last night tench fishing

[forth and clyde fisher]

last night i went to my local canal forth and clyde set the tent up (next to pier at bishopbriggs sports centre) and got the ground bait i made crumb corn flakes apple blackcurrant juice undiluted in the swim next sweet corn on the hook size 14 6lb line quivertip rod as im new to this fishing i thought this is it my first ever tench within 10 mins rod starts twitching roach then again perch they were about a half pound each then baby fish all night and morning so decided to put on a bigger hook double the bait then all went dead are these fish really hard to catch or am i at the wrong spot ground bait or something any one know thanks im off work for another week and a half and im determined to get into one of these tench THEY ARE LIKE GHOSTS

[led-zeppalike]

If you can, I find that it's a lot better in the morning than evening (even though the evening is better than the daytime). I've also found that canals near me (northern england, yorkshire) aren't as productive for tench as lakes are, so if there are any near you try fishing a lake or pond. When tench fishing I usually just take a tin of corn or two, sometimes also some hemp.

[Peter M]

i would not be trying for a tench on a canal that can be heartbreak. what you need is a lilly cladd lake possibly a commercial fishery that has a bit of history with lots of tench.

[Andy Macfarlane]

THEY ARE LIKE GHOSTS

 

Nail on the head me ol'd tomata. Tench fishing isn't easy up here mate. We just don't have the numbers. It's been harder catching tench than anything else I know of but that's why I like it.

 

Besides, what's wrong with roach?? We have some very big roach up here and in good numbers. So much so, some of our Southern counterparts would kill for similar roach fishing, so if you're catching half pounders on 6lb line by accident no less, try switching to a 2lb hooklengths when the sun is up and try going for a bag of bigger roach.

 

I'll catch big roach all day long and enjoy it.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Andy Macfarlane

[forth and clyde fisher]

Nail on the head me ol'd tomata. Tench fishing isn't easy up here mate. We just don't have the numbers. It's been harder catching tench than anything else I know of but that's why I like it.

 

Besides, what's wrong with roach?? We have some very big roach up here and in good numbers. So much so, some of our Southern counterparts would kill for similar roach fishing, so if you're catching half pounders on 6lb line by accident no less, try switching to a 2lb hooklengths when the sun is up and try going for a bag of bigger roach.

 

I'll catch big roach all day long and enjoy it.

dont get me wrong love catching roach just annoying me i cant catch a tench

[Tigger]

I'll catch big roach all day long and enjoy it.

 

 

OK Masterchef, how big

[Andy Macfarlane]

Masterchef...lol. How dare you compare me to these plebs. They couldn't knock up a decent bowl of custard.

 

Anyhoo....saracsm aside. Until the local ressie was drained, how does 60-70 roach averaging between 1.5lbs and 2lb, over 3-4 hours sound? I reckon that's good in anyone's books.

 

The lower dam can be just as good, if not better but finding the roach is the hard part and much of it is unnaccessible.

 

If they go over 8oz all day though, that's pretty good roach fishing by my standards. The last 2 years have seen a bit of an explosion in blades though so it's been harder to get through them but I reckon there has to be a cut-off point before that goes any further.

[Tigger]

Anyhoo....saracsm aside. Until the local ressie was drained, how does 60-70 roach averaging between 1.5lbs and 2lb, over 3-4 hours sound? I reckon that's good in anyone's books.

 

 

yeah Andy that certainly is what you call a good session it beats my best roach session hands down.

[Guerilla]

I agree with the others an old estate lake covered in lillies would be a good bet for tench.

if it was an option.

 

How about trying to rake your swim before fishing it? Stirring up the bottom of the canal, releasing all those natural foods they love to eat often yields results. Look for the tell-take cauldron of bubbles of feeding tench at dawn and dusk and you're onto a winner.

Obviously this relies on you being able to throw your rake this far. If so, I'd fish the lift method over you bait rather than feeder fishing also.

 

Hemp in the ground bait is certainly a good idea, too.

 

Andy, that is some Roach fishing!

[Andy Macfarlane]

It was some roach fishing. Hard to say if there's many of them left. The ressie was all but drained to make or a new dyke and the cormorants had a field day. My mate tells me he was catching quite a few to 12 oz just the other day and they can't possibly be new fish from after the water was drained, so some fish of quality have survived. He's been feeding corn in of late and he's going back to try again very soon. I truly hope it's a patch on it's old form because it was unbeatable in my view.

 

I'm not that hopeful about it though. That said, if anyone can winkle them out...it's my mate.