Tench  Ciprinidea Tinca tinca.
Distribution : Common in England, Ireland and parts of Wales central southern and Scotland.
Notes : Deep, thick-set and slimy. One pair of barbels.

A bottom feeder found in very slow and still waters. Colour is predominantly olive, and the eye is small and red.

Tackle, Bait, Techniques

Rod
9ft to 13ft

Reel
Fixed spool

Line b.s.
2lb, to 8lb

Hooks
No. 16 to No.2

Lifespan
20 years

British record
14lb 7oz, Bury Lake, Hertfordshire, 1993

Specimen
7lb

Bait
Bread, maggot, sweetcorn,
brandlings and worms

Groundbait
Loose hookbaits in bait-
dropper, swimfeeder or
blockend and mixed with
bread or chopped worms

Techniques
Legering, freelining and float-fishing.
Landing and playing a fish

TENCH ARE possibly the most hardy of all coarse I fish, able to live in very poorly oxygenated water and, as such, they are often the only fish to survive after a pollution incident. They are also strong fighters, and have gained a loyal following among specialist anglers, with two clubs dedicated to the species in Britain alone.

You are certainly not going to mistake the species for any other. It has a thick-set, olive green body, red eyes and tiny scales covered in a thick protective mucus which makes it beautifully smooth to touch.

Like the pike, the largest tench are all females. An 8lb (3.6kg) male is a monster, while females can grow to more than 12lb (5.4kg). However, a seven pounder (3.2kg) is still a cracker at most venues. Strangely very small tench under 1lb (0.45kg) are hardly ever caught, even by match anglers using tiny baits like bloodworm.

Tactics
Tench are essentially bottom feeders so it is not too difficult to work out where your hookbait should be. Luckily they are creatures of habit, and not only do they like particular kinds of swims, they also like to give their presence away by sending up tiny bubbles as they feed.

Classic tench venues have huge areas of lily pads which the tench love to weave in and out of. If you place a bait next to these and keep loosefeeding with your chosen hookbait, you will not go far wrong

There is no doubt that tench feed most aggressively in the first few hours of daylight (although they are almost dormant in winter), and there is certainly a special kind of magic to watching bubbles break the surface around your float tip as the dawn mist rises off a lily-lined lake.

Float fishing is certainly a rewarding way to catch tench, and the lift method described shown below is a particularly deadly and enjoyable technique. But if you have to cast a long way, or you are fishing in deep water, a swimfeeder is a better bet.

TACKLING UP
Tench fishing is so popular that there are rods designed specifically for pursuing the species. They usually save a test curve of about 1.5lb (0.7kg), which allows you to enjoy the fish’s fight while offering more power than a standard float or leger rod. Mainline between 4lb and 6lb (1.8-2.7kg) will be strong enough for most situations, with forged hooks in size 10 and 18 required, depending on the bait used.

Pre-baiting
To improve your chances of a big catch of tench, you can consider pre-baiting. This is particularly important if your chosen tench venue does not boast the classic natural tench features mentioned.

By pre-baiting you can draw numbers of fish into an area you choose, which should obviously be snag-free and easy to cast to. The disadvantage is that if the lake is also full of small fish, such as roach, you will attract these as well.
My favourite pre-baiting mix for tench is plain brown breadcrumb mixed with sweetcorn, casters and chopped up worms. If I have enough time, I usually pre-bait for three consecutive days before fishing and will fish with two rods, switching between cocktails of the three baits mentioned above plus breadflake until I find the right bait for the day.

You should never use live maggots in groundbait you are going to fire in with a catapult or throw in, because they will break up the balls as they wriggle around. You can, however, use dead maggots. All you have to do is freeze some overnight to kill them before adding them to your pre-baiting mix.