Fly fishing the canal for Roach / small perch....

pancuronium

So I'm new to fly fishing and have an itch to get out of the house for an hour..... If you were to fish the canal for Roach / Perch what fly would you use? Buzzer, nymph, wet? And would you use a strike indicator on the line and how deep?

BrownTrout

A small nymph with a bit of red in it for the perch, or a very small black and red/yellow lure pulled passed his nose. I catch a load of them every year in Killarney on a Golden Dabbler.

pancuronium

Kewl should I fish the nymph deep and with an indicator? And should I strip the line? Theres not much flow in the canal... size 14? 16? 18? Thanks a million

BrownTrout

I suppose try a bit of everything! You never know what retrieve will work on a given day or maybe it will be no retrieve at all! Indicator line will help with take detection. 14 should be plenty big enough this time of year.

con___manx1

I once caught a roach on a bibbio while fishing in a stocked trout fisherie.

pancuronium

Excellent! Thanks a mill for your responses!

sevenseas

Roach can be line shy, use light tippet. Try small nymphs in sizes 16-18. Takes can be very subtle, though around spawning time I have had big numbers of roach on the fly taking aggressively. On hot still days roach may rise, if they do it would be worth trying small dries.