Operation 'Roach'..phase one complete!

Yesterday all the hard work I have been putting in lately paid off. A session using feeder tactics saw me land a beautiful Roach of 1lb 4oz. Now in a water that seems to contain a gazillion Roach, many of them less than 8oz, that is quite an achievement. Over the last few weeks I have been wading through the hordes of small fish, applying a little prebait in between sessions, and the average size of fish I have been catching has slowly been creeping up. So far I have relied on the Pole, but yesterday the wind was just not conducive to this tactic, so with a little thought I came up with a plan that would hopefully work as well as the Pole has been. Fishing the same swim I have been focusing on, but from the opposite bank, ( the lake is fairly narrow here ), I used a small spod to apply a measured amount of Hemp to the area, and cast small maggot feeders over the top. I utilised a two rod approach and used 'speci' tactics using bite alarms and bobbins for bite indication. The day went well, with a reasonable stamp of fish falling to the tactic, and with one fish nudging the magical mark at 15oz I felt I was getting close. Mid afternoon, I hooked a fish that felt quite good, at first I thought I may have hooked a skimmer bream as the odd one had put in an appearance amongst the Roach, then I thought possibly a Perch as there was the odd jag and it seemed to be fighting quite hard for a bream...funny how I didn't allow myself the possibility that it might be a Roach....when it came up just below the surface, my heart skipped a beat, it was just in a another class compared to the fish I had been catching.  Safely in the net I knew I'd cracked the pound mark, the scales conforming it at 1lb 4oz, a good fish, not a 2lb'er, but a personal milestone in my quest, and a lovely fish. It showed that my persistance was working along with the approach, and that maybe, just maybe I may eventually get close to or actually achieve my goal.

For scale the reel is a '4000' size.

Roach sessions..

The quest continues for big Roach, 'big' being a pound or over as a realistic target. Persistance and adjustments in bait, feed and methods has seen the stamp of fish in the stillwater I am targeting go up recently, also a drop in temperature has probably helped in keeping the smaller fish at bay.
A couple of good sessions recently have boosted my enthusiasm to keep at it, some bonus Perch over a pound really stretched the elastic in my pole the other day and were great fun on such light tackle, and a couple of Roach of 10oz or so convinced me yesterday that I am on the right track and hopefully not too far away from achieving my goal. Today I was even more justified to be so confident as the stamp of fish was even better and I managed to creep close to the mark with a nice 14oz fish, that magical pound barrier is within sight, but once I achieve that, my task becomes even harder. I feel sure the water i'm fishing contains fish in the upper pound bracket and just might hold a two pounder, I know this because I have had them to 1lb 13oz from here before, plus I have caught some big Roach while fishing for Tench and Carp using meat for bait during the warmer weather, but of course the feeling of acievement wasn't there due to using tackle far too strong, and I like to catch particular species on my own terms using appropriate tackle and bait.
Appropriate tackle and bait in this instance is an 8 metre Whip, pole float, 3llb line and 2.5lb hooklink. Bait is hemp, maggot, corn and tares. You really do get the best from this species (Roach), by using a pole or Whip, I'm using a 1-5 elastic which to me seems just right and you get a great fight from even 4oz fish! anything over half a pound really gives a good account of itself, and they can really be appreciated on this tackle, so catching one of a pound or more will be a proper buzz! The Perch have already tested the gear to the max so i know what to expect from a decent Roach.
Looking forward to the next few sessions!