THE TENCH & TENCH FISHING 



TINCA VULGARIS 

 German, Die Schleihe; French, Tanche 



By R. B. MARSTON 



1HAYE often thought, when landing a tench in good condition, in 

 September or October, that in appearance it is more like the trout 

 than any of the other *' coarse fish " — ^and I have occasionally caught 

 trout with very faint and few spots, which have reminded me of tench. 

 The small scales of the tench have much to do with this resemblance, 

 and by using, as I always do, an old fly rod, I fijid that tench of two 

 pounds or over give very good sport, and are handsome, interesting fish— 

 his tail is also like a trout's. At the spawning season — ^which may be as 

 early as May, and as late as July, according to the season — ^the male fish 

 have numerous little whitish or pearly beads on head or back; from 

 200,000 to 300,000 small yellowish eggs are deposited on water plants. 

 The tench hibernates in the mud, and Max von dem Borne mentions that 

 even in the summer they are said by some trustworthy observers at times 

 to hide away for long periods in the weeds and mud in a sleepy state. 

 This would account for the fact that in some seasons very few tench can 

 be caught even in waters famous for them. As regards tackle, baits and 

 ground baits for tench, those described for carp and bream answer admir- 

 ably. A red worm on the bottom hook — or a lob worm if the tench run large — 

 and a bit of brown bread paste on the other hook above it a few inches off 

 the bottom — on which the worm should be — ^I have never found anything 

 better to attract tench with. As before explained, I do not much believe 

 in scented baits, but I do believe that a drop or two of spirit of tar mixed 

 with the ground bait, and the latter thrown in some hours before you fish, 

 does attract tench. My old angling friend, the late Mr Alfred Mackrill, 

 loved tench fishing, and caught grand fish up to eight pounds in Tring 

 Reservoirs, where I have had delightful days' pike, roach, and tench 

 fishing with him. He was strongly convinced from experience that whether 

 in punt fishing or bank fishing you could not be too quiet, if you were after 

 big tench; also that you should never hold the rod in your hand, but fish 

 with it resting on the side of the punt, on the well, with a little line pulled 

 off the reel, and when you had a bite, to let the fish draw that bit of slack 

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