Big Tench Tactics

22 February, 2006 12:00:00

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In addition to specimen carp, Julian Grattidge is also known to target specimen tench and has banked several fish to near double figures over the years. In this piece Julian gives some tips for targeting the larger examples;

As a keen carp angler, catching tench on presentations intended for carp is something of a given. However, whereas most so called carp anglers would berate the arrival of yet another little tinca on the bank, I welcome each one, as the information gained from every capture has helped me no end when I go out to target big tench specifically. Before the purists try to nail me up for mentioning carp, I should note that Iâ€™m not your average bivvy bound carper; just the opposite. Iâ€™m predominantly a stalking angler, and far from using 3oz bolt rigs, will more often that not be found free-lining a worm or dropping in a lift rig to outwit a large carp; approaches which have also accounted for no small amount of specimen tench over the years.

I freely admit that Iâ€™ve taken countless large tench on boilies; 10mm Shelfish B5 in particular, but they are not my bait of choice. I much prefer the natural approach for my tench fishing and have not yet found better baits than sweetcorn or worms. If I had to pick between the two, I would probably favour the worm. Why? Well, itâ€™s a tricky one, but having watched their reactions to such baits close up over many years, they do seem to inspect a still bait for much longer before either sampling or rejecting, and my feeling is that the longer they are able to think about something, the more likely it is that they will steer clear, whereas a worm so often seems to invoke an immediate response, a sense of urgency, almost. Itâ€™s hard to describe but when watching their reaction to a nice juicy worm, itâ€™s something along the lines of â€˜if I donâ€™t have this quick, something else willâ€™.

Early morning tinca; this one at 6lb 8oz was the second in less than five minutes!

Iâ€™ve lost count of the amount of tench Iâ€™ve had within minutes of placing a bait, if you get the approach and location right, you can often have several good fish on the bank within an hour. Indeed they can sometimes be so eager as to beat the carp to it! Last year during the opening week on Capesthorne I was on the hunt for large carp. My aim was to chuck up a shelter at night and ledger fish, then at first light break everything down and go off stalking all day. The weather leading up to the off had been red-hot with not a ripple of wind. Almost on the stroke of midnight everything changed; wind, rain, the lot. It pretty much knocked the carp on the head, with most staying well under the pads for the fist 24-hours. The second morning, with nothing banked thus far, I was itching to catch one. I was up at around 5am and after a few hours found six or seven carp around the edges of the bay, just out from the bank. My heart rate increased and I knew this would be my chance. I climbed various trees charting their actions for a good 30-minutes, and after pinpointing one spot that they kept going back to, decided on my location for an ambush.

It was still raining, a kind of heavy drizzle that soaked everything through, but no matter; I was about to catch my first carp of the season. I slowly crept into the swim and ever so gently flicked a few bits of particle mix into a little clear spot between blooms of Canadian pond weed which was no more than three feet out from the bank in around 3-feet of water. I looked up to see a group of four carp, all over 20lbâ€™s heading right towards me. I had to be quick.

I slipped a small worm onto the hook and flicked the free-lined bait into the clear spot. The bottom within the clear spot was clearly visible from up in the tree to my right, but from the bank the bait dropped *just* out of sight. Crouched behind marginal cover I peered through the vegetation just in time to see all four carp break into the clearing and drop down to investigate - just as the worm must have touched bottom. I had done it by the skin of my teeth. After no more than five seconds, the line trembled, immediately tightened, and I struck into my first carp of the year whilst most anglers on the lake were still tucked up in their bivvies!

The water erupted, large carp bolted every which way from the clearing, and my light stalking rod took on its battle curve as the hooked fish powered away from me. The carp made a good initial run along the right margin before I was able to slow it and eventually turn it towards me, at which point the grey cells began to register that something here was a little odd ï¿½" not the actions of your average Top Pool mid-twenty. The fish fought extremely well, and was no pushover, so what was going on? The truth of the matter was that I had absolutely no idea ï¿½" it had to be one of the carp, as I had seen them all drop down into the clearing right in front of me. A little flummoxed, I continued to play the fish and soon after got my first glimpse of the culprit; the dark golden flanks of a large tench came in to view.

I was gob smacked. The tench must have seen the bait on the drop and decided it could beat the carp to it! As I say, the worm had been in the water no more than five seconds! Was I disappointed? Never! Besides, it was not in the net yet, and from what I could see it was an absolute stunner. A good fight ensued before I finally slipped the net under a stunning fish, which went 8lb 14oz on the scales. Although not quite what I intended, I was over the moon with such a magnificent and extremely greedy specimen! I stayed on the water for another couple of days and soon got amongst the big carp with similar tactics, but from the tench capture onwards, I could not stop chuckling to myself about the how it had nipped in to beat the carp; a memorable capture that will stay with me forever - and thatâ€™s what angling should be about!

So, given that worms and sweetcorn are my preferred baits, how much should you put in? Well, my thinking here is that less is always more. The amount of free bait offered is also key, Iâ€™ve found you have to be careful not to give them too much as they can quite easily get spooked, or alternatively preoccupied. As such, my preferred approach is quite literally a handful of particle mix or hemp, with a worm or sweetcorn rig placed over the top, and then topped up as and when. I often see anglers catapulting the best part of a tin of sweetcorn into the swim before placing out a hook bait. All good and well, but the law of averages would dictate to me that it could take quite a while for the fish to get around to the three grains with your hook attached! Besides, Iâ€™ve found that the interest of larger tench can often be raised by introducing less free-bait, possibly they see it as less risky, and most of my tench over seven pounds have been taken with either no free-bait at all, or just half a handful of hemp or corn.

Location is also important, most of the tench on waters I fish tend to congregate in the same areas during the day and move back and forth from the area for short periods, feeding more aggressively in the early and late hours of daylight, and right through the night in many cases. As such, when targeting large tench in the day, I will often stick close to these holding areas and fish at dawn or dusk. Iâ€™ve found itâ€™s also possible to stalk large tench, as they seem to patrol the same routes repeatedly; in fact my largest tench to date, a 9lb 15oz lump, was taken by working out an early morning patrol route and setting a trap accordingly.

As for approach, my most common set-up for large tench would be a ledgered or freelined supple braid hooklink of around 9-inches with a Size 10-12 hook. I do away with the hair for worms, but always use a small hair with sweetcorn so that four or five grains sit nicely off the back of the shank. I will often use artificial corn if there are lots of shoal fish present, and Iâ€™ve landed several specimens this way, so itâ€™s well worth putting your faith in artificial baits if there is a risk of the hook bait being nibbled away.

As with so many species, observation and watercraft are key elements in outwitting the larger examples. However, Iâ€™ve found that by keeping things simple and baiting lightly, you stand a much better chance of landing that dream tench. As for me, Iâ€™m still an ounce off a double figure capture but every one I bank along the way is an absolute joy.

Julian Grattidge
February 2006

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