tench

[tommyyyyyyyy]

hi i need some help with targeting tench, i fish at a local lake called crooked willows and there are alot lot of lilies close in so i fish them but never get a tench, do tench take pellets well and can reccomemend anything e.g rigs bait pellets

thanks alot

tom

 

[MarkTheSpark]

Luncheon meat, sweetcorn, worms and maggots will all get good results. Don't get obsessed with pellets. They are only a bait.

Catching tench is a question of timing as much as tackle. You should definitely be there at first light and dusk fishing to see if that's when they feed. But tench will feed midday on some lakes. Pick a good swim, bait up with handsful of the bait you've chosen, and keep trying, at all times of the day.

The best rig of all for this type of fishing is a waggler float rig, either fished overdepth or laying on with a shot on the bottom. Select a float you can easily over-cast to your swim so you minimise drift and can pull the float right back to the edge of the lilies. Hooks sizes 14 to 10, depending on bait size, and a hooklength about 4lb - as much as 8lb if you anticipate a lot of snags.

If you really must, use a swimfeeder set-up but leave your bite alarms at home. Take a quivertip rod and you'll learn far more about tench fishing and, probably, see more bites.

 

[JIMMY---PAAS]

Hi Mark: Can you tell me what is the up-to-date U Ks tench record.

Thanks

Jimmy.

 

[MarkTheSpark]

I think it's about 15lb 3oz. But to a large extent, it's not much of a benchmark. Previous records have included some clearly heavily gravid if not spawn-bound female fish.

A realistic, specimen target would be a 9-pounder and anything into double figures is a real biggie.

 

[JIMMY---PAAS]

Thanks for the Info Mark: And also the tips at 08:26 post.

As I,m going to give your method a go on a water that I know has got Tench in it up here.

Once again, cheers mate.

Jimmy.

 

[tommyyyyyyyy]

thanks for all the advice

 

[MarkTheSpark]

Glad to be of help. I didn't say much about baiting the swim, but suffice to say you want samples of your hookbait and, if it's a big chuck, use a quality cereal grondbait, mixed as dry as possible, to bind it into balls.

Dead maggots (freeze 'em) can work well, as can casters. Don't forget to try bread flake from time to time. Tench quite like a bit of hemp in the groundbait or feed, too.

But I can't over-emphasise the need to make dawn your primary tench time (and I mean BEFORE the sun even shows) and then, if that doesn't work, try all times of the day. They don't seem to feed much at night. Once you get the timing right, you usually find they'll feed at that time most days.

 

[Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)]

The first thing you must do is locate the tench. They are not everywhere and are often to be found in certain areas of a water, be it lake, canal or drain. In rivers look for weedy slacks. I caught some lovely tench years ago from the Warwickshire Avon near the middle of Warwick.

If you can see the tench, all well and good. If you can't, look out for tench bubbles. These are little clouds of very fine bubbles which look like those on the top of a glass of lemonade.

As regards the best baits, I have caught more big tench on red maggots than any other bait I can think of. On a soft or weedy bottom, do as Mark suggests and freeze the maggots overnight which kills them. Casters are also good as are caster and redworm or maggotand redworm cocktails.

Chose the tackle to suit the water and the presence of snags. Tench will normally charge off in the direction of weed beds, lily pad stalks, sunken trees and other hazards. You will require adequate tackle to handle them. In open water you can use quite light tackle with every chance of landing a big tench. I have caught tench to nearly 8 pounds from open snag free gravel pits using 1.7 lb hooklengths and size 18 hooks

Good luck

 

[JIMMY---PAAS]

Cheers Ron/Mark: What's the best bottom feeder to use for Tench on a stillwater ?.

 

[MarkTheSpark]

Feeder or feed?

 

[JIMMY---PAAS]

I,ll go for both then Mark: If you don't mind, as I've never really fished for Tench before and as I said the water which I do fish for Pike holds a lot off Trench and Chub.

Once again Mark

Cheers.

Jimmy.

 

[MarkTheSpark]

I'd still recommend using float tackle whenever possible. But if you must use a feeder, I suggest an open-end or cage feeder, medium size carrying no more than 1oz of lead - 1/2 to 3/4 best. Fish the feeder on a weak link in case it get snagged, and use a running lead method. Use quivertip rather than alarms - you need to be on to the bites quickly, especially if fishing near lilies (and if you can, do) Tench love lilies but not for the reasons you might suppose. Lilies grow best in silt, and it's the silt the tench love to grub about in.

Ron's tip about needle bubbles is a good one; these are VERY small fizzy bubbles, not great gloopy bubbles. Try not to plonk a feeder right on top of a feeding tench. Fish a few feet away and wait for them to find your bait. With a float, you can overcast and draw the float back right over a tench's head.

You can make up the feed as you go along. Use a hemp-based groundbait as the binder for your hookbait samples - worms, maggots, casters and luncheon meat are all top of my bait list. When using meat, finely chop the feeder samples and use chunks or cubes between 1/2 inch and an inch, hook embedded in them but point showing.

Let us all know how you get on.

 

[JIMMY---PAAS]

Mark: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the info, in which I am very grateful to you.

I will be going to the water on Monday and give it a go, as I have seen a few anglers catching Tench there, and I would love to have a go at it, as I only fish for Pike.

I will keep you up to date on how I get on.

Jimmy.

 

[Day Breamer]

Tench go absolutely nuts for Hemp and corn with chili powder mixed into the bait box, fish anything over the top of it, but i prefer worm.

Lately ive been toying with 2 head hooked dendrabenas with the tails just nipped off, no maggot tipping it off but using a John Roberts 'worm stop' and making sure i leave plenty of point showing... doing ok so far with that combo, lots of wriggle, lots of juices, lots of Bream... nice.

Not sure if i should say this openly but vodka is a killer additive on some waters for Tench, ive onlyhad them to 8lb myself (my avatar is a Sywell Tench) but i try to totally avoid them whilst Bream fishing.

Luckily ive stopped catching Tench now, i was getting plagued with them until i figured out what was getting the Tench's attention and i then left out acouple ofingredients in my home made groundbait mix, and added a couple more other ingredients(to help put the Eels off) now im getting 9/10 fish = Bream, perfect.

 

[tommyyyyyyyy]

well i went tench fishing yesterday and didnt catch one /forum/smilies/sad_smiley.gif

but instead i caught my first carp /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif 7 pounds would post pic but file is t big

 

[MarkTheSpark]

Well done. Stick at it. What method and bait?

 

[tommyyyyyyyy]

well i started using pellets for tench but everyone one was catching carp so i just tied hook onto line and floated some bread and up it came about 4 foot away from from striked and netted /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

 

[slime monster]

Ron is absolutely bang on in saying location is the first priority when targeting tench ,even in waters where they patrol the margins there will be known hot spots and sitting on one of these is a big advantage ,my tip is do not ignore the margins Tench will very often be seen swimming past literally under your feet.

 

[Neneman Nick]

I know of a couple of dayticket lakes in a country park,where the tench approach double figures,the water can get quite weedy at times,there is wildlife abound and it`s just aprivelege to fish there.

Sitting there on a quiet summers morning,fishing the lift method is an absolute joy and pleasure....it has to be my favourite place to fish.....it`s my nirvana.

 

[Tee-Cee]

In an attempt to find big tench and where they might be feedingI spend a lot of time just walking around my lake looking for fish at all times of day.As Ron Clay says location is, without doubt,the most important factor-after all you cannot catch fish that are not in the swim to begin with!!

Today I had a couple of hours to spare around mid-day so I walked very quietly around the various swims I fancy and what did I find-the tench were spawning on a major scale with some very big fish almost coming out of the water!!The fins and tails were clear to see and when they rolled they looked fantastic in the sun!!The surface of the water was almost shuddering with excitment!!

Further round I found several carp of 10lbs or so thrashing about in 2' of water-also spawning.

So what is the point of this information?Well,first of all it tells me the chances of catching a tench at this time is much reduced as they are more interested in loving than feeding!Secondly,if I had not taken the trouble to go for a walk I would not have seen this spawning session and would have wasted 2 days fishing which I will not now do...

If you want some good tench fishing spend as much time studying the water as you can-it might be more productive than sitting for hours with a rod in your hand...

Good luck anyway!!