Big Winter Roach, from the Canal 

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Any idea why it was removed? Could be the background music... which is very unfortunate if so.

No problem with the music, Douglas, it's all royalty free. It was operator error I'm afraid. Anyway it's back up there so no harm done. Thanks for the kind words. Eric

Enjoyed again, prompted me to give this a go as we are into the right time of year.

@@steveames8286 great stuff. Do let us know how it goes!

I'm afraid modern angling seems to have become very much the opposite of what you allude to John, but there are still plenty of people out there avoiding the carp frenzy and we suspect it's a growing band. Thanks for your comments

Is that right, Dave? Great stuff. We must check that one out. Thank you.

Glad you find it entertaining, Steve. Thanks for your further comment!

Thank you for your kind words, Dave!

Funny you should say that Paul...

Yes. A bit unusual these days! Thanks for stopping by Gary.

Good luck on Sunday then Clive. Thanks for dropping by, and we hope it works for you!

Thanks very much for your interest and kind comment,Tom

@@artificialflight1942 the pleasure is all mine, no thanks are neccesary! You are the one out there making the videos and I thank you

Quite right James! Thanks for your thoughts

Interesting. Big or little fished venues can produce some immaculate fish for sure!

Very pleased you're enjoying them Smiffy! Thank you

Pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you for your comments!

Great stuff, hope it goes well John. Thanks for you comment.

Just snippets we've picked up along the way over the years, Lewis. We just hoped it might give one or two anglers the encouragement to have a go for these exceptional fish by leaving the 'pole & pinkies' at home occasionally. Thanks for your interest.

Thanks Neil, glad you enjoyed it. Never thought of it as specimen hunting as such but, yes, certainly trying to glean the best fish from the swim

Thanks for watching, Paul. We appreciate you taking the time to comment.

We're pleased it made you happy John. Thanks for dropping by!

Thank you, one of my favourites. eric

Thank you Steve. Pleased you enjoyed it, as always.

Glad you found it of use Zoe! Thanks for your interest

There's confidence for you! Thanks Q.

Hardly great Michael but those fish are there to be caught, especially if your local canal is heavily predated. Thanks for your comment.

Thanks for your comment, Gary. 'Long time since we've been in contact. I hope all is well with you?

I'm doing ok thanks George, great to hear from you.. I did contact you on Messenger quite some time ago, but didn't hear back.. I thought maybe you had changed your number.. hope all is good with you too George.. Tight lines, 🎣

Thanks for viewing and commenting James

Well worth a go! Do let us know how it works out

I will do for sure, I've never targeted Roach in the canal during winter, I tend to fish the Dorset Frome usually, but do love the cold frosty still mornings in your video, so I'll try it this winter.

Thank you very much!

Not from Rugby area are you, Ian? Thanks for your comment Ian. In the case of these big canal fish they often appear to be loners once they get above about a pound and a half but I understand what you're saying. It is fascinating. Tight lines.

I am indeed from the Rugby area. You will have to cast (pun intended) your mind back 20 years to remember the last time we went head to head in a match section.

@@ianmills5237 go on then...You mean you remember it? I'm going for onley Lane and a dog discussion?

Watford Park (under the bridge to the right) You drew two pegs to my right. I had a few more seed roach than yourself. I’ve always told myself it was a better peg!

@@ianmills5237 I don't remember catching on hemp there, but my memory is pretty grim tbh. Used to love fishing there. Good to hear from you mate

Yes, Tim, there are big roach in the Ashby. Eric has found a few using this same method early in the morning. Well worth a try. Plenty of bream too. Thanks for commenting.

Why not David. Give it a go! So enjoyable to use. You must've bumped into Jeff Hatt in the past fishing there?

Yep all those methods work, Dave, for sure. We just find you get more crayfish issues with legering options, do you find that?

Thank you Roger. V generous. We hope you enjoy the other films too.

Thank you Steve. Very welcome comment indeed!

Thank you for your support Ian. It is very welcome and we will be doing more, when we're allowed out!

Great to hear that it's helped Andy...more to come in due course. Thank for sharing your thoughts.

do you have any tips on shallow canals with little boat traffic, hence clear water. I fish the chesterfield canal.many thanks great video

@@kevinhogan4409 thanks for your kind comment. On shallow, clear canals traditional bread punch or caster would probably be a more likely approach, if there are big roach there of course. We hope that helps!

Thank you for your detailed comments Mi Ke. Canals that hold lots of small roach are less likely to hold many, if any, big roach. The levels of predation in these parts cause the roach to grow big as there is less competition for food. Fishing through the winter might require a little bit more patience but, in reality, if nothing has happened within 45 minutes it's wise to move anyway so that tends to keep us entertained. Good luck next time you go!

Thanks for your kind words Nathan. Where will you be trying the method?

@@artificialflight1942 it’s an old pond in Derbyshire, nothing to the size of the roach here I’m sure but growing up we would always get big roach and Rudd, that was a while ago now so I’m sure there’s some nice ones 😁

@@recklessnay8000 Good luck!

Thanks for viewing. Yes we have other planned films in the pipeline but we've been delayed in making the next one for various reasons. We'll get there though!

@@artificialflight1942 you should, I really enjoy this type of fishing film. Very informative and well shot 👌

Thanks for watching, Chris!

I think we'll take that as compliment Andy. Conversely it could have put you in a trance of course?!

Thanks Sean. Yes we are editing another at present as it happens. There's plenty of material out there to be covered for sure, so, as long as were able to, I'm sure we'll be producing more

Thanks for your interesting comment, leafy. We've filmed bread underwater too and, while crust stays buoyant, fluffy flake eventually sinks but how soon depends on a number factors such as the tow on the water, weight of hook/line, type & make of bread, freshness of bread, how its prepped, etc. Regardless, if you leave it out long enough for it to sink, it's still going to behave like a wafter and be easily taken, as you rightly say

Thank you

'Can't beat it in the right circumstances. Thanks for commenting again Dave.

Yes, I've seen that Roger. Interesting stuff isn't it? What canal are you on?

@@artificialflight1942 Hi George, I'm on the Birmingham Fazeley canal - the bodymoor heath to Fazeley end. It's a canal that doesn't get a great deal of boat traffic, although a boat passing through on a quiet day can trigger feeding activity I've found. All in all I like the rural canals. Little fished these days, they're mature ecosystems that can throw up specimen fish of all species.

I remember Slapton from around 1985 to 1990. Bream and carp on some willow swims, plenty of roach too. There were roach all through the GUC in those days of course. 'Got to be worth a try if you've got some boat traffic and coloured water where you are Gary

The guc, where i am(Hertfordshire) is not very good for roach any more, not many boats,to colour the water,mink,otters, cormorants, and people taking the fish to eat!!!

Lovely memories. Thank you for sharing that. My first proper rod was a Sealey too. A 12' Aquarius, fibreglass

You bet!!

Ah yes, John. A bit of variety does you good!

@@artificialflight1942 I'm not a fan of the pole mate but struggle to find decent roach videos for rod and reel.

@@johngarvey5370 Very true

Can't argue with that Geoff! Thank you for taking the time

Chunky fella's indeed! From memory I think the one at 16.36 was 3lbs 13ozs

Hi Willem, Any cane-tipped waggler will work nicely, doesn't matter what make it is. As for the wellies, I've no idea! They are super light ones and only cost about £30, I think. Thank you for your interest.

I'm assuming you purely have the olivette on the line from the way you describe it? In which case, to fish the method in the film it needs to be about 18" from the hook with a BB shot on the bottom 2-3" from the hook. However, as you imply, this is tricky in a strongly flowing canal, and so letting the rig run with the flow and fishing just off bottom may be better. We tend to use a smaller piece of flake or a large punch then 2 or 3no.8's close to the hook to keep the bait down there. I hope that helps, Connor, but if you need more info, do please message again and thanks for raising the query!

Thank you!

Well that's great news indeed Bob. Fish of a lifetime. Any pics? Regarding feed - It's a tough one. The method is geared to catch the biggest roach in the swim so it does often tend to kill it if you feed again in our experience. Usually we'd give it 45 mins without further action and then move. Pleased the rod was ideal too!

Artificial flight Hi George, yes I do have a photo but I can’t seem to pull it down to send to you. I will keep trying. Thanks Bob...

@@fishingfourme Any joy with the pic? Would love to see it Bob.

Thanks, Jamie. They were usual ebay job-lot bargains! Any Waggler with long cane tip will do the job. We hope it works for you when we're released back into action.

Artificial flight thank you for replying. I’ll keep looking on eBay. I bought some float a few days back, but they were a bit big for roach. Might try the premier floats. Can’t wait to get back on the cut. Tight lines buddy

@@boomerfishingshooting4616 for canals 4 to 7ft deep 3 to 5BB will do it nicely

I don't see why not Bob. Especially on wider stretches. Good luck with it!

It would but casters much better fished very light and on a natural fall through the water Simon. May be something we could cover in the future!

3lbs B.S. Mainline. Hook is 14 or 16 to a short length of 2lb fluorocarbon, or lighter when it's gets clear and tough in winter. We hope that's useful

Sorted now buddy I was using the wrong line your right. Using 7lb line now 3-4g float getting out no problem

No, they can't be eaten. CRT state, "It's illegal to take fish away from the canal under both Environment Agency by-laws and the 1968 Theft Act". Thank you for your question.

It really doesn't matter what make it is John. Just a light match rod of a length to suit the width of the canals you'll be fishing should work nicely. One thing is certain the old canal rods, designed to catch lots of smaller fish, are unsuited to today's big fish.

For catching canal roach? Well that depends on the levels of boat traffic and time of year Simon. You can read a bit more about that here if you'd like to: floatflightflannel.blogspot.com/2018/11/lead-to-canal.html Thanks for your message.

Sadly not Mr Bradshaw. Life and Covid got in the way, but, when the time is right, I'm sure we'll be back at it! Thanks for asking

@@artificialflight1942 fully understand that! Well I hope you are well and I wish you tight lines and some bank time this coming year. I'm sure many will agree your videos brought some comfort during hard times these last couple of years. I had not seen this one before... Atb.

'Totally lost us there mate! 😊

‘What’ ??

One of my favourites. 😉

Thanks for commenting John. It's a joint venture between Eric and myself, and our respective blogs; his, as you rightly say, on lure angling, mine just general coarse fishing. Strangely we have fished together very little!

Hi there Julian, any fine to medium wire hook with an incurved or beak point will do the job in 18 to 14's. Lots of firms produce a pattern like that and we wouldn't say one make is better than another. Thank you for your interest.

@@artificialflight1942 Hello & thanks for the reply - I'm still using some Au LionD`Or spade ends from the 70`s - maybe you remember them !? Pattern 1540 - strong little hooks with an incurve point, probably not as wide in the gape as some modern patterns but I find them Ok for both maggot & punched bread. I think you might find this chap's bread techniques interesting - idlersquest.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-way-with-bread.html I've been using bread more this winter as the bait supply has been tricky, though did get some very good maggots online from Willy Worms. Hope you get out once the ice has thawed! Best wishes.

@@julianmarshall3674... Interesting! I recall using 1219B Au Lion D'or (what a classic name too!) in 28's & 30's, they came in shallow cardboard boxes, in hard winter canal matches until I realised it was just a nominal size and they were actually huge compared to the truly tiny blue Mustad 25's! You might be surprised at the stick-ability and longevity of a modern hook compared to the pre-chemical treatment days but I love the fact you're still using them. The article you referred to was part the bread-fuelled fire that Jeff stoked around that time. We exchanged a good deal of info on the subject of big canal roach. I still have a joint spreadsheet we started trying to identify pointers that might help us. I really ought to bring it right up to date. Thanks for your thoughts, great memories! Here's a bit more reading... floatflightflannel.blogspot.com/2013/05/big-canal-roach-update.html

@@artificialflight1942 Hello again - I can hardly see a size 22 these days! I find just a touch with a smal sharpening stone makes them as sharp as I need. They always seemed to be about one size smaller than a proper old `Redditch scale` hook size so I've even used 1/0`s for big baits. Still frozen up here but must get out before the end of the season! Best wishes Julian

!!

honest

The make of rod isn't important. You just need a light match rod which are available from a number of tackle firms. Thanks for asking.

Thanks for viewing Hawkman. 'Never seen this but just took a look at a brief clip and will watch more when I have time. We certainly don't want to be paralleling someone else's work but it's nice to be considered worthy of comparison to anything Hugh Miles has done, for sure!

North Oxford Canal, Jack

@@artificialflight1942 i go down the canal near football stadium in stoke

@@galaxyjack-ef5wd is that the caldon canal?

@@artificialflight1942 no thretahm and mersley canal

Most of our fishing trips are like funerals tbh! Thanks for dropping by

😊 Well it's a simple traditional method that's very successful, so we really hope lots of people will find it easy after trying it. Thanks for your comment.

True , float fishing is easy. . Catching good fish isnt!