Feeder fishing for Roach in Winter - would you?

[Dave]

Fishing a pond sized lake in winter; water 6-8ft deep; what would your choice of tackle be, float or feeder?

I'm going on Friday all being well but not sure whether or not to take the pole or just go all out with a feeder or bomb rod and leave the pole at home.
That said, with the ice we've had covering the surface the fish could be anywhere at the moment, on the bottom, midwater, under the surface, I suppose it depends if the sun is out or not warming the upper layers.

 

[SerialBlanker]

I'm terrible at decisions like that so end up taking the lot, except a pole. Only because I don't own one

 

[chefster]

Both

 

[Maesknoll]

Waggler, leave the feeder rod at home, you know it makes sense.....

 

[MrTencherson]

Maggot feeder

 

[dave brittain 1]

Dave I'd fish either a long and short pole approach or the waggler and short pole, priming the 5-6m line for bagging late on in the session.

 

[matt]

I’d definitely take a rod with me just in case...with all the cold weather you never know how clear the water might be!

 

[Browner]

6mm or 8mm punch and a small open end feeder with liquidised bread. 9ft feeder rod and a 3/4oz fast taper glass tip.

 

[tipitinmick]

Take a pie. You know you want to.

 

[rudd]

My preference would be waggler and light bomb/feeder rod in that order.
No need for a load of unneeded tackle then and can move swims if needed.

With predicted nice weather after a cold and wet month and the lockdown factor I expect there will be extra anglers out with a fair percentage not having much experience and to much bait going in

They are entitled to fish but I will steer clear of them as expecting it to be tough due to cold snow melt water and the high pressure we will be sitting under.

 

[minkyandbear]

Two waggler rods, one on the drop and one bulk 2' off deck and 2 no 10 droppers.

 

[pies]

Feeder and a big flask

 

[Silverfisher]

Winter roach fishing makes me shudder, I find it near impossible to catch any roach from December to February after catching way more of them than anything else the other 9 months of the year!

However it's due so mild come Friday that they might be quite temptable on the typical roach approach of fishing through the water column on the drop on the float. The current forecast, whilst not as extreme, is reminding me of February 19 when we had that crazy warm spell, I certainly caught a fair few winter roach then Stillwater and river!

That said I still feel you might be a couple days early on the water temperature front for that (reckon Sunday/Monday will be the time once we're a week into the mild spell) so holding a bait dead still on the pole on the might be better. Never done that myself but the only way I can ever really catch winter roach on stillwaters is to fish a waggler slightly over depth to stop it wandering about when you don't get the bites as quick as you do when it's warmer. Seems a pole would pull off that presentation better.

 

[Dave]

It seems like the general consensus is waggler, so having enlisted the assistance of a porter for the day , I think I'll take a selection of rods and see what happens. I can always leave the pole and hardware in the pickup as a backup just in case

 

[Fugley-fisher]

Waggler catty job done

 

[ukzero1]

I'd take both waggler and feeder, gives a few more options.

 

[dave brittain 1]

Dave, if the lake had been deeper I'd have suggested using a small drennan maggot feeder using a paternoster link with a 3ft hook length to an 18 and double maggot. We used to use nothing else in winter on some lakes we used to fish that were 10-14ft ft or so deep and caught come cracking roach and the occasional bonus carp, much to the carp boys disdain.

I still love fishing for roach like that on both rivers and still waters as it's a skill set rarely used today although it can be deadly for carp when the temps drop.

 

[mickthestick]

Take a Waggler and also try a light bomb rod over the feed area and just past having a drag thro feed later on

 

[smiffy]

I’d fish the pole and punch, feeding nuggets. Its a method that works when it’s hard and when it’s easy. One short line and one long.

 

[Dave]

Years back I used to fish using a small Maggot feeder on a short link, no more than 3inch, and an 18inch hooklength for Roach and twitching the hook bait over the feed often used to pick them up in cold water, Always shy bites but bites non the less