Roach
Rutilus rutilus
Roach (Rutilus rutilus) is a freshwater fish found in UK waters. Rivers, canals, lakes and drains across the country. One of the most widespread freshwater fish in the UK. Whether you can keep one depends on local rules — check before you do.
- Max length
- 45 cm
- Max weight
- 1.8 kg
- Water
- Freshwater
- How often
- Very common
Updated
What it looks like
A neat, silver, slab-sided fish with a small downturned mouth, red-orange eyes and reddish pelvic and anal fins. The dorsal fin starts directly above the pelvic fins — the detail that separates it from rudd.
Small roach are bright silver; larger fish take on a deeper, brassier sheen with darker backs. A two-pound roach is a genuine specimen and a lifetime fish for many anglers.
How to catch one
Bait
Maggot, caster, bread punch and hemp.
Rig
A light waggler or stick float with fine line and a small hook — roach bite delicately.
When
Through the day, with a strong showing at dusk.
Where
Steady glides on rivers, and anywhere loose feed can be trickled in to build a shoal.
Season: All year. Winter roach fishing on rivers is a tradition in its own right.
Easy to confuse with
Questions anglers ask
- How do you tell a roach from a rudd?
- Look at the mouth and the dorsal fin. Roach: mouth level or slightly down, dorsal fin above the pelvics. Rudd: mouth clearly upturned, dorsal fin set further back.
- What is a big roach?
- Anything over 1 lb is a good fish; 2 lb is a specimen that many anglers never catch.
