200lb of tench and crucians in two days!
Mike Lyddon proved the pulling power of krill when he landed 21 crucians and over 200lb of tench during a two day session on a southern stillwater.
The 45-year-old Gardner Tackle consultant fished 35yds out over a large bed of groudbait laced with krill using flatbed method feeders and double hair-rigged Enterprise Tackle artificial casters.
The highlight of his haul was this 3lb 14oz crucian, which was the biggest of 11 3lb-plus specimens.
He said: “It was a really fun weekend’s fishing. All of my fish were beaten with the help of size 14 Gardner Target hooks and 5lb Target Fluorocarbon hooklinks.”
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Personal best crowns great tench campaign
Iain McDonald rounded off a successful tench fishing campaign with the capture of this personal best 9lb 12oz specimen.
The fish is the second 9lb-plus specimen landed this year by the 42-year-old from Canterbury following a 9lb 2oz fish he caught last month from the same southern stillwater.
Iain tempted his latest prize using a legered 10mm Hook Bait Company Maple Nut boilie mounted on a size 14 Korum Xpert Specimen hook, feeding broken bits of boilies and chopped maggots.
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10lb 5oz tench tops campaign
Darran Goulder brought his 2014 tench campaign to a conclusion in fine style with the capture of this 10lb 5oz specimen from a southern stillwater.
The fish was the biggest of 19 landed by the Kent-based Shimano consultant and Fortis Eyewear boss who targeted the top of a gravel bar in seven foot of water and surrounded by thick weed.
He said: “The key was to keep recasting the feeders and at times I was getting a bite as soon as they landed. I went through a gallon of red maggots, 2 jars of Dynamite Baits Particles and a tin of corn during the trip.
“The 10lb 5oz tench was completely empty, I would love to have caught it a couple of weeks earlier when it was full of spawn,” added Darran, who used 3ins supple braid hooklinks popped-up straight off 2oz block end feeders.
This week's issue of Angling Times is a 96 page summer special and you’ll find loads of tips and rigs to try for tench in our ultimate guide to coarse fish.
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Move pays off with 10lb 9oz tench
Staying mobile proved to be the key to success for Dai Gribble who topped an impressive haul of tench with this 10lb 9oz specimen.
He began his session on St Johns Lake, which is part of the popular Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire, but after setting up all of his gear and making one cast, the Korum-backed specialist moved onto the complex’s Hardwick Lake, which produced tench to 9lb.
But still unconvinced he was in the right area he moved to the other side of the lake, which proved to be a master stroke as his hair-rigged worms fished in conjunction with a helicopter rig and a feeder filled with Sonubaits pellets and chopped worms tempted several more fish over 9lb and the 10lb 9oz specimen.
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16lb bream, 37lb carp and 10lb tench in one session!
An unfancied swim at Stanwick Lakes saw Trevor Gurney land a trio of fish which many specimen anglers could only dream of.
A 16lb 15oz bream, a 10lb 8oz tench and a 37lb common carp all graced the net of the Northants-based 43-year-old who just a month earlier broke the complex record with a 45lb 7oz carp.
The sensational haul, which also included a bream of 11lb 4oz and two upper-double figure carp, was taken from an area of the complex’s 8-acre Roman Lake which most anglers ignore.
All of the fish were tempted with a single Premier Matrix Plus boilie which he fished in a swim that he had pre-baited with a mixture of particles two days prior to his session.
“I haven’t been fishing since I broke the record with ‘The Colonel’ but when I returned I decided to target a swim on the lake where I knew nobody had been feeding the fish to see what would happen - it worked a treat!” Trevor said. “I am so chuffed with all the fish. A lot of carp anglers complain when they catch bream but I certainly wasn’t. They were both cracking looking fish and a slab of just one ounce under 17lb is a very special fish.”
Due to the amount of weed in the lake, Trevor used a drop-off inline lead system to prevent the fish snagging him up in the weed. This was fished in conjunction with a KD rig constructed with a 15lb Fox Coretex hooklink and a size 8 ESP Raptor hook.
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10lb-plus tench and 3lb-plus perch in one session
Gordon Ramsden had a session to remember when he slipped the net under this 10lb 2oz tench and a perch that topped the scales at 3lb 5oz.
His impressive brace came during a productive three-day session from the Pan Lake, which is part of Mid-Kent Fisheries.
He concentrated his efforts on a silt patch at 40yds and fished a semi-fixed rig with a combination of hair-rigged imitation maggots and casters.
These were tactics that saw him bank six other tench to 9lb 1oz and several other perch.
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Six tench to 10lb 4oz in just two hours for Drennan champion
Two hours was all the time that Jamie Cartwright needed to bank this 10lb 4oz tench along with five other fish.
The reigning Drennan Cup Champion from Northamptonshire followed up the recent capture of an 11lb 5oz personal best with this impressive haul from a stillwater in the Midlands.
Hair-rigged fake casters have been doing the business for him recently and this session proved to be no different as the Northants Specimen Group member fished the artificial hookbait in conjunction with a PVA bag filled with casters. He also landed tench weighing 8lb 15oz, 8lb 9oz, a personal best male fish at 8lb 12oz, plus a brace of six-pounders.
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Brace of tench to 9lb 11oz
The prolific Bawburgh Lakes continued its fine run of form when Nathan Long took a brace of tench to a best of 9lb 11oz.
Numerous large specimens have been caught from the complex in recent weeks and the Norwich-based angler decided to target an area close to a weedbed around 40 yards out.
Method feeder tactics and a pair of fake casters were used and at around midday he put a bend in the rod with an 8lb male fish.
An hour later he was in again when the biggest of the session found his artificial hookbait.
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First tench of 2014 new personal best at 10lb 14oz
Mark Simmonds’ first tench of 2014 proved to be a fish-to-remember as it tipped the scales at 10lb 14oz.
The fish broke his previous best for the species by 11oz and came during his debut session on a stillwater in Cambridgeshire.
After finding a shelf at 35 metres he introduced a bed of hemp, casters, dead maggots and corn, and fished maggot feeders with hair-rigged casters on a size 14 hook.
These tactics also saw him beat his personal best for a male tench with a fish of 8lb 9oz.
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Swim raking pays off with 12lb 10oz tench
Time spent raking a swim proved worthwhile for Paul Garner when he broke his tench personal best with this huge 12lb 10oz specimen from a southern gravel pit.
The venue hadn’t produced a single bite during his last three trips, but after clocking up over 1,000 miles traveling from his home in the Midlands, his fortunes finally took a turn for the better when he decided to clear two channels in the margins.
Both were baited with a hemp and maggots flavoured with Nashbait Crustacean Extract. The Peg One consultant then cast out helicopter rigs baited with three red maggots and critically-balanced with a piece if red foam.
Fish of 8lb 14oz and 7lb 12oz were landed before the sight of a much larger tench rolling over his left-hand-rod really got his heart racing.
“I had to be off the lake at 6am and I was cursing the fact as the minutes ticked by knowing full well there was a very good fish over my baited area,” Paul told Angling Times.
“I had resigned myself to another blank when at three minutes to six my line twitched before pulling up tight. I was in. I thought it was another fish of around 8lb, but the closer it got to the net the bigger it got!
“The lake was really starting to test my resolve, not just because of the long drive, but this was my fourth visit this season and the first three were blanks. The fact that it has been such a struggle makes the capture all the more satisfying.”
Paul used 12lb mainline, 12lb fluorocarbon hooklinks and size 12 hooks.
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12lb 1oz tench from new water is new personal best
Jim Mathews had every reason to smile when his first bite from a new water produced this 12lb 1oz personal best tench.
The Essex-based all-rounder has been focusing his efforts on the species since his capture of a 4lb 2oz 8dr crucian last month, targeting a very weedy club water in Kent.
Due to the tough conditions he tackled-up accordingly and fished a simple in-line lead set-up with two maggots and a piece of foam nicked on to a size 14 Drennan Super Specialist Barbel hook and a 10lb Korda IQ2 hooklink.
This was swung out tight to an overhanging tree along the left hand margin of the 33-year-old’s swim, and he baited the spot with sweetcorn and a mixture of live and dead maggots.
“It’s been tough going because sometimes I could see the tench showing, but couldn’t get on them because the swims were taken by carp anglers. Plus I only get to go fishing one night a week,” Jim told Angling Times.
“To have one huge fish in a season is unbelievable, but two in as many months is incomprehensible. It just goes to show that you don’t need to spend ages camped out on the bank to catch big fish,” he added.
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Two personal best tench in two days for 11-year-old
This well-proportioned 10lb 13oz tench gave schoolboy Sol Chander a new personal best during a memorable session.
The 11-year-old managed two tench and five carp during a 48-hour session with his dad, Sonny, at Manor Farm on the Linear Fisheries complex in Oxfordshire.
Sol’s other tench went 7lb 13oz, while his carp haul included three twenties to 24lb.
His father said: “What can I say? It was an epic session! Not only did Sol snare two new personal-best tench, he also caught one of the original Manor carp jewels as well.”
Sol fished a silty gully at range and presented Planet Wafter boilies on size 6 Nash Fang Uni hooks tied to 25lb Nash Missing Link.
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A handful of soil fools first double-figure tench
Anglers that try something a little different will often reap the rewards – as proved by Geoff Collins when he banked his first double-figure tench in the shape of this 10lb 13oz specimen.
After seeing a big fish in the margins he lowered in a simple feeder rig baited with four maggots on a size 12 hook.
This on its own wasn’t enough to tempt the wary tinca, but the introduction of a handful of soil from the bankside created an enticing cloud around his feeder and encouraged the fish to get its head down.
“I thought the muddy soil would create a natural cloud in the water and the tench would feel more comfortable feeding inside it,” Geoff told Angling Times. “Just a few minutes after doing this my biggest ever tench was in the net…what a result.”
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New personal best tench for Drennan Cup champion
Reigning Drennan Cup Champion, Jamie Cartwright, has got the defence of his title off to a flying start with the capture of this 11lb 5oz tench.
The impressive specimen brought a three year wait for a new pb for the species to a triumphant conclusion and was caught from a Midlands stillwater that, despite him fishing it every spring for the last five seasons, hadn’t produced a tench for him in over two years.
He ended this big tench drought when he kicked off the session with a 9lb 5oz specimen after casting out two hair-rigged imitation casters over a bed of feed comprising four pints of casters, four kilos of hemp, pellets and black groundbait.
The best was still to come, though, and it wasn’t long before ‘the biggest tench he’d ever laid eyes on’ was laying in the folds of his landing net.
“This was the result I’d been praying for,” Jamie told Angling Times. “The venue has certainly been a tough nut to crack and after going two years without catching a fish from it I was delighted with the nine-pounder.
“My mate Dougie had come over to celebrate with some breakfast and mid-way through the meal a huge fish rolled over my left-hand-rod. I commented ‘that’s as good as a bite’, and sure enough, moments later my alarm burst into life. When the fish surfaced in front of us our jaws hit the floor as neither of us had ever seen anything like it before and it beat my personal best by 1lb.”
Jamie beat his prize with a size 12 Drennan Specialist Barbel hook and a 10lb Drennan Gravel Braid hooklink.
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Traditional float tactics fool 9lb 4oz tench
A traditional lift method approach helped Dan Eaves catch this 9lb 4oz personal best tench during a session at a southern stillwater.
The Hampshire-based angler had caught lots of smaller tench from the venue over the years but was determined to land one of its bigger residents.
A marginal spot was raked out and baited up with a mixture of pellets and particles, before his caster hookbait was lowered over the top.
“Moments after the float shot out of the water the fish tore off and did its best to bore into the weed, but I gained the upper hand fairly quickly,” explained Dan.
“I’m glad I stuck to floatfishing as opposed to the feeder as it feels much more rewarding landing a huge fish on this tactic,” he added.
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Massive haul of tench plus crucians to over 3lb
A memorable session in search of large crucian carp was capped off in fine style for Tony Gibson when he banked this 3lb 6oz personal best specimen from Johnson’s Lake.
The Northamptonshire-based angler arrived at the Godalming AS water to find his first choice swims had already been taken.
Settling for another peg he caught several tench to 6lb 8oz, but when an angler vacated one of the known hotspots he quickly upped sticks and moved.
A manic 48 hours followed which saw Tony land 44 tench to 7lb 7oz, 15 crucians – with six over 3lb – and a 15lb carp.
Both Method feeder and straight lead tactics scored when presented over a large bed of particles, with Nash Mutant Plastic Sweetcorn and 6mm Dynamite Baits Marine Pellets proving the best hookbaits.
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Change of swim produces eight tench to 10lb 6oz
A change of swims paid dividends for Kevin Durman who netted eight tench to a best of 10lb 6oz.
The Sonubaits-backed rod didn’t just move pegs, but decided to pack away his gear and switch his attentions to a totally different lake on Medway Valley Fisheries’ Larkfield complex in Kent.
It proved to be a wise decision as his paternoster maggot feeder rigs, baited with maggots on size 10 Korum hooks, were soon working their magic.
“I hadn’t had a touch so instead of just sitting there hoping the tench would move in I decided to give another lake a try and target slightly shallower water on top of a gravel bar. Thankfully it paid off,” Kevin told Angling Times.
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Double-figure tench tamed on light tip rod
Blain Pickering tamed this cracking 10lb 12oz tench from a Staffordshire stillwater using a light tip rod.
The 19-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent fished a Method feeder over an area of light weed at 30yds range and landed seven other tench between 5lb – 9lb as well as a bonus carp.
He said: “I’d caught a couple of smaller fish when my tip was dragged round again. At first I thought it was a carp because it was fighting so hard. When I got it closer I could see it was a large tench and there were a couple of nerve-wracking moments when it tried to snag me up in some reeds but thankfully I kept it out of the reeds and slipped the net under it.”
Blain fished two pieces of sweetcorn on a size 12 Drennan hook and an 8lb hooklink over a bed of Dynamite Baits Swim Stim and Sensas Lake groundbait laced with 2mm and 4mm pellets.
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Jan Porter lands 9lb tench and two 20lb-plus carp despite the fog
Former match star Jan Porter had a session to remember with a 9lb 9oz tench and a brace of 20lb carp the highlight.
The Man in Red had nine tench in total and carp of 20lb and 27lb 6oz during an eight-hour session at Hardwick and Smiths Lake on the Richworth Linear Fisheries complex in Oxfordshire.
Jan was joined by pal Andy Lewis from Rugby who had a pb male tench of 8lb 5oz and a female of 8lb 4oz, along with three other tench and carp of 19lb 11oz and 22lb 15oz.
Jan told Angling Times: “My current pb is 9lb 10oz so I’m really chuffed. All the fish were caught between 6am and 2pm on a very foggy day.”
Successful tactics for the pair consisted of plastic corn and casters tipped with worms on size 12 ACE hooks, 10lb Shimano Tribal line and 30g inline feeders.
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Second tench trip yields 11lb 12oz beast
Steve Russell came within 1oz of breaking his tench personal best with the capture of this stunning 11lb 12oz specimen.
The Oxfordshire-based all-rounder caught the fish during a session on an extremely weedy local gravel pit.
The tench is the second over the 11lb-mark which the 42-year-old has landed from the tough venue and it fell to two imitation casters hair-rigged on a size 12 Drennan Super Specialist Barbel hook and a 12lb Drennan Carp Silk Braid hooklink fished helicopter style in conjunction with a maggot feeder.
Steve’s specimen angling exploits saw him take fourth place in last season’s prestigious Drennan Cup competition - a performance he’s hoping to improve on in 2014.
“I’m ecstatic to land a fish like this on what was only my second tench fishing session of the year so far,” he told Angling Times.
“Prior to this I had fished the venue for two years without catching a double, which just goes to show how important it is to persevere when the going gets tough.
“My latest catch was far from plain sailing, though, as the fish fought really hard and there were a few hairy moments when it momentarily snagged me up in some weed – but I won the battle in the end.”
Steve targeted a patch of silt among an area of dense weed and baited the spot with a bed of hemp, pellets and dead maggots, and also landed a smaller tench of 6lb 13oz.
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