning later in the day to flick a small feeder filled with the same bait out into the river.
He didn’t have to wait long before a sharp pluck on his quivertip signified that the fish of a lifetime had taken a piece of breadflake folded around a size 14 hook tied to 3lb line.
It’s a fish that beats his previous personal best for the species that stood at 2lb 5oz. He said: “I’ve always wanted to catch a 3lb roach and a 3lb rudd from running water and I’ve done it in one season, which is one hell of an achievement.
“I’ve had experts look at the picture, and they all reckon it’s a roach, but there are some out there who claim it could be a hybrid.”

Early bird catches 2lb-plus river roach

A river roach over the 2lb mark is on the hit list of many anglers, so Lee Chandler was celebrating when he landed this 2lb 4oz specimen.
He arrived on the banks of a small southern river before it was light, and the fish of a lifetime made an appearance on his very first cast.
He used traditional tactics including a centrepin reel and a 13ft float rod to achieve his long-held ambition.
“I fed for 30 minutes when it was still dark and then, when it was finally light enough to see my float, I made my first cast and just a few minutes later my first two-pounder was in the net,” said Lee.

Come and catch a monster roach

One of the nation’s favourite fisheries is calling for specimen anglers to come and catch its massive roach, claiming some huge fish are being ‘ignored’.
Just two weeks after being voted ‘Stillwater of the Year’ in the Angling Times 2015 National Angling Awards, the famous Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire is eager to shake off its reputation of being a carp-only complex.
Venue bosses have also revealed that 2015 has been its best-ever year for catches of specimen redfins.
The biggest fish banked so far this year was a 3lb 2oz specimen recently taken by a carp angler fishing Brasenose 2, and many other specimens over 2lb have also been caught from its other popular venues Oxlease, Hardwick and Brasenose 1.
“Most people think our waters are just about carp, but they all hold really big roach and it’s such a shame that no one comes and fishes for them,” said Linear Fisheries’ head bailiff Ian Roper.
“Fish over 3lb are caught every year and one of the biggest I’ve heard of is a 3lb 12oz specimen out of B1. That is a massive roach and a possible record breaker now.
“Anglers who want to target big roach are welcome to come down and fish any of our day-ticket waters for the species, and they must not be intimidated by squeezing in between bivvies.
“Not only do we want more general coarse anglers fishing here, we also wish to find out how big the roach actually grow, because I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few real monsters.”
One UK specialist who already loves to target other species at Linear is big-fish legend Dai Gribble, who not only catches its resident tench, but is well aware of the roach fishing potential.
He’s already been in contact with Ian to organise a roach fishing session and is extremely excited at the prospect.
“Linear is the most welcoming big-fish complex in the UK, and if you like fishing for big roach you’d be mad not to go and have a go for them,” Dai told Angling Times.
“It’s getting towards the best time of year to target the species and all the waters at Linear have really great potential.”
Despite 2015 already seeing several big roach reported to Ian and his team, Dai claims this is only the tip of the iceberg, since many more  big roach get caught by accident by carpers and get slipped back unreported.
This is a common theme that runs throughout commercial fisheries across the land.
Countless waters that many favour for specimen carp also have a growing reputation for producing huge roach, which are now a viable target for anglers looking to set a new personal best.
Leading fisheries consultant, fish farmer and owner of the highly-respected AE Fisheries, Andrew Ellis, has not only personally netted huge roach from many well-known carp waters such as Horseshoe Lake in Gloucestershire, but he also prides himself on nurturing and growing on big stillwater redfins.
“There are many factors that contribute to the growth of huge roach in carp waters,” said Andrew.
“The first is that it’s common to have really big roach and then fry because those in between are often thinned out through predation.
“At venues like Linear spodding with particles is very popular and I’ve seen the water exploding with roach and rudd while working at places like this. This abundance of food, and the fact that carp waters tend to be larger venues, mean that roach have space to thrive….especially the really big ones.
“Ian has already mentioned that big roach at Linear are widely neglected and this is another reason why they grow so big – they don’t take kindly to being put in and out of keepnets all of their lives, as they tend to be in smaller commercially run waters.”

Name: Linear Fisheries
Location: Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire
Number of lakes: 11
Day-ticket venues: Brasenose 1, Brasenose 2, Hardwick Lake and Smiths Pool, Hunts Corner Lake, Hunts Corner Pond, Manor Farm Lake, Oxlease Lake, St Johns Lake
Contact: www.linear-fisheries.co.uk or 01908 588043

Birthday gift roach

Andrew Mussellwhite enjoyed a birthday present to remember with this personal-best 2lb 4oz river roach.
The Hampshire angler headed to a stretch of the River Itchen to celebrate his 38th birthday, where he set his stall out to target the waterway’s silverfish shoals.
He fed the swim with maggots for 20 minutes, then the Winchester rod trotted a 2g Drennan Avon float with a size 16 Drennan wide gape Specialist hook baited with maggot.
After landing grayling and roach to over 1lb, Andy’s centrepin was soon screaming as the giant roach took off.