Trotting For Mighty Redfins And Dace - This Week's Guest: Dr Mark Everard

What is it about roach and dace that is so captivating for anglers such as Mark? They are hardly monsters of the underwater world. This week, the associate professor, consultant, broadcaster and author reveals why he is obsessed with them, as well as revealing his favourite ways to catch them.

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WHAT is so captivating about dace and roach? Being a dedicated river angler, I love visiting the places where you find these ‘giants’, which are almost as rare as unicorns, thinking my way through the biology of the fish and how they may be behaving. I also like their natural beauty, and other mysteries that are too deep and elusive for words.

Throughout angling history, a 2 lb roach has always been considered to be a ‘fish of a lifetime’, and you are almost as likely to encounter a dragon as you are a 3 lb specimen.

Likewise, 1 lb-plus dace have a near-mythical status, and even my friend, the venerable John Bailey, talks of ‘doubles’ (10 oz or more) in hushed and reverential tones.

Dick Walker coined the term ‘magic double’ (a 2 lb-plus roach and a 1 lb-plus dace, in one sitting), reckoning it to be the ultimate attainment in river angling.

But with application and luck (never forget that luck always plays a massive part in angling), you can narrow the odds of putting specimen roach and dace on the bank.

By such good fortune, I have banked over 1,000 2 lb-plus roach, including 14 of over 3 lb, one being the Bristol Avon river record; a good number of 1 lb-plus dace, including the Hampshire Avon and Bristol Avon river records; several ‘magic doubles’; a ‘double magic double’, comprising two 2 lb-plus roach and two 1 lbplus dace; and even a ‘magic triple’, when I added a 5 lb-plus chub.

Hot to trot

It is true to say that I catch as many big roach and dace on quivertip and cage feeder tactics as I do on a float.

However, trotting rivers with a long rod and a centrepin reel gives me the greatest pleasure.