Paul Houghton joined the small but elite list of anglers to have landed a 4lb roach after catching this fish weighing 1oz over the magic barrier. It came from a southern stillwater, which, interestingly, was not Linear Fisheries – the venue that produced a4lb 3oz record-equalling redfin for Dai Gribble last spring.
Lancashire angler Paul is an all-rounder, and while he usually keeps his catches to himself, he knew that this fish was too big not to share.
“With a storm coming, I drove to the lake for a 48hr session, keen to make the most of the good conditions before it hit,” he said.
“This pit has produced a few ‘threes’ and is also home to carp. As is often the case with roach, it’s the carpers’ bait that they grow large on.”
As such, Paul introduced a mix of hemp, chopped corn and crumbed boilies to a spot 60yds out, over which he cast maggot feeders on heli-rigs.
“I don’t feed with a Spomb as I think the crash they make attracts carp and can also scare big roach,” he added.
“I use a small spod with which I can introduce a handful of feed, and land it quietly. I crumb the boilies and chop the corn so that I don’t fill the roach up.”
Paul’s first bite came on his first evening from a 10lb 6oz bream, which was followed by a 3lb 6oz perch.
“Although not my target species, I couldn’t complain about catching them. I landed a few roach to around the half-pound mark too, which I took as a good sign.
On his second evening Paul landed more roach to 1lb, before grebes started diving on the spot and bites dried up.
“Around an hour after dark, I then had a bite out of the blue, and judging by the fish’s characteristic head shakes, I knew it was a roach, and a heavy one too,” he said.
“I played it slowly, and when it surfaced in the clear water, I knew I’d beaten my 3lb 2oz PB. However, when I weighed it, I was amazed – you never expect to see the scales go past 4lb when weighing a roach!
“I spoke to a few close friends after the capture, and we agreed that, around next March, that fish could well be a British record.”
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