Tench Floatfishing Advice Please

[peterthefisherman]

I sometimes fish a pond for tench - usually I do quite well - however a feel at times I have missed a bite and not had time to react.

I fish about 3-6 inches over depth (waggler and an uneven bottom) with a no 8 short about 15 inches from the hook. Should I organise it that the no 8 shot is closer to the hook and lying on the bottom ??

Any advice or alternatives would be appreciated

Tend to use sweetcorn on a no 18 -3 Lb Trace fish tend to be 1Lb - 3.5 Lb

Thanks

[Dan Dan]

I sometimes fish a pond for tench - usually I do quite well - however a feel at times I have missed a bite and not had time to react.

I fish about 3-6 inches over depth (waggler and an uneven bottom) with a no 8 short about 15 inches from the hook. Should I organise it that the no 8 shot is closer to the hook and lying on the bottom ??

Any advice or alternatives would be appreciated

Tend to use sweetcorn on a no 18 -3 Lb Trace fish tend to be 1Lb - 3.5 Lb

Thanks

 

Try adjusting the shot, try 2-3 inches first and watch for lifts on the float as the tench dislodges it. if you still miss them, move it up a bit more (10mm each time) until you start hitting them or get used to when you should strike. Other than that I think you're pretty much fishing perfectly for them

[dant]

Hello Peter..

 

How far out are you fishing and at what depth? Also what size do the Tench run to in the lake as I would offer that a 3lb main line and 1.5-3lb hooklink may be a little on the light side. 1.5 definitely is. An 18 is a little small for a whole grain of corn. That may be the reason your missing the bites, the bait may be masking the hook point.

 

Tench also have a habit of sucking in food and blowing it out a few times before they decide what they're going to do with it, if your hook's buried in the corn it could just be going in and out, if your hook point is proud of the bait you stand a much greater chance of the hook snicking the corner of the mouth upon expulsion.

I've lost count of the number of Tench I've caught with the hook bedded in the tough skin just inside the corner of the mouth.

 

If it's not too deep (say 7-8ft max) and not too far out (2 or 3 rod lengths'ish) have a crack with the lift method. This is where the load of weight is only a few inches from the hook, as the bait is picked up the weights are lifted from the bottom and the float rises. It's a pretty classical way of Tench fishing and great fun.

 

Type 'lift method' into the forum search and you'll get tons of info..

 

Good luck..

[Angly]

On your searches you may well come more than one lift method; if you use the method where you set the float about 20-30% overdepth, put the rod in rests, and tighten up to cock the float, this takes care of any minor uneven depth issues. It's certainly worked for me.

Edited June 13, 2008 by Angly

[gazza01]

Hi mate,

 

Although the bottom is the usual place, it can work to bring the bait off the bottom just moving it up a few inches each cast. I have struggled on the bottom before and lifted off and had a couple green giants. This aint always possible in venues holding lots of roach as you could be plagued with them.

[Andrew Boyd]

Hi

 

I fish a public water for Tench and do very well compared to others, even though I say so myself! I started by fishing the lift method, but found the fish very sensitive to the weight of the shot. So moved the bottom shot upwards so it was supported by the weight of the float. This improved the bite ratio. I use 5lb line ( i fish near pads, Tench love weed/cover ) with a size 12.

Bait, try Baked Beans, wash the sauce off ( with lake water not tap water ). Hook a single bean through the 'tag' end, though this only works if you'r short casting as they wont stand a long chuck. Another bait worth a try is Prawns, up the hook size to a 10, or short shank 8 with a wide gape. A bag of frozen economy peeled Prawns from somewhere like Tesco is cheaper then a pint of Maggots!! Make sure they have thawed, thankfully this only takes a few mo's when dunked in ambient water. Just make sure you don't eat too many !!