Specimen roach quest

I had never managed a really big roach. Like many, I had caught some nice ones over the years but a 2 pounder had never graced my net albeit I had never made a concerted effort.

I was fishing with a friend in the summer and the subject of roach came up. It was then that we hatched a plan to catch a big roach. The Cotswold gravel pits would be the target venue in the first instance.

With some research and planning taking place over the last few weeks, the time had arrived. The plan involved two nights on a large gravel pit. For me, this became one night after an incident that resulted in a trip to A&E and nine stitches. Not a great start but I arrived the next morning. My fishing companion had drawn a blank overnight but we high hopes for the remainder of the trip.

The pit itself is over 30 acres so there's lots of places the roach could be. The mild weather meant there were plenty of anglers on the bank meaning that the areas noted for roach were not available. The swims we chose were not fancied for roach and had no previous. There was an element of finding a needle in a haystack. However, it was the cards we were dealt so it wouldn't stop us trying, especially with a southerly wind blowing towards our bank. 

Tactics were relatively simple. Two rods set up with helicopter rigs. A very short fluorocarbon hooklink tied to a size 16 hook. A heavy feeder would create a bolt rig with maggots as bait.  

A fabulous 2lb 4oz PB roach

My swim turned out to be weed free and presented a clean open area over gravel. I was fishing at about 40 yards in 12ft of water. It meant I would fish both rods very close to one another. I had one on an open end feeder with dark  coloured groundbait sandwiching maggots and some hemp. The other was just a standard blockend feeder approach. Casting would be every 30 minutes to keep a trickle of bait going in. 

There was little to report during the day. This wasn't a huge surprise. As light began to fade, the first fish was caught. A perch of about 8oz meant there was no blank and this was quickly followed by another of just over a pound. It then became dark and the action ceased. By 9pm, the alarms started to give some indications that there were fish in the swim. The weather was also pretty grim with Storm Ciaran putting in an appearance. At 9.45pm, the alarm screamed into life and up I jumped to find myself connected to a fish. You can imagine my excitement when the silver flanks of a roach surfaced. Using lighter tackle meant the roach was able to put up some stern resistance and I was really conscious the hook could easily pull from its soft mouth. The fish was safely netted. It was clearly a personal best roach and it looked huge. If you have never seen a big roach in the flesh before then they are really impressive creatures, likely over a decade old. The scales showed the fish weighed 2lb 4oz and it was a super result on my first attempt.

A specimen 3lb perch

Out went the rods again. I was continuing to stay active and trickle the feed in as the rain pelted down. Within the hour, another screaming run saw me connected to another fish. This felt better and made a dash for a nearside tree. I remember thinking, if this is a roach then it's going to be good. It wasn't a roach but it was a super looking fish. The stripey flanks of perch came into sight and having caught plenty of decent perch before, I could see this one fell into the 'decent' category. It went 3lb 1oz. 

It capped an amazing 60 minutes that saw me land a 2lb roach and a 3lb perch. I can tell you that this doesn't happen very often so it certainly exceeded my expectations for the trip. 

Nothing happened overnight other than the bivvy taking a battering from the wind and rain. The next morning saw a small roach landed and a huge roach spotted rolling in front of me. By the end of the morning it was time to leave but I did so with me planning my next roach trip and a potential 3 pounder. 

A PB chub lifts spirits

The changeable weather over the last few weeks had coincided with three straight blanks. I'd set myself a little challenge this season of catching a barbel in each month of the river season. So far, so good but December's deep freeze and a lack of daytime fishing opportunities meant that it was starting to look unlikely. Last week saw a brief lift in temperatures before the next wave of freezing weather arrived.

It was already dark when I left the house and a late change in mind with my chosen venue saw me on the banks of the Warks Avon by around 6pm. The river was around 7°C, which was a rise on the previous week so it meant something ought to bite. I had only taken one rod as I aimed to be mobile

if required. A chunk of meat was cast mid-river. After a quiet 20 minutes it became apparent that the chub would be the most likely species. The tell tale knocks and grabs began, none of them enough to warrant a strike. Something was definitely interested and the pulls continued for a good 15 minutes. I remained patient. Striking too early would most probably end in failure and see the opportunity lost. Eventually a positive pull that kept going saw me strike into a nice fish. I've had some decent chub from the stretch throughout the season with a few big four pounders but the chub that lay in the net before me was no four pounder. A broad shouldered chub sent the scales to 5lb 7oz and was a new personal best for me and a cracking result for a December evening.

As I sit writing this, the countryside is white over. It looks like it could be a tough week or so as Christmas approaches. Hopefully, there's still time to manage a few more fish before the year is out. Good luck if you're planning a trip.