A Trio of Tench.

[Catfish.017]

I hadn't bothered trying for them for a fortnight having decided to wait for a change in the weather. Wednesday night was quite warm. I checked the forecast and it showed 15 degrees overnight Thursday. I felt it was worth a go having had some nice mixed bags on the local canals this week.
4.30am, the sky had cleared a little and the car windows had a fair dew on them. 5.00am I was walking the towpath on the Daw End Canal, the floating gunge was as thick as ever but fortunately my favoured spot wasn't too bad so I was soon settled in fishing over a light feeding of mash and maggots positioned just past the marginal lily pads. Second cast a small piece of flake was taken on the drop by a pound and a half hybrid which didn't display the usual hybrid vigour, reverting more to its Breamy side!
I fed loose maggots over the top and the Perch soon found them, the first a nice twelve ouncer. A couple of smaller ones came at intervals before a steady bite saw me into something better? I thought at first it was a Tench but in the clear water I spotted the stripes of a good Perch; handling it carefully I soon netted a fish of a pound and a half, brilliantly coloured and quite welcome.
Some bubbles began to rise just as a shy sun peeped over the tree tops from behind the clouds that had pushed in earlier. They looked a bit big for Tench and sure enough a decent Bream came lolloping to the net after the float had meandered about a bit. The odd group of tiny bubbles showed occasionally but tiny fry were active around the float too, attracted by tiny bits of the mash floating. I had put my polarised glasses on by now and soon discovered that my loose maggots were being picked off. I mixed some stiffish mash and fed the maggots in it.
Around 8.30 I finally hooked a Tench but it got me in the pads and transferred the hook, Drat! Despite not being on long it didn't half smash the swim up!, severing several pads and churning up the gunge. All quiet for a while after the disturbance but eventually some better bubbling got underway . Even so the fish were being a bit fickle, ignoring maggot, being a bit sniffy with worm and tweaking bread. Annoyingly I had left a small quantity of casters at home, I felt they may have done the trick. I mixed a small ball of paste using bread and fish meal ground bait. I offered them a small balanced crust/paste bait and after a while a slow bite saw me attached to another Tench.I played this one more firmly and a nice fish came to the net draped in weed. Three and a half pounds? A female in lovely knick. Happy now. This one roughed the swim up too but amazingly by the time I was ready to recast there were more bubbles rising. Still fickle though and it was 11.00am beforecI got another, a male around two pounds.
All pressure off now, I could savour the remainder of the session as the sun came and went, in the ever changing light there was still some bubbling occurring but I had very little bait left. I scratched around in the bottom of my bag and found a few very dry crusts which I used to make some more paste. Feeding little pellets of it around the float, all of a sudden the float wasn't there and the centre pin buzzed. The Tench was already in the pads on the far bank but I managed to tug it out and manhandled it to the net. Another female around two and a half pounds. Just after I returned it a long lithe Pike swam quite quickly along the centre of the canal not far below the surface? I packed soon after, pleased to have reacquainted myself with some Tench.

[Dave F]

A good day, with a good result.

[Grumpy]

Well done there Catfish.

[Pallenpool]

Very nice too.