Why tench is most favourite fish to catch?

[Graham Elliott]

Paul.
I know a few places where tench up to 6-7lb not too difficult within 1hr 30 mins drive.

Think I will just have to sit it out on one of the big Cotswold lakes and hope I get lucky!!

 

[Rhys Perry]

Last Winter we bought 28 very big Tench 6lb + for one of our smaller club lakes. At £18.50 a pound they are the most expensive fish to stock. They were all very long and lean fish ,some will be doubles come May. They were unwanted fish from a Carp Fishery which to me is really sad. Carp anglers do seem to look down on any other species that can pick up a boilie. I think Tench are very popular with older more traditional anglers. Maybe its something to do with the old June 16th closed season start and going Tench fishing

It is sad, a water close to me has just been taken over by prize prat Rob Hales, who is emptying it to fill with his monster carp.
Not fished it for a while, but it had some lovely tench, amongst others.

 

[Haydn Clarke]

Tench are an absolute favourite species for me. Watching a starlite’d waggler on a summer evening or an early morning start on a misty spring lake with the wonderful smell of scopex and sweetcorn or Honey Yucatan mini boilies is pure nostalgia and as good as fishing gets.

My lottery win daydream is that I buy a big fat lump of land and create my own dream fishery. This is stocked with Tench, crucian carp, rudd, roach, and not so much as a single carp to spoil it.

This makes me wonder why tench are so expensive though, when it seems that most carp fisheries regard the as being only slightly less undesirable than bream?

 

[Michael Weir]

We suffer in Hereford for tench waters.

And even some further afield in the Cotswolds have been stocked up with carp carp carp.

I fished a local lake a few days ago. To be honest it was simply a nice day to get out, and I only took bread and diced spam.

Over 100 carp mainly between 2 and 10lb.!

Still trying to find somewhere at a reasonable distance with the chance of a double.
Will join SCAC and Also fish Horcott tench lake.

Fished Lemmington Spa waters last season and had days of up to 35 tench, good fun but probably max size 6lb.

Every single lake seems to be stuffed with carp, and then some, And some that have Specimen carp seem to remove the Tench.

Don't really want to queue up at places like Linear but what choices....Anyone got a Syndicate that'll take a tenchfisher?

HORSESHOE full up it seems.

You can now book linear online. Which sounds good. However if like me, you don't know the place. Probably book yourself a crap swim. I am considering booking a day there, as it's fairly local. Leave it till late May though. Hopefully it will have warmed up a bit by then.

 

[Michael Weir]

I like Tench in the spring as I think they're the best bet this time of year. They do fight well too. With the rivers closed. Bream and carp very hit and miss. Tench are the first fish to wake up as it were. Not forgetting Roach of course.

 

[Ady Brayshaw]

Echo a lot of what's written above. Tench are my 3rd favourite species. They are a fantastic looking fish. Gravel pit tench in particular ranging from the black coloured to the olive green coloured strains. I fish for them from early April until late May a great time of year when nature has just woken up. I've had three sessions since early April with two great days (9 and 5 fish) with the one blank. I'll be going again this week.
Luckily my local association has some well respected anglers on the committee, that know how to manage well balanced fisheries. So it's not all carp (although still significant) and the tench fishing enthusiast has been considered.

 

[Chris Guy]

Graeme, I've suffered this perennial problem for 20 years or so since moving here. Loved my tench and stillwater bream fishing back in Bedfordshire.
I'm still searching for somewhere close by but to no avail. I'd be happy to travel to Shropshire to a mere somewhere but information is so hard to come by and like you say, most places just seem to be stuffed up with carp.
It's the one thing I miss from home.

Bedfordshire, Cambs and Herts have all gone the same way Paul It's not just commercials that fill their waters in with carp, it's club lakes too.
Lakes possibly to look out for that aren't regularly topped up with pond pigs will quite often be the ones that lay near to river systems and through some reason or other, can't or aren't allowed to be fenced.