Roach fishing trip
I decided to give the river a miss this weekend as the weather was unseasonably windy with showers. So I went for a Roach fishing trip to my local pond that I know is full of silvers. I sometimes fish there in the winter when the rivers are flooded. Although in the winter the fishing can be hard, catching a few Roach I find very rewarding.
The fishery is not at all popular, having only about four Carp in it. No surprises I had the place to myself. After a good look around I settled on a peg with two lily beds in front. Having never fished this water in the summer, I brought along my float gear and a quiver tip to be on the safe side. For bait I had some dead maggots, a pot of hemp and some sweetcorn, all good Roach baits.
I decided to ledger against the left lilies and use a waggler against the right. I setup my float rod first and plumbed the depth in both swims. The ledger line was a few inches deeper, but there was very little in it.
While I finished setting up both rods, I fed hemp on the ledger line and the dead maggots on the float. As a matter of interest I like to kill my maggots by putting them in the freezer for a few days.
On the waggler
I started by fishing the float swim with an insert waggler. I was catching immediately, small Perch that is, on the drop. So I bulked the shot down the line to get the bait quickly past the Perch. This worked for about half the casts, which was better than before.
I began to catch a few Rudd off the bottom, no doubt attracted by the maggots. But despite my best efforts, half the time I would catch a small Perch. Time for a change.
Over to the ledger
I switched rods and fished the ledger line. With simplicity in mind, I used a running lead rig on 4lb line, size 16 hook, half ounce lead with thirteen inches of line between lead and hook. This worked a treat with sweetcorn as bait. I was catching a fish a chuck. But in no time at all the fish stopped. I just could not get another bite, so back to the float.
This time on the float I used hemp feed and corn on the hook. Immediately it became clear the Perch were not interested. Instead the bait was reaching the bottom and I was catching Roach, most around 8 oz.
By half seven the weather really started to close in, so time to pack up. Pulling the keep net from the water I found twenty odd fish, a mix of Roach, Rudd Skimmers and hybrids.
Next time
Looking back on my Roach fishing trip, I know what I can improve. I’m sure the left swim died because I over fed it and maggots are not selective enough in the summer. So next time I will stick with hemp and sweetcorn, or I might even try some pellets.
Related
Bread flake or paste for summer Roach
Float fishing for winter Roach – lake