GIANT TRENT ROACH SETS NEW RECORD
River best broken by 3lb 4oz specimen
ACOLOSSAL roach that’s believed to be a River Trent record has been banked in the shape of this 3lb 4oz beauty.
The incredibly rare redfin fell to Newark-based Alfie Naylor who had been targeting the waterway’s shoals of roach over the previous month.
The 36-year-old had already enjoyed success with a 2lb 10oz personal best, but he had no idea his latest trip to his local stretch would yield something even more special:
“After landing that 2lb 10oz fish I honestly thought I’d never see another river roach that big in my life,” he said.
“How wrong was I – two weeks later I managed another Trent
giant, but this time it was even bigger. I honestly thought it was the British record when it lay in my net.
To help get past the smaller roach Alfie fished with half a Nutrabaits River Plus dumbbell around 6mm in size, which he banded to a size 12 Daiwa Gamakatsu G-point hook.
He fished this in conjunction with a helicopter rig and a 25g Drennan Gripmesh feeder loaded with damp 4mm River Plus pellets and Trigga carpet feed.
“A couple of months ago I was invited to Bob Roberts’ barbecue which gave me the opportunity
to pick the brains of Archie Braddock and the late Mike Townsend regarding targeting big river roach,” Alfie added.
“I went away that evening with a serious amount of information from two of the best river roach anglers in the country and couldn’t wait to put it to use.”
Alfie’s big roach wasn’t the only specimen caught recently either as Richard Barlow proved with his 3lb 5oz specimen.
The Poole-based angler used groundbait feeder tactics with corn on a Wimborne and District Angling Club stillwater to take the large three pounder, alongside others weighing 2lb 6oz, 2lb 5oz and 2lb exactly. “I had just caught the three two-pounders when the bobbin went again and I struck into a heavy fish,” Richard said.