The Tenchfishers have a heritage going back to 1954 and are in fact one of the oldest single species groups. Anglers such as the late member Len Head put specimen tench fishing on the map with his great Bures Lake captures. Today the group still pursues specimen fish but the traditionalist and the pleasure angler, who have a sustained interest in tench fishing are just as welcome.
Part 1 – What is a Specimen Tench?
How Big is a Specimen Tench? By general opinion a female fish of 8lb is considered a specimen and any male over 6lb. If you define this by geography an 8lb Yorkshire fish would be as worthy as a Southern 10lb specimen. So you must set your sites according to where you live in the UK unless you are prepared to travel.
Steve Innes and a 9lb tench
A double figure fish is a specimen of a lifetime for most anglers. These are generally best sought during April through July. A female fish carrying spawn can be 20% lighter after spawning. So a clean fish of 8lb 4oz could be a Spring double in spawn. These huge fish are not common and unless you are hugely committed then a broader approach to your tench fishing is in order! Think 8lb and be delighted with a 10! The fishing weeklies regularly feature fish of this size but be aware you are seeing the best results reported from a select few, representing a micro % of those individuals fishing for tench in any period. So be inspired yes, but do keep a sense of perspective! Remember too to consider your results in relation to the venue and gear your aspirations accordingly.
Your Available Time – Calculate This First! How much time will you have to dedicate to catching that specimen? You have to get that calculation dead right, otherwise your water selection could well be inappropriate.
A double figure tench like this one of 11lb 4oz is the fish of a lifetime
For example, I would not select the 100 acre CEMEX Wraysbury 1 or 2 venues if I only had a few weekends in the year. Why? Well first of all as a general rule of thumb, the more acres, the more spade work that has to be done. These waters are generally only populated by a few dedicated anglers and bankside intelligence is minimal to say the least. No problem however if you have every weekend in the summer, well less of a problem anyway!! Conversely, a twenty acre pit which is a mixed fishery, sees a few tench and bream men among the “carp army” sounds a bit more sensible for the “part timer.” So I might head for waters of this type that have produced some “eights”. Up to 20 acres is fairly manageable, think about that time factor if you opt for bigger. This is the critical first step to success!
Heavy pressure/syndicate/”history” venues This is illustrated by well known syndicates (often waiting lists will apply), and club waters that have had a long term reputation for producing big fish. You can expect these to be very busy for Spring and early Summer. These waters are often named in the weekly angling press.
Research Your Own Venue = Legwork And Internet Apart from the well known pressured club waters, if you look through the club permit book you are bound to see other stillwaters that hardly get a mention at all. These are also likely to be mature pits but because they do not have a “history”, are somewhat neglected. All of these should be evaluated. The internet fishing forums are a great help here, often you can search the forum database for specific venue names!
Big Acre Carp Venues These venues hold mega tench and bream. These are the 100 to 300 acre venues that hold a small stock of big carp. There are many in the Thames/Colne valley. Many have waiting lists but CEMEX Wraysbury 1, for example, is generally available. Tough, time consuming but largely under exploited.
Part 2 – Planning and local intelligence.
Planning The Campaign Having selected your target water, then some reasonable planning and preparation work is called for. The first thing I do is to draw up an A4 size map of the water. If you have a scanner you can scan the permit book map and enlarge/print it to suit. I divide the water into a number of named sections. This might break a 25 acre pit into 5, five acre chunks. You might consider splitting it up by compass points, eg: West bank, East bank, etc.
The type of info you might want to record here is:
Number of swims, compass bearings
Notable features (above water level)
Plumbing data
Fish sightings and captures
To keep things legible, I use a clear acetate sheet (or OHP slide) to overlay the master map. See sector view of map below.
Sector map
Intelligence Gathering Having completed your initial intelligence that helped you select the venue, you now need to gather as much useful information whilst visiting the water. Fellow tench anglers are usually a friendly bunch and will be happy to chat if approached in the right way. In The Tenchfishers we have a free exchange of information among members so a subscription is a good starting point, it’s odds on we have fished the venue you have selected! The Tenchfishers web forum ‘Tenchtalk.net’ will undoubtedly be a good starting point. Carp anglers are also a good source of information and do not view tenchmen as competitors! So wear your Tenchfishers T shirt and badge! Record all your data on your map set.
Part 3 – Location, location, location!
Location is the Key It is often said that the most successful angler is the one that presents his rigs to feeding fish on more occasion’s than his angling brethren. Location is the key to doing this and assuming your water is a pit of 20 acres plus then this is no easy task. This means getting busy with a plumbing rod to locate features and determine the makeup of the bottom, weedbeds, siltbeds, etc. You should also read Chris Turnbull’s book “Success With Big Tench” it has an excellent location chapter. See our books page. As discussed in the Planning feature use your map overlays to mark on all relevant features of interest. You are looking for bars, plateaux areas, drop-offs. Do not neglect the margins as these are classic tench areas particularly if you have a fairly steep drop off. If you can use a boat and an echo sounder then this job will be done rapidly but ensure you are wearing the correct safety kit before setting sail.
Location Map
Crack Of Dawn, Up Before The First Sparrow Farts! Well, there are lots of features in a pit to be located, but which do the tench inhabit? It’s time to get up early and seek fish activity. 3.45am is about right in May and I’d leave the rods in the car. Look for rolling, “porpoising”, said to be a sign of travelling fish and bubbling. Early mornings are usually still, trying to do this with a big wave action on a pit is almost impossible. Keep an eye on wind direction too, I believe it has a significant effect and prefer to fish into wind. Mark all sightings on your map. Some pits I know seem to show little and then you have no option but to fish “features” until you see some action. However I reckon it’s an 80% chance of seeing fish in the right conditions on most waters.
Part 4 – Specimen Tactics and Rigs
Specimen Rigs The migration of carp methods for tench fishing cannot go unnoticed. This has tended to see more traditional methods take a back seat and that means that margin float tackle is often ignored. Long stay angling might suggest that floatfishing is a little impractical but it can produce fish whilst you wait for the buzzers and bolt rigs to get busy!
The Feeder Reigns Supreme The bolt rig feeder is probably one of the most popular approaches, the feeder carrying a cargo of particles secured with a groundbait plug. The method feeder is seeing increasing popularity. All these rigs are generally fished with a hair-rigged bait and tight lines to maximise the “bolt” effect. Helicopter rigs are quite common with these feeder set ups as they reduce tangling, especially with braid hook lengths.
PVA Bags PVA bags can be used with a traditional semi fixed lead and filled with a particle cargo. In line maggot feeders can be placed in these and a few extra particles added. Bags need to be punctured with a baiting needle to exclude air before casting. In very deep water a double bag might be necessary. Kryston make some excellent bags but none are cheap!!
Lake tenching
Hooklengths The debate re braid versus mono continues! I think it is a matter of angler confidence so stick with what you have experience of and I think there is little to be gained/lost either way. Fox Reflex is a great light braid for small hooks and Kryston Merlin if you are fishing waters where you need to step up braid strength.
See These Rigs Visit the Top Rigs page to see information on the above and some traditional rigs too. Yes the link leger and “lift method” are alive and well and still catching quality tench, so “carp style” rigs are not the automatic choice.
