VENUE FILE

HENDRE LAKE
Location: Cypress
Drive, St Mellons,
Cardiff CF3 0EG
Day tickets: 6;
concessions 4
Contact: Martin on
07974 053322
Website: www.cardiff.
gov.uk/parks/

CATCH 30LB
OF ROACH
Jon Arthur joins Lee Edwards for a lesson in the art
of speed fishing for roach. Can the Welsh international
break the 30lb barrier for the cameras?

ANGLER FILE
LEE EDWARDS
Age: 36
Lives: Caerphilly
Sponsors: Preston
Innovations, Sonubaits
Pole: Preston
Innovations GiS14

It soon became obvious why

Lee Edwards is such a finely
tuned catching machine!

106

AUGUST 2011

AUGUST 2011

107

Lee prefers to po
loose groundba t in
rather than ballsit
.

The quality of sport on offer

means that I often come here to
try methods and test new tackle
for my sponsors. As well as the
prolific head of roach that Im
targeting, there are also plenty
of hybrids, tench, eels, bream
and carp. The carp go to over
20lb, while the bream also go to
specimen sizes, with fish nudging
double figures a possibility!
My target, though, is the
plentiful roach population.
They average 2oz to 6oz but fish
over 1lb are also present. The
challenge is not going to be easy
and I will need to get quite a few
key areas right to break the 30lb
barrier.

THINK ABOUT IT
To catch a big net of silvers you
have to make things as easy
and efficient as possible. When
speed is of the essence, there is
no point trying to fish with an
ultra-long pole because this will
only waste valuable time. At the
other extreme, you will struggle
to get the fish to feel safe if you
fish too close in. Regular feeding
will be essential to get the roach
competing, so I also want to fish
where I can feed comfortably and
preferably where I can throw bait
by hand. The lake is only four to
five feet deep but has a decent
tinge, which should help.

REGULAR FEEDING WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO GET

THE ROACH COMPETING.
lake should be a breeze! It is all
relative, of course, and with
roach being so much smaller
than most other species, Lee was
going to have to work like a welloiled machine to get the most
from the session. Lee, its over to
you

THE VENUE

Lee netted most of his

fish on his way to amassing
a 30lb-plus bag.

108

AUGUST 2011

I have brought the cameras to

Hendre Lake in Cardiff. This
10-acre lake is in the middle
of a 143-acre park that was
actually once a salt marsh and
part of the Gwent Levels coastal
flood plain. It is connected to
other waterways in the area by
a system of channels known as
reens and Im sure this is one
reason why it is so full of fit and
healthy fish.

Weighing up all of these

aspects, I have chosen to fish
six pole sections out, which is
approximately seven metres. This
is close enough to catch fast and
feed easily but far enough out to
let the fish feel safe. By fishing
with just my match-top-three
kit and three extra pole sections
added I should be able to zip in
and out quickly and amass a
decent weight easily. With only
three sections to break down
each time I can also position my
pole roller so that I dont even
have to look behind me each time
I unship.

WHICH BAIT?
To make things easier I need to
try and sort out a bigger stamp of
roach and the perfect bait for this

has to be casters. I dont know

why, but a caster seems to pick
out a slightly bigger fish than a
maggot. This game is all about
catching quantity, so even if a
caster fish is only half an ounce
bigger on average than a maggot
fish, this can make a massive
difference at the weigh-in. I have
brought three pints of casters,
which Im confident will be
enough for a full days action.
Maggots can be an important
change bait so I still have half a
pint on my side tray, plus hemp
for feeding at the start because it
makes a great holding bait.
My final roach feed is half a
bag of Sonubaits Silvercrush
Match groundbait. This is a new
particle-rich blend thats perfect
for this challenge. Because the
swim is only four feet deep at six
sections I will feed two or three
loose 250ml pots of this mix
rather than squeezed into a ball
to create a decent bed for the
fish to settle over. Over the top of
this I will swish around a 50/50
pot of casters and hemp; again to
help create a nice bed of feed to
fish over.

LEES ROACH RIGS

n last months editorial I

mentioned targets that any
wannabe pole angler aspires
to catch. For me, 30lb of roach
is a massive barrier to break on
a stillwater and one where you
can definitely pat yourself on
the back if you achieve it. I put
it on a par with catching 200lb
of carp or 100lb of bream, for
instance, and thats why I was so
keen to see if Lee Edwards could
manage it for the cameras.
I couldnt have
asked for a
h
better contender
for the challenge
because Lee
be
is a Welsh
international,
in
a former world
championship
ch
bronze medallist
br
and one of the most
an
versatile anglers Ive
vers
ever met. There isnt
species or style of
a sp
shing that this man
fish
hasnt mastered, so
hasn
the amiable Welshman
was an obvious
choice to catch me a
choi
weight of silvers.
big we
I almost forgot to say, this is
also the man who once caught
a phenomenal 316lb recordobliterating weight of chub
from the River Wye so a mere
30lb of roach from a local park

No4 Preston
Slip elastic

Dead maggots, pellets and

Tiger Fish groundbait are
fed further out for bream.

hook. This is perfect for silvers

and offers the best compromise
between robustness and finesse.
My elastic is a No4 through my
match top three. I have gone for a
lighter grade than you may have
expected because the water is
very shallow and I dont want the
fish to be splashing around after
hooking. I will probably have to
net most fish over three or four
ounces but this isnt a problem
once you are into a catching
rhythm and I think I will amass
a better net of fish in the long
run. Even though the elastic is
light it is set pingy. This helps set
the hook and offers a bit more
control over a fish.

BONUS BREAM
3x8
Chianti

4x10
Chianti

Lee kicks off the roach swim

with loose Sonubaits Silver
Crush Match groundbait.

No12
Stotz

ROACH RIGS
I have two roach rigs assembled.
The first is my full-depth rig
and consists of a 4x10 Preston
Chianti float shotted with nine
No12 shot. Initially, these will
be spread out, starting around
10 inches from the hook to
encourage bites at all levels.
Later, I expect to make this rig
more positive, with the closest
dropper shot moved to six inches
from the hook with two more
droppers above this and a bulk at
18 inches.
My second rig is for fishing
up in the water and comprises a
3x8 Chianti set anything from
18 inches to two and a half feet
deep. I have used six No12 Stotz
rather than conventional shot
because their shape creates more
resistance through the water,
which basically means the rig
should fall slower.
My terminal tackle is identical
for both rigs; 0.11mm Preston
Power to a 6in hooklength of
0.09mm Xceed and a size 18
wide-gape, fine-wire, PR 311

Casters are the number-one

offering for roach.

DEPT
DE
PTH:
PT
H: 4
4FT
FT

This is the stamp you are

after if you want to catch
a big weight of roach.

Lee started off with small

quantities fed regularly

Strung-out
or bulked
No12 shot

No12
18 PR 311
No12

0.11mm main
line and 6in
0.09mm
hooklength
on both rigs

but had much more

success once he stepped
the amount right up.

As I have already mentioned, I

often come here to test methods,
so Im itching to see if I can
also catch some bream. I know
I shouldnt be trying to catch a
big bag of roach AND target the
lakes bream but I cant resist
the temptation!
Thankfully, the way I like to
feed for bream shouldnt affect
my main roach swim. I will
simply cup in a large quantity
of bait at 16 metres at the start
and then pot in an occasional
top-up every hour or so. This
feeding policy works well because
bream often like to graze over
a bed of feed without any bait
raining over their heads. Bream
also tend to feed more confidently
the further out you fish. This
obviously allows me to get on
with the busier task of bagging
up on roach close in! It can often
take bream several hours to find
and settle on your bait anyway,
so its the perfect complement to
a busy few hours roach fishing
elsewhere.

BREAM FEED

Last No12
placed 6in
to 10in
from hook

Size 18
PR 311
An occasional long-pole top-up
every hour allowed Lee to
concentrate on catching roach.

To kick off the bream swim I

am potting in eight loose 250ml
potfuls of Sonubaits Tiger Fish
groundbait, plus another two
pots of Tiger Fish pellets and dead
maggots. As the swim is only four
feet deep and the bream run big I
deliberately feed the groundbait
loose and unsqueezed and swish
it around in the swim to cover
a decent area. Further top-ups
AUGUST 2011

109

every hour or so will simply

be up to a full pot containing
more dead maggots, pellets and
loose groundbait. I dont plan
on dropping a rig over this area
for at least three hours, which
should be enough time for me
to catch plenty of roach close in
and let any bonus fish settle.

BREAM RIG
My big-fish rig consists of a 0.3g
PB Silver 2 float, which has a
plastic bristle and wire stem
for stability. This is on 0.13mm
Reflo Power line to a 0.11mm
hooklength and a size 18 PR 333
hook. Elastic is No5 Slip through
a match top three. Again, the
elastic is on the light side but
this helps to cushion the strike
when fishing at 16 metres. It
also ensures that any smaller
fish arent bumped off, while the
addition of a Pulla Bung should
hopefully enable me to cope with
anything significant.

ROACH RHYTHM
Back to the all-important roach
swim and the key to a big weight
will be down to loose feeding
and getting into a good rhythm.
I have put in a bed of feed to
begin with, over which I plan to

comes out a long way and it is

actually this quality that buys me
the time to feed before breaking
down to net or swing in a fish. By
the time I have baited up the fish
will hopefully have resettled over
the bait I have just thrown in.
Another good ploy if I have
had to wait slightly longer for
bites has been to lay the rig in
and then pick up some casters
with my spare hand. Then, as
soon as I hook a fish I quickly
feed the casters before starting to
unship. Again, the light elastic
really helps to cushion the
hooked fish in this situation.

UP OR DOWN
As the session progresses I
quickly learn that the fish dont
want to feed so confidently up
in the water. This is probably
because of a mixture of things,
including the sunshine, lots of
passers-by stopping to watch
and, at times, an overzealous
cameraman stood in the water
just a few metres from my float
(Er, sorry Ed)!
Instead, I find the full-depth
rig is far more productive and
fishing it an inch overdepth to
counteract the waves on the
lake seems best. A single caster

buried itself and snapped my

hooklength. Once that fish had
gone it was back to the roach
action.
With three hours elapsed and
at least 20lb of roach now in
the net I was itching to try the
16m bream swim. Starting with
four dead maggots on the hook
I was disappointed to catch yet
more small roach. Surprisingly,
a switch to a 4mm expander
pellet on the hook brought
almost as many nuisance fish.
Persevering with a bunch of
dead maggots finally paid off,
however, as two skimmers well
over 1lb came to the net before
the roach returned. I potted
in another helping of dead
maggots, groundbait and pellets
and decided to let it settle while I
reverted to the short pole. Fifteen
minutes more roach action and I
spotted a big bream roll. I quickly
shipped back out to 16 metres

TEN MINUTES LATER I WAS NETTING A 4LB

BREAM A PROPER BATTLE-SCARED SLAB!
feed with casters. Initially, this
will be just a dozen shells every
cast. Once I know how the fish
are reacting I can try to alter this
amount and frequency to see
whats best.
Getting into a smooth,
unhurried rhythm of catching
and feeding cannot be
overemphasised. Its no good
feeding all the while if you
dont have time to lay in the rig
properly and end up missing
bites. Likewise, you dont want to
concentrate purely on catching
fish at the expense of feeding
regularly.
I have tried different systems
today but my best catching
rhythm has been ship out, lay
the rig in, hook a fish, ship back,
THEN feed by hand, break down
the pole, swing in or net the fish,
unhook it, rebait and ship back
out again. The soft No4 elastic

110

AUGUST 2011

hooked like a maggot is doing all

the damage and Ive hardly ever
dropped the rig in without a bite
in the form of the float either not
settling or slowly disappearing.
Ive gone through spells
of smaller than average fish,
particularly at the start. The
solution has been to feed quite
heavily each cast so, rather than
a dozen at a time, I have resorted
to feeding 40 or more. This
seems to really help keep the fish
down where they are easier to
catch and the stamp noticeably
increases.

BIG-FISH TIME
I have had one quiet, fiveminute spell where the roach
disappeared completely and all
I could catch was an odd small
perch. I hoped it was a tench or
bream but persevering led me
to hook an eel that promptly

An amazing bag of silvers

plus a very welcome 4lb bream.

with three dead maggots on the

hook and 10 minutes later I was
netting a 4lb bream a proper
battle-scarred slab!
I dont think it was any
coincidence that this bonus fish
came when the sun disappeared
behind the clouds for half an
hour. Unfortunately, the sun
soon broke through again and
my next two fish turned out to
be small eels. With a strict 3pm
finish enforced, time was really
against me and the five-hour
session was soon over. Another
one or two bream would have
been the icing on the cake but it
has been a bit too sunny for this
species. I cant really complain
when I pull out the keepnet,
though. There is easily 30lb of
roach inside, plus getting on
for 10lb of bream, skimmers,
hybrids, perch and eels. I think
thats my challenge well and
truly met!