PETE LIPTROT caught the biggest river roach of the season so far – after he set his goal of a new personal best this summer.
Bolton-based Pete knew there were big roach-chub hybrids in his local River Ribble in Lancashire but managed to avoid them and get his target specimen roach with this 2 lb 8 oz giant (pictured).
Pete feedered a single grain of corn on a size 16 Drennan hook to a 3 lb trace with hemp and mashed corn in the feeder.
Pete explained: “It’s a true roach, not one of the numerous chub x roach hybrids off the Ribble that get reported as large roach, it’s easy to tell them apart with a close look.
“it looks like quite a young fish to me, in good condition, and I’d say there’s room for it to fill out at the back end of the season, at which point it could easily add on another good few ounces,” he added.
More big roach from the river
And Tony Peet got in the Ribble roach action with a good bag on the float topped by a 2 lb 5 oz specimen.
Dental technician Tony, from Westhoughton, said: “I have been targeting a 2 lb roach on the float from the Ribble for a while. Every roach I catch from the Ribble is a most welcome site, and while I think every minute by her banks is special this fish made it just a little more so.
“I had spotted the swim a couple of evenings before while fishing the other bank. A nice steady glide, better still I was sure the odd large fish that swirled had a redfins.
My bait would be a mix of caster, hemp, tares and sweetcorn and I trotted a grain of corn,” he added.
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