Whip Out A Roach A Chuck

Small rivers in built-up areas offer the best chance of winter redfins, says rising star John Newman.

- Tony Grigorjevs

WE'VE all been brainwashed to believe that winter fishing will inevitably be much tougher than what is on offer during summer.

In most instances, it is hard to disagree with that theory. Commercial carp slip into a slumber once the water chills, bream shoals push out of range on many giant reservoirs and you can forget about getting a single bite from tench and crucians.

But roach are a completely different proposition, especially the shoals that are present in our river systems.

Often living in waterways where cover is at a premium, the fish stocks huddle together in giant balls to give themselves protection from the elements.

Like clockwork, the fish head en masse for the same spots every year and, unlike other species, they will still be on the lookout for food once they have reached their winter quarters.

You might think that a shoal would be made up of hundreds of fish, but more often not they congregate in the thousands, maybe even the tens of thousands in the most impressive cases.

If you’ve done your homework and locate where they have taken up residence, the results can be simply incredible.

The vast majority of juniors in our sport are addicted to commercials but rising star Josh Newman is the odd one out, preferring to target the rivers, with winter roach fishing his favourite arm of the sport.

Capped by England at youth level, the Lincolnshire-based 15-year-old must snigger at the thought of other youngsters huddled in a bivvy and staring at a motionless set of carp rods as he bags a roach every chuck of his session.

“The roach are well spread out on rivers in the warmer months and it can be hard to bag up at that time of year,” explained Josh.

“It is completely different now because all the fish are packed tight in certain areas and, if you find them, you can put a massive net together.