Wintle’s World of Angling

Mark Wintle, an angler for thirty-five years, is on a quest to discover and bring to you the magic of fishing. Previously heavily involved with match fishing he now fishes for the sheer fun of it. With an open and enquiring mind, each week Mark will bring to you articles on fishing different rivers, different methods and what makes rivers, and occasionally stillwaters, tick. Add to this a mixed bag of articles on catching big fish, tackle design, angling politics and a few surprises.

Are you stuck in a rut fishing the same swim every week? Do you dare to try something different and see a whole new world of angling open up? Yes? Then read Mark Wintle’s regular weekly column.

Mark with a great looking winter tench (click for bigger picture)

WINTER GRAVEL PIT TENCH

As winter recedes and spring approaches I like to see if there is a chance of catching a late season tench or two. At least two of the many gravel pits around Ringwood offer the prospect of winter tench fishing. Although my best fish is 6.12, others have had fish to eight pounds and, on light tackle, these fish offer tremendous sport.

In mid winter the tench are hard to find but by February and early March, the lengthening days and increasing temperatures offer the chance of some good sport. There are several key factors to whether this sport will be worthwhile. Firstly, there are the all important weather conditions; mild and windy is best by far, for the warmer temperatures and undertow created start the tench roaming. Secondly, it helps if a few people start fishing for the tench. This means that the tench get used to finding some bait and roam around looking for more. An advantage of fishing at this time of year is that the many small roach and bream are quiet though I don’t object to getting one or two whilst waiting for the tench.

It is vital to pick a lake that actually produces tench in winter. There are lots of waters that produce loads of tench in the summer yet never produce tench in winter. It is no coincidence that the best winter tench waters have hard gravel bottoms.

Weather and location
My weather preference is for mild and windy. Though not vital to stand a chance of catching a tench, I think that relatively high water temperatures plus some undertow are the conditions that ought to get sluggish winter tench on the move. As for location, it is a simple case of knowing which swims are likely to produce through experience. Many swims are unlikely to produce whereas others have past form in holding tench.

I say holding tench; there is much evidence that in the right conditions the tench in these waters are highly active, patrolling considerable distances as a shoal. If you can keep a trickle of bait going in there is a chance that a shoal of tench will find it and settle down to feed. Once they do so, multiple catches of tench are possible. My best is eight but others have had a dozen or more. When you consider that such a catch can include fish over six pounds with several five pounders then you are looking at a seriously big catch. This type of fishing is all about having enough confidence to have a few goes when conditions are right, working on the basis that at least some of the time success will be forthcoming. In other words, you need to be prepared to suffer the odd blank if you want to catch these fish. To counteract this, as much as possible is done to encourage a few bites.

Tackle and bait
Several approaches produce tench on these waters in winter. My favourite is to waggler fish overdepth using red maggots as bait. This is the most popular approach to catching winter tench on the waters that I fish. But one or two anglers have had success using a pole at about ten metres and also fishing with a swimfeeder (both block-end and open-ended). Using a waggler is simple fishing. It detects shy bites and enables a swim to be slowly searched as it drags through with the tow. Casting range is up to twenty-five yards, which is within catapult range, and using a reel lets me give line to a big tench. Furthermore, it is more interesting to watch a float than a motionless quivertip.

Mark getting to grips with a winter tench (click for bigger picture)

So, the tackle requirements for my approach are simple. A normal waggler rod, an open-faced fixed spool reel loaded with 2.5 lbs breaking strain Maxima, and a selection of waggler floats taking from 3 – 6 AAA as bulk plus 5 or 6 no. 8 shot down the line. This is one situation where barbless hooks work well. As it happens, the fishery insists upon them but I have found that Drennan size 20 Team England barbless are strong and get a brilliant hook hold. I tie them to Ignesti Special line (Reflo Powerline in 0.11mm also recommended) in 0.12mm. This might seem a very small hook and very light line, but experience has shown that this is the way to get bites in winter. Trials with bigger hooks have produced far fewer bites and the hookhold has not been better so I will stick with these tactics. The lakes are weed free in winter.

For bait, a pint and a half or two of red maggots is plenty. As an added attractor, I also take 2mm or 3mm trout pellets (depending on range to be fished). I cannot prove that these help but they certainly don’t hinder.

Methods
Having established a likely swim, I base my attack on experience. Some swims are better fished at comparatively short range, say about ten yards out (hence the pole tactics by some other anglers), whilst others respond better to fishing at twice this distance. In all cases, there is a good depth of water at the chosen range, from eleven to twelve feet. These are also the points at which the bottom stops shelving off, ie, it is at the base of the near shelf. If the tench are patrolling then this must the type of feature that they will follow at least some of the time.

I set up my waggler float to fish about twelve inches over depth to start with. I would ensure that at least two no.10 shot are on the bottom. If the undertow was very strong, I would increase the amount of line on the bottom and ensure that more shot were on the bottom. In average conditions, ie, breezy rather than gales, this initial setting should allow the float (probably a 3AAA or 4AAA insert model) to slowly draw through the water at a third or less the speed of the tow. More extreme conditions may demand a heavier float (5AAA or 6AAA) with a thicker tip to counteract the drag. Apart from the shot on the 2ft hooklength, I string three or four no. 8 shot up the line at foot intervals up from the hook length.

And who knows what else you might catch?

Feeding
As you don’t know how many fish may be down there it is a case of keeping a steady feed of maggots going to the swim at ten minute intervals throughout the session. I reckon on feeding about twenty maggots at a time. I take care not to bunch my feeding too closely. At ten yards, I look to ensure a patch six feet by four feet is fed, and at longer range, it is likely that I would feed an even bigger area. As the float will trail through the baited area, it should be amongst feed all of the time. The important thing about this feeding is to keep it going in. The water may be cold but the maggots will soon disappear into the gravel and silt, or more hopefully the belly of a big tench. If a shoal turns up, they could soon snap up what’s about. I also feed a pouchful of pellets every half an hour.

Playing
Having struck a bite, the first thing to remember is that you could be hooking a big fish on comparatively light tackle. Therefore, after striking, just feel how big the fish is for a second or two. It could be a small roach! On the other hand, it could be a big tench; if so, be prepared to let it run under pressure. After that, it’s a case of being patient. Don’t rush and it should come in reasonably quickly.

Rewards
As I mentioned earlier, this is a waiting game. It is rare to catch straight away. Sometimes nothing happens at all but in this case, I strengthen my resolve to try again. On those exceptional days when the tench come at regular intervals, all of the perseverance finally pays off with a succession of big tench in fantastic condition coming to net.

The other tactic that can pay off is feeder fishing. It remains to be seen whether using pellet on the hook will become a better tactic than red maggots. Certainly last winter this worked at least some of the time. The advantage of feeder fishing is the accuracy at ranges beyond float and catapult range.

Next week: ‘Quest for a Pike’