Where Do All The Roach Go?
This morning I had a lengthy chat with Wayne Swinscoe about his colossal 53lb of roach from the Town Welland and it got me thinking about the species in general.
The lowest weight in his six peg section was 40lb – all roach and the average weight in the 38 peg match was 28lb. it was literally roach soup for the anglers on the match and was possibly the best roach match in this country ever. Interestingly though I asked Wayne whether the length had produced again this week, I was shocked when he said that all of the anglers had blanked!
The venue had literally thousands of roach in it a week earlier and was devoid just seven days later. So where do they go?
Wayne seems to think that they back off into the main Welland as the Town Wellands levels get dropped so low by people working in the river. It just got me thinking how much roach must move. One of my favourite winter haunts is the stainforth and keadby canal at Thorne. Now throughout the winter months the canal is literally stuffed with roach yet if you go on the canal a week too early or a week to late and the fish can be miles away and you wont get a bite from a roach!
The same happens in Ireland and I have been there when the first two days of my holiday have seen no roach at all and then on the third day the pegs are literally solid! Why do these roach move? There must be areas in the country that are solid with roach come spawning time and I can only imagine that it takes them a few months to go back to the areas they reside in winter. But why don’t the roach just stay in one place? Is it the abundance of food? Is it cover and shelter from predation? It is quite a phenomenon and I would love to see some research into it because I think we would all be amazed by just how far these little silver beauties travel. If anybody has any answers to these questions then don’t hesitate to email me at [email protected] because I would love to get to know more about this subject.
Joe Carass
The lowest weight in his six peg section was 40lb – all roach and the average weight in the 38 peg match was 28lb. it was literally roach soup for the anglers on the match and was possibly the best roach match in this country ever. Interestingly though I asked Wayne whether the length had produced again this week, I was shocked when he said that all of the anglers had blanked!
The venue had literally thousands of roach in it a week earlier and was devoid just seven days later. So where do they go?
Wayne seems to think that they back off into the main Welland as the Town Wellands levels get dropped so low by people working in the river. It just got me thinking how much roach must move. One of my favourite winter haunts is the stainforth and keadby canal at Thorne. Now throughout the winter months the canal is literally stuffed with roach yet if you go on the canal a week too early or a week to late and the fish can be miles away and you wont get a bite from a roach!
The same happens in Ireland and I have been there when the first two days of my holiday have seen no roach at all and then on the third day the pegs are literally solid! Why do these roach move? There must be areas in the country that are solid with roach come spawning time and I can only imagine that it takes them a few months to go back to the areas they reside in winter. But why don’t the roach just stay in one place? Is it the abundance of food? Is it cover and shelter from predation? It is quite a phenomenon and I would love to see some research into it because I think we would all be amazed by just how far these little silver beauties travel. If anybody has any answers to these questions then don’t hesitate to email me at [email protected] because I would love to get to know more about this subject.
Joe Carass
- Log in or register to post comments
LATEST VIDEO
| Gear Reviews |  |
Articles | |
More Links Shop | |
Subscriptions | |
Resources |
