Saturday I had a good day planned which consisted of packing my feeder rod and feeder fishing gear, the plan was to sit up in a swim out of the sun as it was very hot weather to be sitting out in and at 30c the fish would probably feed better in the shaded, cooler water where they might be a little more indusive in feeding.
My tackle comprised of an 12ft quiver tip rod with a 1oz tip, with 6lb line through to a 15g cage feeder and then a small swivel connected to a 1 foot leader of 3lb line with a size 12 barbless hook.
First off the session didn't really go as planned because the Chub were just getting to the bait before anything else could get to it and not before long I had a bag of Chub in the keepnet weighing at 26lb 9oz with the biggest at 4lb 7oz.
So with the Chub reigning supreme in the first swim after about 90 minutes I had decided that the best option was to move and try a different swim about 500yrds downtream and see if I could fish through the Chub and maybe get a Roach. The spot that I had choose to fish was very extremely weeded up and the only bit I could fish was a gully about a foot wide between the 2 banks of weed which was pure gravel in the clear so that was where i cast my feeder which was crammed with white crumb and the hookbait was a small piece of brown bread.
Within 10 minutes I had a solid take on the feeder rod and latched into a good fish and because it was quite strong I thought straight away it was a Chub, but after about a minute I saw a redfin cut through the water where I started to play it alot more carefully I didn't want to lose it, but after a brief fight I had it in the net.
My tackle comprised of an 12ft quiver tip rod with a 1oz tip, with 6lb line through to a 15g cage feeder and then a small swivel connected to a 1 foot leader of 3lb line with a size 12 barbless hook.
First off the session didn't really go as planned because the Chub were just getting to the bait before anything else could get to it and not before long I had a bag of Chub in the keepnet weighing at 26lb 9oz with the biggest at 4lb 7oz.
So with the Chub reigning supreme in the first swim after about 90 minutes I had decided that the best option was to move and try a different swim about 500yrds downtream and see if I could fish through the Chub and maybe get a Roach. The spot that I had choose to fish was very extremely weeded up and the only bit I could fish was a gully about a foot wide between the 2 banks of weed which was pure gravel in the clear so that was where i cast my feeder which was crammed with white crumb and the hookbait was a small piece of brown bread.
Within 10 minutes I had a solid take on the feeder rod and latched into a good fish and because it was quite strong I thought straight away it was a Chub, but after about a minute I saw a redfin cut through the water where I started to play it alot more carefully I didn't want to lose it, but after a brief fight I had it in the net.
1.6 a proper Roach.
Biggest Roach for a long time and it makes me wonder why I don't fish for them more often as they are a fantastic species and to catch them wild in a river like this is great stuff but it got even better as the session progressed and the feed increased with the intense feeding of the fish, my next Roach went 14oz and then quickly followed by one at 15oz and then after just a short period of time the swim started to really come alive with takes on the drop, 2 hours later my keepnet started to fill up with some absolutely quality Roach but then out of the blue a big Roach took my bait and immediately surfaced, it was a lump of a fish and fought very hard with every dive it aimed for the weed beds but I managed to persuade it to not come off, a two-pounder! the first one for a while and a pb on this river aswell, 2lb 1oz.
Another 4 hours of fishing and a lovely bag of Roach later I had decided to pack up with the Roach still feeding after I had packed up and my Dad had come down to take some pictures for me.
Roach - 1.14 and 1.10
2.1 and 1.15
A pick of the best 8 Roach between 1.11 and 1.15 on the mat and holding a 2.1.
Another nice duo of Roach 1.14 and 1.10 with the top one which at some point in time had been attacked by a cormorant but had survived albeit with a lump missing out of its back.
A total of the days fishing was 13 Roach over 1lb and 1 Roach over 2lb, also I had a massive Rudd at 1.14 that in the excitement of it all I forgot to photograph, along with 2 chub and an 11oz Dace.
A redfin letter day!, absolutely amazing day out on the bank, I can't wait to catch some more Roach that size.
Like you say a Redfin day, well worth the wait! Awesome catch mate and what a pic of them all lined up so well done! Stu
ReplyDeleteWhat a day it was Stu, my god im still pinching myself, next stop 3lb+ Roach? (lol)
DeleteFabulous roach fishing! Well done anytime of year, but in high summer, one of the best catches of roach I have ever seen. A 'two' to top it off as well.
ReplyDeleteJeff
Cheers Jeff, I was in absolute awe during the whole session and I still can't believe it especially in the roasting hot weather, I will remember that bag for a very long time I am very sure of that! Again thank you I hope you get stuck into some of these sized fish soon, look forward to reading about it. James
DeleteGreat catch James, especially seeing as the weather was not exactly prime Roach conditions.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew, your not wrong I didn't expect that!
DeleteBrilliant! Fantastic fishing & great photos
ReplyDeleteCheers Brian! fantastic indeed.
DeleteThe photos look amazing! You managed to catch so many roaches in one day. And it is great that you got yourself a 2.1 pounds Roach! Even though at first, you were only catching Chub, but at least in the end you caught what you wanted to catch in the first place. Going home with a 13 Roach can certainly be called a Redfin letter day! I wish you luck the next time you go fishing, and hope that you can catch a bigger Roach.
ReplyDeleteIdalia Conn