Roach on the fly.
After asking if I could test one the other flextec rods one arrived this morning a crx88 10 foot 5/6 mid to tip action rod.
Its was a pleasure to use but I will save the report until I have had chance to use it on the river.
Today however I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and took enough small flies to play around with on a small coarse water 5 minutes from my home.
Tiny flies are the key with surface roach.
Anyway a few pictures





I had ten roach in about two hours great fun no monsters the last in my hand the biggest of the session.
It jumped off my hand an got a little dirty for the photo
I had to stop after that as i had dropped my ultra fine 0.5lbs spool of tippet in the water.
Enjoyed a couple of hours utilizing the £40 Flextec 10 foot five weight putting it through various roll casts and distance shots.
The rod I was testing still had the wrapper on the handle
always great to be out catching fish
Tight lines
graylinghunter

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Knowledge is Power
www.graylinghunter.co.uk

"The nice thing about getting old, is that you realize what a madhouse it all is. Instead of a young person's view, which is that the world must be sane, with occasional pockets of insanity, you come around to my position, in which the world seems to be a complete madhouse - with occasional pockets of sanity" (John Cleese 1988)
submitting grayling reports could win you your Salmon Rod license for 2010 on the graylinghunter site.

Nice roach!

What recipe/size of fly were they taken on?

__________________
Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stain my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast feather'd hook,
With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with fur-wrought fly delude the prey

Tiny size 20-22s klinkhammers and fflys tied by my own fair hand
0.5lbs tippet from coarse shop.
tl graylinghunter

__________________
Knowledge is Power
www.graylinghunter.co.uk

"The nice thing about getting old, is that you realize what a madhouse it all is. Instead of a young person's view, which is that the world must be sane, with occasional pockets of insanity, you come around to my position, in which the world seems to be a complete madhouse - with occasional pockets of sanity" (John Cleese 1988)
submitting grayling reports could win you your Salmon Rod license for 2010 on the graylinghunter site.

0.5 lb line
What happens when a biggun takes it?

Play it soft and gentle

__________________
Knowledge is Power
www.graylinghunter.co.uk

"The nice thing about getting old, is that you realize what a madhouse it all is. Instead of a young person's view, which is that the world must be sane, with occasional pockets of insanity, you come around to my position, in which the world seems to be a complete madhouse - with occasional pockets of sanity" (John Cleese 1988)
submitting grayling reports could win you your Salmon Rod license for 2010 on the graylinghunter site.

In the early days of Llandegfedd I caught two roach of about 1lb each in half an hour on a 1" black and silver lure, both fairly hooked in the mouth.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

I haven't had a roach follow a lure style fly yet lots of chubb as long as they are not spooked but I am sure given time one or two may oblige.
I have to say small flies and light mono are key if you attempt to use 3lbs fluro then I don't get as many takes as ultra light mono. at 0.5lbs-1lbs bs.
tl graylinghunter

__________________
Knowledge is Power
www.graylinghunter.co.uk

"The nice thing about getting old, is that you realize what a madhouse it all is. Instead of a young person's view, which is that the world must be sane, with occasional pockets of insanity, you come around to my position, in which the world seems to be a complete madhouse - with occasional pockets of sanity" (John Cleese 1988)
submitting grayling reports could win you your Salmon Rod license for 2010 on the graylinghunter site.

A couple of years ago I had a bunch of nice roach while sea trout fishing in the tidal water at Christchurch Harbour. My friend also had a 6lb bream. All fish came to small sea trout flies.

As a follow up to the post above, I've just spoken to same friend who was fishing Christchurch harbour last night and had a McNab of a ST, bass and a 1lb roach all on a size 8 sea trout fly. The Roach had wholeheartedly engulfed the fly.

I love roach. Whilst trouting a couple of weeks ago on my club river, I took a 1.25lb roach on a Walker Mayfly Nymph, a week earlier I had one of 1lb on a GRHE from the same spot.

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If it's above a 4wt, it's built for Tarpon.