Why Tench Reward a Simple Approach

Tench are one of the great pleasures of a British summer. They fight hard, they look superb in the net, and on a warm morning they will feed confidently in the margins of a weedy lake or a slow river backwater. The mistake many anglers make is overcomplicating things. Heavy leads, thick hooklengths and great lumps of paste might catch carp, but tench are cautious, have small mouths and soft lips that tear easily under pressure.

Keep things light, keep things tidy, and you will catch far more of them. A straightforward running rig, a small hook and a bait they can find quickly will outfish most complicated set-ups on a warm-water venue.

The good news is that you do not need a mountain of kit. A float rod or a light feeder rod, a few floats, some small leads and a couple of tubs of bait will cover almost every tench swim you will meet between June and early September.

The Light Running Rig

This is my first-choice rig for tench on lakes, meres, gravel pits and slower stretches of river. It is safe for the fish, casts well enough at medium range and shows the delicate bites that tench are famous for.

• Main line: 6lb is ample, dropping to 4lb on clear, pressured venues.
• Lead: a small running lead of 1/8oz to 1/4oz, set up so it can slide freely along the main line.
• Rig stops: a small bead and a couple of rubber float stops to cushion the lead, leaving it running rather than fixed.
• Hooklength: 12 to 18 inches of 4lb line, either a clear fluorocarbon or a soft braid if there are crayfish about.
• Hook: a size 12 or 14 wide gape, barbless or microbarbed, tied to a hair for corn, pellet or a mini boilie.

Set the bobbin or quiver tip so it hangs with just a fraction of slack. When a tench picks up the bait it feels almost nothing, and the bite usually develops as a slow, deliberate pull rather than a smash. Let the line tighten before you strike, and strike sideways rather than upwards to protect the mouth.

Hookbaits That Work in Warm Water

Sweetcorn is the classic for good reason. Two grains on a hair, or a single grain straight on the hook, catches tench on almost any venue that holds them. Red maggots and casters are excellent too, especially when the fish are preoccupied with natural food.

Worms are the banker bait when tench are grubbing about in silt. A small dendrobaena or two brandlings, hooked once through the saddle, give off plenty of scent and movement. If bites are slow, try a single grain of corn tipped with a tiny piece of worm — you get the visual attraction of the corn and the wriggle of the worm in one mouthful.

Other baits worth carrying:

• Small 6mm pellets, banded or on a hair.
• Casters on a fine wire hook for tricky, clear-water fish.
• Small cubes of luncheon meat for bigger specimens in silty pits.
• A grain of corn balanced with a sliver of floating foam if the lake bed is soft and leafy.

Finding Tench in Weedy Venues

Tench love cover, but they also love warmth. On a bright summer morning, look for the shallowest, sunniest bay with a bit of depth close by. Lily pads, reed fringes, dying weed beds and patches of open water between cabbage are all worth a cast. If you can find a clear patch in the weed, that is almost always a highway for feeding fish.

On rivers, tench will sit in the slack water behind weed rafts, in the eddy below a bend, or in deep, slow glides beside bankside cover. A gentle underarm cast into a gap in the streamer weed can produce fish when the main flow is quiet.

Plumb the depth carefully wherever you fish. Tench often feed right on the bottom, but they will move up a foot or so in soft silt, and a bait that sits just on top of the debris gets picked up far more quickly than one that is half buried.

Feeding and Bite Detection

Do not pile in bait. On a weedy venue, a heavy bed of groundbait will simply bury your hookbait and fill the fish before you get a chance. Instead, trickle in a small pouch of hemp and sweetcorn every few minutes, or loose-feed half a dozen grains around the hookbait.

Watch for line bites and fizzing. Tench often move in small groups, and where one fish feeds, others will follow. If the bobbin twitches without a proper pull, the fish are probably over the bait but not settled — shorten the hooklength slightly or change to a smaller hook.

Dawn and the first two hours of light are the standout times. An overcast, muggy day after rain is almost as good, and evening sessions can produce a quick flurry before dark.

Small Adjustments, Bigger Rewards

If the water is very shallow and weedy, swap the running lead for a light waggler and fish the lift method, with the float dotted right down and a couple of maggots or a grain of corn on the hook. In the margins, a pole float and a pinch of hemp will fool fish that have seen every rig in the book.

Whichever approach you choose, handle your tench with care. Wet your hands, use an unhooking mat, keep them out of the net for as short a time as possible, and slip them back into the warm water. Treat the fish well and the swim will keep producing all summer long.