Can I catch a tench on a hair-rigged twig?

[ayjay]

To be fair, (to both Tench and science) that does look like a particularly stupid Tench.

[Dick Dastardly]

I see what you are saying Budgie but do you not think that sometimes a baited hook will produce the fish where an unbaited hook may be missed. Say for example you have a bright piece of corn on the hook over a dull carpet of bait then surely that would attract the attention of the tench (or any other fish) and induce a bite faster?

 

Lets say you have only one fish in the swim and it only intends to eat a little before moving on (for whatever reason) then it wont hoover the whole area and this is where I think the baited hook would greatly outweigh the bare hook in effectiveness. It is the bait on the hook that would attract this solitary fish (maybe a bream!) before it moves on. If of course you have fish competing heavily for a carpet of bait then it stands to reason that one will eventually suck the hook in but if the fish aren't there in numbers then surely it pays off to attract them to the hook with a smellier, brighter etc bait.

 

Oh yes totally agree with you Rik. It only when we get the baiting and location right that the bare hook would be a sure fire winner. Preoccupied/"hoover" style feeding will allways be a requirement to success but we can have this come about in two ways, we either create it or get the location so right that we (by design or fluke) that our hook happens to be in an area "to be hoovered"!

 

I'm not suggesting it as a "better" method than bait but merely to demonstrated a particular feeding mode of some species and an explanation to why "non food value" baits (such as plastic ones) work even in the dark/without being seen.

 

Also it underlines how important location followed by feeding is opposed to the choice of hook bait itself.

[AddictedToScopex]

Oh yes totally agree with you Rik. It only when we get the baiting and location right that the bare hook would be a sure fire winner. Preoccupied/"hoover" style feeding will allways be a requirement to success but we can have this come about in two ways, we either create it or get the location so right that we (by design or fluke) that our hook happens to be in an area "to be hoovered"!

 

I'm not suggesting it as a "better" method than bait but merely to demonstrated a particular feeding mode of some species and an explanation to why "non food value" baits (such as plastic ones) work even in the dark/without being seen.

 

Also it underlines how important location followed by feeding is opposed to the choice of hook bait itself.

Yes I agree with that. I think it is fair to say that if 'hoover' fish are having it then like you say whether or not something is on the hook is immaterial. In fact you could say that having something on the hook in this situation may well be less effective than the bare hook because of the added weight of the bait and tha way it can impede a hook from pricking the fish. I suppose you would have to be fairly confident that you had a decent amount of fish in feeding mode hoovering the area but in Anderoos case I think he already knew that this was the case. Or if you were willing to wait it out for the bait carpet to get smaller and smaller then the likelyhood of a fish sucking up the hook increases. Its all a numbers game

[Anderoo]

I think the key thing is that the baited area is just attraction, and the one mouthful of actual food has a hook in it. What, if anything, it attached to the hook doesn't matter. The hook always stands a good chance of being taken as it's sitting on the one mouthful of food. So for me the main thing is getting the baiting right so fish are looking for a real mouthful.

 

With different baiting - say, a scattering of boilies - I don't think it would work very well.

[Phone]

Androo,

 

You're nearly right. First, you have to have them "feeding". Then there are some substances that are repulsive to carp. (They are primairly "bitter" to us (i.e grapefruit rind).

 

Phone

[Andy Macfarlane]

I'd like to see a carp turn it's nose up at grapefruit rind. In fact, I'd like to see a carp turn it's nose up at pretty much anything.

[Phone]

Andy,

 

I have the feeling I'm not sure you even want to see a carp. Much less see one do tricks.

 

Phone

[Anderoo]

Sounds like the next experiment should be with grapefruit rind! What do you reckon phone? I bet it'll catch.

 

I'm tench fishing at the moment and can't scratch out a bite on anything, so I think it'll have to wait til next time...plus I didn't bring any grapefruits

[Dick Dastardly]

Sounds like the next experiment should be with grapefruit rind! What do you reckon phone? I bet it'll catch.

 

I'm tench fishing at the moment and can't scratch out a bite on anything, so I think it'll have to wait til next time...plus I didn't bring any grapefruits

 

Ive posted this before so please excuse me but those who have not seen it may find it interesting-

 

An ex girlfriend of mines step son who is a keen angler as well has kept Koi carp for many years.He got them off an old boy who had to give it up as he got to old.He had kept them for many years and as such they are now averaging upper double figures and worth absolutely astonishing amounts! Among the Ornamentals he also has several Commons and Mirrors of similar (slightly smaller really) size. The pond is of the half raised half sunk design and the size of a small swimming pool! Max depth around 6' and contains some 4785 GALLONS of water (including the massive pump and filtration system.

 

He feeds them well often twice a day in the warmer weather on a Koi carp "Show and Grow" pellet (around £70 for a 20/25 litre bucket). As a "treat" he gives them any left over maggots,prawns and one of their favourites ........................ oranges cut in half! They soon suck the soft fruit out leaving just the pith and peel. I kid you not! After all I had read /been told etc I didn't believe it until seen with my own eyes! (Ive just text him to ask him to try and get some photos of them doing this over the weekend that I can post) but true enough they do! Now I fully understand that despite the massive pond it is still very much an artificial environment and as such they are restricted to a very small range of food BUT surely if they didn't like citric acid as much as we've been lead to believe (I presume its in all of the fruit and not just the peel?) they wouldn't take it regardless.

[The Flying Tench]

Interesting post, Dick D.

 

A slightly different deviation from the original post. Andrew has already met the tench challenge. Is there anyone who reckons they could catch a perch on a jigged twig?