so TENCH. 



article of diet ; he mentions this fish in company with White-fish and Shad in the lines — - 



"Quis non et virides vulg-i solatia Tineas 

 Norit, et alburnos prasdam puerilibus hamis, 

 Stridentesque focis obsonia plebis Alausas?" ^Id. x. 125 — 127.) 



"Who is not acquainted with the green Tench, the solace of the common people, and the Bleak, the spoil captured 

 by boys' fish-hooks, and the Shad which hiss in the fire-pans, plebeian fish-fare?" 



Tench thrive best in good-sized ponds, where there is plenty of water weeds of various 

 kinds, as pond-weed, Potaniogetoii, Myriophylhim, &c. ; the ponds must not be overstocked, 

 otherwise the fish will not grow to any size, but keep small and thin. Tench are also found 

 in some of our rivers ; the Thames, in certain localities where the water is sluggish, being 

 fairly well supplied with them. Deep clay-pits and broad shallow waters on muddy bottoms 

 are productive. Yarrell states that some very extensive tracts of water a few miles north of 

 Yarmouth, not far inland from a point called Winterton Ness, abound with Tench, which, 

 when removed to stews, feed and thrive on a mixture of greaves and meal till fit for the 

 table, and that the flesh is nutritious and of good flavour. As to the quality of the food 

 opinions vary; some people regard the Tench as excellent, others will not touch it; for my 

 own part, I think a well fed Tench of about two pounds in weight one of the best fresh- 

 water fishes that we possess, and that it does not in the least require rich and savoury sauces 

 to make it palatable. 



The Tench spawns in June; the saying that this happens when "wheat is in flower" is 

 as old as the time of Willughby, who writes "parit vere et restate cum triticum floret." The 

 female fish when about to deposit her spawn is attended by two or three males, who follow 

 her about ; at this time of the year they are very easily taken in a net. The eggs are small, 

 and are, like those of the Carp, deposited on the weeds. The young fish grows rapidly. 

 Couch states that in twelve months it may weigh from half a pound to a pound, and that 

 an instance is known where a Tench, placed in a pond, in six years and a half attained to 

 the weight of four pounds and a half, which would be considered in this country a fish of 

 large size, though they have been taken of five or six pounds weight. The food of the 

 Tench consists of worms and insect larvas, but it also feeds extensively on vegetable matter. 

 During the winter months it lies buried more or less deeply in the mud, and is dormant, 

 like the Carp. From an examination of the stomachs of several Tench and Carp taken out 

 of the mud in mid-winter, which, together with the whole intestinal tract, were quite empty, 

 it appears that during this time these fish do not take food. It is well known that Tench 

 are eminently tenacious of life, and are able to breathe with a very small supply of oxygen. 



Izaak Walton calls the Tench the physician 0/ Jishes, especially for the Pike, which "being 

 either sick or hurt is cured by the touch of the Tench;" he says that "the tyrant Pike will 

 not be a wolf to his physician, but forbears to devour him though he be never so hungry." 

 This is an old conceit, and is mentioned by Willughby and other authors ; some modern 

 writers appear to think there is some truth in the belief I think we may safely dismiss the 

 whole story as a myth ; the Pike will certainly take a Tench just as well as he will another 

 fish, when he is in the humour, and I have caught Pike occasionally when trolling with a 

 small Tench as a bait; Mr. Masefield, of Ellerton, who has perhaps as much experience as 

 any man living, tells me that Pike will eat a Tench as soon as any other fish, and that 

 he has frequently taken Pike with this bait. 



The male of the Tench is readily recognised from the female by the large cup-shaped 

 ventral fins. 



