Location
First thing to point out is that you have to be on the right bit of river, some rivers have big roach in good numbers whereas some just have the odd fish here and there but that's the beauty of roach, you can get them across the land in a variety of waters. They seem to grow big in lakes, small streams, large rivers, canals, lochs, drains, tidal estuaries, you name it, also from Scotland and Northern Ireland down to the South East and West they are not geographically restricted like most other species.
To get them on pellet you need a river that doesn't just have big redfins but one that sees a lot of pellets going in as feed as well, usually for other fish like barbel - The 'B' word is going to be mentioned a lot I think and whilst sometimes they can disrupt things I think any bycatch that puts a right bend in the rod is welcome, it would be boring if it was all roach and it's nice to get a good mix. It's also not good to curse barbel like some roach anglers do as it won't endear yourself to most of the other anglers on the river nowadays, nor is it a good idea to mention to other anglers how you have been bothered by barbel whilst after your intended quarry - The Roach.
There are many rivers where I wouldn't touch pellet with a bargepole instead preferring traditional baits but where pellet goes in the roach will be on them and how much they will be on them will depend on competition, but more of that later.. Also keep things relative, if you hear people say they have caught xx amount of 2lb roach it's because they have access to waters that hold them in good numbers, or have good imagination. I'm not going to mention figures like that as I honestly don't keep count, although I can say that those caught on trotted pellet have only been on a handful of rivers so that shows how selective the method can be.
Try to keep things relative and in perspective to the water you are fishing, after all a 1lb roach is a wonderful specimen on some rivers and a scale perfect 1lb 14oz is every bit as good as a tatty 2lb'er even if you are chasing that magical barrier, always tell yourself this as you triple check them scales after returning a 1lb,15oz fish.
Swim selection can be an issue with big roach as in summer they sure do get around, I've had them in under a foot of water, or behind trees in deep slacks, in water almost too fast to stand in and of course those traditional roachy looking glides that may as well have a sign post on them. The fun of it all is to know they could be absolutely anywhere.
When I was a lad I remember looking over a footbridge at a guy running a float wonderfully through a beautiful glide between two banks of ranunculus, whilst a shoal of huge roach sat in the slack ignoring his every move, he was oblivious to their presence but I doubt somehow if the roach were oblivious to his, that's roach for you.
On many occasions I've taken the time to do some fish watching. On some rivers in the evenings you can see big roach swirling on the surface, perhaps for flies but in all probability it's to say "look we're here all along yet you still can't catch us". Shallow streams are good for observing the fish and their behaviour or looking over bridges into the water below, as anglers we know this is compulsory and many a tip has been gained from staring into those waters whilst passing over brook or stream, there's also trees if you are into climbing, personally I prefer the former but there is no substitute for watching how fish act and learning from it, it can really negate any gaping flaws in your technique, trust me I know.
Why Trot Pellet ?
There's pros and cons like any other bait or method, the main drawback I suppose is it's a summer bait, as soon as the frosts come I loose confidence in it, maybe it would work on a warm day in early March who knows, however I have yet to try this out. Another problem is those barbel, I know that sounds strange but big roach and barbel seem to go hand in hand, or maybe fin in fin, whether it's a natural thing or the roach have learned to get in there early on the barbel feed and have grown big as a result, either way barbel present problems in regards set up for finicky roach. Another drawback is water clarity, in a fast swim in coloured water those big roach are not likely to see such a fast sinking bait in time and as a result I know my catch rates suffer in such conditions using pellet, it seems to work better the clearer the water is, but this leads me to the positives.
The pros of this method are that it can work when all others seem to have blown, the fish have got used to static baits on the bottom and are in intercept mode, clear water is great much like with hemp fishing and sunny days are too. I once talked to a famous roach angler who didn't start fishing for them until Autumn adamant that sunny summer days were a non starter, I actually prefer them now and I'm not going to grumble if I've had a 2lb roach before the frosts come that's for sure. I now catch more big roach in summer than I do in Autumn and Winter combined because of this method although I still look forward to those traditional cold winter roach days on maggot.
Another bonus is how the fish compete for the feed, I am lucky to fish some small clear rivers where you can see the fish coming up for the feed. Even on larger rivers like the Severn (when it's clear) after feeding a little and often for a while you sometimes see flashes of roach and can even have them boiling on the surface, you do see barbel flashing too on the feed (not to be confused with the scratching or rolling on the surface) especially on cloudy days. I'm not sure many static anglers know how well all fish including barbel feed up in the water but I've had them two feet deep in six foot deep swims, it really is a sight and it can be a case of buckle up and prepare for some explosive action when they hijack your roach fishing.
Never underestimate how shallow big roach can feed and also be ready for a bite first run through. I've had a few like this and whilst It doesn't occur often it's happened too many times to be a coincidence if that makes sense.
Another pro (they are definitely out weighing the cons now) is that the bait is selective for larger fish so you can fish it in swims where there's hordes of small dace and bleak, you will get the odd tonker dace and plenty of little chub with their big ol' mouths but they are a welcome indicator that the method is working well, when you get the bigger chub and barbel thrown in with the roach it can be a full on red letter day.
Sometimes it can take a while for roach to show but I think they can be drawn up from downstream by the scent and commotion whereas many a time they are on it from the off and it's the other species that get drawn in. Of course on some days like with any bait you find it hard but that's fishing. On it's day you can get dozens of roach and you will struggle to recall many under a pound and often put fish well over a pound back without a photo or weighing, it can be that good but I suppose you can say that about any bait 'On it's day'.
Pellets also sink quickly which is great in those swims where maggots or hemp end up in the next postcode although I know deep down that is a drawback on slow rivers or when water visibililty is down slightly so there you go, can't win 'em all.
Did I mention the pellet stays on the hook well and is less fiddly than hemp? Also it doesn't need any prep or a refridgeration like some baits. I would err on the side of safety regarding it's shelf life and renew each season but I am confident that fresh pellets don't do any harm to the fish long term, river fish do have a three month detox after all plus plenty of natural foods on offer, plus everything else seems to eat them too.
Set Up
As mentioned before my set up is a bit of a compromise due to barbel getting in on the action, so purists should look away now, also It's really basic regarding shotting and the float, I often go with quite a light float with basic shirt button shotting on it and run it through the best I can. I once spent a whole season stringing out no8s but I found I did just as well with a dirty great no1 ten inches from the hook. My gear is also cheap and cheerful much like my ability, on a good day it's competent on a bad day quite comical, It's all just a bit of fun. A decent power match type rod that can handle those barbel, plus the pull of big roach and not bump smaller fish like dace and chub, a cheap old open face reel and a decent sized landing net are all you need to get going*
*There is of course other stuff you need like a discourger, food, drink, vehicle (unless you live on a great river) and fast women, but these are the basics.
The pellet is banded on the shank of the hook leaving the point exposed, usually 6mm or sometimes 4mm. I haven't tried a hair rig much when trotting so maybe that would work too or perhaps pick up too many barbel. I prefer making my own bands using silicon tubing rather than ready made ones as these are more flush. I use barbless hooks not just as a preference but also as I tried micro barbed once and found them quite hard to unhook due to the banded pellet impeding the discourger getting to the hook, I've never found I've lost more on barbless than those using micro barbed seem to do so will stick with the tried and tested.
An advantage of banded pellet is that it stays on the hook well, hook choice is usually a Drennan Specialist if there's bigger fish likely to show, but if I can get away with it a finer a Kamasan B510 will do the job and is also ideal for using 4mm pellets. Keepnets aren't for me either, I like to rove anyway and sometimes it takes a good wander to find the roach on some rivers. I had his roach with the distinctive orange mark on it's chin in two different areas the same season, the second time a good half a mile from the first. Which shows they move about as much as we do.
The floats I use are usually wire stemmed sticks for those fast runs and are surprisingly light as I know the fish come will up in the water, maybe I would catch more with a heavier float but in really shallow swims I find there's less bump offs with a light float and it is also so direct and sensitive. What you lose in casting distance can easily be made up for by wading out into the shallows where possible. As an aside I do think a well presented lead set up would fool more roach and no doubt there's anglers out there who are doing this whilst after barbel. In some swims you just can't trot a float as easy as you can fish a lead so maybe I'll fish a static bait in the future sometime, I may have to change the blog name though.
Line wise I've found Drennan Floatfish 4,4lb is pretty good as it gives you more than a decent chance with the barbel yet is surprisingly fine enough for roach in summer, maybe it's the colour as I like green line and floats. Pike and perch are green so maybe roach have trouble picking out that colour, just a thought.
You can give fish much more stick on light line when float fishing than you can on a lead as everything is much more direct. If you really get barbelled out you can go heavier and if things are hard go lighter, or just go with what you are comfortable with given the swim you are in. If barbel do show and you catch them on any gear, rest them before and after unhooking and as long as it takes when they are back in the water before releasing them when they look sturdy.
Resting any fish in the water in the net also gives a good chance to look at their beauty and maybe take some nice photos, this 2lb roach had a scar on its back and it's tatty scales were all over the place yet I only noticed it was fin perfect when I looked at the photo I took in the net. I didn't take any other photos of it as it looked so ragged out of the water but in the water even the scales look good.
Techinque
Technique, me? Do me a favour, just try to run your float out amongst some feed and try to get them trotting down in tandem and looking natural under the water. I know I'm supposed to say something all clever and educational on this bit but it really is about feeding regularly and how the hookbait is behaving. Just fish as though you were using casters or hemp. Some people argue whether the feed should go in first or the float but it really depends on the swim. Try to be metronomic - feed, cast, repeat or cast, feed, repeat, trust me you will not overfeed the fish as even dace and gudgeon will be in on the action, besides the more you do it the better you'll get at it, that's the theory anyway.
Don't try repeat, repeat, repeat as that is all the TV companies schedule for this year, nor do cast,cast,cast as that would mean you are using a stupidly light float like me on a windy day.
The roach of course can be more subtle but a good one in fast water can really run, maybe just once or twice but there's some power there and an impressive turn of speed. Be prepared for that roll on the surface as I have found nearly all big roach do this, it's their way of saying "Here I am, I'm huge, about time your legs start wobbling" By word of consolation if and when you do lose a big one on the surface (and you will) they always look massive so take off a good 8oz of any estimate. Not only will it be more accurate it will make you feel slightly better and may just stop you throwing your rod in the bushes.
So that's about it I think although I may add more content in the future after all it is still a learning process, one that's been a lot of fun so far. All of the photos are roach caught on trotting pellet, which I hope to be adding to soon, nearly all from the last five seasons. All of them were caught in daytime in office hours so to speak and who wouldn't want an office like we have when we go fishing. Many were caught on long day trips to rivers far away that I knew held good roach and others on my local river I know well. As mentioned pretty much all of them were caught on warm bright sunny days when the rivers were low and clear and things are supposed to be hard so there you go, it shows it works, and works well.
As I have been writing this up I haven't had any big roach at all this season which goes to show how much I know and how fishing can come back and bite you so maybe I was on a lucky roll, even so I've still had many fish to around 1lb so perhaps I'm being blasé regarding what's big or taking the method for granted. I put this seasons failings down to the lack of weed and water being too coloured when I have gone to places like the Severn plus my local rivers struggling with abstraction and water flows so hopefully things will be different next year but you never know, either way It's been one hell of a ride so far and who's to say there won't be red letter days in the future, here's hoping. I'll try to update this post in the future when I learn more and hopefully add a few more pictures.
I also hope this has inspired you in someway and thanks for reading
Rob
