It doesn’t matter if you’ve been fishing for years, or only recently taken up angling as a hobby.
Catching a roach is always rewarding, and they are such beautiful fish.
You can catch roach on all sorts of waters, from canals up to large lakes. There is also more than one way to catch the most popular species out there. On top of that, there are so many different baits to use to catch roach, some attracting the bigger ones than others.
So what are the best baits to use to catch roach, whether in large numbers? Or trying to land the biggest one possible?
Top 3 Baits To Use To Catch Roach
We are going to run through the best 3 baits to use to catch roach.
Their natural diet is made up of insects, aquatic vegetation, small water snails, bloodworms, and fish fry.
These baits will work regardless of what type of water you’re fishing on. Swelling your keepnet no matter what the weather is doing. As well as making sure you continue to catch roach all year round.
#1: Maggot
If you’ve done any form of course fishing at all in your life, you will have put a maggot on a hook.
They are my, if not most people’s bait of choice and not only to catch roach.
Most, if not all angling centres will stock maggots on their bait counter. Maggots come in all sorts of colours, red, white, and yellow are the most common. I’ve used fluorescent pink in the past, and even seen lime green, purple and blue in the past, but I’m not convinced they work.
My favourite all-around colour is the red maggot.
That’s because they look like a bloodworm, which is the natural diet of many fish like a roach.
One thing to remember is to take the colour of the water into account. When there’s a brown tinge to the water, bronze maggots work well for roach. It can be more of a trial and error approach, I like to try different colours or a combination to see if they work.
Another reason why maggot is the best bait to use to catch roach is its versatility
It doesn’t matter what technique you are planning on using, or if you change tactics in a session.
Put a maggot or two on your hook and it’s like a beacon to roach. I’ve fished the float, waggler, feeder and pole all using maggots as the hook bait. The combination has helped me haul in huge numbers of roach, along with catching some big ones too.
#2: Worm
Worms are another staple to an angler’s bait selection.
Again, not only helps you catch roach but a selection of different species of fish.
I know many people don’t like using worms as bait. It comes because it can be quite difficult to get on the hook. An option to get around this is to put them in your the bait you are throwing out to attract the fish.
Like maggots, worms look a lot like the natural food of roach, bloodworms.
I’ve touched on using worms in baits to attract roach, but they don’t lend well to as many different techniques.
Where worms come into their own is when using a float, either with the rod and reel or pole fishing. One of the best uses of the worm as hook bait is if you’re fishing the pole on stretches of water such as a canal. Don’t ask me why but it seems to be a great combination for that type of water, allowing you to land some larger roach.
#3: Bread Flake
It always makes me laugh that a staple from our ‘dining table’ works so well for catching fish.
Roach are no different, they respond so well to bread, both on a hook and as groundbait.
As a kid growing up, I used bread as a cheap alternative to letting me get out fishing. I used my pocket money to buy cheap groundbait, which was stale white loaves, ground up. During the summer month, using bread-based ground bait to get fish in my swim was almost too easy.
Using bread flakes in particular as a hook bait can be very effective.
It can be difficult to get onto your hook and you made need to use a bread punch if you are struggling.
The main reason to use bread flake is that it’s very effective if you’re trying to catch larger roach. I’m not sure why it works so well, but if you have a shoal of roach in front of you. Using bread flake seems to put off the smaller fish, which is perfect if you’re after a P.B.
Baits To Use To Catch Roach
If you want to catch more roach you can’t go wrong with the humble maggot.
Depending on where you’re fishing and the technique, worms are a good option.
If you’re after a larger roach as you want to have bragging rights. Either worm or bread flakes are a great option and seem to work well over maggot. Bread flake is also a perfect choice for groundbait to attract roach into your swim.
If you want to be able to record your fishing trips. Detailing things like bait used, and what techniques you used, why not check out our mobile app?
You can download the app for Android and iOS now, it’s also free to get started using the app.
