The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I recently received a letter from a friend who lives and fishes in North Yorkshire, telling me about his catches during 2017. During the summer he caught lots of Tench of 5 - 6lbs from a 20 acre water, during the day. To quote him, 'None of this dawn start stuff as these fish fed only during office hours.' This set me thinking.

From when I was a teenager and up to about 20 years ago I caught virtually all my Tench from early morning up to about 10am, with just the odd one in the evening, in waters large and small. This applied in North Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and in the Wiltshire/Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire area. I now live in south Hampshire and fish for Tench mainly on small waters up to about an acre, where most of the Tench are caught during the day and into the evening. The only exception is a local 15 acre gravel pit where all the Tench are caught very early in the morning.

Why do they now feed at different times, and does the same apply in your area?

Another change. When float fishing the Tench USED to bob the float up or down, move it sideways, and eventually slide it under, a la Mr Crabtree. In the waters I now fish the float just goes under with no warning or previous movement at all. Again have you experienced this behaviour?

Can anyone explain the changes?

Regards, Old Angler

Very interesting. I’ve found that if fishing for tench in an open swim with no vegetation (ie lily pads) then the tench pick up the bait and move away with it slowly which makes the float ‘walk’ away and gradually go under. If fishing on the edge of lily pads then the float goes straight under. Not exactly sure why.

OldAngler wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2017 4:47 pm Another change. When float fishing the Tench USED to bob the float up or down, move it sideways, and eventually slide it under, a la Mr Crabtree. In the waters I now fish the float just goes under with no warning or previous movement at all. Again have you experienced this behaviour?

That might be the difference between fish that haven't been caught or hardly been caught, and so are feeding naturally, and fish that have been caught a lot, so are nervous feeders and snatch at a bait.

Less folk fishing for them so they're feeding more confidently and at their preferred times.

Such enigmatic creatures! They can be as easy as pie or as fickle as any crucian ever was. Particularly with respect to baits. On one small pool I used to fish a bait could become 'blown' (to use a carp fishing term) in a matter of days. Just this summer I experienced some frustrating mornings on another small pool which is quite lightly fished, shallow clear water and heavily weeded. On these occasions the swim 'fizzed' with bubbles and the fish brushed the line constantly but a range of previously successful baits were ignored. A week later a pal had an excellent catch there using maggots, feeding heavily to fill up the small Rudd.
A few years ago the same pal, using Google Earth, discovered quite a large water hitherto unknown to us. Investigation revealed there was no way we would ever get permission to fish it. A couple of weeks later he sent me a text late one night toward the end of August. It just read 2 tench 5 1/2lb and 6lb! It transpired he had fished the lake, an estate lake, surreptitiously! The temptation was too much, on his next visit I joined him. Using large baits I blanked to his two good tench to casters on a size 14. This lake hadn't been fished since the late Seventies. We tried again, I persevered with big baits for the first hour or two (these were evening visits) my pal was up to six tench with a monster lost. I gave in, scaled down and ended with two to his ten! We packed at dusk with sheets of bubbles several square yards across covering our swims. We had one more visit giving us eighteen between us before we were rumbled on our next visit. The smallest we had there was four pounds the largest early seven. I couldn't believe they wouldn't take a big bait but that certainly appeared to be the case. Fred J Taylor always maintained that tench needed a smaller bait as the summer wore on but this was on waters that had taken a bit of 'hammer'. That couldn't be said of 'our' water.

I've always understood that on bigger waters, gravel pits especially, the tench patrol the margins throughout the day. A margin rod is likely to produce a positive bite at any time. But feeding periods for all fish on differing waters is likely to be localised.

As for bait size. As a youngster I used to fish a lake where everybody lobbed out great lumps of flake or paste. This worked at the start of the season but soon the bites almost dried up with just a few fish caught. One day in high summer I sat gobsmacked one day as a chap filled the hot swim with maggots and casters. I'd never seen so much bait and was surprised that he seemed content catching countless small roach and rudd. I asked why he didn't go on the bottom and try for tench but he genuinely told me he was not yet convinced there were any tench in the water. His swim was just a mass of bubbles and he must have had dozens of tench feeding

Size of the water and depth of the water has a big effect on the times of day they feed.
Deep largish claypits where marginal depths can be 10 to 20 feet deep tends to result in tench feeding throughout the day , but that will include feeding early morning in the warmer summer months.
Small waters of up to two acres that are not very deep and have plenty of cover - ie weed, lily beds , etc usually means the tench feed early morning and in the evening.
With regard to baits, there does seem to be different preferences for different waters, but I have yet to find a water with tench where a lobworm is not a successful bait for good tench.

I had similar conversations back in the 1990's with some Sywell regulars, we decided it was depth of water and light penetration, pegs near the Oak tree fished all day(deep pegs), whereas the shallower arms only fished in brighter conditions if the water was dirty. Having said that, particle baits would find fish when boilies failed what ever the depth and light conditions. When the Roach population exploded in the 1980's match anglers fishing from the dam float fishing(before the leger fishing ban) often picked up some nice Tench, mimicking this I too caught some very nice Tench on the float from there.

Kev and myself have fished the Romney marsh drains since we were on our teens and probably beforehand with our fathers. We’ve always used the float, laying on with a big lob or knob of paste during the early summer, the tench fed from dawn until around 10am and then again in the evening until dusk, same year after year. This year during that very hot month between the start of the season and mid July we couldn’t get a bite until 10am and then they fed like mad until noon during 30 degree heat, bright sun and stopped, the odd bite in the late afternoon but the evenings were a waste of time....all rather odd but interesting.

In my experience, old established estate type lakes, ponds and canals, early morning and late evening during the summer months is best for Tench, as I usually fish in the margins for them free lining or lift style, bites tend to be the classic trundle away or float slowly lifting and laying flat. Deep water reservoirs I make an early start but don't start to get bites much before 0800 but I continue to catch up until early afternoon by which time hunger means I pack up, most of the bites from Tench in the deep water tend to be a drift beater float or similar disappearing, I sometimes use a locslide float and that usually lifts.