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Many, many thanks, Steve, for giving my late brother and I the opportunity to fish your wonderful lakes at Wingham. I have many fabulous memories of the fishing and the people I met there. I hope that both you and Peggy have a very long and happy time together in retirement. Regards, Steve C.

Sorry to hear about the clubhouse, Steve, but I appreciate you can't go ahead without it being fixed. I look forward to hearing about the revised dates.

Hi John, I can thoroughly recommend the Tenchfishers book, "Tinca Tinca". It's a book you can dip into and out of or you can sit there and read whole chapters. Lots of great advice and information from a host of experienced anglers. Designed and produced by Stephen Harper which gives you some idea of it's quality. One or two copies are still available via their website (www.tenchfishers.com) or Amazon. Much better than any DVD imho . Regards, Steve C.

Steve, I've got some stuff that I can bring including a fishing chair and maybe some luggage that I no longer use. I also have a book, "Still Hooked", by Terry Theobald. It is in pristine condition and signed by the author. I'll have another look and see what else I can find. Steve C. Add to the above - a set of Fox Digital Scales (will weigh up to 66lb)

For all you guys who are arriving early on Saturday, don't forget, there will be the usual hot bacon and/or sausage sandwiches plus tea/coffee waiting for you from 7am to 9am in the clubhouse. Just the thing after a long drive and to set you up to haul in all those PB's! Steve C.

Thanks Steve. It was worth an ask.

Hi Steve, If you have any of the following, I would be interested:- First Cast - Terry Lampard Bream - Dennis Quirk The Rising Antenna - Jim Baxter Blood Knots - Luke Jennings A Fool and His Eel - Mark Walsingham Another Lousy Day in Paradise - John Gierach Regards, Steve C.

Hi Scopex, The best advice I can give you is Join the Tenchfishers. They have active regional membership groups all over the UK and a private members-only forum for sharing information, advice, etc. They have also got groups in Ireland and Europe too. If you want to try new tench waters then there are quite a few Tenchfishers Fish-Ins organised. Quite honestly, they are the best value for money single species group around at only £25.pa (excluding a £10 one-off Joining Fee). Don't think that being a single species group you have to be ace at knocking out 10lb'ers left right and centre to join. Far from it. All you need to have is an interest in catching tench. Have a look at Tenchfishers.com and see for yourself. BTW - I am a Tenchfisher. Regards, Steve C.

Hi Anderoo, Many thanks for the info and a chance to have a peek at your notes, etc. would be fantastic. Steve B. has put a guy in Brambles so I'll concentrate on the right hand side. Although, depending on where my neighbour is fishing, I might drop a worm or two in the margin at the end of the left hand bar. The other option is to fish a third rod in the right hand swim across to the small bay opposite. I've seen a few carp over there later in the year. Sometimes I hate it when there are too many choices. I have an uncanny knack of choosing the wrong one! Thanks for the advice, Andrew. You have been most helpful already. See you there!!

I'm in a bit of a quandary too. I thought I might fishing on the Carp Lake so I was just getting my carp head on and sorting out my camou-kit when Steve said that he had me down for Middle Wood on the Main Lake. Good, I thought. Fairly straightforward swim tench, tench, tench, but keep one rod fishing for bream at night and carp in the day, especially as there is little weed at present. Blow me down if Steve then said he'd changed his mind and put me on the Point. Now what do I do? So much water, so many opportunities. Add to that, that on the few times I fished it, I've never had much success. Help!! Any advice from you regulars would be very welcome. Many thanks. Steve C.

I'm interested, Dave so, if there's someone else, please bring them with you. Regards, Steve C.

Hi Steve, I have dug out four Fox FS7000 free spool reels, (I can't call them Baitrunners as they're not Shimanos but you know what I mean!) used but in very good condition, each of them is boxed and complete with spare spool, handle and manuals. No reserve and could be auctioned as sets or singles. I also have a used Korum unhooking mat, 36 x 24 inches, inflatable so it packs down into a very small space. This is clean and in excellent condition (i.e. it doesn't leak!). Again no reserve. I also have four Good Fishing GFs bite alarms with covers but these are not do not come with a receiver. No Reserve. Regards, Steve C.

Bouncing this back to the top. Only a week to go now so if anyone is in need of any kit, then this is the place to ask if anyone can help. I will be taking some spare items; long extending rod rests, spare large landing nets, etc. for example, and I know Steve Burke will have long-drop bobbins available but if you need anything specific then put it on here and we'll see if someone can help. Weather wise, it looks like it may be a little chilly so make sure you have the kit that will cope with cold weather. Summer weight sleeping bags won't cope with temperatures below 50F/10C and don't even think about not using a bedchair. Anyway, see you all there for a great weekend! Regards, Steve C.

Thanks for the invite Steve! Don't forget guys - hot Bacon/Sausage sandwiches plus tea and coffee will be available from 7am onward. Just what you need after a long drive and to set you up to do battle with the Wingham monsters! Look forward to catching up with you all. Safe journeys! Steve C.

Glad to hear that you're enjoying it, Chris. I enjoyed the first two editions and paid for a subscription, which was confirmed, but I am still waiting for issue 3 to arrive. Sent them three emails and the silence was deafening. Not bothered any more and have just written it off as a bad job. I won't be recommending them to anyone though. Regards, Steve C.

Hi Dales, Well done on your PB. Great stuff! There is quite a lot on growth rates of tench in the literature but, in a nutshell and ironing out the variations that occur from water to water, it seems that tench will grow in length and girth for about 15 years reaching anything up to about 25" or more in length. After that they continue to bulk up (similar to human middle age spread ) for, maybe another 5 years. A reasonable average growth rate is probably about 8ozs per year but could easily be double that in ideal waters (e.g. Wingham) so an average 10 year old fish would weigh in the order of 4 to 5 lbs and up to 8 to 9lbs in good waters. Having said all this, you also have to take into consideration genetics as the strain of tench can play a big part in how big they grow. Why do some lakes continually produce large numbers of really big fish year in, year out when others struggle to reach the dizzy heights of a double when, to all intents and purposes, they are almost identical waters? For instance, the gravel pits in the Medway Valley have produced really big doubles for well over twenty years and still do - Dai Gribble had an amazing 8, yes eight, doubles including an 11 and a 13lb in one three day session on Larky 2 this spring. Wingham, despite it's very fast growth rate and ideal conditions, hasn't managed to do an 11lb yet even though the first double came out quite a few yeas ago. It is a very prolific tench water though with an extremely large head of 8 to 9lb fish so maybe the really big old girls haven't been caught yet. Sorry there's no hard and fast rule on the subject, Dales, but then if there were it would take all the mystery and excitement out of going fishing, wouldn't it? Regards, Steve C.

I think that Steve King won Lot 16 - the Best of Chevin. I have never been flyfishing but I couldn't resist Lot 4. Thanks to Sue Urwin (whose rod it was - Tony just paid for it so he said!). However, Tony has offered to take me to one of his waters and introduce me to the dark arts of fluff chucking. My thanks also to Dave Park for donating Lot 9 - I shall enjoy reading that ! I'm glad that he auction was a success as the bailiffs deserve a fine reward for all the work they put in, not just for the Fish-In but all year round. Thanks again to all who were there at the famous Peggy BBQ. Luverly grub!!

Just one more tench to report - 5lb 2oz at 17.15 last night. Very quiet since then apart from the owls and nightingales during the night and the bittern and cuckoo this morning. Air temperature got down to 4C last night (brrrr!) but the water temperature has held up at 14C. Hope yet for more tincas before we go:) Regards, Steve C.

Water temperature yesterday was 15.5C at 4pm and is 15C this morning at 6.45am, Steve. No further fish to report from me. Regards, Steve C.

No problem Steve. I'll bring a couple of spares with me.

Hi Tony, Let me know if you need any kit such as nets, etc. I've got spares of most things. Regards, Steve C.

Keep an eye open for the new range of baitz for carp - Treez.

Maddog - No Problem! Anderoo - Yes. I haven't fished the main lake for some time so I thought it would be good to get back after some of those tench again. Plus, of course, to meet up with some old faces and some new ones too! Hope you've brought plenty of twigs for the tench ! See you there. Steve C.

Anderoo, I can pick up a couple of pints of reds for you from my local tackle shop. It's a "match oriented" TS and he gets his delivery on Fridays. I can also keep them in one of my bait fridges overnight. I can't remember how much a pint costs but it's not outrageous. If anyone else would like me to pick some up for them, then drop a note on this post. Regards, Steve C.

For those of you who have not been to an AN Fish-In at Wingham before and maybe travelling some distance to get there and wondering where to get breakfast from or, as a reminder for the rest of you, there will be hot sausage/bacon sandwiches and mugs of tea/coffee waiting for you when you arrive as usual just to get the weekend off to a cracking start!! Enjoy!! Regards, Steve C.