Roach fishing is near your house

Now that petrol is so expensive, inflation is raising the price of everything and our fishing is starting to cost more it’s time to do things on the cheap and still have some fun.

That’s where roach fishing comes in.

I am amazed, not only at the places I’ve caught roach but also the numbers I have caught.

The roach is a small silver coloured fish that’s related to carp but much smaller. A good size roach is 500g and a monster is 800g in size.

These fish are an introduced species and not considered noxious like carp. In fact they have a bag limit of 5 fish per angler. They aren’t rated as an eating fish but that  doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to catch.

Gear for roach is simple

What makes roach an attractive target fish is the numbers around and the simple tackle needed to catch them.

Any gear can be used to catch them but they are most fun on light weight tackle. A rod and reel designed for 2 to 3 kg line is fine.

The 2 really important items of tackle are small hooks and Berley.

Hooks in the tiny sizes of 16 and 14 do the job. Berley to attract the fish completes the match.

Baits of bits of worm, maggots and white bread will hook fish.

Back in the day, I used to float fish for roach and really enjoyed it but forgot about them when I started having fun with Redfin and carp. Things changed during Covid lockdown when I was forced to fish close to home and it was sometimes hard to find Redfin and carp ….but I always seemed to be able to locate roach. In fact I’m convinced there are more roach in our waterways than carp, in particular those waters connected to the Yarra river.

My understanding is that roach were first introduced in Victoria in the Yarra River many decades ago. They have multiplied and spread ever since.

Fish in close

The great thing is that you don’t have to cast far to find roach. They are often in the shallow water near the bank. This makes it really easy to throw Berley by hand or use a Berley cage to deliver your Berley to a close in target zone.

One of my favourite spots on the Yarra river is less than 2 metres from the bank and 4 metres down stream . All it takes is a simple under arm cast to the same spot each time and I’m into the fish.

Now just because you’ve located the fish doesn’t mean you will always hook them but you’ll get plenty of action to keep you happy.

Tackle to use

My standard set up is to use a light 20g closed ended Berley cage instead of a sinker and fill it with dry Berley. I use 2kg light line and a small size 14 hook.

You need to watch your rod tip. Roach bites appear as tiny rattles and you need to strike fast to hook them.

Dropping in small amounts of Berley really keeps them in the area and looking for food.

Best baits

As far as bait is concerned it’s pretty simple .

 My ‘go to’ baits are maggots, worms and bread. Two or three maggots on the hook is all you need or a segment of worm. Small worms cut into pieces about 1 cm long work well.

If you use bread, buy the cheapest white bread you can get. Pinch off a small piece and roll it onto the hook. When the bread is fresh it is quite doughy and stays on the hook reasonably well.

Get out there fishing

So there you have it, simple baits and plenty of fish!

Look up you nearest waterway and have a shot. Roach are an untapped resource just waiting to be caught.