All-round angler, Andrew Mussellwhite from Winchester managed to land this roach of a lifetime when he recently visited a local stretch of the River Itchen in Hampshire.
Andrew run’s through the day as it unfolded:
Upon arrival at the river, I saw it had that lovely green tinge, perfect for roach and it always fishes well with a nice tinge of colour. I walked straight to my chosen swim without stopping as I knew that was exactly where the bigger roach would be.
I fed the swim with maggots for 20-minutes prior to fishing. The first few trots down produced several small grayling to around 1lb. I then changed my usual Drennan Loafer float over to a Wire Stem Avon because I kept missing tiny bites and knew that the wire stem would aid me in holding back in the flow to slow the bait to an almost complete stop. At this point, I also changed the hook from a size 14 Super Specialist to a Wide Gape Specialist in a size 16.
This was the best thing I could have done, my very next trot down the swim I held the float right back and at the end of the trot the float dipped, fish on! I knew straight away it was a good fish and it put up a great account of itself in the faster water. As I drew it closer to the net I could see the silvery sheen as the fish twisted and turned in the current. The fish then rose up to the surface and I managed to get my first proper look. My knees suddenly buckled beneath me and my heart was in my mouth. It was a roach alright, and a big one at that! Inch by inch I gently guided her to the net and thankfully, she went in first time.
After resting the fish in the margin for a few minutes while I sorted out the mat and weigh sling, I carefully lifted her out and into the weighing sling. I slowly lifted the scales, hands shaking in disbelief of what I had just caught and the needle swung round to 2lb 4oz. My biggest roach from the River Itchen and the perfect birthday present any angler could wish for.
This fantastic capture earned Andrew a weekly Drennan Cup award in Angling Times on the 29th of December 2015.