GAME CHANGER Matchman’s trick raises bar
NEWS REPORTER CHRIS HAYDON – 1lb 15oz ROACH
“RIVER roach are impressive creatures, but not a species I’d really paid much attention to until last year. Pictures of glistening red-finned giants in the magazine gave me the push I needed to have my first proper go at catching one.
I started in winter, on my beloved River Avon in Wiltshire. Using trotting tactics with a stick float and maggots, I caught plenty of fish, but none were the monster roach I was hoping for.
These fish were certainly smarter than I’d given them credit for, and as many of the textbooks will tell you, they come alive at last light, which means you have to make the most of this period and be fully prepared for it.
The winter was soon over, and I had to wait out the closed season, while conjuring up a plan to fool the better roach I dreamed of.
I’d noticed some of the matchmen in the office were having a lot of success with roach by fishing with just hemp on the hook. This deters the smaller fish and the roach seem to love it, selecting it over other baits. It sounded like just what I needed to avoid the smaller fish.
When the conditions suited, I headed to the river armed with some hemp. Fishing the pole at around 6m, I started on my usual maggot approach, taking endless bleak and small chub. If the hemp was going to work, it was now.
Hooking hemp is a fiddly task, which is why some anglers choose only to feed it. You have to find a piece that has only just split enough for the back of the hook to slide into.
If you get a bite, the bait is usually gone, so it’s okay if you don’t think it is on firmly enough. Part of the fish’s confidence in taking it is that it masks the hook. I used a size 16 Drennan Super Specialist, which seemed more than up to the job.
As the float settled on my first cast with hemp, the bait was intercepted and I was soon swinging a 10oz roach to hand. This continued for two hours, with roach over 1lb banked.
I returned to the same spot a few days later, full of optimism and again armed with hemp. Interestingly, I found on my last session that the hemp was encouraging roach to feed confidently well before the last light witching hour.
I only gave the maggots a brief go this time, getting battered by small fish before the bait even hit the bottom. I had been feeding the hemp heavily with the catapult from the start, so I was happy to get on it quick.
This paid off with another flurry of good roach, before I hooked a fish that stretched my elastic out across the weir pool slowly, before dropping off.
Disappointed but not despondent, I recast, hoping it wasn’t a big roach I’d lost. On the next cast the float gently slid away again, and I was into a heavy fish. As it came to the surface, my mouth hit the floor in shock – it was the big roach I had been looking for.
Once it was in the net, I could see the fish was beyond my wildest dreams, a much-respected giant river roach. It spun the scales round to between 1lb 15oz and 2lb, the dial fluttering between the two, as I shook with excitement.
Changing to hemp had seen me land my best-ever river roach, but I couldn’t help cursing myself for not making the change sooner!”
“The float slid gently away and I was into a big fish.”