| MARK WINTLE |
| Mark Wintle, an angler for thirty-five years, is on a quest to discover and bring to you the magic of fishing. Previously heavily involved with match fishing he now fishes for the sheer fun of it. With an open and enquiring mind, each week Mark will bring to you articles on fishing different rivers, different methods and what makes rivers, and occasionally stillwaters, tick. Add to this a mixed bag of articles on catching big fish; tackle design, angling politics and a few surprises. Are you stuck in a rut fishing the same swim every week? Do you dare to try something different and see a whole new world of angling open up? Yes? Then read Mark Wintle’s regular column. |
Review of ‘The Complete Book of the Roach’ by Dr Mark EverardFive years ago a lifelong passion for catching big roach stimulated me into attempting to write a book about big roach. It got written alright but never made it into print; no publisher was willing to risk publishing a book by an unknown writer about a species that sadly continues to dwindle in popularity. The experience of writing, and approaching publishers, did me no harm though, and I did a huge amount of research into historical accounts of big roach and the methods employed to catch them, as well as getting a chance to document some of my own more memorable catches. So two years ago I was intrigued to see that Medlar intended to publish a roach book by Dr Mark Everard. With its launch at the recent CLA Game Fair I finally had a chance to see it, and to talk to Mark about some aspects of it. On the strength of what I saw I bought a copy. I have yet to read it end to end but I’ve had a good few dips into it so far to get a reasonable impression, enough I hope to make a decent attempt at a review.
First impressions of the book were very good; it’s a whopping 436 pages and around 160,000 to 170,000 words; a colossal work. Mark’s professional qualifications and roach fishing experience combine to explain roach from many aspects. Their evolution, biology and habits are described in great detail in the first substantial section of the book, ‘Roach Biology’. The second section (and largest), ‘Roach Angling’ is concerned with how Mark goes about catching them with descriptions of tackle, bait and methods. The final section, ‘Roach and Society’ is concerned with roach and their impact on society. The first section on roach biology is thorough and interesting, my only concern being that it seems a little sparse concerning that enigmatic hybrid the roach x rudd. Other hybrids are covered well enough though. My reason for concern on this may become clearer as you read on. But this section in itself is a worthy work of reference for any angler and has implications for other species. The short piece on the ability of fish to feel is concise, pragmatic and clear; the implications of nociception (a term commonly used to refer to the perception of pain) and lack of a neocortex (the structure in the brain that differentiates mammals from other vertebrates) being fully explained. The second section, 210 pages in its own right about roach angling, is interesting from the point of view that some new methods are described (you’ll have to read it to find out what!), and that Mark’s own experiences shine through. What is clear to me is that although Mark has caught a colossal total of big roach he relies on comparatively few methods to catch them; skilful trotting with bread punch/flake must be near the top, possibly followed by quiver/feeder tactics, again with bread. From my own experience knocking up a huge total of big roach is chiefly about having a reliable spot/s to catch them from, preferably very local so that you can fit in lots of short sessions when the river’s moods dictate. Then you need a reliable and skilful method that involves careful feeding and excellent bait presentation. But catching big roach can require vastly different methods – some that I certainly have little experience of, like the helicopter/feeder rig for stillwater, and the willingness to realise that although bread is a top class bait for big roach, overall maggots actually outscore it but not by much. That doesn’t mean that bread is useless, far from it, often outscoring maggots. But at other times maggots will completely outfish bread but this doesn’t come out in the book. This is a shame because this section was where I was hoping Mark would explain what he thinks makes roach tick and how his methods work. For the would-be roach angler there is plenty of meat though, and even the most experienced roach angler cannot fail to learn more about the habits of roach and methods that can be used. Within this same section there is a short supplement on historic records. It was clear to me that either Mark doesn’t know much about the historic records, ran out of space, or didn’t find time to research them properly. Wilf Cutting’s fish is dismissed in perfunctory manner yet it is easy to get the background, perhaps best summarised by Kevin Clifford in John Bailey’s book ‘Roach – The Gentle Giants’. Bill Penney fares little better yet Bill was one of the all time great roach anglers. Bert Brown’s record-equalling fish is mentioned but not the controversy stoked by Dick Walker who maintained for many years that it was roach x rudd hybrid. Richard Jones’ spawn carrying fish similarly is mis-reported. But my attention intensified when I got to the account of Keith Berry’s record breaking fish caught earlier this year. I am still not sure of the exact status of this fish. I know it got past the coarse fish section of the BRFC but don’t know whether it has been fully ratified yet. The previous paragraph mentioned the Bert Brown fish. Forty years on we don’t seem to be able to learn a valuable lesson from history; that for roach and rudd photo evidence simply is not good enough to determine whether a fish is true specimen of the species or a hybrid variation. I discussed this with Mark, looking at a photo of Keith’s fish. Eventually we agreed it would come down to a matter of opinion but that isn’t good enough for acceptance of a record – any expert doubts = no record! The Bert Brown fish had a full autopsy, yet still the experts couldn’t agree. I think I hoped for a much harder line on photo identification in the book. Conversely DNA testing is given a hard time when given proven procedures it will prevent the mistakes of past and present, whereas relying on photographic identification is yielding the potential for further errors. The third and final section of the book is an eclectic round-up of all things roachy, and again entertaining, covering anything from economic and ecological impacts to the roach in art and print. Illustration throughout is in black and white only, with both line drawings and photos. The book has an excellent index and glossary. Could the book have been improved? I think so; for example more research on historical catches (several mentions of Dick Walker for instance but nothing on Walker’s own contribution to the science of catching roach). At times the book heads off on curious tangents but doesn’t suffer unduly for it; perhaps better editing would have curbed that tendency. So would I recommend you go out and buy this book? I reckon you should, for you cannot fail to gain an increased knowledge of all things angling, and especially concerning roach. ‘The Complete Book of the Roach’ by Dr. Mark Everard Medlar £ 35 |
