Boilies For Tench

[dangermouse]

I`m planning an attack on a local pond with the intent of catching some of the bigger tench that are there (they go up to around the 4lb mark, maybe a little bigger). I want to fish a bait that the numerous small tench and crucians are likely to leave alone.I`ll probably have to pop the bait up as there are several inches of silt on the bottom so I was thinking of trying a few boilies either alone or in conjunction with a method feeder. So I`m looking for suggestions on flavours to try and rigs that would work well in those conditions.

[Paul Morley]

Oh go on, floatfish a big lobworm or bit of breadflake!! No? Ok tutti frutti / scopex boilies then, the method feeder should sort out the silt issue if there is one, or use a bit of plastic floating sweetcorn in addition to your boilie, balanced.

[barbelboi]

I wouldn't use them out of choice Neil but I've found that hair rigged 6mm/10mm tutti fruity have worked well in the past to get by the 'nuisance' fish - the tincas seem to approve of them.
Jerry
Buoyant plastic maggots/caster can also work well if used in conjunction with a maggot feeder. Three on a hair will sit them above a size 10 raptor with the weight of the hook enough to anchor it.

[Simon K]

Esterberry or any "fruity" ones are good. (Banana, pineapple, tutti frutti, etc).

[dangermouse]

Originally Posted by Paul Morley

Oh go on, floatfish a big lobworm or bit of breadflake!! No? Ok tutti frutti / scopex boilies then, the method feeder should sort out the silt issue if there is one, or use a bit of plastic floating sweetcorn in addition to your boilie, balanced.

I will probably try the float approach too but I was wanting to have a second rod out that I could cast and leave out for a while. Lobworms were something I`d considered but I hadn`t thought of breadflake, didn`t realise tench were particularly partial to bread, cheers for the tip Paul.

Originally Posted by barbelboi

I wouldn't use them out of choice Neil but I've found that hair rigged 6mm/10mm tutti fruity have worked well in the past to get by the 'nuisance' fish - the tincas seem to approve of them.
Jerry
Buoyant plastic maggots/caster can also work well if used in conjunction with a maggot feeder. Three on a hair will sit them above a size 10 raptor with the weight of the hook enough to anchor it.

Do you think 15ml boilies would be too big then Jerry? I`ve a few small packs of those in strawberry, tutti-frutti, scopex, bloodworm and halibut that I was intending to use. (depending on the answers I received here)

I have some plastic maggots but no casters, although I dare say I can find some. If I was to use casters on the hair would I need to feed them too or would they be ok with maggots as feed?

[rabglasgow]

i have oedered these and my friend swears by them he has caught loads of tench on them
10mm Boilies Mega Mix - Tutti / Pineapple / Scopex / Banana / Halibut / Spicy | eBay

[red creel]

I am more of a caster maggot and worm kind of guy when it comes to Tench.Have flirted with boilies on and off including all the usual suspects like Tutti Fruitti and Scopex.But the outstanding one has been Ringers White 6mml boilies, kind of goes against the grain as it is a fishy flavour rather than a sweet one.

[barbelboi]

Originally Posted by dangermouse

Do you think 15ml boilies would be too big then Jerry? I`ve a few small packs of those in strawberry, tutti-frutti, scopex, bloodworm and halibut that I was intending to use. (depending on the answers I received here)

I have some plastic maggots but no casters, although I dare say I can find some. If I was to use casters on the hair would I need to feed them too or would they be ok with maggots as feed?

Neil, I've never gone above 10mm for tench although I've also caught some decent roach on 10's while barbel fishing and they have much smaller mouths than tincas. Plastic maggots/casters? shouldn't make much of a difference - re. need to feed, I wouldn't feed the plastic ones
Jerry

[dangermouse]

Originally Posted by barbelboi

Neil, I've never gone above 10mm for tench although I've also caught some decent roach on 10's while barbel fishing and they have much smaller mouths than tincas.

Yeah I`ll give the 15ml a go seeing as that`s what I have atm. Depending how that goes I may buy some of those boilies that Rab posted (Cheers Rab )

Originally Posted by barbelboi

Plastic maggots/casters? shouldn't make much of a difference - re. need to feed, I wouldn't feed the plastic ones
Jerry

Well duh, obviously . . . they`d float


Cheers for all the advice guys

[barbelboi]

Originally Posted by dangermouse

Yeah I`ll give the 15ml a go seeing as that`s what I have atm. Depending how that goes I may buy some of those boilies that Rab posted (Cheers Rab )

Best of luck Neil - if you're not getting bites on the 15's you could always whittle them down in size. IMO tincas can be one of the most unpredictable of fish and often I'll be tweaking this, changing that and very rarely finish a session the way I started.

As I stated earlier, although I’ve tried and caught with t/f boilies in the past, if I’m targeting tench I would not use boilies out of preference. I believe that tench prefer natural baits that look natural.My favourite baits are worms, maggots, sweetcorn, luncheon meat and chickpeas.

Jerry
PS, Bearing in mind I am not referring to tench on commercial waters of which i have little experience.