A fish well known to all anglers. In different regions, it can be called a chebak, a staghorn, a magpie, and so on.

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Roach Fishing

Characteristics of roach

Roach can reach sizes over 1 kg with a length of up to 40 cm. In the basins of the Caspian and Azov seas, roach has a semi-aisle form, which is called ram, roach. Semi-passage forms are larger, can reach a weight of 2 kg. It is an object of commercial and recreational fishing.

Reproduction habit of roach

It reaches puberty at the age of 3-5 years. Spawning takes place in the spring in March – May. Roach spawns in aquatic vegetation, sticky caviar. It can spawn on spills or in the coastal zone, where, after the flood water leaves, the caviar can dry. Semi-passage forms after spawning go into the desalinated waters of the seas, for feeding.

Roach fishing guide: Techniques, bait and gear

Roach fishing techniques

Many anglers argue that few people boast that they can catch roaches better than anyone. Fishing on a roach is a fascinating and difficult task. You can catch this fish all year round, with the exception of the spawning period. To do this, use various gear: spinning, float and bottom rods, fly fishing, tackle “long casting” using artificial baits, winter fishing rods.

Catching roach on float gear

Features of using float gear for roach fishing depend on fishing conditions and the experience of the fisherman. For coastal roach fishing, rods are usually used for “blank” equipment 5-6 m long. Match rods are used for long casting. The choice of equipment is very diverse and is limited by the fishing conditions, and not the type of fish. As already noted, the fish is capricious, so delicate equipment is required. As in any float fishing, the most important element is a properly selected bait and attachment.

Catching roach on bottom gear

Roach responds well to bottom gear. For fishing, there is no need to use rods to cast heavy sinkers and feeders. Fishing on bottom fishing rods, including a feeder and a picker, are very convenient for most, even inexperienced anglers. They allow the fisherman to be quite mobile in the pond, and because of the possibility of point feeding, quickly “collect” fish in a given place. The feeder and picker, as separate types of equipment, currently differ only in the length of the rod. The basis is the presence of a bait tank-sinker (feeder) and interchangeable tops on the rod. The tops vary depending on the fishing conditions and the weight of the feeder used.

Nozzles for fishing can be any nozzle, either of vegetable or animal origin, and pasta, boilies. This fishing method is available to everyone. Tackle is not demanding on additional accessories and specialized equipment. This allows you to fish in virtually any water body. It is worth paying attention to the choice of feeders in shape and size, as well as bait mixtures. This is due to the conditions of the reservoir (river, pond, etc.) and the food preferences of local fish.

Fly fishing for roach

Fly fishing is a passion and sportiness. The choice of gear does not differ from those used for catching other medium-sized fish in roach habitats. These are one-handed middle and lightweight fishing rods. Fish lives in different bodies of water. On small rivers it is quite possible to use tenkara rod. If a fisherman is going to catch roach in calm, not deep waters with a lot of underwater and surface vegetation, it should be borne in mind that the fish is very careful. Therefore, you may need to use floating cords with a delicate presentation. Fish are caught on medium-sized baits, both from the surface and in the water column.

Roach fishing bait

For fishing on bottom and float tackle, traditional baits are used: animal and vegetable. Worms, maggots, bloodworms, various grains, “trowels”, filamentous algae, etc. are used for nozzles. It is very important to choose the right bait, which is added, if necessary, animal components. Various traditional lures are used for fly fishing. Most often they use small flies on hooks No. 14 – 18, imitating the familiar, for roach, food: flying insects, as well as their larvae, in addition, underwater invertebrates and worms.

Also, roach reacts to imitations of juvenile fish; small streamers and “wet” flies are suitable for this. For fishing on a spinning rod, a huge number of different lures are used, ranging from silicone, all types of spinners to various wobblers. Large roach can respond to larger baits, but basically, all baits are small in size and weight.

Where to catch roach

Distributed in Europe and the Asian region, as already indicated, forms semi-passable forms. In some regions, artificially divorced. In some reservoirs, it exists in isolation. In rivers and lakes and other bodies of water, it prefers places with vegetation. Prefers to live in bays, canals and other places without currents. With seasonal cooling of the pond, it gathers in flocks and tries to stay in deeper places.