CHAPTER X. 



THE TENCH, 



Habits and Haunts — Raking a Pond—Biver Tench — Baits and 

 Ground-baits — Legering and Float-fishing. 



ENCH are handsome fish, whicli are more 

 often found in ponds and lakes than in rivers. 

 They are common enough in England, less 

 common in Ireland, and not often met with 

 in Scotland. In shape they are not unlike 

 carp, but differ from them in many other 

 respects. Their scales are so small as to be 

 almost invisible, and they are covered with a 

 thick coating of tenacious slime. The back and sides of tench 

 are a golden olive-green ; eyes small, and ruby red, and fins 

 dark. At each side of the mouth is a very small barbule. 

 Tench live an extraordinary length of time out of water, and 

 are, perhaps, more tenacious of life than any other fish. They 

 are sometimes taken as heavy as 61b., and there is one of 111b. 

 on record ; but a 41b. tench is always looked upon as a large fish 

 of its kind. In the Upper Thames tench run large. Seven I 

 caught one summer at Pangbourne averaged 31b. each. Yery 

 fine tench are also taken out of the Hampshire Avon. 



Fishing for Tench in Kivers, so far as my experience goes, 

 is not much use unless the water is coloured and the swim well 

 baited with worms. The most likely swims are near the bank, 

 just where the mud, weeds, and water-lilies end and the gravel 

 begins ; and if there is a lot of roots and branches of trees in 

 the water, so much the better. Tench are also found in the 



