John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
March 24th 2010
Roach on the Tip
My great friend Phil and Rob were up fishing the Wensum the last week of the season. The weather got gradually kinder for them and the river was constantly fining down. Water temperatures remained low, though, and moving baits weren't always the best. Rob in particular, decided to spend most of his week on the quiver tip.
But how frustrating it was for him. On one occasion he hit a great feeding spell and in the course of a couple of hours missed at least a dozen decent takes. He tried everything. Leaving the bite to develop and hitting them straight off. Smaller baits and bigger baits. Longer tails and shorter tails. Flake, bread paste and maggots. Casters even. The result was always the same: yet another missed bite.
I met up with Rob in the pub and he was beside himself with frustration. But I'm not surprised. Way back in the very early Seventies, before quiver tip rods were generally available, John Wilson and I used to make our own and in my case at least, with considerable lack of success. The rods I put together could hit chub, generally, but with roach, I stood no chance. It wasn't until that other great Norwich tackle dealer, Tom Boulton, got me onto the Persuader that I began to hit roach bites on the quiver for the first time. Of course, as that magnificent rod was designed, I believe, by Ivan Marks, perhaps that should come as no surprise.
Since the Persuader, there have been all manner of attempts to replicate that rod's action. Possibly one of the first and one of the best was the Drennan Bomb Rod back in the early Nineties, I think it was. That, too, could really nail shy roach bites. Rob's rod obviously couldn't. I'd better not mention the model's name however for fear of legal reprisals. Can I just say this though? Roach on the quiver tip are the most frustrating of animals. A rod is either up to the job or it is categorically not so. A rod might feel fine in the tackle shop when you waggle it but that does not for a moment mean it is going to work in a real life situation. Get a rod that works and quiver tip roach are a breeze. Get one that doesn't and you'll simply go insane.
My tip? Look out for an old Persuader on eBay and you will have hit gold!