Still Tenching

Chez Tench

The new season begins but rather than rush down to the river I decided to avoid the crowds and pointed the van in the opposite direction towards the crystal clear gravel pits of Oxfordshire. My Tench campaign has been nothing short of a disaster this year so old Tinca was the target for my worm hook baits. The conditions seemed just about perfect, warm and overcast with just a slight ripple on the water. I arrived late due to a thick head from a mate's wedding the day before but was pleased to see I had virtually the whole lake to myself.
As I walked the bank a Tench porpoised about thirty yards out and made swim selection a doddle. It looked like it was going to be easy pickings but fishing is rarely just that. I had my first run after a couple of hours, just before lunch, an absolute screamer and just as I was taking control the hook inexplicably pulled-gutted. The line was covered in slime so it must have been a Tench and the speed of the fish had me thinking it was a small male.
I was beginning to think that it might be the only bite of the day when the alarms registered a stuttering take. I struck into another fish, much more of a plodder and when it finally surfaced my suspicions were confirmed, a good size female. I let out a sigh of relief as I bundled her into the net and on the scales she registered 8lb 13oz. At last a decent Tench on the board.

Oxford Tench really are stunning creatures.
I managed one more run but annoyingly the hook pulled again so I gave up early, it was father's day and I wanted to see the kids some.