Roach and Perch Fishing the River Wye

I’ve been lucky to have fished the river Wye since the 1950’s in those days much of the river was controlled for salmon fishing with little coarse fishing being available; today it’s a different picture. With the formation of the Wye and Usk foundation there are many miles of what was once salmon water available for today’s coarse fisher. The Wye & Usk Foundation is a charity concerned with restoring the habitat, water quality and fisheries of both the rivers Wye and Usk. The Foundation is not merely a lobbying organisation: but through a series of partnership projects they have raised and spent significant sums of money to remedy problems such as habitat degradation, water quality, access and over-exploitation. In 2000 they were granted registered charity status with the following charitable objects: To conserve, protect, rehabilitate and improve the salmon and other indigenous species of animal and plant life of the rivers Wye and Usk, their tributaries, streams and watercourses ("the River") and the banks, riparian lands and catchments of the river ("the River Corridor") and to advance the education of the public in the conservation of rivers, the river corridors and their animal and plant life. The need for conservation, protection, rehabilitation and improvement of such environments is immensely important.

I do get annoyed when some anglers complain about the cost of a coarse fishing permit, perhaps costing £20-00, now equate that to a one and a half hour premiership soccer match and you will realise how £20-00 a day is good value for money when fishing some of these exclusive beats. Without doubt the River Wye is one of our top coarse fishing rivers in the country with many miles of good water available for you the coarse fisher.

A club with some excellent water is the Ross AC which controls much of the river fishing in and around the market town of Ross. When I first visited this delightful and picturesque market town it was certainly a better place then than these days, today some parts of the town have a worn out look about it. Having said that it’s still a nice area to visit. You can purchase a day permit for Ross Town water cost just £6-00 which can be purchased from Wye Angling Croft’s Court in Ross Tel 01989-566986. or from the bailiff on the bank. Don’t try fishing with a permit or licence as the Ross AC waters have a strong bailiff team headed by Mike Evans. For membership details write to secretary Mr Terry Gibson 10 Redwood Close Ross-on-Wye HR9 5UD enclosing a stamped addressed envelope. Its probably one of the best club cards you can purchase for the River Wye.

Appalling Behaviour


Recently Brendan Ince of Blackburn and I travelled down to fish the River Wye for a couple of days and during our stay we witnessed some of the most appalling behaviour by a person catching fish I have seen, I refuse to call him an angler. The person in question was fishing the Ross AC day permit water just upstream of Wilton Bridge on the right hand bank. He was catching fish then dragging them up the bank, the poor creatures were then unhooked and thrown back into the water from the top of an 8-10 foot steep bank. At one stage he dragged a keep net up the bank, in doing so the poor fish spilled out onto the muddy bank where they were just chucked back into the net, just as I would chuck rubbish in the bin. I thought these horrid scenes had gone in these more enlightened times. Perhaps keep nets should be banned except for match fishing.

Just after lunch on day one, two responsible pike anglers who are member of Ross AC called my attention to a person on the opposite bank who had dragged a pike from the river then smashed it over the head before dumping it in a plastic bag. I walked over a miles from my side of the river to check out these slobs, they were not youngsters or East Europeans. When I asked where they were from I was told Hereford, though I reckon they were from the Ross area. I then asked for a rod licence and they said I quote “Where do you get those from” I then asked to see their day permit one answered "Its in the tackle shop". I quickly moved them off the water with a stiff verbal warning ringing in their ears. I am not a bailiff for Ross AC just an ordinary member. I would like to see all angling club members check on those who are fishing their waters. In my many trips this season to Ross I have removed 9 people fishing illegally. How many are on your club water when the bailiff isn’t around? Remember our hard working bailiffs cannot be on the water 24 hours a day.Most have a full time job and a family. Its up to all of us to assist the bailiff.

Roach and Perch


Visit any tackle shop or discuss the river Wye fishing with most anglers and they will tell you about chub, barbel and pike with hardly any mention of the other species. Yes, the chub fishing can be excellent with a realistic chance of a 7lb fish; I reckon a 12lb barbel is a huge fish for the Wye and they can be caught, but I reckon you need a big chunk of luck and this goes for pike if you seek a thirty pounder. Please remember these huge specimens are rarities indeed, but the chance is there.

Two species of fish which hardly get a mention are the perch and roach. Until the birth of commercial fisheries which are predominantly stocked with carp, the roach were our most popular species of freshwater fish; today roach are conspicuous by their absence from many of our rivers. But that’s not true of the River Wye as some areas are stuffed with quality roach. What do I mean by quality? Its roach of a pound plus. A 2lb roach is a giant with a 3pounder a veritable monster. The other species that most anglers don’t talk about or fish for is the perch, I reckon in some of the deeper slower flowing quieter stretches of the river with over hanging willows and alders are the places to fish, where you have a realistic chance of a 4lb fish.

Float or Leger


The two most popular ways to fish for the roach or perch, are legering and float fishing, both styles work, though for roach I reckon the latter is the better bet, even when the river is carrying ten feet of extra water. Roach anglers fishing some beats on the River Wye are handicapped by not being able to fish on into the darkness. The rule stating no night fishing on much of the river only affects the honest angler, the poachers just fish the waters at will. It’s been my experience that waters where night fishing is allowed poaching is cut right back, I find this especially true with reference East Europeans who continue to fish our water where they catch, kill and steal our valuable fish stocks.

This brings me to another point. When fishing your club water check the permits of other members, you will be surprised at the numbers who are not members. They usually say “I don’t have a permit I want a day ticket” Knowing full well that tickets are not issued on the bank. When allowed and the conditions are good I will seek the roach after dark, I either fish, laying-on or stret-pegging with bread or lobworms. I have lost account of the occasions when seeking the roach with lobworms when I have caught quality bream, perch, chub and barbel, even decent pike have been landed.

I’ve had many fishing days in winter, when the roach just wouldn’t bite, then as the light started to fade, fish would start rolling and swirling, I call it the ‘Magic Hour’. Often it’s the time when my float, dough bobbin or rod tip will often show a bite. Roach being one of my favourite species I am more than willing to sit in the darkness for several hours catching these delightful fish. Using either a torch beam to illuminate the float, though sometimes it’s Starlight fixed to the float by a short length of rubber tube. A Drennan float with an insert is a useful item to have, as the insert can be replaced with Starlight.

Baits for Roach


My top roach fishing baits are bread in various forms Ask the majority of anglers what bait they use when roach fishing, and the answer would probably be gentles, casters, bread, red worms and corn. In my book bread in various forms would be my first choice bait, a piece of bread flake between the size of a ten to fifty pence piece on a size 8 or 10 hook has accounted for a lot of big roach over the years. Bread is bait that will work in coloured water, I often switch baits around during a days fishing from flake to crust accounting for lots of my big roach.

In cold water conditions I often pinch a shot within an inch or two of the crust. Over the past sixty odd years I have read many thousands of word where the authors have said the bait for coloured water is the tail of a lobworm. Yes, it’s good bait. Where I disagree with the authors is when they say it’s the only bait, also why choose the tail end, when a pound roach is quite capable of swallowing a whole lobworm on a size 6 hook with ease. Many write about keeping worms in moss to toughen them up. What nonsense, the roach doesn’t look at a lobworm then think I can’t eat that one its not been toughened up. The only reason I keep worms in moss or damp newspaper is to keep them alive and nothing more. If your struggling for a bite on bread or worms, try soft cheese paste; remember cheese isn’t just for coloured water it works exceedingly well in clear water.

On my latest trip to the River Wye with Brendan Ince we chose to a couple of swims on the advice of Bailiff Mike Evans who has a tremendouse amount of local knowledge, and we were not disappointed. On Saturday conditions were not the best with heavy frost the previous few nights and a water temperature of 41 degrees F. Despite the conditions Brendan fishing legered crust catching some lovely roach up to 1-6-0 (see pictures) a personal best, while I had a catch of chub the best at about four and a half pounds again bread was my chosen bait.
I couldn’t get a bite on meat. At dusk we moved off downstream to another beat where we could legally fish on into the darkness.

Arriving at the riverside cabin and putting on the kettle, I clipped the leads of my microwave oven onto Brendan’s car battery. Within minutes we had hot pasties and soup, followed by freshly brewed coffee. With the rain hammering down we then made our way to the river to attempt to catch a few chub. In an hours fishing I had one chub about three pounds on meat. With the weather getting worse we called it a day and headed off to the White Lion where Brendan had a couple of beers, while I had a glass of red wine.

Then it was off to our B&B Copperfield House in Wilton Lane Ross-on-Wye e-mail [email protected], Copperfield house was clean and warm, where Fran proved a friendly hostess. After a shower we had some coffee, and within minutes Brendan was fast asleep, while I listened to us getting battered in the cricket, I was more than happy to lose, when we have an arrogant South African as captain of an English team, I find it rather crazy that we pick foreigners to captain our national team. The following morning Fran cooked us an excellent breakfast, the lady even makes her own wholemeal bread. I can recommend the accommodation, which is within walking distance of the White Lion and the river.

After breakfast we went off to fish the same beat as we fished the previous day. Conditions were slightly better with a water temperature rise of one degree F.
I chose a different swim from the previous day in the hope I might find some perch and roach. My tackle set up was a light Avon action rod, fixed spool reel with 4lb Gamma line with 4 LG shot and a size 6 hook, the swim was over gravel and silt with quite a lot of water crowfoot, too my left I had a very snaggy area, thinking to myself “if a fish gets into that area all would be lost”. To my right I had a row of willow bushes with quite a fast pace of water. I decided to start off fishing lobworms as bait, which turned out to be the right decision, as I soon started catching some good pound plus perch with the occasional roach. Sadly by lunchtime I had run out of worms, so no more perch fishing. Still I had a dozen or more fish with the best at 2-6-0.

After our lunch of fresh coffee and beef sandwiches we went back to our swim, this time I changed my hook size to a size 10 with 2 LG shot about fifteen inches from the hook. My bait was bread flake, bite indication a dough bobbin. Within half an hour I had caught several 12-14 ounce roach in pristine condition. About 3 o’clock the dough bobbin sailed up to the butt ring, the answering strike connected with a good fish, seconds later it was off. I reckon that was a big roach possibly two pound plus, I was quite gutted. Around 4 o’clock the river came alive with rolling, swirling roach from a few ounces to a pound plus. It was exciting to see so much activity. I fished on catching a couple of nice roach around the pound mark. Sadly like all good things it had to end, it was time to pack away our gear and leave the river. On the way home Brendan and I listened to the Brazilian Grand Prix hoping Lewis Hamilton would win, thankfully after giving us both some heart stopping moments he clinched the World Championships.