Tench a firm favourite of many Anglers, with a olive greenish body that is covered in very small scales, giving them a very smooth to touch feeling, single small barbules one on each side of the mouth, their body slightly flat on the underside as with many of the bottom feeding fish, all their fins have rounded edges, sexes can be told by the differential of the pelvic fins on the underside of the body, the male has much larger, thicker and rounder pelvic fins than that of the female. The body of tench is completely covered in a slime which is why they are sometimes known as the “Doctor fish”, it is said should a fish not in good health rub up against it, this slime would help the ailing fish to recover.

In good conditions it is not uncommon for them to live up to 20-years, records show that some have lived even longer than this. Tench reach maturity when they are four years old, and spawning takes place usually around June when the water temperature is warmer;  females carry between 80,000 and 750,000 eggs, but of all these eggs very few reach adulthood.

Predominately a bottom feeding fish, their natural food consist of crustaceans, larvae, water snails, caddis larvae, molluscs, bloodworms etc which are found in the soft murky silt at the bottom of lakes, gravel pits, reservoirs, canals and slow moving rivers where they tend to live, often a giveaway as to when they are feeding are the tell tale bubbles rising to the surface as they forage in the mud, silt and weed for their natural food.

They are more of a summer feeding fish, and as the winter approaches there metabolism slows down and they ease up on there food intake, my favourite time for fishing for them is from June until autumn, favourite time early mornings and late evenings.

Fishing methods: `Waggler` Float tight to Lilly pads or reed beds, close to margins, Ledger or feeder.

Anglers use many and varied types of bait to try and catch these “Tincas” ranging from maggots , casters , worms , hemp , flavoured  luncheon meat, small bollies and a firm favourite sweetcorn, (many anglers like my grandchildren have their own secret recipe baits).

The British Tench Record :  15lb 3ozs (June 2001).

Caught by:  Darren Ward,
Sheepwalk big pit, Shepperton, Middlesex.

Tench:

and Western Asia.

Latin Name:

Tinca tinca.

Family: Cyprinidae.

I hope you found something helpful or of an interest to you in this Fish Fact Section.

Contact: mail@watersidediary.co.uk