Tench heaven! two amazing catches top huge week
It’s been another phenomenal week for tench with two of the biggest-ever catches of specimen fish hitting the banks.
The first fell to Hastings-based James Montier who landed seven of them, six of which were over 10lb topped by a 12lb 2oz giant.
James amassed the impressive hit during a week-long session at a private Southern gravel pit.
He began the trip alongside seven-year-old daughter Faye, who was the first to catch with a fish of 10lb 9oz.
The proud father then went on to take six fish of his own, weighing 10lb 12oz, 12lb 2oz, 10lb 13oz, 11lb 1oz, 10lb 2oz and 8lb 1oz.
He said: “Faye had caught her very first tench and a specimen fish too.
“Words cannot describe that moment – I was one very proud dad. From then on with consistent baiting of the spot little and often, the tench kept coming.
“When the second double figure fish was landed, I knew this was something special. The fishing was so good I decided to stay longer. This turned out to be a wise choice as I took a further three doubles the next day. At this point I was just in dream land. I had never heard or seen of a catch like this in 20 years of fishing!”
All of James’ tench fell to a simple hair rigged piece of artificial corn presented on a size 10 hook and with a 1.5oz lead on a Fox weed green lead clip.
For extra attraction James attached a small PVA stick of mighty meaty groundbait on each cast.
The second remarkable tench catch fell to Drennan Cup holder and Tenchfishers member Darryn Stolworthy, who also took six double figure tench to 11lb 10oz in an incredible 48-hour session.
The mega catch was part of an 11-fish haul which included two 20lb-plus carp, and all were taken on a very low-stock Midlands Gravel pit of 80-acres in size.
“Reflecting on another dream session, Darryn said: “I couldn’t believe my luck when I arrived at the venue and found fish rolling at 55 wraps (220yds range).
“Unfortunately though, my bait boat ran out of battery and I could not cast the distance.
“My good mate Justin Grapes saved the day however and travelled from Norwich to bring me his bait boat so I could reach the fish.
“I waited four hours for the first bite but after that they came steadily through the remainder of my 48-hour session. To get these fish in such a short space of time is unbelievable.
“In addition to the tench I’ve managed to catch two carp, and only five others have been caught from this lake all year!”
The Drennan Cup Champ landed his latest haul on maggot feeder tactics fished helicopter style. Alternating between maggots and worms throughout the session he got through five pints of casters, four pints of maggots and two kilos of worms.
To round off another great week of tench, Liam Dore from Devon reported a staggering 144lb bag of tincas from his local club water.
The bumper catch was taken at Newton Abbot Angling Associations Dores Pond and was made up of 33 fish averaging 4lb.
Waggler fished red maggots were the winning tactic on this occasion proving it’s not all about specimen fish or rigs when it comes to tench.