A time for Tench 2005

There is always time for Tench, even though my main focus has shifted toward the Carp. I had big plans for the Archipelago, but all grand schemes boilied down to one single trip to Lake Malmasjön...

After the success of 2004 I was a bit afraid that Izaac (the God of coarse fishing) would think that I had more than I deserved (and give me some bad luck, for good measure) - but he smiled on me once more (which is a much better state of affairs).

10/6 - evening
Rain, and lots of it. I had planned on fishing the first night in the swim that was productive last year, but I got a very strong feeling that I should try another, new, swim. I baited up fairly heavily with hemp, wheat, sweetcorn, maggots and some chopped prawns on one spot and only a light scattering of pellets on the another. Last year we were plagued by pike (quite large ones too!) that were attracted to the baited spots like bees to a honeypot - my theory was that the less heavily baited spot would be overlooked by the pike and thus give me somewhere to fish when there were pike in the vicinity.

I fished two rods, both lift style (a waggler float with one single shot on the bottom close to the hook), one of the rods baited with a whole prawn (with shell and head and all) and the other one baited with a "juicy pellet" (small hookable pellets from marcel Van den Eynde).

I started seeing some signs of Tench almost straight away, but I did not get a proper bite until after a few hours. The float rose in slow motion and I struck.

There is something magical about the first proper tench of the season, and I was shaking like a leaf when I lifted it into the boat. A nice fish of 3.125 kilos. A good start indeed. The rain started pouring down and I rowed ashore and slept until dawn. I have (nearly) never had good tench fishing during a downpour (except in combination with thunder) - better to be fully rested when the rain stops, methinks.

The first Tench - 3.125 kg

11/7 - morning
An almost shocking silence awoke me at dawn. The rain had stopped, and I could not wait to get out to my swim. The fish had just started breaking their fast, and I had an exciting morning with fish both on prawns and pellets. The best fish, an almost black specimen of 3.375 kg (PB - nice!), took a tiny pellet under the rod tip. I just lowered the bait in front of it when it was bubbling far from any baited spot - and it took the bait without hesitation.

The top three

Another stunning Tench

Oskar chose to fish the swim I fished last year and caught four Tench. 3.1 - 2.975 - 2.8 - 2.475 kg. He was even more pleased than I, as he blanked last year.

Niclas fished slightly deeper than the rest of us and was rewarded with a splendid 3+ specimen.

Jörgen was (probably) more pleased than he looks with this beautiful 3+kg fish!

11/6 evening - a turn for the worse
The weather turned even worse for tench fishing. Not only did we get even more rain, it turned even colder too! The water temperature decreased rapidly, and so did the activity of the tench. I changed my strategy slightly. The proportion of bread crumb in my groundbait was increased and the amount of food stuff decreased. Whole prawns would not, I thought, be the order of the day, so I baited one rod with a few maggots and the other one with a tiny piece of prawn.

When I approached my swim I felt that it had somehow lost its appeal. Not to continue fishing in the same swim would be silly, as the second and third night are usually the best in a baited spot (at least for me). I finally decided to fish the other end of the lake. Once there I was unsure where to fish, but a huge Tench poking up it's head in a small gap in the lilies made the decision easy. It looked enourmous!

I caught a small (2.7 kg) tench after about an hour, but then the swim died. To the bank for some sleep.

12/6 - morning
A very, very cold morning. No sign of a fish until quite late in the morning. The float quivered, nearly unnoticeable. I struck and was surprised that the culprit was not actually a tiny rudd ( as is most often the case) but a nice Tench of 3.25 kg.

Upon returning to my friends I was surprised, and delighted, that Oskar had done really well during the morning. Apparently the spawning had ceased due to the cold weather resulting in a lot of hungry fish.

Guess it was Oskar's morning!

Oskar's best fish - a spawned out male of 3.325 - built like a tank!

Another nice plump fish

Niclas and Jörgen had not done too well, though.

12/6 evening - 13/6 morning Last chance.

In a fit of lunacy I decided to spend the night in the boat. I was really keen on catching the large fish I saw the day before. During the evening I caught two male tench on maggots by striking on small bobs of the float. In the evening it was so cold that my hands went numb. I managed to snap the line on three different fish due to my hands not functioning properly. Still, I was indent on staying the night there! I slept, shivering, curled up in the boat. When I woke up there was even some frost on the boat (and on me, in fact)! I saw neither fin nor scale of my target fish, but did catach a fat 3.3 kg on maggots (yet again striking on assorted dips and bobs of the float).

The last one

The others had fared no better, worse rather - as they had naught of interest to report (I am not convinced that the fish I caught was worth forsaking the luxury of my tent and sleeping bag, though!).