- Joined
- Nov 16, 2020
- Messages
- 251
- Reaction score
- 416
Again, I have read all this intently and I actually think we are all right, one way and another, according to our different disciplines. For example, I am not at all surprised that DC has witnessed big roach taken on a line away from the scene of the smaller fish action. That is exactly what I would expect. They are interested in the food but wary of the commotion caused by smaller fish being hooked, so they hang back, and there they are vulnerable if located. If a pike disturbs the smaller roach, or if these thin out and the baited area gets quieter, then probably the big ones will slowly dare to come closer to the feed zone. Nothing in this scenario contradicts what I and others have been saying: if you find (or can see) a big roach and present a bait to it when it is unspooked, it is likely that fish will take it.
Everything is about big roach being confident enough to feed, and that is why the comments on stealth are so pertinent. If you are roach fishing, or fishing for any other river species, the first cast is always the most important and the most likely to be successful. If you can get a bait in there without fish knowing there is danger around, half the job is done. That is why wasting that first cast by plumbing, or checking the float cocks, or whatever, is foolish almost always. As DC says, if you are patient enough to feed the swim for twenty minutes before casting, your chances are vastly increased, and it is almost certain any big roach present are hunting for your bait and likely to take it on first sighting. A dropped box. A banged-in rod rest. A shadow. A heavy footfall. A bad first cast. A missed bite. A fish pricked and lost. All these things diminish your chances enormously.
BTW, Captain Parker is one of our roach heroes. He’s up there with Faddist, Wentworth, Swanton, and all the big guns, past and present.
Everything is about big roach being confident enough to feed, and that is why the comments on stealth are so pertinent. If you are roach fishing, or fishing for any other river species, the first cast is always the most important and the most likely to be successful. If you can get a bait in there without fish knowing there is danger around, half the job is done. That is why wasting that first cast by plumbing, or checking the float cocks, or whatever, is foolish almost always. As DC says, if you are patient enough to feed the swim for twenty minutes before casting, your chances are vastly increased, and it is almost certain any big roach present are hunting for your bait and likely to take it on first sighting. A dropped box. A banged-in rod rest. A shadow. A heavy footfall. A bad first cast. A missed bite. A fish pricked and lost. All these things diminish your chances enormously.
BTW, Captain Parker is one of our roach heroes. He’s up there with Faddist, Wentworth, Swanton, and all the big guns, past and present.