Stillwater roach

[Smarts]

What methods do you good folks recommend for decent stillwater roach?
I fancy the maggot feeder, myself.

[b]Smarts

[Crispy]

Block end maggot feeder mate, with a tiny amount of hemp in, that would be my first choice!

Or mashed bread with a bit of flake fished over the top.

Crispy

[fatboy]

Try caster as the hookbait over hemp. I found that you had to fight through the smaller fish when using maggot on the hook.

[Smarts]

Crispy,
do you favour a 'bolt' type rig or free running?

cheers!

[b]Smarts

[scorpio]

If your after big roach and are targetting mainly roach Bread has to be the better bait as it keeps the Perch away. I always use punch, a large punch on a size 14 hook, i know it's annoying keep baiting up but it's worth it.

Second choice would be corn, this again keeps the Perch away.

Small beans work well also, peas and other small pulses, when using this method feed with maggots and hemp. This combination of loose feed brings the fish in but not so much the bream.

I hope this is of help, it has worked for me but you need to be very patient as you will invariably take a hell of a lot of smaller fish. Don't get me wrong, I do like to catch perch but thay are a pain in the **** when you are after roach.

Tony

[rhornegold]

Smarts,
Bread is a great bait for large Roach, fished feeder style at range.
Liquidised bread in the feeder I found to be best, keeping the bread on the hook for any length of time can be difficult.
The best bread for this is white thick slice Mothers Pride or Kingsmead.
Pinch a piece of off the slice, fold and squeeze, pass the hook though the folded bread and up the line, then pass the hook back though the bread.
In this way it lasts hours.
The next best bait is caster, but it has to be fresh, put some in water and pick out the floaters .
Put these to the side, you may need these on a long hook length to add a bit of movement to our bait.
Thread the first caster up the shank and the second cross way's just letting the hook tip show.
Use an open feeder with crumb encasing casters.

[Rivercarper]

You silly sod Bob the bread is Kingsmill not Kingsmead.I would love to see you putting K1 on the hook.

[rhornegold]

Neil,
Just shows you how this site plays on your mind,sorry lads" Kingsmill ".
Bob

[Smarts]

Thanks,Bob,Scorpio etc......
Congratulations Neil.....I didn't even notice the bread related error......Bob's right.....this site does start to affect one's mind.......

[b]Smarts

[Peter]

Can anyone recommend an RMC water with decent sized roach?

Cheers

[scorpio]

A few years back I had roach over 2lb from Shepperton. I have had some dood ones from RMC's section of the river Wey as well. Chertsey holds some good ones too but it's not easy getting them. Took me a whole season to get one from Shepperton over 2lb and then had 4 in 2 weeks.

Tony

[rhornegold]

Peter,
There are many waters that dont get fished for anything other than carp, so thats where I would look.
A few years ago when the Arena was a day ticket water I fished it a lot for the carp, if I had realised the size of the Roach in there I would not have bothered with the carp.
There are plenty of RMC waters that dont get fished for the smaller species.
Those are the ones to have a go at.
Bob

[Crispy]

Smarts

Sorry for the late reply, I'd use either a free running rig or a light paternoster with a long tail.

Crispy

[Claus]

Yateley Match Lake

[rhornegold]

Claus,
How Big?

[Smarts]

They've come out to over 2lb from both the match and South lakes at yateley........on boilies!

[b]Smarts

[rhornegold]

Smarts,
Does any one fish for them seriously or are they picked up by accident?
Bob

[Smarts]

Bob,
I've not seen a soul fish for them at all....I will when he weather cools off Autumn time using a maggot feeder I expect. Location is going to be the biggest hurdle!

[b]Smarts

[rhornegold]

Ian/Smarts,
Thanks lads, it would be good to have a go for them in the autumn.
Are there many preditors in these waters?
Bob

[rhornegold]

Ian,
Yes I thought it did, so how come there are such big Roach?
You know how much of a problem silver fish can be with a big head of Cats/Pike.
Bob

[Smarts]

Bob.....I would have thought that 'silver' fish would all be munched by the cats etc....but the Split lake and Match at Yateley have plenty! That's what gives me a gut feeling that these waters may hold a big roach,(or perch),as maybe there is less competition for food?
I personally think that the cats eat less and less fish as both these lakes are carp fished,(the Match very heavily),and are so used to coming across the angler's baits that they are predominately boilie eaters....lazy ******s!
This is just a thought though, and may not be the case at all. I have seen cats attack the roach shoals in the Split lake recently at dusk. Their fixation with boilies may only be temporary too...a 'quick fix' as they come out of their winter slumbers and maybe they really go for the silver fish when they really come round.
Anyone got any ideas or thoughts on this?.....(new post?!)

[b]Smarts

[rhornegold]

Smarts,
Two waters that I fished for cats have become virtual
no go areas for silver fish as they have eatern them all.
Cats are lazy until it gets hot then their main diet is live bait.
If you have seen a cat attack it is far more violent than any pike and very spectacular.
Bob

[loki]

Hi Bob, what do the cats eat when all the silver fish have been eaten? How many roach can a 40lb catfish eat in a season?

My ignorance of the species and it's history is showing here, never seen one let alone caught one, but I think I'm concerned.

[rhornegold]

Ioki,
Catfish will feed on just about anything, but in hot weather they like to hunt prey fish.
On many waters where they have eaten their way though the natural stocks of fish they are feed artifically.
In much the same way as you may pre bait a Pike swim (lots of fish offal).
Cats can eat some very big prey fish, a mate of mine caught a cat of 165lbs last year, inside its mouth was the tail of a carp; when removed it weighed 29lbs.
A 40lb cat can easily eat a 3/4lb fish, so when they have finished of the silver fish they will start on bigger species, including birds, rats and any other water creature that stay their way.
I suspect that there is a natural balance; prey fish to catfish, if this is not maintained the catfish will start to lose condition and weight.
This has happened on many waters in respect of Pike/Cormorant decimation of fish stocks.
But as catfish waters tend to be small and the cats were mainly introduced by fishery owners/ managers they in my opinion have a responsibility to supplement the catfish food supplies.
Bob

[scorpio]

Where would I get a 29lb carp as a live bait..... only joking guys /images/forum/icons/laugh.gif

Tony

[rhornegold]

Tony,
Good job we are not on the carp section, but as you may have guessed the cat was caught by Martin Walker from the River Ebro in spain.
Bob

[kentsteve]

I thought the biggest danger to silver fish nowadays was the oversized cormorant population

[rhornegold]

kentsteve,
They are in this country, but in Spain many of the big cats have cormorants inside them.
Bob

[kentsteve]

LOL, good for the cats, a natural predator to the cormorants, just what we need