I've been fishing a new venue recently and for the first three sessions I've only a few small roach and perch to show for it. I've only just started fishing for tench properly this season, and my current PB stands at 3lb.

I fished half a worm with a fake maggot with a feeder on my tip rod. It was a couple of hours before I got my first proper bite, and the tip wrapped right around. I was into a hard fighting tench that weighed 5lb 2oz.

When the water went calm my swim was fizzing like a jacuzzi

In total I had four tench:
5lb 2oz
4lb 8oz
4lb 9oz
4lb 2oz

We'll done mate, that's a great catch.

Have you tried banded 10mm halibut pellet on a size 12/14 hook. I find that this sorts out the bigger fish.

If you want to learn more about catching Tench, the definitive work is "Time for Tench" by Chris Turnbull.

Keep us posted with how you get on

Cheers, John

Superb catch! Tench fishing is fantastic, and the fish put up a good fight.
Try fishing a piece of edam cheese moulded around a size 10 or 12 hook, it is a superb Tench bait and has accounted for 1000s of Tench for me over the years. It also works very cheap.

Some great looking fish there, well done.

Wonderful fish there, you are to be congratulated. If you can get there again try some fresh bread flake on the bottom in the edge. It is a first class tench bait and they seem to find it easily. I use small hookbait samples as ground bait rather than mix anything up specially. If you prefer a meaty bait, the humble lobworm is hard to beat and you can gather a bucketful for free in a couple of hours on most damp nights from lawns, urban grass verges and parkland where there is mown grass.

richard

__________________
Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

Well done K

I intend to fish that venue sometime before the end of summer - there are some quality tench in that water - stick at it and you should double your new pb by the end of the summer.

__________________
http://manchesterfishingfiend.blogspot.com

Thanks for the comments everyone


It must be the only water I know of were the average bream and tench is about 5lb, and it's a beautiful place to fish. When you fish it make sure you put a lot of bait out in one spot throughout the day, that seems to be the key to it. When the tench/bream find your bait you'll get them one after the other. Also if you want bream you want to be casting 30-40 yards, as they seem to be quite shy and stay away from all the bankside disturbance during the day, whereas in the evening when the sun's going down you'll see them rolling fairly close in. Thats what my three blanks taught me anyway, and it's a really unpredictable place.

O and also make sure you keep an eye on your rod, those tench are known to drag rods from rests. I was speaking to one guy and he turned around for around two seconds, his rod flew off the rest towards the water with a decent tench attached

bloody hell lovely fish, I reckon tench are one of our best looking coarse species along with crucians and rudd.

you really can't beat a bit of tench fishing when the sun is shining and your feeling lazy

Well done, there is something magical about tench fishing. Take note of master tench fisher RW.....he certainly knows how to tempt them into the net!

__________________
Duncan

I've done a lot of Tench fishing over the years, and whilst corn, worms, bread, meat, and now mini boilies all have their day.. I would never, ever, go without casters and red maggots. And some Expo groundbait, mixed with brown crumb and crushed hemp (don't use straight cooked hemp - tench love it so much they can get completely pre-occupied with it and will then ignore anything else!). Good luck!