Shy Biters

Fancy some decent sport this autumn and winter? Then head to Bury Hill Fishery’s Milton Lake, Surrey, where shy-biting roach and crucians run to over 3lb – and feed all year. Russ Evans shows Jim Foster how it’s done…

Words and photographs by Jim Foster

“The same is true of the crucians,” Russ carries on in his low-pitched, gentle east-London accent. “They also run to over 3lb. I’ll catch plenty this afternoon. I’ve got about 20lb of them in the net as well.”

Gear-wise, Russ is using a pole with two top three kits to his left on a rack, along with the one he’s using. Another top kit holds a pole pot.

He’s not fishing far out; his pole is capable of putting a rig in at 16 metres, but there’s no need for that today. Instead, the bait is gently lowered into the water alongside some lilies – though not too tight – at around the 11m or 12m mark.

The line is fed on a little-and-often basis, with a small pouchful of B1 Micro Pellets carefully catapulted slightly to the side of the float. It’s clear that Russ isn’t fishing right over the loose offerings, but a metre or so off them.

“I often find that the roach are more likely to be picked up away from the free bait,” he says. “Today that’s definitely the case. None of the other anglers fishing are putting much bait in, which is bad – because it means the carp won’t be drawn away from this area and will target my feed. And I don’t want to catch carp on this gear!

“I’ve held back on the feed because of this and will be looking to pick up roach a metre out or so away from the baited area,” continues Russ.

“This is where they will be, especially when carp are in the swim. You know when carp are in the swim as bites from the other species tend to die off for a few minutes.”

It isn’t long before the float trembles. These fish are obviously shy biters. It raises slightly, the sinks almost imperceptibly, but enough to provoke a strike.

Russ’s elastic pours out of the pole’s tip as a good fish starts its battle, trying to get into the forest of the lily pads close by.

“This is a crucian,” says Russ. “You can usually tell from the bite. They’re exceptionally shy fish.”

He’s right, it’s a crucian, and a good one too. It must weigh in the region of 1lb 12oz and it’s in great condition. Most of the fish in Milton Lake are.

The roach are playing hard to get, though. Half an hour passes and two more crucians are landed, along with a ‘nuisance’ mirror carp of around 4lb and a tench of around 3lb. It’s good fishing, but not exactly what we came for.

The feed continues to go in slowly, maybe a dozen micro pellets every put-in. Russ is baiting three lines in all – one close to the reeds and the right-hand side of the swim, one almost tight to the lilies on the left and the third slightly further out from the pads in more open water.

It’s time for a slight change of tact. Because the roach are so quiet, Russ adds another two sections onto his pole and fishes a single Ringer pellet even further away from his baited area.

Within a minute, the float rises a fraction of and inch. Russ strikes – and is into his first roach for the camera. It’s not a bad fish – maybe 12oz – but not the stamp he was hoping for.

I find it slightly mad that a fish as traditional as the roach can be taken on a 6mm Ringer hook-bait pellet, but I suppose where that comes a main food source thanks to anglers it’s only to be expected.

Presented on a size 14 barbless hook, the Ringer pellets are soaked the night before fishing – covering in water and then boosted with some bloodworm juices. They have to be soft. Russ doesn’t bother hair-rigging them; he puts them directly onto the hook.

“If they’re not soft, they will affect your chances of hooking fish when you strike,” he says. The afternoon progresses and the action from the crucians is unrelenting, with a good number of roach interspersed.

Then Russ decides to take a risk by putting a slightly heavier rig tight to the reeds on his right. This is a gamble. To me it looks like carp heaven there, but Russ has also had some near-2lb roach from this spot, so it’s got to be worth having a go.

The rig is dropped in. The bait rests dead on the bottom. And within 30 seconds or so, the float rapidly disappears, along with about five metres of elastic from Russ’s top section!

“Damn, it’s a carp!” declares Russ as he battles to keep it out of the reeds. The fish charges here there and everywhere before eventually being netted. “I’m not fishing that line again.”

It’s back to the lily pad line then, where our man continues to fish a metre or so away from the micro pellets. It’s amazing, instantly shy bites from the roach and crucians start up again. More silvers are quickly added to the net, and by the end of the afternoon 30 or so prime roach reside in a keepnet specially set aside for them (carp and crucians are kept in a separate net).

It’s been a good day in wonderful surroundings. I’m not a great commercial fishery fan myself, but this place is something special – the jewel in the crown of the commercial waters countrywide.

We photograph the best fish of the day, then call it quits. You can tell autumn is with us – although the leaves are still on the trees, there’s a nip to the air as Russ packs up. That’s a surefire sign that the best roach fishing of the year is just around the corner. So why not try Milton Lake for them yourself? Just steer clear of the carp!

JF: I’ve noticed a weird, blob-float rig too. What’s that for?

RE: I fish this rig up in the water, as the roach can come up during a session, especially the better stamp of fish.

JF: Feeding seems to be important. You were using mainly hemp and micro pellets.

RE: Feeding is very important. I tend to stick with B1 micro pellets, which are bloodworm-soaked, and hemp. The hemp draws in all fish, especially the roach and crucians. I can get them fizzing nicely in the peg in no time. Although there are plenty of anglers fishing the lake today, from what I can see they are not feeding that much. It helps when they feed lots as they take the carp away from me!

JF:  Presentation - bait just off, tight to, or laid on the lake bed?

RE: I fish my Ringer 6mm soft pellets at dead depth. However, if the fish are being really finicky, as they sometimes can be, I lay on a couple of inches, which works a treat.

JF: Fishing with the hook bait just off the baited area seems to work. Is there a reason for this?

RE: Carp! They can zoom in on the bait, even when you hold back on the feed. Knowing that the roach back off in this situation, I fish past my main feed and pick off roach and crucians about a metre further out.

JF: You have three top-three kits with you. How do you choose a balanced kit for the roach and crucians?

RE: I always make a big point in having my elastics balanced. I would rather have my elastics set slightly loose than too tight, though as I don’t want to bump fish off which could spook the shoal and ruin the peg. I use three elastic set-ups. The Drennan Bungee Yellow, rated at 10/12, is with the heavier rig. White Hydrolastic is deal for the main roach and crucian rig, fished on the bottom, and Drennan Green 6/8 is perfect for the blob rig.

JF: if you were to have to take two baits with you for commercial fishery roach, what would they be?

RE: Soft pellets and hemp, with casters if I am allowed three! I have caught most of my biggest roach on soft pellets. Most anglers feed and use pellets on commercial waters for the carp. Because of this, the roach have got used to eating the bait probably more than maggots. The pellet needs to be a soft as possible to maintain a good hook-hold to the fish on the strike. If it’s too hard then bumped fish will occur, no matter how soft and balanced the elastic is. Roach are finicky feeders at the best of times so a really soft pellet is best.

Casters have always been a good bait for quality roach and come into their own in winter. When using both baits I would prefer to feed with hemp rather than groundbait.

Angler File

Name: Russ Evans

Age: 46

Born: Plaistow, East London, living in Oxted Surrey

Occupation: Team captain of southern match outfit BCUK Sport One. Also tackle shop manager at Bury Hill Fishery

Best Catch: 250lb net of bream from Lough Erne, Ireland

Angling Ambitions: To qualify for the Fish ‘O’ Mania final