Today, I'm going to tell you why the roach, even though it isn't a big fish, manages to take the number 4 spot in my top ten fish. A roach weighing a couple of pounds can be considered quite a specimen and, although I've come very close, I never quite managed to crack the 2lb barrier.
So, what is it that makes the roach so appealing? Well, to start off with, it looks like a proper fish. It's the right shape and colour; it isn't slimy like a bream or tench and doesn't have spikes or teeth.
The fact that the roach is so widespread, also helps it in the popularity stakes. It is caught all over the country and is equally at home, in canals, still waters or rivers. There are few other fish that are truly happy in such a variety of waters.
When it comes to bait, the roach comes up trumps again. It will take almost every bait that the angler can throw at it and even some baits that aren't used for other fish. Here I'm thinking of tares, I've never used this bait for any species other than the roach.
The roach, will also happily feed in the winter, when most other fish are tucked up in the nearest weed bed. And is there another fish that will feed so obligingly at any depth? Tench and bream for example, like their food nailed to the bottom, whereas a rudd likes it higher in the water. Roach don't care, they'll feed at any depth as long as it's wet.
So there we have it. The roach is good looking fish, that will take any bait, in any water, at any depth and that is why it comes in a number 4.
I recently looked back at the fishing sessions I've had over the years and, surprisingly, it wasn't thoughts of the matches I'd won that brought a smile to my face, it was the majical memories of fishing for roach with hemp and tares.
I guess my favourite fishing times were in the late seventies. My fishing pals and I would go on regular outings to the river Trent. The areas around, Shardlow and Long Eaton, were among our favourite spots and there we'd spend eight hours or more fishing the stick.
We'd go armed with a several pints of bronze maggots, a bag of hemp and half a pint of tares. Our method was simple. We'd run our stick floats down the side, about a rod length out, and feed a pinch of maggots and hemp with every cast. Using a maggot on the hook, we'd catch a procession of gudgeon, small roach, chub and perch. In fact, most days it was impossible not to catch a fish with every trot down the river. Every now and again our rods would be put to the test when a big perch or a clonker chub took the bait, but what we were really after were the big roach. These fish averaged about 10oz each and could be caught in quick session if they were feeding right. So, every now and again we'd try a tare on the hook, instead of a maggot, and if the tare was taken we knew we'd have a brilliant day.
It's not possible to convey the feeling that came when fishing the Trent, on a day when the roach were taking hemp and tares, but I'll never forget it. If, Paul Burton, Fred Latocha and Neil Dale are reading this post, I bet they haven't forgotten either.
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