Tench

[iwantabigfish]

On a lake with no lilly pads where are Tench most likely to be, as i understand they like to be in and around the lilly pads.

The lake i fish has alot of trees around the bank but very little water vegatation.

Can anyone help me

[chesters1]

they will be anywhere and everywhere ,look for weedbeds if none then the bottom will be your clue .

ask anglers fishing how their doing and if theve had any tench or crucians ,that will highlight better swims and ask the bailiff wheres the best swims for tench hopefully he will give you good pointers to their location and the best methods.

but remember fish arn't tethered to anything if your pond is like mine a hotspot oneday will be empty the next and vice versa ,if there not in your swim they will be in the next one laughing at you.

[Mat Hillman]

Get down to the water at dawn and sit and watch for a while. The tench will often give away their prefered feeding spots by rolling in the same place and sending up lots of bubbles as they search for food in the mud or silt.

 

Mat

[Anderoo]

As Mat says, if there are no obvious features (and even if there are), let the fish tell you where they are. And early means early!

 

The other obvious thing when tench fishing is to fish close in. The margin is one huge feature. Spend time plumbing around the edge of the lake and if you can't spot any fish rolling fish a nice drop-off in close, especially if there's weed or overhanging trees nearby.

[Marginmaster]

The other thing you could try is prebaiting with chopped worm red maggott and caster and a mollasses ground bait, the night before or 48hrs before your session, they should be there waiting for ya.

[Steve Burke]

First of all, welcome to the Forum!

 

It's heartening that you're asking about location as on many waters this is far more important than bait or rigs. As the old adage goes "You can't catch fish that aren't there!"

 

What kind of lake are you talking about though? The reason I ask is that the location of tench on say a gravel pit is different to that on an estate lake which in turn is different to that on a commercial pond. Likewise the best time of day will vary as well. The more information you give the better we'll be able to help you.

[chris mc]

Never forget the margins or the bottom of the marginal shelf.Look for weed beds with holes in them and sand bars.

[bingo]

L O C A T I O N

 

Where are they? When do they feed?

 

Get to the lake as early as you can and leave as late as you can. If you turn up at 10:00 and leave at 15:00 they may never give themselves away. As others have said, look for the bubbles (dozens of tiny ones) on the surface.

 

Don't be afraid to just watch the water. You may feel as though you need to fish every second you are there but this isn't the case (trust me, I've been there!)

 

The biggest tip I can give to any angler is to study the water. Rigs, bait etc all play a part but, as others have said, the most important factor is to find out where the fish are. It can be daunting at first but just keep looking.

 

I'm far from being an expert but you'll be amazed at how much you find out about a place when you're NOT fishing.