Still at it..

I've been plugging away at the Tinca stocks pretty much since april, and for what i had hoped would have been a great spring - turned into being one of the worst for me targeting Tench. Its been a difficult one, the Carp Anglers are still picking up the odd fish on 20mm boilies, which makes me wonder why the fish can resist a concoction of casters and maggots! The effect of the cold winter has dramatically effected the weed growth, and that in turn has turned the usual crystal clear water murky. The weather has also been up and down - which is where I place my blame. I have tried everything, even boilies but it doesnt seem to be alternating the catch returns too much.

I've stuck to my guns on the whole, and perceived with the usual groundbait and maggot feeder attack that I favour. I did cut down on the amount of feed I fed, and also taped up the feeders to slow down the maggot flow, so I could leave them out for over an hour, instead of recasting every 20mins or so.

I have been catching though overall, inbetween a couple of blanks and the eels i've had a few big 8's and a couple of 9's to 9.10 this season. The double has evaded me so far, and it looks like they are spawning any day yet, but I will continue to target them for another few weeks yet, because the water has thrown some biggun's up during the heat of summer. Who knows - they might get their heads down soon!

I have another water that I am looking forward to fishing, it has big eels, Tench and Carp, so i'm going to spool up my new Shimano 10,000 Xtea's with some 12lb Catana, and see what comes along. Fingers Crossed!

Still at it..

I've been plugging away at the Tinca stocks pretty much since april, and for what i had hoped would have been a great spring - turned into being one of the worst for me targeting Tench. Its been a difficult one, the Carp Anglers are still picking up the odd fish on 20mm boilies, which makes me wonder why the fish can resist a concoction of casters and maggots! The effect of the cold winter has dramatically effected the weed growth, and that in turn has turned the usual crystal clear water murky. The weather has also been up and down - which is where I place my blame. I have tried everything, even boilies but it doesnt seem to be alternating the catch returns too much.

I've stuck to my guns on the whole, and perceived with the usual groundbait and maggot feeder attack that I favour. I did cut down on the amount of feed I fed, and also taped up the feeders to slow down the maggot flow, so I could leave them out for over an hour, instead of recasting every 20mins or so.

I have been catching though overall, inbetween a couple of blanks and the eels i've had a few big 8's and a couple of 9's to 9.10 this season. The double has evaded me so far, and it looks like they are spawning any day yet, but I will continue to target them for another few weeks yet, because the water has thrown some biggun's up during the heat of summer. Who knows - they might get their heads down soon!

I have another water that I am looking forward to fishing, it has big eels, Tench and Carp, so i'm going to spool up my new Shimano 10,000 Xtea's with some 12lb Catana, and see what comes along. Fingers Crossed!

Its a Start

Sorry for the delay!

Oh how this time of year for me couldn’t of come around quick enough. No form of angling for me beats Spring Tenching. It’s a very pro active form of angling, with all the finding the spots, baiting up, feeder fishing, watching the lake come alive at dawn… I love it.

My campaign is now underway, and whilst it still is relatively early, it pays to put in the groundwork for when the action really does start to get underway in May. The weed is only just sprouting at best, so the hours spent with the Marker rod and notepad will be worth its weight in gold, because when the weed does take hold you’ll find it very difficult to find the clearer spots to fish into.

I have had a few tench now in a couple sessions, nothing big, yet, but what I have been learning along the way is priceless. When the sun is at its highest the gravel bars will be glowing like beacons, pop the Poloroids on and make a note of all the gravely areas and if possible plumb about to find the depths on the back of them, where the food will collect.

Sufix now do the top selling Matrix Pro braid in a coloured metered version. I’m in the process of spooling up my baby big pits with them, to eliminate any guess work with the yardage of spots when feature finding. And if you pop in on your spod rod too, you can accurately clip up to the hotspots without even having to use the marker on shorter sessions. Many advantages to list but just imagine arriving late on evening into dark, and knowing that you ideally want to be fishing at the bar at 65 yards for the morning spell. Easy enough to walk out the spod on the bank, to the designated distance using the different coloured sections off the reel. The rig can be matched to the exact distance too, so they are both spot on. A few spods delivered out in the dark to the marker on the far bank before bed, and then again at first light, your away and fishing and with hardly any disturbance too. Its little tricks and edges like these can make a difference to your catch rates.

If your new to tenching, and would like to have a dabble whilst its closed season on the rivers, have a look at a series of tactics and techniques I have put together for Carp and Coarse Angling Magazine. Part II is in the shops at the moment, with Part III being printed up at the moment, you’ll hopefully be able to pick up a few pointers to get your started.