How do I catch the bigger roach on commercial fisheries?
ITH a lot of commercials full of roach, picking out the bigger fish can be a huge advantage in matches.
And as far as pleasure fishing goes, it’s just lovely to slip the net under a great big roach. We all want to catch bigger fish, don’t we?
The problem is that for every roach over 8oz, there are likely to be dozens much smaller than that, and these tiddlers are normally very bold and
Whungry! You could play the percentages game and keep plugging away catching small fish with the odd better roach turning up from time to time, but this can get a bit boring. Instead, tailor your approach to quality roach and you’ll catch a proper one more regularly.
On the bait tray
The first thing to talk about is bait. Maggots are a great bait for roach, but they tend to catch them in all sizes. That’s great if the roach are all big, but not if there are lots of tiny ones in among them!
That’s where casters come into their own. Over the years I’ve always found the shells pick out a bigger stamp of fish.
Groundbait is also worth a mention. If you want a fast start, feeding a few balls from the off will more often than not get you up and running quickly. In terms of choosing a mix for commercials then it has to be fishmeal-based.
When fishmeal baits first hit the market, we thought roach and silvers were turned off by them but over time, roach on commercials have eaten more and more pellets. They now regard them as a part of their staple diet.
If you use a sweet traditional mix then you’ll catch roach, but they’ll be smaller than if you use a fishmeal or pellet-based mix. My favourite groundbait for roach on commercials is a 50/50 split of Ringer Baits F1 Black and Original Dark.
This is a great commercial roach mix when the water is clear, as tends to be the case when the weather is colder.
PERFECT PRESENTATION
Making the hookbait fall naturally and slowly through the water will catch you more fish, because big roach will often feed off bottom. A 0.6g Gloucester float with a strung bulk is the best shotting pattern for tackling 6ft or 7ft of water. I also use 0.12mm Guru Pure fluoro for my hooklength to help achieve this great presentation.
Fish short – catch fast!
Where to fish for roach varies from fishery to fishery, but I like to try and catch short.
This means either down the edges if the depth allows or around 7m on the pole straight in front of me. Trying to build a weight of roach relies on speed, and the closer to the bank I can fish, the faster I’ll be.
The edges can be a great place to catch roach, but only if you have 3ft-plus of water and a bit of cover there. If this isn’t the case, then you’re much better off fishing in the deep water at the bottom of the near shelf on that pole line. When the water starts to go clear big roach prefer the safety that a little bit of extra depth provides.
Bigger roach tend to feed off bottom, so light rigs are a must, depending on the depth. For example, where I am today at Meadowlands Fishery, I’m fishing in 7ft of water and using a 0.6g Perfect Gloucester. The rig has consistently picked out the bigger roach for me.
As far as shotting goes, the ever-faithful strung bulk is important, because it gives
TOUGH HOOKBAITS
What you put on the hook should be governed by how quickly you’re catching. When bites aren’t coming every chuck, a single dark-coloured caster is hard to beat. When I’m catching quickly, I’ll make the change to a single red maggot, or the head of a dendra worm. These are tough baits that let me catch several fish before I need to change them. a much slower fall of the hookbait than a standard bulk and droppers set-up. Big roach tend to be very crafty, so making your hookbait appear as natural as possible as it falls through the water is vital.
More feed for bigger fish
Feeding depends on where you’re fishing. If this is in open water, as is the case today, then I like to kick the swim off by feeding three or four large balls of groundbait with a little bit of chopped worm added, plus casters and a few dead pinkies. I know we’re talking roach, but a lot of commercials also contain skimmers and big perch, which is why I include a little bit of worm.
After this initial groundbait I’ll loosefeed casters over the top on a regular basis. As a guide I will start off feeding eight to 10 casters at a time with a view to seeing what sort of response I get. If it’s a good, positive response, I’ll up my feed accordingly because if there are a lot of fish in the swim, not feeding enough tends to see the stamp of fish drop.
DON’T IGNORE GROUNDBAIT
Loosefed caster plays a big part in my commercial roach attack, but only with groundbait. Firing in only casters can mean it takes too long for the swim to get going, but potting in three or four balls of groundbait at the start gets me a much quicker response. My mix is fishmeal-based, because roach in these venues eat lots of pellets.
If there are lots of small roach in the swim then upping the feed can often see an upturn in the overall size of fish.
One other tip is, if the swim dries up a little, it’s well worth potting another ball of groundbait in and resting things for 10 minutes. This will normally see the fish settle down again.
Give worm heads a go
at the back of your feed. On fisheries with a lot of small roach you’ll normally find that these are drawn to the feed quickly. Therefore, if you fish off the back of the bait you’ll pick off the larger weight-building roach – it’s a little trick I use a lot and it’s amazing at times how much of a difference it makes.