Tench; A brace of Tinca are the first of the year..

Out again for an evening session at the site of recent specimen Rudd. Things were very quiet for a while after 3pm., though eventually a few small Rudd were followed by a better fish of 1lb 9oz. A few minutes later I struck into a solid fish, another belter of a Rudd was landed and it went exactly 2lb, my fifth two pound plus fish in the past ten days...

 Ed Bowler arrived a short while later and the fishing remained quiet for long periods, then would come a period of fish feeding. Several Bream, Silver Bream and small Rudd were taken before I struck at a gentle bite on the leger and was met with a powerhouse of resistance. I should of realized it was a Tench before I did, the fish boring away with a lot of power, giving a fantastic account of itself. Eventually it did tire and Ed did the honors with the netting and the first Tench of the year was photographed and returned. The fish weighed 3lb 11oz and is the first Tench I have ever had from the site...

Above and below; 3lb 11oz of pristine Tench, first of the season and very welcome..

After that things went rather muted again before Ed decided to set up a Pike rod. The roving float rig requires a bait, so Ed duly fished a double maggot under a waggler to get one. Having a bite straight away he was amazed to realize he had a Pike on the bait rod, much to both our amusement...

Double maggot caught Pike!

We fished on until dusk, again not a lot of activity, until my boilie rod began to twitch. Fish had been active on and off over the boilie baits, which had been put out with PVA bags of 8mm halibut pellets and boilie segments as free offerings. I missed a couple of takes, possibly small bream, before a positive take was struck and the rod hooped over. Our suspicions were confirmed a short while later when a Tench surface, another lovely fish. The first had been a big surprise, the second told us that the species may be regular here. It went an ounce more than the earlier fish, at 3lb 12oz. This venue keeps throwing up surprises and is really fishing well right now. Planning a full day onsite in two days, who knows what might happen, with a little luck...

A second Tench went an ounce better at 3lb 12oz. This one took a boilie presented on a short hair and inline lead rig...