help

[ohterry]

hi, i fish a small lake which has plenty good tench,carp bream roach etc etc, mainly on night sessions.

over the last two years ive really struggled to catch tench. i know there in there.

the lake is a bit of a hard place to fish generally.

just wondered if any one has any decent tips to help me get those tench???

[Chris the Fish]

Turn up 10mins before you go to bed, then RAKE your swim to a distance of about 4-5 mtrs. then set a static bait over a simple waggler.

 

I find that bait is best chosen to suit the lake, on some red maggots work wonders, on others its pellets, others corn so stick to what you know works.

 

so weve raked, chosen the bait of choice, now get your butt down there regular and bait the swim for about 7-10 days with the same feed, as tench are the uboats of the underworld they follow distinct paths searching for food, checking places where food has been present in the past and re-visiting them to give them the once over.

 

by prebaiting you are ensuring that your swim is on the patrol route, by raking you bringing natural food items and clearing a space for your swim. and by using a common bait to the water they will know it and will readily scoff.

 

hope this helps, and can i just put a short disclaimer onto this post as i may be talking poo, either in part, or as a whole.

 

Oh, and keep it a secret if you can, other wise others will benefit from your hard work.

 

chris

 

who has no tench so far this year.

[SteveH]

Good advise about the raking in particular, where it is allowed I have been known to rake a swim then start fishing it within the next half an hour, never had a really bad day doiung that and sometimes had some superb days. Sally Walshes Dam used to be a venue I would do this, (many years ago before it was made into a Syndicate Carp Water, which it bcame before Barnsleyblacks got the rights.

 

Excellent carp in there but the Tench are worth going for with specimens up to 8lb and averageing 3 - 5 lb. I dont know if the 'Blacks' would allow raking now, but I will be finding out come May.

 

SteveH

[Mat Hillman]

Raking is excellent advice, I'm a convert to this and always give my swim a quick raking right before fishing,

 

If you want to avoid the bream and carp I've found fresh cockles to be a fairly selective bait for tench on some waters.

[slodger]

My tip would be to put some of your intended hook-baits in before you rake, as well as after.