tricky tench

[Jon Hedges]

use the lift method and a big prawn on the hook. Never fails !!

[tanglenet2004]

kendo got it. rake the swim to stir the bottom. fish are nosy and move in. done this a few times in the past and caught well

[Jon Hedges]

get a copy of "Fishing for Tench" by Fred J Taylor. If you don't catch after reading all of Fred's advice, you never will !!

[frodo_uk]

plenty for me there to get my teeth into....the club rules do allow night fishing there and I am considering it.

 

quote:

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if you can, see what others are doing,

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normally I'm the only one there, there no carp in it and its like a little hidden gem, but a tough one to crack.

 

I was fishing a mini pop up boilie (scopex flavour) over a sensas tench groundbait mixed with some maple syrup favoured sweetcorn and chopped worm and red maggots to boot. the pop-up was hair rigged andhalf the time I added a worm to the main hook . not a sniff for al my hard work

 

quote:

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get a copy of "Fishing for Tench" by Fred J Taylor. If you don't catch after reading all of Fred's advice, you never will !!

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this sounds like a good read ..will do if i can find it.

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

hi ya frodo

 

this venue sounds like a tough one,probably lots of natural food with wich the tench become focused on and can ignore bigger baits.if this is the case a maggot/caster/hemp approach might work better.

 

so you tried mini-boilies,pop-ups do work but did you put a bb shot say an inch from the hook?(plus the worm on the hook may not help with the balancing of ya pop ups)any more than that they can be difficult to hook.definetly try raking a swim.also cockles(frozen ones apparently) and black pudding.there is a mountain of baits and rigs you caould use.best bet is to get a book out and have a read,then go wander pre-bait a swim(no carp to buly out the tench!!!) and fish the next morning in the dawn mist...and never give up....

[rob.i]

On 2 of the waters i fish the tench are finicky my methods of fishing for them are the lift method with anything between 6 inches to 2ft fished on the bottom or swingtipping with anything from 18 inches to 3ft on the bottom .as for loosefeed and hookbaitI use a combination of corn sultanas and worm.Most of the tench are caught early morn or evening but when they are feeding a good session can be had.Hope some of the advice on this thread helps you to achieve your goal

[frodo_uk]

thx all and ratty I am not going to give up yet just adds to the challange and determination to catch one

[Mat Hillman]

Quick question, Would you guys who advocate raking the swim Rake at the start of an evening session ?

 

Just wondering if raking in the early evening and the fishing past sunset might be an idea (got an evening free tonight )

[Chris the Fish]

IN my experience raking is best done immediatly prior to fishing. so in answer to your question yes.

[RUDD]

There is a water called Kindsfleet near me which I have fished as a guest on many occasions.

the Tench go to over 9lbs and average 6lb!!!!!!!!!!

The times we have baited swims that have turned into a jacuzzi and then not had a bite all night.

 

We found if we introduced a new bait it would fish well two or three times then not work!

 

It is now time to start to fine down tench tackle and bait as july is now past us.

 

If you can get hold of them try squatts, they will sit on the bottom.

Tench go bananas when they get on them.

If not try casters.

Then FRESH clean red maggots.

 

A small amount of groundbait may work such as Trigga specialist carpet feed, wizzo stench or van den eye green marine shellfish.

 

Expander pellets may score well (I have had great results using ringer 6mm) as may a 6-8mm banded hard pellet.

 

Very soft trout pellet paste works well but usually earlier in the season.

 

Then there is breadflake, one of the best baits of all time, now very rarely used.

 

Also remember that tench love sweet tastes and fishmeal.

 

Now all you need to do is find their patrol route and fish it very early in the morning.

I find mornings are best for tench over evenings.

Most tench feed early morning and gravel pit tench late morning.

 

If all fails try again next May/June/July

 

Most Tench captures occur in early june followed by July.

Since the end of the stillwater close season late May has also proved to be very productive.