Roach

The Roach is one of our most popular coarse species and a firm favourite with the nations anglers, be they young children catching them in a local stream or seasoned anglers seeking them on a winter river the sight of those red fins are always warmly greeted.

Roach are common right  acrosss the country, they are found in streams and rivers,lakes and ponds,canals and reservoirs. A favourite with match men who can put huge weights together when sat on a large shoal! RRoach are also much sought after by the nations specialist anglers who dream of catching a genuine 3lb monster!

The Roach or Rutilus rutilus in latin is often the first type of coarse fish caught by new anglers. this is due to their being so widespread and the fact that small juvenile roach are easy to catch. The British Roach record stands at 4lb 8 oz but a fish over 1lb is a good fish and any Roach over 2lb can be thought of as a true specimen. it is these larger Roach that most anglers hope to catch as unlike their smaller siblings roach of this size and bigger prove to be a very worthy target and notoriously hard to tempt.

Roach are caught on a wide variety of baits including Maggots,Worms,Casters,Bloodworm,Hemp,Tares and my favourite Bread but they can be caught on baits as unusual as Silkweed and Elderberrys. Their usual diet is on the aquatic insects which live in their environment which is why maggots and worms are a really top bait but it is well known that Roach will investigate any 'White' object which resembles food and i believe that is why Bread has accounted for more specimen Roach than any other bait. Bread punch or a piece of Bread flake is often the best way to tempt a large Roach and it is the bait i always make sure i have with me when targeting Roach. A piece of Bread flake fished in conjunction with a feeder and some mashed up bread to tempt them is a killer method for Roach and has caught me hundreds of specimen Roach over the years.

Roach fishing is I believe best on rivers and a great way of targeting them is by using a stick float, in this picture you can see a fantastic Roach fishing set up, You need a medium to large Stick or Avon type float say around 4 AAA you then attach this to the line using 3 float rubbers, you then place the bulk of your shot about 18 inches from the hook and then add a small dropper shot 6 inches from the hook. On most occasions you would want to fish near to the bottom and if using Breadflake feed the swim with small balls of liquidised bread as groundbait. This is an outstanding method for catching Roach and one of the most exciting and rewarding ways of fishing.

Roach are found in rivers right across the country and rivers like the Wensum and The wye have produced huge Roach in the past but it is the southern chalk streams such as the Dorset Stour, The Test and The Avon which most of us think of when we think of targeting specimen river Roach these days. These rivers still throw up good numbers of specimen Roach over 2lb every year and it is possible to catch a mythical 3lb Roach if you know where to look!

Roach may not have the fighting ability of  the Barbel or Carp but when you get into fishing for them and see how much skill is needed to tempt a true specimen the satisfaction of landing one often out weighs that of captures of much bigger fish. Roach fishing is addictive and often becomes a life long passion. I hope you will give it a go and see just how rewarding it can be!.