Five fish you can catch in winter – including one that’s best at this time of year

If you’re consider a fishing trip but are worried about the weather, then have no fear.

You may think that is a past time that’s only enjoyable in fair weather, but one fishing guru has said otherwise.

Fishing expert Adam says there’s no need to put off heading to the river or lake until spring – for there are many common fish to be caught at this time of year.

He took to to reveal his list of the top five fish you should be casting for over the coming weeks.

So check out the five fish you should be looking for during the winter months below.

5. Chub (Squalius cephalus)

“These things will feed all winter long,” Adam began. “They’re really great fish to target during the cold months.”

Fisheries further details: ” In short, you can catch chub almost anywhere. They will live happily in rivers of all sizes and can also be found in lakes, reservoirs and canals. However, chub are essentially a species that seems to thrive best in flowing water with some of the biggest, and probably consequently the oldest, coming out of quite modest small rivers.

“The prevailing theory is that chub always require flowing water to breed, with gravelly rivers providing the optimum conditions. However, chub also seem to thrive in some still waters and in order to breed in those still waters they must apparently make their way to the feeder streams that provide an incoming flow.”

4. Bream

“In at four is Bream,” Adam continued. “These will feed in the river all year long and I’ve seen some of the biggest bags of break ever caught in the winter months. Adam highlighted the period after a “bit of a flood” as the best time to catch bream due as they “feed hard” once the river level comes back down.

states: “Natural water anglers will enjoy catching large bags of bream from big lakes and reservoirs, whilst specimen hunters have the opportunity to catch bream that are well over twenty pounds, and we may even see a twenty-three pounder soon.”

3. Roach (Rutilus rutilus)

This is just a notorious fish to catch throughout the winter months,” Adam explained. “In fact I’ve had some of the biggest bags of my life with these fish.

adds: “One of the attractions of roach fishing is that they can be found almost anywhere. From the smallest of farm ponds to great lakes, canals and rivers, roach are ubiquitous and will often take a bait when other fish are proving fickle. Even small streams can often turn up fish of surprising size and numbers.”

2. Perch

“Being a predator fish, these will feed all year long,” Adam advised. “Especially during winter, they’re a really great species of fish to target.

explains: “Similar to roach, perch are omnipresent and can be found in just about every lake, pond, canal and river, although they are not so fond of fast moving water. Small perch are gregarious and like to move around in large shoals. The shoals become smaller as the perch get bigger, often consisting of only half a dozen fish or so and very big perch are more solitary in nature.”

1. Pike (Esox lucius)

Obviously at number one is the pike,” Adam ended his list. “All winter long these fish will feed and some of the biggest ones come out during winter as well, which is why it’s one of the best fish to target during the cold.”

adds: “Found in almost all patches of water from lakes and reservoirs to canals and rivers, pike have populated anywhere that holds bait fish and their numbers have grown. Many of the UK’s most famous trout reservoirs hold some monstrous pike that have enjoyed a diet of both coarse fish and trout alike; for many years the British record has come from one such lake.”

Adam concluded: “So don’t sit at home – if you guys put that little bit of effort in, you can be as successful as you are in the summer.” One of his followers hailed in response: “Saying that about pike I caught one yesterday – it was about 9-12 pounds on dead bait.”

A second penned: “Only started fishing this year hoping to go out and catch some pike this winter.” Whilst a third claimed: “You can catch trout during the winter as well.”