MY FAVOURITE FISH
Match legend Bob Nudd explains why he can’t get enough of roach
IDON’T think it will surprise anyone who knows me when I say that the roach is my favourite fish of them all – and I think I won’t be alone in saying that, such are the memories that these lovely little fish bring flooding back.
Anglers of a certain vintage seem to catch a roach as their first fish, although I think that’s changed among the youngsters out there who probably count the carp as their first success.
Before carp fisheries, though, fishing was all about rivers, lakes and canals local to where you lived. That meant roach.
They’re such a common fish, found all over the UK and across Europe, and they’re also willing feeders when small, happy to take a badly presented bait. Another bonus for me as a match angler is that roach are a shoal fish. When you catch one, hopefully hundreds more will follow!
In turn, that demands its own set of skills from the angler, the ability to nurture a swim for a few hours to keep the bites coming. Presentation of the bait, feeding correctly and trying to pick out the bigger roach from the shoal are all challenges that I just love. Couple that with the nuances of running water and it’s all just heaven for me.
I love roach so much that I even moved house from my native Essex to the Fens of East Anglia to be closer to rivers like the Old Nene and the Welland, which in winter are packed with roach and hold big matches. They’re also handy for a pleasure fishing session in the middle of the week when I fancy a few bites and trying new things out.
On a very basic level, there’s little you can’t like about a roach. They’re lovely to look at with that dark green back, silvery-blue flanks and brilliant orange fins and eyes, and I still feel a great sense of satisfaction when I catch a fish over 1lb. In an age where bigger is supposedly better, I firmly believe that pounds and ounces just don’t matter where roach are concerned.
Roach also fight surprisingly well with a jagged, nodding scrap when hooked. Catch one on light tackle in flowing water and even an 8oz roach can put up surprising resistance.
Even the rise of the carp fisheries hasn’t stopped the roach success story. They’ve thrived in these heavily-stocked lakes and, eating pellets and pastes, they grown big. It’s now possible to catch 50lb or 60lb of roach on maggots and casters in winter when the carp have slowed down. Thirty years ago, catching 50lb of roach in England was as rare as hens’ teeth!
Certain baits are also synonymous with roach – hemp, casters and bread are all things that I don’t really use on the hook for any other fish, but roach adore them!
Hemp and caster is a great mix for summer fishing on rivers while in winter, small pieces of breadpunch take over.
I’ve been lucky enough to fish all over the world, catching many weird and wonderful species, but not one of them has anything on the joy that catching a big net of roach brings to me!”