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Tench 2026

4 tench to 7.11 over 2 day sessions. Bites all during heavy rain showers between sunshine.
Converted to Sikhism during the day.
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My week of intense fishing continues as my wife, who is away helping a friend clear her mum's house as she is now in residential care, phoned to say she will not be back until Monday. They are calling in the 'Sort Your Life Out' team, this women was a massive hoarder.
Well the car thermometer read 11C at 6.45, with rain during the night and low pressure so I was optimistic. After a couple of hours I was beginning to feel my optimism was misplaced. My float fished maggots and corn had been ignored. Changed to worm, and after a couple of obligatory perch, two tench arrived, no great size barely 2lbs but much appreciated.
 
My fourth trip in a week to the small lake. Started on the float with worm and began to catch perch and the smallest jack pike I have ever seen, but these were not the species I wanted. Decided not just to change bait but also method. I recently acquired through ebay an immaculate Drennan Ultralight Bomb and Feeder rod, so with the 3/4 oz tip and a 20g grip mesh feeder with ground bait and maggots on the hook I christened the rod with a string of pristine palm size roach before I got a substantial pull. For a moment I thought could this be a roach of a live time before I slipped the net under a 2lb tench. So four trips and tench each time, nothing big. I will change venue for my next trips to try a pond I have not fish before.
 
Had a crazy day today, got to lake in the dark so was unloading by headtorch, barrow almost ready to go….bait, where’s my bait. Left at home! Van loaded back up and back home for bait. Only about four miles each way but I wasn’t happy with myself! The day got better after that I landed fourteen Tinca’s 5 x 7lb, 6 x 6 lb, 2 x 5lb and a 4lb. Four were males and were all over 6lb…Walford is one happy bunny this evening 😁
 
Bill Walford said:
Had a crazy day today, got to lake in the dark so was unloading by headtorch, barrow almost ready to go….bait, where’s my bait. Left at home! Van loaded back up and back home for bait. Only about four miles each way but I wasn’t happy with myself! The day got better after that I landed fourteen Tinca’s 5 x 7lb, 6 x 6 lb, 2 x 5lb and a 4lb. Four were males and were all over 6lb…Walford is one happy bunny this evening 😁
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So you are a mere mortal Bill !😄
 
Tony Koziol said:
So you are a mere mortal Bill !😄
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It’s not the first time I’ve left my bait at home Tony…It’s an age thing I think 🤣🤣 my mate once turned up at the fishery and he’d left his rod holdall propped against the garage at home. Hazard of loading in the dark…..and age 🤣
 
First time out Tench fishing yesterday. It was like fishing on a winter's day with a strong east/ north east wind. Not surprisingly the Tench weren't impressed! I hung on though and just after 2 pm I was just thinking I might possibly get a bite with the slightly warmer feel to the air when......beeeep!
Not a big fish but most welcome. Plastic casters were it's downfall due to the Rudd!
Whenever I go Tench fishing I am left wondering why I don't do it more often?
Perhaps I will this spring. 🙂
 
I had intended fishing a small pond this week but according to the tackle shop it had not been fishing well, so it was back to the club lake. The cold north east wind on Monday did not encourage optimism and a blank was saved by two small perch. This morning the wind was still in the east but very gentle. I float fished for an hour for nothing but a switch to the feeder resulted in three pristine roach before everything went dead. A while back I pick up for a tenner a glass fibre swing tip rod which I had with me and decided to give it a go. A fellow angler stopped for a chat and was getting nostalgic about using method in the 70’s when the tip swung horizontal and a small tench graced the net. I attach a photo not because it was a specimen but just to see an ancient piece of kit can still deliver the goods.
 

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Twelve hours in the saddle today, the dawn chorus brightened my mood and optimisom however four hours in and not a tap. My neighbour had netted two fish to just over 5lb.
That wind from the East didn't help but just after 10.00 a weird bite, rod top shook Delkim tried to sing I picked the rod up to fresh air.
Dropped my hook sizes to 12s and put home grown brandling on tipped with two maggots, got a run at 10.20 a biten off probably Jack pike.
Another hour went by then a run...hook slipped.
12.20 finally a 4lber, 12.40 a run didn't connect.
14.30 a female at 6:01, 14.55 a male 5:08. A lost fish at 17.00 made it a frustrating, interesting session.
Non of the bites ripped off it was almost twitcher hitting so when I described a run the spool moved slowly. Rigs used identical to my session on 19th March but I did drop the hook size today after a bite less four hours.
 
Got off to a great (but cold) start today with 2 x 6’s whilst i was trying to set up my 2nd rod! Followed in the next hour by a 5 and a 3 then nothing! Decided to top up with the spod after another biteless hour in the hope of restarting the swim but just attracted a gang of tufties. Loads of fish showing and cruising around in the hot sun but couldn’t buy a bite. Feels like it’s getting there now though with loads of insects in the margins and the days getting longer & warmer…..
 
Bill Walford said:
It’s not the first time I’ve left my bait at home Tony…It’s an age thing I think 🤣🤣 my mate once turned up at the fishery and he’d left his rod holdall propped against the garage at home. Hazard of loading in the dark…..and age 🤣
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I was told a story about a well known Carp angler who once went to France, when he got there he discovered he had forgotten his rods! You'd think he would have checked that! 😅
 
My dad had an interesting (and frustrating) session yesterday evening. The lake in question is crystal clear but very weedy, so he did his usual rake, bait then tackle up and fish. He had a good 8-9 tench simply swimming around his float just below the surface and flicking it with their tails, then they would drop, fizz for a few minutes, come back up and keep flicking his float. This happened for a good 3 hours before he packed up biteless, I’ve never seen him that frustrated before, and he’s never witnessed that behaviour either.
 
It's taken four dawn starts to net my first tench of this Spring. All four sessions were on the same club venue I fished in 2025 (concentrating on two of the several lakes/ponds). Finally, on Saturday, the first of four arrived but only after 11:30am (having started at 5:30am). All were in very good condition.

As Andrew describes above, the hordes of rudd are a challenge. My choice as ever is the waggler at fairly close range and, learning from last year, mainly large baits - 4 maybe 6 halves of lobworm or 3 maybe 4 grains of corn on a hair with a AAA/SSG shot down (to get that little lot quickly through the rudd) almost float legering. I've always got pellet & boilie but have yet to have a tench on them!

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The first three sessions saw quite a bit of excitement as I had several pike pick up the lobworm. Managed to land two, one of which was close to a double, but had other reasonably long tussles which eventually ended with bitten off hooklengths.

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