Winter roach

[Ian]

I have been fishing over the winter for roach and just can't get a bite for love or money.i read a lot of the coarse magazines but they mainly mention about fishing for them in winter down south.i need to put this to bed.what temperature will the roach simply stop feeding?the temp up here is mainly about 0-3 degrees in winter,is that too cold and am I wasting my time?i would appreciate some info on this as all I seem to read about is roach fishing in winters good but it isn't for me.maybe my tactics are wrong.i try to fish as light as I can but not too light.is 2lb line too heavy.the waters go gin clear,would night be the answer?????i just can't work it out and we are talking about places with bags of roach in them.

[Olly]

How far "up" are you?

[Stuart Whiting]

I have been fishing over the winter for roach and just can't get a bite for love or money.i read a lot of the coarse magazines but they mainly mention about fishing for them in winter down south.i need to put this to bed.what temperature will the roach simply stop feeding?the temp up here is mainly about 0-3 degrees in winter,is that too cold and am I wasting my time?i would appreciate some info on this as all I seem to read about is roach fishing in winters good but it isn't for me.maybe my tactics are wrong.i try to fish as light as I can but not too light.is 2lb line too heavy.the waters go gin clear,would night be the answer?????i just can't work it out and we are talking about places with bags of roach in them.

Hi Ian,

The general rule of thumb is that a lot of fish tend to slow down at around 4 degrees give or take, at 3 degrees the majority will start to go dormant ( more so in stillwater)

Roach should still continue to feed in low temperatures as long as it's stable for a good few days however if we get a sudden drop in temperature followed by hard sharp early morning frosts then I'd say forget it as in 35 years of fishing for roach I can probably only count on one hand how many roach I've had when there's been a frost

Dusk is normally a favoured time for roach as you'll sometimes see them dimpling on the surface, if you see this you wanna be fishing

However if the day is heavily overcast and dull with a nice mild southwesterly then you can possibly catch anytime during the day

If the water is very clear I'd go down the bread punch route with very small amounts of Liccy ( liquidised bread ) about the size of a nugget

Best tool you can ever have for winter roach fishing is a quality thermometer, there's a few on the market, I use rubeon heaton

All the best

Stuart

[Ian]

Cheers Thames mudlark,everything you have said rings true.the temp ip here can fluctuate from 5-0 degrees right through the winter ip here.we never get more than a couple of days where the weathers settled.i guess the fish are more or less dormant from the end of November til may.this year anyway.we don't have much river roach fishing available up here due to cormorants.there is a major roost on Strathclyde country park containing at least 60-70 birds.they all leave in the morning to go onto the Clyde.thanks to the twitchers nothing can be done.cheers for the reply.i live in Motherwell.

[Stuart Whiting]

Cheers Thames mudlark,everything you have said rings true.the temp ip here can fluctuate from 5-0 degrees right through the winter ip here.we never get more than a couple of days where the weathers settled.i guess the fish are more or less dormant from the end of November til may.this year anyway.we don't have much river roach fishing available up here due to cormorants.there is a major roost on Strathclyde country park containing at least 60-70 birds.they all leave in the morning to go onto the Clyde.thanks to the twitchers nothing can be done.cheers for the reply.i live in Motherwell.

Oh the dreaded Black Death is what we call it it down here in the south, horrible ugly looking things, now I'm a bird Lover and have bred and exhibited British birds for some 35 years but those cormorants definitely need to be culled, there no good for nothing
Someone up your end seriously needs to obtain a license to be able to shoot em.

On the Hampshire Avon on the LAA Britford fishery Stuart the local bailiff has the rights to shoot em and is probably one of the only few parts of the Avon where you can still go and realistically catch a bag of roach,

Sad days really, those damm big black birds have got a lot to answer to.

All the best

Stuart

[Ian]

Yes mate,they are ugly and very big.i caught one whilst pike fishing on Loch Lomond.trying to unhook it was a right carry on.the thing was snapping at me when I put my hand near it and the beak was 5inch long and cerrated.to make matters worse there was a party of Japanese tourists watching.we eventually got it unhooked but never again.thats the first time I've actually feared for my fingers.anyway Thames,not an easy thing to obtain a license but I suspect you know a lot more about that than myself.i do know one thing though,the rivers,lochs and lakes from john'ogroats to lands end will never get back to what they were until the powers that be grow a pair and get them culled.all the best mate

[Stuart Whiting]

Yes mate,they are ugly and very big.i caught one whilst pike fishing on Loch Lomond.trying to unhook it was a right carry on.the thing was snapping at me when I put my hand near it and the beak was 5inch long and cerrated.to make matters worse there was a party of Japanese tourists watching.we eventually got it unhooked but never again.thats the first time I've actually feared for my fingers.anyway Thames,not an easy thing to obtain a license but I suspect you know a lot more about that than myself.i do know one thing though,the rivers,lochs and lakes from john'ogroats to lands end will never get back to what they were until the powers that be grow a pair and get them culled.all the best mate

totally agree Ian

stuart

[Tengisgol]

On the Hampshire Avon on the LAA Britford fishery Stuart the local bailiff has the rights to shoot em and is probably one of the only few parts of the Avon where you can still go and realistically catch a bag of roach

I have seen Stuart in action with his gun, a fine sight to behold, although it is worth adding that he meticulously records and disposes of the cormorant carcasses to ensure that he only shoots the quota that he is allotted.

[Tengisgol]

Or put another way, when his quota is reached he shoots only to scare them...


...but can be a poor shot if distracted...

[Duebel]

Hi Ian,

I live much further down south then our southern english fellows. Northern Bavaria, to be exact. The water temperature drops to about 3 degrees in winter. I apart from the odd pike or perch on lures, I usually can't catch a single fish in winter. I've given up fishing in winter for that reason and built floats instead.

I've made the experience that fish around here seriously start feeding when the water temperature is rising to 7 degrees and higher.

Greetings from Bamberg

Martin