Two roach of 3lb-plus in the same session!

Catching a 3lb-plus roach is considered to be the ultimate angling achievement – so imagine James Champkin’s delight when he slipped the net under these mighty specimens of 3lb 2oz and 3lb 3oz in a single session! 

The Angling Trust Campaigns Officer from Cromer, Norfolk, pinned his hopes on an undisclosed southern stillwater, and wasn’t left disappointed when his plan of attack yielded two new personal bests during the early hours of an overnight trip. 

He told Angling Times: “I saw a roach top in front of me close on dusk, so my confidence was high – but I certainly never imagined that I would go on to bank two fish of a lifetime! 

“Both were caught on bolt rigs incorporating maggot feeders on a helicopter set-up. 

“The first to trip up was the 3lb 2oz fish at 1.15am, which was a new personal best for me – breaking my long-standing best for the species of 2lb 13oz caught from Lochnaw in Scotland back in 2012. 

“This was followed by the even bigger fish a couple of hours later – another new pb!

“They were the most amazingly thick-set roach I have ever seen,” he added.

James’ successful rigs included a size 16 hook tied to a short, 2ins fluorocarbon hooklength and an 8lb mainline. 

His maggot feeders were fished at 50 yards in 15ft of water over a few small Spombs of hempseed and Dynamite Baits Silver X Roach groundbait.