The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

This week's video is about giant roach. Watch the video and let me have your views:

I wonder Mark whether one our big reservoirs may well produce the next “big” roach? Possibly an accidental catch on a fly rod whist an angler is fishing for trout…

There's a claim pending of a 4-13 roach caught on the fly from a trout reservoir hence the video.

It appears to be a fact that fly fishery reservoirs play host to some enormous roach.
So my belief that the tons of high protein boilies are responsible for the increased size of roach and bream would certainly not apply on those waters.
But I do know that the carp anglers on my syndicate pond do catch some very large roach by accident on 20mm boilies.

DaceAce wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2024 4:47 pm There's a claim pending of a 4-13 roach caught on the fly from a trout reservoir hence the video.

My apologies, I’d forgotten about that. Mind you it looks like my thinking was along the right lines….

As someone who has been trying for 50+ years to catch a 2lb fish, this was interesting. I've got closer over the last few years but this may be down to refining my technique, rather than the size of the fish.
There are certainly waters in my part of the world which contain fish of 2lb plus. There are occasional big fish caught locally. However, these are normally by catch by carp anglers, reeling them in on hair rigged boillies, as Banksy mentions. It may be, based on what I've seen at waters like this, that the vast amounts of bait and loose feed is boosting the fish size in these waters?
As far as the reservoirs are concerned. The water is usually particularly clear, when compared to some other lakes. I'm not sure if the fishery managers continue to feed the trout. It may also be the case that the water quality is suitable for the rapid growth of natural food, boosting fish size.

I forgot to add, I did consider a campaign on my local pond using carp tactics - spodding in large, regular amounts of particle feed, then offering 10 or 15mm boilies on light tackle suited to roach.
Then of course quickly realised that this was a very bad idea!

Giant fish can only ever be a product of strong genetics combined with their environment. If the natural environment is supplemented with angler’s food source, or some other fundamental change (crayfish for example) that can be the difference between big and giant. Chew pike being a great example.

I would have no shame targeting big roach in carp waters; the option is always there to do it your own way. You don’t have to use two rods, buzzers and helicopter rigs. How about a swingtip, swimfeeder and chick peas for example?

Tengisgol wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 7:46 am
I would have no shame targeting big roach in carp waters; the option is always there to do it your own way. You don’t have to use two rods, buzzers and helicopter rigs. How about a swingtip, swimfeeder and chick peas for example?

There is a lake near me that contains a small head of very large roach. The lake also contains a lot of carp, to over 40 lb’s. The roach are caught quite regularly on boilies by the carp anglers, I’ve seen photo’s, and they really are very big roach. I have considered fishing for them, as you suggest, but how would you avoid hooking, and inevitably losing the carp, and leaving hooks in them? This has led to rules regarding minimum hook sizes etc., on other waters.

Chew Valley Reservoir, all 1200 acres of it, is full of roach, perch and tench that grow to fantastic sizes. It has long been a dream to fish it for the roach but it is unlikely to ever happen. It is part of the great divide where game fish and coarse fish coexist but where the trout are the 'special ones'. It is a wonderful trout water and, like Blagdon nearby, full of natural food. But, the common coarse angler would catch lots of daft trout as they search out fish and that would never do.