The North's Biggest Tench

[John Aston]

Lymmvale? Bloody down south that is....

But even up here, in the indisputable north , I still marvel at the size of tench even a dilletante like me can catch . As a kid , I was enthralled by BB's accounts of tench fishing in the Midlands and remember how he had had a four pounder set up. A friend reminded me recently that even **** Walker never caught a tench over six pounds - and yet mine is 8lbs exactly . A midget by some standards ( if the throwaway references to fish of that weight aren't affectation) but I am not complaining . Just as chub and barbel grow far bigger on my patch than when I started fishing , it makes one wonder about causation . I assume climate change and longer 'growing season ' .

PS For God's sake why can't I use Mr Walker's forename? Presumably that former steel town in north Lincolnshire is also verboten ?

 

[108831]

I fish down south,I love tench fishing but my bests are 7.14,I've had two that weight,i'm afraid life is too short to fish on waters where you have to fish three rods to get one bite every three sessions on helicopter rigs,for me tench fishing is float fishing,normally in the margins,where I fished yesterday has tench to ten pounds apparently,but it is hard fishing,so I limit my trips there,me,I would prefer six 2/3lbers,as I love catching them..

 

[Molehill]

Lymmvale? Bloody down south that is....

But even up here, in the indisputable north , I still marvel at the size of tench even a dilletante like me can catch . As a kid , I was enthralled by BB's accounts of tench fishing in the Midlands and remember how he had had a four pounder set up. A friend reminded me recently that even **** Walker never caught a tench over six pounds - and yet mine is 8lbs exactly . A midget by some standards ( if the throwaway references to fish of that weight aren't affectation) but I am not complaining . Just as chub and barbel grow far bigger on my patch than when I started fishing , it makes one wonder about causation . I assume climate change and longer 'growing season ' .

PS For God's sake why can't I use Mr Walker's forename? Presumably that former steel town in north Lincolnshire is also verboten ?

Yes, BBs fisherman's bedside book, I remember well reading about his 4lber which was a very respectable fish at the time. I remember seeing a 6lb tench caught (on float) around 1970 in Sussex gravel pit and that was considered a very big fish, fish of our dreams.
Times, methods and sizes change with all species, but for me tench and floats are linked.

 

[sam vimes]

I fish down south,I love tench fishing but my bests are 7.14,I've had two that weight,i'm afraid life is too short to fish on waters where you have to fish three rods to get one bite every three sessions on helicopter rigs,for me tench fishing is float fishing,normally in the margins,where I fished yesterday has tench to ten pounds apparently,but it is hard fishing,so I limit my trips there,me,I would prefer six 2/3lbers,as I love catching them..

I doubt anyone could dispute that I'm firmly up north. My 7lb15oz PB came last June from a local water and it was caught on a float.

 

[flightliner]

I remember a piece in the anglling times around the early sixties of a Tench weighing a few ounces over six pounds.
It was caught from a water close to the Sheffield/ Derbyshire border and one that I was fishing for its Tench back then.
It was claimed by the AT to be the second biggest Tench caught in England at the time.
I believed it back then as a young teenager but over the years I became very dismissive of the claim as the water in question tho very prolific with Tench seemed only to turn up quite small ones.
Today a genuine big Tench — lets say six pounds — is a relatively common occurance if the conditions are favourable - a far cry from what was possible back in the day.
I've been fortunate, not being willing to travel much more than an hour or so other than to notts, lincs, Deryshire or my own county of Yorkshire my catches have included numerous Tench of eight pounds plus topped by one of nine lb eight ounces.
I did make one exception some twenty years ago by making two trips to Sywell where I had some nice catches on float fished maggots that included both a pb male and female on the second trip that beat my old sand quarry best of five pound two ounce.

 

[liphook]

A northern water that never gets mentioned for tench is Esthwaite in the Lake District, yet when we deployed fyke nets there back in the late 80s as part of a Freshwater Biological Association experiment the nets caught loads of tench (and very few of the target species eels). As a 'natural' fishery it would not surprise me if it threw up some very big tench.
As an aside a well known Kendal born ghillie put me onto the tench fishing in the non navigable sections of the Lancaster Canal around the Crooklands area. We had some big hauls of tench with males up to 6lb15oz and females to 8lb 2oz. These were extremely lightly fished waters without any boillie brigade bombardment. I don't know of any more northern tench larger than that? This was before the otters arrived in numbers and took their toll on the grass carp and tench, devastating a great fishery in just one winter/spring.

 

[markcw]

A northern water that never gets mentioned for tench is Esthwaite in the Lake District, yet when we deployed fyke nets there back in the late 80s as part of a Freshwater Biological Association experiment the nets caught loads of tench (and very few of the target species eels). As a 'natural' fishery it would not surprise me if it threw up some very big tench.
As an aside a well known Kendal born ghillie put me onto the tench fishing in the non navigable sections of the Lancaster Canal around the Crooklands area. We had some big hauls of tench with males up to 6lb15oz and females to 8lb 2oz. These were extremely lightly fished waters without any boillie brigade bombardment. I don't know of any more northern tench larger than that? This was before the otters arrived in numbers and took their toll on the grass carp and tench, devastating a great fishery in just one winter/spring.

Depends how far North,
Sandiway Lakes near Winsford, a WAA water produced a few over 10lb each year,
Lymmvale nearby has them in at around 8lb.

 

[sam vimes]

I don't know of any more northern tench larger than that?

I suspect that the water I'm on is further north than Crooklands. Esthwaite Water will be a bit tighter. I fully expect the water I'm on to exceed 8lb 2oz if it hasn't already. Sadly, some of the carpers aren't particularly fastidious when it comes to weighing tench (or bream) if they actually bother at all. In a few cases, they don't even mention catching them.

Locally, there has been talk and pictures of tench over 9lb from Bradford No1's pond(s) at Ripon.

I've heard mutterings of tench over 8lb from waters even further north. However, some of it could easily be hot air. I've seen chatter around Durham's Brasside Complex, Angel Of The North Fishery, Lonsdale Park and Whins Pond. I've also heard mutterings about more private Cumbrian and County Durham waters that would be unfair to name.

I've even seen the odd photo and mention of pretty large tench from waters in the central belt of Scotland.

 

[liphook]

Depends how far North,
Sandiway Lakes near Winsford, a WAA water produced a few over 10lb each year,
Lymmvale nearby has them in at around 8lb.

Both are a long way south of Kendal

 

[The bad one]

Mark there's far more than what you've stated in your last post around the NW but because I know guys who are actually fishing them at the present time, I'm not going to name them on a public forum.

 

[markcw]

I know Sandiway is producing, the carp anglers are catching them.
Also Grey Mist in Warrington produces now and then.
The water I fish on Newlands has some in,
I had 6.8lb out, and there are bigger in there.

 

[liphook]

The tench stocked into the upper Lancaster canal were transplanted from Skelwith Tarn, a water that has been reputed to hold much bigger to 9lb plus. They were introduced along with grass carp as part of a study on the biological control of water plants/weeds. I very much doubt I caught the biggest in there at that time and I know Steve thought he may well have lost bigger. I've heard rumours of a water up in the Carlisle area that holds doubles. Certainly a good few waters in Scotland hold tench - a gang of us used to fish Castle Loch, Lochmaben and Morton lochan on the Drumlanrig Estate nr Thornhill where we had them just over 6lb.
Hopefully there are some unknown monsters in natural waters still to be caught by some lucky angler somewhere (preferably not on a bait meant for carp)!

 

[The bad one]

Mark I know about WAA waters and what they contain I bailiffed for them for nearly 10 years. The fish in my avatar is 10 02 caught around 2007 from big S/way. The story is or was an article on here as my mate the Monk bubbled me that I'd had a big fish. Graham Marsden then Ed asked me to do a write up of the capture now the story was out. BTW you missed one WWA waters off that throws up a few doubles each year. WAA weren't the waters I had in mind when I made the comment above.

 

[markcw]

Mark I know about WAA waters and what they contain I bailiffed for them for nearly 10 years. The fish in my avatar is 10 02 caught around 2007 from big S/way. The story is or was an article on here as my mate the Monk bubbled me that I'd had a big fish. Graham Marsden then Ed asked me to do a write up of the capture now the story was out. BTW you missed one WWA waters off that throws up a few doubles each year. WAA weren't the waters I had in mind when I made the comment above.

Moore Quarry, ?
The pool near the swan at Bucklow Hill, ?
Rixton Claypits? I first fished Warringtons waters when I was around 7 years old, got my licence from Worralls on The Green.Stan Jackson was out when called at his house for one. The Bridgewater canal at Grappenhall was my first venue, then Grey Mist, resting our tackle against the pylons, I gave my licence up at the start of this year after nearly 60 years, I was in Lymm until this year after 35+ years.
When was you bailiffing the waters . ?

 

[The bad one]

Sorry Mark none of them, a shared water with other clubs. With the exception of Moore not sure the others even today have fish of that size in them, Cicely Mill pool doesn't that's for sure, full of Frank's myths!

PS from around 2008 to 2016-7 Did S/ways in the Summer and the Ribble in the winter.

 

[The bad one]

Apologies it's grown by an ounce, it was 100 01

Phil Hackett's Big Tench

Phils not one to blow his own trumpet, so I`m blowing it for him!

www.fishingmagic.com

 

[markcw]

I

Sorry Mark none of them, a shared water with other clubs. With the exception of Moore not sure the others even today have fish of that size in them, Cicely Mill pool doesn't that's for sure, full of Frank's myths!

PS from around 2008 to 2016-7 Did S/ways in the Summer and the Ribble in the winter.

f you listen to Frank Lythgoe he will try and convince you the Bridgewater Canal and Ackers Pit have gudgeon in them the size of mini barbel.
Budworth/Marbury Mere was thought to have big tench in,like there are some decent bream in there.

A few of were fishing Moore quarry before WAA had it, we dug a few pegs out , a few farms around there were filling ponds in, so we managed to get quite a few fish out of them.
Made a change from when we swam in it in the summer,

 

[markcw]

 

[sam vimes]

View attachment 15085

Does anyone take this kind of thing entirely seriously? Every time a water I know well has featured in a magazine "where to fish" section, it's been either fiction, fantasy or ancient history. I actually feel a little sorry for the more accurate entries.

 

[markcw]

Does anyone take this kind of thing entirely seriously? Every time a water I know well has featured in a magazine "where to fish" section, it's been either fiction, fantasy or ancient history. I actually feel a little sorry for the more accurate entries.

Chris, the only ones of those waters that produces decent Tench are Grey Mist and Sandiway lakes
I have not heard of one coming out of Cicely Mill pool for a long time.
It is £50 membership and as far as I am aware a £50 joining fee on top of that.
Some waters in where to fish sections of magazines, are either choked with weed and not fished for years, or if day ticket rely on people returning up to enhance the clubs coffers.
Lymm AC used to do it with Lymm Dam,
Local paper would put brilliant catches of bream and roach and double figure carp being caught.Next few days the place was full of day ticket anglers and the bailiff going mad at the club for the extra workload.