Big Roach from Rivers?

[peterjg]

It would be interesting to know which is actually best? Forget your favourite method but from your actual results have you caught more big roach upwards of a pound and a half from rivers by trotting or with a stationary bait on the bottom?

My actual results are about 50:50 but I tend to spend more time legering or laying-on.

 

[no-one in particular]

Personally for me as the rivers i fish are very slow I nearly always fish a static bait so nearly all my roach are caught thus. Despite that I think a static bait is better than a moving one for big roach, more big fish are caught ledgering in general in my opinion and also I do not think big fish are more inclined to dart about chasing a bait like the younger/smaller ones. In fact my favorite method for big roach is laying on a static bait, usually a piece of bread crust squeezed so nearly all the air is out but enough left to make it pop up off the bottom from the bottom shot which I can vary 2 - 6inches but 2 inches is about the best distance.. I push a 14-10 hook through the soft side and out the crust side and twist it back into the crust. The crust can be 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size. On a faster river I would street-peg this instead of actually trotting. The crust goes soft in the water but stays on the hook well and the big roach just suck it in, often produces a very positive bite. Caught more big roach like this than any other method although my big roach are not huge just better than the average from any particular water.
In fact I have had some very good roach the last few weeks, unusually for me I have been using maggots but using bread or sweetcorn to get the better fish and bread crust using the methods described have accounted all the belter fish. The roach have really been on the go lately, ideal conditions and warm.

 

[theartist]

I vary rarely fish static baits but moving baits get me a fair few, It still surprises me how high in the water the larger ones can feed.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I prefer roach fishing on rivers to still water.

To my mind much depends on the conditions on the day and that will dictate what to use, a static or trotted bait.

That said my best catches of bigger roach have come from a static bait although my largest ever fell to trotted bread flake.

 

[rob48]

Most of mine have been caught float fishing relatively shallow in deeper pegs. They seem to lie right under where the feed goes in and come up to intercept it. You won't catch those fish with a bait on the bottom. I've tried fishing full depth on the float, with a whip to hand, and straight lead, and although these methods catch well enough the bigger fish don't seem to respond.

 

[Philip]

Based on actual results its tons more to static baits on the bottom but thats because its the way I will usually fish for them so there is a huge bias.

I know big ones will fall to moving bait (..look no further than Ray Clarke..) but the way I fish nowadays I am specifically trying to single out the bigger fish and trotting in the classic sense (bread/maggots/casters/hemp etc) will throw up too many small ones.

 

[theartist]

As a float angler I would agree that static baits will catch more. Float fishing can however fill a niche as fewer people are doing it, it works well later in the summer especially when the fish wise up to big static baits and go for smaller particles on the drop. I'm pretty certain on the Severn for example they are hitting feeder spillage on the drop from barbel anglers so readily after a while so much so that you can get them first cast sometimes swim hopping when lucky. Water clarity is more of an issue with float fishing, I've found the clearer the better, throw in a bit of weed and it's a match made in heaven for float fishing pellet, add a lot of colour and sometimes I do wish I had a static bait out, but only fleetingly, it's more of a test of your skill when the conditions aren't favourable.

Much also depends on the water, large rivers lend themselves to static fishing, you're not going to fish well with hemp and tare or even pellets three quarters across the lower Severn or Thames with a float. Feeding is key, with big roach the loosefeed has to be compact whereas with chub and barbel they can be fed looser like with a catty, don't know if it's the same on the lead but it's something I've found applies to float. On smaller rivers everything is so precise so float is more equal with lead.

Lots of big roach do fall on larger rivers to barbel and carp anglers on lead but with float fishing I find it pays to be on top of them like wading out on the middle Severn or getting on a weir on the Thames preferably from a boat as bankside access is often limited there. Location is key with big roach like any other species but maybe more so with float fishing as you can't wait out for fish to pass through and swims need to accessible for the control of the float to be there.

 

[Keith M]

On the smaller rivers and streams that I usually fish I’ve had a few larger Roach of around the 1¾lb and 2lb plus mark on stationary Barbel and Chub baits fished hard on the bottom; especially when there’s a bit of colour in the water; but I’ve definately had more large Roach trotting on the float especially when it’s been running fairly clear.

I think it’s largely dependant on the swim I’m fishing and what time of year it is. I love to trot a float in swims that have a cleanish gravel bottom that’s running past reed beds or rushes and most of my biggest Roach have been caught fairly close to the edge of these reedbeds, or just below them, trotting a float in clearish water.

The last big roach that I caught this season (2lb 4oz) was actually caught tight up to a downstream rush bed but was on a trundled 7mm pellet meant for Barbel just after it had settled.

Keith

 

[spenbeck]

If my memory serves me correctly, about 10 years ago it was reported a large roach - 5, 6 or 7lb was caught on one of the big German rivers (Rhine?) using a 22mm boilie which was intended for carp! So, stationery baits for the largest roach.

 

[spenbeck]

Jus to add to the above post, these 2 roach were caught in a German lake feeder fishing by a mate.

 

[@Clive]

On the smaller rivers and streams that I usually fish I’ve had a few larger Roach of around the 1¾lb and 2lb plus mark on stationary Barbel and Chub baits fished hard on the bottom; especially when there’s a bit of colour in the water; but I’ve definately had more large Roach trotting on the float especially when it’s been running fairly clear.

I think it’s largely dependant on the swim I’m fishing and what time of year it is. I love to trot a float in swims that have a cleanish gravel bottom that’s running past reed beds or rushes and most of my biggest Roach have been caught fairly close to the edge of these reedbeds, or just below them, trotting a float in clearish water.

The last big roach that I caught this season (2lb 4oz) was actually caught tight up to a downstream rush bed but was on a trundled 7mm pellet meant for Barbel just after it had settled.

Keith

Have you tried stret-pegging for them Keith. It was the to go method up to the 60's when it seemed to fall out of fashion. I was reading a few letters to the editor of the Fishing Gazette around the turn of the last century and it seemed to be a very popular way of catching the bigger roach and dace back then. I have found a swim on the Vienne where it works well for carassin and rudd as well as the roach. The method seems to give a higher average size than when trotting.