Winter roach fishing

Posts Tagged ‘Winter roach fishing’

Grayling and roach and chub. Oh my!

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged Lone Angler, River Itchen fishing, Winter roach fishing on March 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Yes it was back to the Itchen, although this time lower downstream in search of the big roach that inhabit this delightful chalkstream. As is typical of late, heavy rain the day before had coloured the river and it looked like it had pushed the levels up a bit. Overall though the river looked pretty good. The forecast was for a dry day with no rain, so quite what this wet stuff was falling from the sky is beyond me! Luckily the rain didn’t last too long.

Geoff and I were particularly after the roach, however beggars can’t be choosers and so anything would be nice and in all honesty a roach would be a bonus. We opted to start at the lower extremity of the fishery and work our way up, dropping into the occasional swim for a trot through with a float. A chat here and there with a few local old boys pointed us in the right direction and we kept moving to see what was about.

At the top end I found a very nice, smooth glide. It looked about right for roach; it was around 4ft deep, smooth water and a distinct crease between the faster flow down the centre and the slower water on the inside. I’d set up with my 15ft float rod, centrepin and 3lb line. I opted for size 16 hook-to-nylon and double red maggot. The float was a 3g bolo, which is about 5AA or 10bb. If I’m fishing for roach I will bulk the big shot around the float and fish a few much smaller shot shirt button style down the line. Normally I’d use a few No 6’s and 8’s. If I was purely after the roach I may use a smaller float but it does need to be able to cope with the deep water and heavy flow.

I’d managed to tempt a number of grayling and salmon par before eventually connecting with something much bigger. Initially it was difficult to know whether I’d hooked a fish or the bottom and then that tell tale ‘thump, thump’ indicated a chub. After a dogged fight Geoff finally landed the chevin and it looked a decent fish. After the initial “it looks huge” comments had elapsed we weighed the fish at 4lb 8oz. It was a lovely fish and would take some beating. Nothing else emerged and so another move was in order.

4lb 8oz

A few trots through the new swim and the float buried. After a spirited fight it turned out to be a sea trout of about 3lbs. It put up a great scrap in the flow and a few passers by had stopped to watch the action. A round of applause followed once the fish was safely landed, unhooked and returned to fight another day. After that this swim went a bit quiet and so I moved downstream to a pedestrian bridge.

A roar of Merlin engines filled the air and announced the arrival of a Spitfire hurtling upwards overhead. The Spitfire was first flown from Southampton Airport and with a anniversary coming up soon I believe, I guess this was a practice run. I do love the sound of those Rolls Royce engines and the sight of that majestic plane maneuvering through the skies.

After the excitement of the Spitfire I managed a couple of nice dace to just shy of 10oz, a few grayling and the ever present salmon par. Geoff and I then targeted a really nice far bank glide. It was tricky casting that had to be inch perfect to trot the correct line but the masters that we are, we managed to get the odd one right! Geoff had the only fish though but it was a lovely roach of 1lb 4oz and any roach over a pound tends to be the highlight of the day. It had been fun with a good mixed bag of fish and with the season drawing to a close in a week or so, would probably be our last visit to this particular stretch until next winter.

1lb 4oz

Read Full Post »

The Highs and Lows of Fishing.

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged Itchen Roach, Keith Speer, Lower Itchen Fishery, Trotting with maggots, Winter roach fishing on February 26, 2015| 5 Comments »

The English weather is as unpredictable as Crystal Palace football team, although the Pardew Boys are looking a bit stronger these days. Geoff and I had hoped to spend three days down on the southern chalkstream that we have been targeting this winter and have a last go at some big grayling before the season ends on the 28th February. We kept a close eye on the weather and heavy rains over the weekend put an end to the opportunity really. We toyed with the idea of heading to the Trent instead but with night time temperatures at around 1c, we felt that wouldn’t be much cop either (as it tuned out those night time temperatures were much higher than expected and would have been ideal for a spot of barbel fishing). Rain was also forecast during the days, with some prolonged spells of heavy rain predicted. A change of plan was needed.

In the end we decided to have just a couple of days out, instead of staying away for those few nights. I really fancied having a crack at some roach on the Lower Itchen Fishery and perhaps a day on a free section of the Itchen on one of the other days. We opted for LIF on Tuesday and Winchester on the Wednesday.

On the way down Geoff and I chatted about all sorts of stuff when Keith Speer came up in the conversation. We were discussing his time on the Avon on the Longford Estate with particular attention to his catches of dace. I had already decided to fish one particular swim on the Itchen fishery, one that I know Keith particularly liked and one that I had watched him fish before. His success there (He caught a 2lb + roach that day) inspired me to spend a day trotting this swim. Constant feeding might just bring on those big roach towards the end of the day. It’s an area where the big roach hold up in the winter and throws up some real clonkers on occasions.

On arrival we found the river fairly coloured and this would particularly suit fishing for the roach. Luckily no one was in the swim I wanted and the stretch down from the weir was also clear, which is where Geoff wanted to fish and another spot where Keith fished with tremendous success, taking countless chub on another day we spent there a season or two back. Tactics were pretty simple; 15ft float rod, centrepin reel with 3lb line and an Avon float finished off with an 18 hook and single red maggot. The swim was deep here, around 8ft and a nice crease veered off to around mid river. It looked very inviting and I felt quite confident. Sadly the wind was blowing a hooley, which made presentation very difficult and me curse a lot! After a nice cuppa I started to fish, keeping the float working along the crease time and time again, always accompanied by a steady trickle of maggots on each and every cast. If there’s one thing you learn whilst watching and talking to Keith, it’s about keeping the feed going in. You have to be methodical in you’re approach to switch the fish on. Sometimes it may take an hour, sometimes 6 hours but more often than not it works.

I saw Geoff wandering upstream towards me with flask in hand. A bit early for him to be coming up already I thought, he must be unhappy with the conditions. I looked at my phone, only to see a load of missed calls. Geoff arrived and the first thing he said was “have you heard about Keith Speer?” “No, what about him?” I said with some trepidation. Geoff then informed me that apparently Keith had passed away whilst on the river the day before. I almost laughed, as it sounded so utterly ridiculous, it had to be a mistake. Then all of those missed calls made sense and the reality of the news hit home and that horrible sense of dread crept over me. I phoned the people concerned, only to have the devastating news confirmed. Both Geoff and I felt gutted, empty.

I certainly wasn’t best friends with Keith; however I got to know him well over the last 4 or 5 years. He gave up a great deal of his time to the Association of Barbel Fishers, participating in all of our talks and also setting up a float fishing clinic on the Trent for us. He had recently agreed to take part in another project the ABF were setting up, which would involve quite a bit of his time. In all honesty he was the first person I thought of that would make up a 4 man panel and I was over the moon when he agreed to be involved. For that I am truly grateful, as are all the ABF’s team members and the membership itself. He really helped and supported the ABF and he will be sorely missed.

Keith was a warm and generous man but with a wonderful self deprecating sense of humour. I respected him, admired him, was inspired by him but most of all liked him. That was the measure of the man. He was a likeable guy who made you feel comfortable in his presence and enjoy his banter. His angling experience, or dare I say expertise, inspired many, me included. I looked at Keith as one of the angling world’s most successful specimen hunters; a great angler who was happy to share his wealth of experience on the river bank or in the pub over a pint. He will be missed by all those that met him, or read his excellent writings of days spent fishing, or watched him on TV. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family. RIP Keith Speer.

It took a while to continue fishing but I did. Then two anglers set up directly opposite me (well I mean there are only 3 miles of river here, so you can’t blame them really can you!!). I tried to ignore them and not be put off by their continual bombardment of mashed bread going in mid river. I wondered what Keith might of thought about this and just carried on regardless. Regular bites started to come and I was catching a steady stream of grayling, nothing big, fish to maybe 1lb-1lb 4oz but with most around 8oz-12oz. So far there was no sign of any roach. As the light started to fade a bit I finally hooked the target species and lost it at the net, a roach of around 12oz or so. Still that was an encouraging sign and shortly after another roach was tempted, although not a big fish.

I hooked both roach some way downstream and it appeared they were holding back down the swim towards the bridge. I decided to move down the swim about 5 yards and see if I could target the spot better. First trot down and the float buried. The strike caused the culprit to boil and swirl on the surface and I was presented with a sight I may well never forget; a huge roach turned on the surface. Well at least there was no uncertainty about what was on the other end. So began the most thrilling and nerve wracking fight I’ve ever had. The big roach kitted out into mid river and used the flow to full effect. I suddenly realised I hadn’t brought my net with me and so started the nerve jangling task of coaxing the fish upstream to where the landing net lay. The fish boiled and turned on the surface, shaking its head and thrashing violently a number of times. I was praying the 18 hook would hold, begging for the fish not to come of. Slowly I started to draw the fish to the waiting net and after what seemed an age I managed to pull the fish over the rim of the net and into the safety of the mesh. She was mine!

Despite shaking like a leaf, I hoisted out my prize and stared in amazement at this beautiful fish lying in the net. It looked huge, fat and glistening in the fading light of dusk. It was the stuff of dreams. Geoff was by now fishing a few yards upstream of me on the opposite bank. He was listening to all my shouts, exclamations and expletives as the fight progressed and once the fish was in the net he was already heading over. He arrived and looked in amazement at the fish. We both thought it was at least a mid ‘2’ because of its fat stomach. Then I realised my scales had packed up and poor old Geoff had to walk all the way back round to his swim to get his scales. Anyway eventually we weighed the fish and settled on 2lb 3oz. Not quite as big as we thought but an absolute clonker as far as I was concerned and a fish I will never forget.

2lb 3oz

It seemed a fitting tribute to Keith’s memory and I know that despite him catching 100 2lb roach he would have been genuinely overjoyed at my success today and the first to congratulate me. I can’t help but think today was meant to be and perhaps an unseen helping hand made all the difference.

Read Full Post »

Black Swans, Roach and Grayling.

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged Bread flake and liquidized bread, Chalk Stream Grayling, Fishing the river Test, Winter roach fishing on December 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Day 1:

I rarely get the opportunity to fish the Test these days but an invite by good mate and Lone Angler’s team manager Jez Brown was very welcome indeed.

I have fished the Test at Timsbury a couple of times but not for quite a few years. I did try Jez’s beat out last season and managed a few nice fish but lost a couple of big roach, so I was looking for a second chance.

The forecast mentioned something about a weather bomb. That’s a term I’ve never encountered before and the only thing I’ve heard close to that is Sex Bomb, but hey that’s enough about me! Anyway it seemed strong winds and driving rain was the general ingredients in this meteorological bomb. Luckily the area we were in seemed to be sheltered enough by hills and trees to deflect this winter storm of almost biblical proportions (allegedly).

Still this meant we could feeder fish and trot without any interference from Mother Nature. A simple feeder rig consisting of around a 2’6″ hooklink of 4lb line and a 12 hook, a small cage feeder and breadflake hook bait did the trick. I used a soft glass tip on a 12ft Avon style rod. Initially we fished up in the mill pool where there is plenty of deep water to hold a few roach. The levels looked pretty normal with a tinge of colour. Everything looked more or less spot on.

The feeders were loaded with crumb with a nice piece of flake on the hook and out it went. It was a little slow at first but once we got some bait going in on a regular basis, things started to improve. I missed a few bites as I was a bit too quick to hit them. Soon a few grayling, dace and trout put in an appearance and then a run of nice roach to over a pound. Jez trotted a few maggots down and grayling after grayling came to the net. They ranged in size from just a few ounces to close to 1.8lbs.

After lunch we headed off downstream but that failed to produce much and so we returned to the mill pool. I managed a few more roach to breadflake with the best going 1lb 6oz which made 4 over the pound mark. Jez tempted a couple as well, of a similar stamp and we both had a few decent dace to maybe 10oz or so. As always the trout were active, they are such voracious feeders. Sadly those really big roach failed to show but hey there’s always next time.

A decent Test Roach

Day 2.

I headed off to another chalk stream this time in search of big grayling. Geoff and Kevin had fished it the previous day whilst I was on the Test and had struggled, although Geoff had taken a nice fish at just a tad under 2lbs.

The area we headed to was far more open to the elements and the wind was blowing a hooley. Dark brooding skies suggested rain could come at any moment, almost without warning. However lady luck was with us and although we had a very squally shower it only lasted around 10 minutes or so and then remained dry for the remainder of our visit.

The key for me was to find a swim where the wind was blowing (howling more like) down stream. After a long walk I managed to locate a swim that looked fishable at least. The wind was seriously strong and would make presentation very, very difficult. I decided on a heavy float with a strung out shotting pattern. I normally fish bulk shot but felt the presentation would improve with this alternative approach.

Hook bait was double maggot with a regular trickle thrown in with every cast. The float buried almost immediately as it sailed down a lovely long glide close to the near side bank. The fish felt heavy and I was confident it was a decent grayling. I wasn’t disappointed. At 2lb 5oz it was a lovely big, solid grayling. Another small one followed almost straight away and a short time later another very good fish fought for freedom. Luckily I seemed to be keeping most of the fish on the hook this time and a 2lb 9oz fish was the result.

2lb 9oz

The other two lads seemed to be struggling with I think one fish apiece and neither particularly big fish either. Around lunchtime I decided to move. I hadn’t had a bite for sometime and fancied trying elsewhere. Kevin jumped into the swim to see if he could tempt something. Later on he reported he’d just landed a 2lb 7oz fish, so maybe I should have stayed put.

2lb 5oz

I wandered upstream trying out spots on the way. I spotted a couple of unusual old birds!! Two Antipodean visitors; a pair of black swans. I managed to get a few shots with the camera before spotting them again later in flight. They have the most beautiful white wing feathers which are an incredible contrast to the rest of the bird. Anyway I digress, the odd grayling and trout were tempted but all in all it was difficult. By 3pm the skies were growing very dark with rain clouds and so we opted for an early finish. I ended up with 7 grayling and 3 trout. which put me just ahead of Kevin. Geoff had a tough day and then broke his centrepin! Not the best day for him.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

These are no Galahs. Fair dinkum Bruce!

There is plenty of time left this season to get back here and hopefully bag a few more of these stunning fish before March.

2lb 7oz

Read Full Post »

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged Big Roach tactics, Pallatrax Baits, Waggler fishing, Winter Almond, Winter roach fishing on February 28, 2014| 2 Comments »

Over the last couple of weeks Geoff and I have been targeting a carp lake in Kent for it’s roachy inhabitants. Just for a change it’s not far from where I live, so none of this 200 mile round trip nonsense! I became aware of this lake a couple of years ago and we tried it a couple of times in less than favourable conditions. At the time we managed to tempt a few roach but nothing special and almost forgot about the place until recently.

A mate of mine has been fishing over the winter for the big perch that inhabit this venue and so Geoff and I decided to return and have another go for these legendary large roach. We decided to fish more thoroughly and give it a real concerted effort. We both enjoy float fishing over the feeder method and so that would be our main attack. Chatting to the bailiff and a couple of the regulars indicated that maggot and sweetcorn fished well, so both of those baits were packed along with a few lob worms and casters.

The weather has been somewhat trying of late to say the least; rain and the flooding of course have kept me off the rivers since around late November but also the constant wind is a bit of a drag (yes, pun intended! 🙂 ). There’s barely been a day where it’s not blowing a hooley, with gusts of 30+ almost daily. Thank God I haven’t resorted to wearing a wig in my dotage, otherwise it would have been fluttering like a kite. It really does wear you down after a while though. Still One has to grin and bear it as they say!

Due to the nature of the lake in question there are few places where the wind can be avoided, especially if you’re sitting close to Geoff! However there are one or two spots protected by the prevailing WSW winds. Over a two week period we fished the lake 3 times. Each time we tried a different area in an effort to explore the nature of the lakes bottom (ooh er missus), hoping to identify different depths or features. Lots of plumbing is a big help and soon starts to build up a picture of what’s in front of you. Obviously due to the shear amount of rainfall this winter, the level of the lake is up around 18″-2′, however that does bring into play a lot of bankside cover. A lot of the tress and bushes around this water are partially submerged now and offer a great feature to fish to. Although the fish do tend to show further out in all fairness.

Tactics were fairly simple; a waggler fixed with float stops and the majority of shot fished around the float with only a couple of No 8 dropper shots down the line. Careful plumbing indicated the required depth (and it is deep here, at around 6-7ft in the areas we targeted). A size 16 hook to nylon attached to the 4lb mainline finished off the simple set-up. The idea was to keep feeding maggots regularly and hopefully get the shoals of roach feeding competitively.

Bites came fairly quickly and pretty steadily all day on all three occasions. I like to get my baits Pallatrax’d up and so add some of the Winter Almond overspray to both the maggots and sweetcorn and I combine this with using the excellent Bloodworm and Maggot Crush groundbait. It just gives it that extra edge as far as I’m concerned and as Tesco would say “every little helps”.

Vital ingredients

The roach here seem to move around quite a bit. One spot will produce steady bites and then they just seem to dry up, only for another area further out to start producing. This is probably due to having to put the fish back, they eventually spook the rest of the shoal and so they move on. It’s worth keeping a few spots baited up and when things start to slow down, move the float to the next area. This tactic worked well and both of us caught a lot of roach over the first two visits. The size and quality of the roach here are superb. We caught lots of fish around the pound mark with numerous fish over that weight to 1lb 5oz, with the majority of fish averaging around 8oz. The real biggies proved elusive but the quality of the fish are extraordinary; they are in absolutely mint condition.

I tried casters, worm, maggots and sweetcorn. On two of the visits they completely switched off the maggots and would only take corn but on our latest trip we couldn’t get a touch on corn. They don’t appear to be too finicky either, with 3 or even 4 maggots producing lots of bites. That said the float needed to be shotted down to hit some of the delicate bites, otherwise quite a few would be missed. Fishing just a single maggot on a 18/20 hook produced lots of very small fish, so that’s best avoided.

Roach to 1lb 5oz

The last trip saw one chap catch well over 150 roach on the hemp and caster approach, so on our next visit we’ll be giving this a try. It’s a bit more intense in that you must keep the hemp constantly going into the swim, so a shower of hempseed is falling through the water layers all the time. I’m hoping to get back soon for another go and hopefully find some of the bigger roach that this venue is well known for.

Still its wonderful catching so many roach in such superb condition.

Read Full Post »

Roach at Bury Hill

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged fishing with maggots, Old Bury Hill, Pallatrax Baits, Waggler fishing, Winter roach fishing on January 19, 2014| 1 Comment »

More rain has fallen since my latest trip to Bury Hill in Dorking. In fact we’ve had 65mm in around 72 hours in Sevenoaks! The rivers must be over the banks again in a lot of areas but the good news is things look like they are going to settle down now, well for a while at least.

Due to the dire forecast, Geoff and I opted to try for some more roach. Old Bury Hill has a reputation for good quality fish and has produced good numbers over 2lbs. Our drive through the Kent and Surrey countryside highlighted the effects of the recent storms. Most of the fields were like lakes and the occasional view of a river showed them to be high, coloured and very turbulent. It wouldn’t take much to send the river levels up and cascading over the banks and back into fields, roads and houses.

Bonds lake in warmer times

It was a rather grey day and the forecast was predicting heavy winds gusting to around 30mph and heavy rain showers. We managed to persuade the gentleman in the shop to rustle us up some toast and marmalade and a nice cup of tea, as the cafe was closed. That was a very nice gesture and was very much appreciated. As we walked along the banks we realised just how bad things were. Most of the banks were sodden and there was large amounts of standing water. In some areas water was actually flowing across the banks. Thank goodness we had put our boots on. We also discovered that a small bridge across the stream which runs adjacent to the lakes had been washed away in the floods.

We were soon at our chosen lake and after some plumbing around, both selected swims. By now the wind had already picked up but the rain seemed to be holding off for the time being at least. My set-up was very simple. My Maver Reactolite 13ft float rod, Drennan fixed spool, 4lb mainline and a 3.6lb hooklink and 16 hook. I like to use a swivel to connect the mainline and hooklink and then mould some tungsten putty around this to set the float. By doing this and using float stops, I don’t pinch any shot on the line and therefore avoid any line damage whatsoever. There are downsides to using this method of course, for instance if you want to fish a long drop between hook and shot. Then you may need to revert back to split shot, bulking it up at the float and fish a very small dropper shot around 1/2 way between float and hook. This may well be a better method for roach, as they often take on the drop after a prolonged period of feeding maggots.

After around 90 minutes without a bite, I decided to have a look around the lake. By now the wind had picked up and it was blowing directly into my face. This was causing a few problems with presentation and I wasn’t happy with the results. I found an area slightly sheltered from the strong wind and with a reasonable depth of around 3ft. Feeding small golf ball size balls of Bloodworm and Maggot Crush and loose feeding maggots flavoured with Winter Almond overspray, I then fished single maggot over the top. I lost a couple of fish early on and then managed to tempt a couple of pristine roach of around 8oz. Despite looking good, the swim just didn’t seem to be producing many bites.

Pallatrax Winter Almond

By now Geoff had also moved and seemed to have found a few fish. He had taken around 12 nice roach in the 8oz-1lb bracket. He wandered over to see me and said that bronze maggots were producing more bites. So I duly pinched a few of his and mixed them in with my flavoured reds and then out went the float again. The float had barely settled when it disappeared. After a very spirited fight a beautiful, pristine roach was netted. I popped it on the scales and it registered 1lb 7oz and proved to be the best roach of the day. The swim then produced a small bream and little else, so another move was in order. By now the heavy rain showers had started and some were quite prolonged. Due to the nature of the swims and the severity of the wind, an umbrella wasn’t really an option. It was a case of hunkering down in our winter clothing and just trying to keep the rain out.

1lb 7oz

I moved across the lake and settled in next to Geoff. He had found a deep swim of around 5ft of water close in and adjacent to some marginal reeds. He continued to catch steadily for the remainder of the day and ended up with around 20 nice roach to 1lb 1oz. I seemed to elicit less bites with my set up than Geoff. Geoff had opted to fish a long tail and an 18 hook. This I suspect made the difference. However I was treated to quite a mixed bag; I ended up with a tench of around 3lbs, a couple of bream, a couple of roach to around 10oz and just as the day was drawing to a close the float buried and something took off like a high speed train. I had obviously hooked one of the resident carp. It fought long and hard on the light tackle but with steady pressure I coaxed it into the waiting landing net. I was fairly convinced it would go mid doubles but in fact it was smaller than I had at first thought. It was a stunning common and weighed 9lb 13oz and was an exciting finish to a rather mucky, wet and windy day.

As Arnie would say in that heavy Austrian accent; “I’ll be back”!

Read Full Post »

Floody Hell

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged Fishing in floods, Kennet barbel, Longshaw Lakes, Pallatrax Baits, Winter roach fishing on January 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Sorry, couldn’t resist that! Well it has certainly rained a bit recently. And oh boy when it rains it really rains. Most of the country seems to be under water, with the vast majority of the UK’s rivers on flood alert. The news channels are awash (sorry) with pictures and stories on the latest developments as they happen, minute by minute. Some areas have had devastating water level rises and to all of those poor souls who have had their homes flooded out, my deepest sympathies. Let’s hope we’ve seen an end to it for the remainder of the winter.

Of course generally winter floods means warm rain and milder weather. All that basically means feeding barbel. However when levels rise this much you have to be very careful indeed. I love to catch barbel but I’m not risking life and limb to do it. You need to know your stretch like the back of your hand before attempting to fish in these exceptionally high conditions. The fields are flooded and you need to know every nook and cranny of the beat you are going to fish. Ditches, holes, uneven ground, crumbling banks, feeder streams etc. etc. can all become death traps if you go wandering off kitted out in your waders oblivious to the dangers. Unless you are 100% confident, then don’t bother. Wait for the river to drop to a safer level and then give it a go.

I did manage to venture out after a 3 week hiatus. This was mainly due to work but also a chest infection which has lasted the best part of 4 weeks and has left me a little run down. Danny and I met at the world famous (or is that infamous) Max’s Cafe for the full Monty before exploring a couple of sections of the Kennet. The river had burst it’s banks around the upper Benyons, however the car park side appeared to be OK. A walk downstream confirmed that it was safely accessible. Danny and I found a number of good looking spots to try but wanted to look at another stretch first. So we drove to the second beat and due to the time, decided to fish it. However once we had walked the beat with the gear, I realised it was a mistake. There were far less areas that looked fishable to me, whereas we had left a stretch that had a number of excellent opportunities on offer. We persevered but unfortunately failed to get a bite. By 4pm the river was rising and spilling out into the adjoining fields. It was time to head home and after being poorly for so long I felt completely exhausted from all of the walking.

With the kind permission of Micky Holtam

The next day saw Geoff and I heading to an old haunt in search of some roach. These are a group of small lakes in Herne, Kent. They are renowned for the quality of the roach fishing. The wind had sprung up and became very blustery and remained that way all day. We opted to float fish in an area of around 4ft (which is good for these lakes) and slightly sheltered from the wind. My swim had a sunken tree in close which I thought offered a nice feature to fish to. The set up was fairly simple; 13ft Maver Reactorlite, fixed spool reel with 4lb line and a 3.5lb hooklink with a size 14 hook. The float was a simple Drennan loaded waggler. I had a number of baits at my disposal including Pallatrax Hidra small snails, maggots, luncheon meat cubes and expander pellets. Additionally I had sprayed the maggots and Hidra’s with the Winter Almond over spray and also mixed up some of my favourite groundbait which is the excellent Pallatrax Bloodworm and Maggot Crush.

Bloodworm and Maggot Crush

Bait Selection

After carefully plumbing the swim, I opted to fish close to the sunken tree at around 1 rod length out. I mixed up the groundbait and put out two small balls and some maggots. I continued to feed golf ball sized balls of groundbait throughout the day. Initially I opted to fish on the bottom and alternated between all of the baits at my disposal. Bites came almost immediately and unfortunately it seemed that small skimmer bream had become quite populous here. In the past it was rare to catch bream on this particular lake and now they were far more prevalent. Still it was nice to get the rod bent.

A few decent roach put in an appearance and numerous fish were netted up to 10oz for me. Geoff managed a couple of better ones at 13oz and 14oz. In the past we have caught good numbers of 1lb plus roach here but it wasn’t to be today. The bream were generally small with the odd better fish, possibly up to a couple of pounds. Both Geoff and I had a couple of surprise captures; we both had two nice chub apiece, with the biggest about 3lbs. I also lost a big common carp near the net when the hooked pulled. We saw the fish on numerous occasions before it came adrift and it looked to be well into double figures, so I was a bit gutted to lose that. Then just to keep up with the Jones’ as they say, Geoff also lost a good carp.

As the day wore on the bream took over. So I decided to fish up in the water and shallowed up the float. Alternating between baits I fished at around 18″ deep. Now when bites came roach were the culprits. It made a big difference and soon I had notched up a couple of dozen nice roach. I think by the end of the day I had counted 59 fish for me, give or take one or two. So all in all a fun day. Geoff trailed a little with probably high 20s I think. Perhaps my superior angling came good on the day or it could have been the groundbait and flavoured maggots that made the difference! Or maybe I was lucky, who knows. Geoff normally excels at this kind of fishing, so it made a pleasant change to dish out a can of whoop ass! 🙂

Read Full Post »

The Final Fling

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged float fishing for roach, River roach, Trotting with bread, Winter roach fishing on March 16, 2013| 1 Comment »

“Well bugger the weather, I’m going fishing no matter what” was my answer to this latest spell of heavy snow. Sevenoaks ended up with about 8 inches (and that’s a real 8 inches not just a ‘man’s’ 8 inches, so there girls) which made the roads pretty treacherous. This meant that my planned trip to the upper Thames on Tuesday with my good pal John Kemp had to be cancelled but we hoped to still get out to maybe the Medway. However after snow falling all day Monday and throughout that night, the roads were a nightmare Tuesday morning and we had to surrender to the conditions.

Still come Hell or high water I was going Wednesday. Geoff hoped that if things improved, he would also come out to play. Luckily things did improve and we headed to the small Thames tributary that we have been targeting of late. As usual the river was quite coloured. This seems to be the norm in winter. The water was quite low too and we had found it seemed to fish better with a bit of water on.

It looked like there were already a few fishing. Not surprising really as it was the penultimate day of the season. We decided to walk from the very top section down, trying the odd swim if we fancied it. The upper section was fairly shallow and narrow. The whole river is pretty diminutive and very overgrown. It certainly suits a short rod approach. A long rod would be a pain in the proverbials here.

Its a fairly urban river too, despite running through several fields. The urban jungle sprawls fairly close by but not close enough to see into any bedroom windows er I mean living rooms! Mind you once you’re tucked away behind the trees you seem a world away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. There’s just the odd dog walker or horsey types to contend with.

The fishing was slow to say the least. After a few exploratory trots through a swim I soon managed a few bites. The end result was several dace and a small roach. I tried a few of the productive spots discovered on previous visits but they only produced the odd fish. Eventually a few slightly better sized roach came my way. Nothing particularly big, perhaps 12-14oz. Still they were beautifully proportioned roach nonetheless. Bars of silver, with those oh so delicate mouths and red fins. The roach perhaps is the perfect fish. Wondrous to behold and the stuff of boyhood dreams (well, amongst other things!).

I moved upstream as the afternoon wore on. I was having the sort of day where everything went wrong. I ended up with at least two knots in the main line, which would get stuck in the top eye every trot through. Of course when the knot got stuck in the top eye the pin would continue to spin resulting in a nice birds nest. Then there’s the impossible hook length knot. This forms out of nowhere and is caused by the most imperceptible of flicks. It creates a lovely and unpickable knot in the hook length. Pass the packet please! Then there was the constant snags on the bottom to contend with, resulting in numerous lost hooklengths. Oh and the bankside jungle snagged me at every opportunity. If I sound like I’ve got grumpy old man syndrome or a touch of whingeitis, well yes I have. Thank God there was no one around to hear my curses. Ah well, except for that chap that was just about to move into the swim just above me. He didn’t see me ensconced in amongst the trees. When I burst into a frenzied maelstrom of obscene profanities he beat a hasty retreat that’s for sure, scuttling back from whence he came. He may well of thought it was aimed at him. No, it was to Mother Nature for all of the things she sent my way just to cause me grief.

Anyways, I continued upstream loosing bits and pieces as I went. As the light faded I managed to tempt a few final suicidal roach and gudgeon. Big ones too. The gudgeon that is. So I ended the day with a nice dozen lovely roach. Nothing big but wonderful to catch river roach and on the stick and pin. Geoff had some lovely fish too however he could only muster 11, so came a poor second. Well something had to make my day, after all of the disasters I’d had.

We have both enjoyed our time here. We’ve caught some really superb fish. Not monsters but tremendous sport. I’m certain we’ll be back next winter. Until then dear roach; adiós muchachos .

Read Full Post »

Rutilus rutilus

Posted in Angling Diary, tagged Sidestream fishing, trotting for roach, Winter roach fishing on February 8, 2013| 2 Comments »

As far as I am concerned (and I have no doubt thousands like me) the roach is one of our brightest stars of the freshwater fishing world. To see that magnificent flash of brilliant silver in a river as a roach fights for freedom sets the pulse racing and that boyhood thrill takes over as you coax another red finned beauty into the waiting net.

Perhaps its their shape, or the red fins that capture the angler’s imagination but there really is something quite magical about roach. Of course most of the roach we catch tend to be relatively small, perhaps in the 2-6oz range. So when a better than average fish turns up, it really is that youthful childlike exhilaration that kicks in.

Lately some rivers are beginning to throw up some excellent specimen roach again. The Hampshire Avon and the Itchen are both performing well. Often in the winter it tends to be the side streams that produce as the roach seek a safe haven away from the frothing torrent of a flooded river. These side streams gain from having the extra winter levels and offer the winter roach angler an excellent opportunity to trot for these magnificent fish.

Geoff and I managed to get out and fish a small Thames tributary recently, one that was known to hold some good roach stocks. It was an overgrown and narrow river, with a mixture of deep glides and bends, shallows and some nice deep pools. There was overhanging trees, rafts and snags galore and plenty of long creases to trot a float down. Sadly the water was heavily coloured when we arrived and the river was pushing through a bit. We also had a sharp frost on the morning we arrived, which left our initial optimism a little deflated.

As is often the case with these small and intimate side streams, fishing a long float rod puts you at a distinct disadvantage. With so many tight spots and overhanging trees something a little shorter than the norm can make life so much easier. I recently purchased a 10ft float rod (a John Wilson) with lines recommended from 2-4lbs. This seemed ideal for the type of fishing I do and so for the princely sum of £10.50 I was the winning bid on eBay.

John Wilson Mirage Float Rod

The rod wasn’t as sensitive as my Drennan but then I didn’t expect it to be. However it was ideal for fishing in these tight spots and I didn’t suffer the normal tangle induced swearing bouts that seem to plague me on these tight venues! A small centrepin with 2.6lb mainline and a 2.4lb hooklength with a 16 hook complemented the rod nicely. When you’re used to handling a 14ft float rod, I have to say these much shorter ones take some getting used to. They just feel a bit odd but it performed well.

We opted to fish the lower section first and then work our way back upstream towards the car. The adjacent fields were full of flood water and we had to trudge through thick mud and water to get to the river. The swims towards the lower end proved deeper than expected, with up to 5′ of water and generally a nice pace. There are lots of underwater snags and overhanging trees but despite this some really good trotting spots.

I had two baits with me; bread and maggots. I started with a niece piece of punched bread on a 14 hook. After trying a few spots I finally found one of the deeper glides and soon found a nice fish attached to the hook. Sadly it came adrift and after that I couldn’t buy a bite. Geoff on the other hand seemed to be filling his boots. When he wandered down to see what I was up to and have a cuppa, I think he’d had around 9 or 10 roach. I hadn’t actually caught anything yet. “Let me have a try” he says and after just a couple of trots through, he’s in! “Bugger that” I thought and almost pushed him in. I take control of the rod again whilst Geoff drinks his tea but nothing transpires. So Geoff has another go and guess what. Well I’m sure you’ve worked it out, golden whatsits has another roach. With that I banished him from my swim and all subsequent swims in the future.

So whilst Geoff continued to catch I eventually found some fish and by lunchtime had 6 to exactly 1lb. They were all beautifully conditioned roach and looked absolutely stunning. Sadly the colour seemed to be getting darker and by mid afternoon we found we were struggling for bites. By now Geoff had caught 16 to my 6, so things were not looking so good for me. However that said we were both over the moon with the quality of the roach and the numbers, especially considering the conditions.

1lb Roach

We moved upstream some distance and found a couple of nice swims. Time was marching on relentlessly and we only had maybe a couple of hours left. With the sound of Ring Necked Parakeets squawking all around us (and yes, I would like to wring their necks 🙂 ), we continued to fish in earnest. I was in to a roach quite quickly and then it went quiet again. However during the last hour or so the roach went a bit potty. Both Geoff and I were getting lots of action and from some really decent sized fish. Most seemed to be in the 6-12oz bracket, with the odd bigger one thrown in for good measure. As the light faded the rain started and the bites just seemed to dry up. It seemed like a good time to pack up and retire to a coffee shop somewhere.

One things for certain; we’ll be back. Hasta la vista baby.

Read Full Post »

The River Angler

A Fishing Diary by Nathan Walter

Posts Tagged ‘Winter roach fishing’

Grayling and roach and chub. Oh my!

The Highs and Lows of Fishing.

Black Swans, Roach and Grayling.