In previous winters I promised myself I’d have a go at catching a big river roach of 2lb. In the past other species often took priority in winter and I normally spent most of my time after pike and perch. So last winter I decided to give targeting roach priority and have a go for them on my local river.
My favourite approach for catching silvers on a river is by trotting maggots on the centrepin. It gives me lots of control over the float and presents the bait in the best way possible.
On my first session I’m feeding maggots on every cast and I started to pick up some dace and a few small roach while fishing at a shallow depth. I wanted to explore more of the river, so I decided to move to a deeper and slower section to see if I could find the bigger fish.
I’m glad I did, as I started to catch some bigger roach. After a couple of hours, I caught some roach to about 1½ lb a few decent dace too. It was a really good start to my campaign.
I was pleased to be catching in such cold conditions, but I knew that If I wanted to get a 2lb roach, I needed to travel further afield. I decided the river Stour and the Hampshire Avon would be a better option for big roach.
On my first trip to the Avon I teamed up with my mate Dan. In the morning we decided to target pike, as I was also looking for a big river pike on lures. The river was carrying a lot of extra water after recent rain and I was casting a shad lure into a slack area and bang – I was in. After a spirited fight, Dan was there to slip the net under a decent pike. Happy days.
In the afternoon we switched to trotting maggots with my Korum Power Glide rod and JW Young and Sons Trudex 3 centrepin. We were both getting to grips with the river and catching a few fish. Most of mine came from the inside line with the centrepin, it’s a lovely way to fish. We were starting to catch some decent fish and getting closer to our target two pounder.
I was moving swims searching for the big roach and I needed to keep tweaking the float set up to present my maggots in the best way. In some swims the flow was too great for the Korum Glide Speci stick float. It wasn’t sitting upright and was lying to the side. I switched to a bigger Korum Glide Avon float with a 5g olivette and this was sitting perfectly upright in the faster flow. My confidence was growing.
My mainline was 4lb and I used an inline olivette to sink the float. I tied a quick change swivel to attach my hooklink. I wanted to fish as light as possible, so I started with a 2lb hooklink with a size 18 hook and single maggot. To present two maggots, I changed to a size 16 hook.
I found the smaller the hook I used, the more bites I was getting.
A change is as good as a rest
A few days later, Korum asked me to test the new inline Grub Feeders that were about to be released. So I was back on the river, using a different technique for a big roach. These feeders are going to be brilliant for tench fishing later in the year, and I’m sure they’ll work well for roach too.
I experimented with my fluorocarbon hooklinks, starting off short, then with popped up maggots using the clip on the top of the feeder. However the best method was a longer hooklink. I was catching some decent roach on the feeder.
After extending the hooklink, I struck into something that felt a bit bigger and my heart was in my mouth when I saw a big roach coming towards the net. Is this the one I’m after?
Well almost, I’d landed my biggest roach of the winter campaign, at just under 2lbs. I was chuffed with this cracking fish. It really pays to keep your options open for the best way to catch big roach in winter.
What’s that coming over the hill?
A few days after that session on the Avon, I was sitting in the warm at home and Dan got in touch. He said he’d caught something a bit special and sent me the photo below.
He’d caught a monster roach of nearly 3lb, which is a fish of a lifetime. Although I was really pleased for him, I thought we were a team and he goes out and catches a massive roach without me – what a cheek, it’s outrageous!
To make matters worse for me, a few days later Dan gets in touch again to say he’s caught a monster grayling of 3lb 5oz and another of 3lb 4oz in the same session – he’s definitely on a roll at the moment.
I must confess that I wasn’t looking forward to my next session with Dan. He’d sent me photos of those big fish nearly every day for over a week.
I was really pleased for him though, as I know how much effort goes into catching big fish and he’d caught three fish of a lifetime in just a few weeks.
Next winter I’ll have to make sure I catch some bigger roach to stop him from having the bragging rights. Be lucky, like Dan.
Watch the video now
