First Roach Session of the Year

Friday the 8th of November and its my birthday , when I was around 6 or 7 years old my granddad said to me that " you dont work on the day your born and you shouldnt on your birthday " Dont know how much he meant it but it has stuck with me all my life , I never went to school on my birthday and have never worked on it and over the last few years ( cant remember how many ) I have gone fishing on it , regardless of the weather . I was fancying a chub session on the Trent but after been invited to join The Association of Roach Anglers I felt it would be fitting to have a session on Woodland Waters for a redfin or 2 . Now I dont normally go on there until we have had a few proper frosts to ensure the smaller fish and carp are less active and to increase my chances of the bigger roach . According to information we have gleaned over the last 2 years there have been half a dozen confirmed 2lb+ roach caught , all but one by carp anglers .As you may have read on my previous blogs my best from the venue is 1lb 12oz backed up by numerous 1lb+ fish .

Now due to the nature of the venue and where the fish hold up in winter its helicopter rigs , alarms and bobbins . So arriving just before 9am to find 5 other anglers already on the 12 acre specimen lake , I did my usual walk round ( though I already know the swims I fancy ) no one had seen a sign of a fish of any description but thats not unusual as the locals tend to fish well short of the areas the roach seem to patrol . Dont get me wrong they do pick up the odd fish but usually when they do that then the areas I fish tend to produce alot of fish .

I unloaded the van and went to a swim I have fished a few times and luckily had no one within 3 or 4 swims of me either side , I can be very unsociable at times and like to be left alone .

First job put the brolly up as rain was forecast for later and wanted to keep all my gear dry plus I had taken my stove to make drinks as opposed to my flask that goes on the Trent when roving .I got the pod up and the rods set up and then made some casts to get my distance set . Now the distance I fish here is around 60 yards , most of the locals fish 30 yards maximum and think this is more to do with it been a comfortable distance than any sound angling reason , my reason  for fishing the distance I do is that there is a deep channel at that distance and there is a stream runs through the venue and we all know these features attract roach . Now conditions werent the ones I wanted as the venue fishes better with a good blow on it but always feel confident of a fish . Once the distance was set on both rods I put 6 feeders full of the red curry flavoured maggots I have found to work best . Out when the rods and on went the kettle . I know from the past that in these conditions ( we had blue skies to start ) bites early on would be few and far between .

When after 4 hours I hadnt had a bite and the rain started I feared the worst but then my mate the kingfisher turned up , which on here means I will catch as I have only blanked once on the entire complex and that was the only day he didnt turn up . I had a visit from an old guy 3 swims away who reported that still no one had seen signs of a fish and when I said I thought they might show up on dusk he retorted he woudlnt be giving it that long and off he went . Now the rain had got serious .

Something I noticed was how many leaves were still on the trees as this time last year most had already fallen a sure sign of it been warmer . Just as I was thinking even the kingfisher had failed me things went mental .
It was 4 pm and the right hand rod gave one bleep and the bobbin hit the floor . I lifted the rod and felt a nod that signified the blanked could be avoided if I could keep the fish on ( barbless hook rule ) . The fish came to the net without any trouble , it was only around 6oz or so but it was very welcome.

The rod was recast and I had literally just finished when the other rod gave a few bleeps and the bobbin dropped and then slammed into the alarm , on lifting into this fish it was obvious it was a bit bigger than the first and in the net I could see it was a good lb or more and the scales confirmed it at 1lb 6oz

Back out went the rod and I noticed the light was starting to fade . it then went even more mental as the right hand rod went again and another roach was hooked and netted and the rod recast I turned to go and get the camera and the same rod went again and a roach of nearly the same size joined the one still in the landing net form just a minute or so earlier both around 10-12oz .

The rod went back out and no sooner had it been set than the left hand rod went off and another good roach was in the net , before I could recast the right hand rod was away again and yet again I ended up with 2 fish in the net , weighing 1lb 3oz and 8oz

I was by now soaked to the skin and it was nearly completely dark and decided to call it a day as wanted to get home for my birthday meal . I checked the time and I had gone from blanking to having caught 6 fish in 35 minutes . The next time I fish there I'm hoping for a decent wind on , failing that I have just bought some Drennan Windbeater floats and may give them a go .