big tench on roach gear

[thornabyangler]

i went to aycliffe lake for a quick after work session tonite using a light 15ft match rod with 3lb line.Expecting to catch rudd and roach i was very suprised to swing a 5inch barble to hand a few mins in.After an hour i was getting a lot of nudges and was thinking of scaling down a bit to a 16 hook,just then the nudge turned into a lift bite so i hit it,wow, my rod nearly snapped.It just ambled about as if it knew i couldnt pull at it .5 mins later , after taking me through a lot of lillies,its head came up and into the net it went.It weighed in at 4lb 4oz,my best tench yet,all that on 3lb line a size 14 hook and a single red maggot.

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

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Originally posted by thornabyangler:

 

after taking me through a lot of lilies, its head came up and into the net it went.It weighed-in at 4lb 4oz, my best tench yet,all that on 3 lb line a size 14 hook and a single red maggot.

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Nice one! Of course you only ever really need medium/high BS lines because of exactly the snags you mention; a 4 lb tench in water, with its swim-bladder to keep it in neutral buoyancy weighs nothing, of course. What you fight against are its muscles, and tench are strong.

 

I once witnessed and have never forgotten a Match angler in Norwich using a pole and 2 lb elastic and a single maggot of a size 22 hook ... safely tussle-with and net a .... 21 lb pike. I wish I had that skill!

 

Nice tench of yours ... now to put a 1 in front of that 4 lb

 

Well done!

 

DG

 

[ 22. April 2004, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[dizidave]

Single maggot on a 14 hook?!

 

Wow, im surprised you got any bites at all.

 

i feel 'guilty' when i put a single maggot on an 18.

[bluezulu]

Dizidave is right aboout your choice of hook use size 20-16 depending on the bait you want to use to catch the roach and rudd. keep your 14 hooks or bigger for the tench and you should catch a lot more fish.why not set up two rigs and swop from one to the other then catch both roach and tench. good luck next time you go worm dangling.

[thornabyangler]

it was a barbless only venue and my 20 18 16 were barbed

[Billy the Fish]

I watched a 10 yr old, with his dad, play in a 22 lb carp, with a 4 lb bottom and a size 18 hook on some bread.....that is patience.

[teebee]

No. This is patience.

[northern mark]

Is this the lake by the cemetery? If so I seem to remember it has some decent carp in it ten years ago, and it was run by a rule oriented club. My mate was asked to leave because some of the carp he hooked went into the reeds near a club members bait, he didn't lose any fish though. Probably a case of sour grapes.

 

Hope it is more angler friendly now.

 

Mark