07.06.16

Fantastic 12lb 1oz tench for Gary Newman

Korda’s Gary Newman enjoyed a very productive session after tench at a Colne Valley gravel pit, culminating in a 12lb 1oz specimen!

The big ‘un came as part of a 6 fish catch over the Bank Holiday weekend, which included other females of 9lb 10oz, 8lb 7oz, 7lb 15oz, plus two 5lb-plus males.

Gary revealed: “I arrived to find that the fishing had been fairly slow, and although it was sunny for the first couple of days the north-easterly wind had a real bite to it, so I opted to fish on the back of it, in a swim where I know there is a plateau around 45 yards out.

“I keep a careful note of all my spots on this venue, and a quick plumb around revealed that there was some weed on the top of the plateau, but on the nearside it dropped off onto fairly clean gravel in about six foot of water, but there was also some lovely fresh green silkweed which the tench really like to feed over, so I was confident.

“I introduced a mixture of caster and SSP Baits 2mm pellets, around 15 medium Spombs full to start with the plan being to top as I felt necessary – it has been noticeable for the past few seasons that the fish often don’t like you Spombing on top of them, so the plan was to introduce more food before the likely feeding spells.

“That typically meant first light as the fish tend to feed right through until early afternoon, and then top up late afternoon ready for the evening. But I do adapt as the session progresses, depending on how well the tench are feeding.

“The Friday evening and Saturday morning passed uneventfully in terms of bites but I was seeing quite a lot of fizzing over my bait, and it was definitely tench rather than crayfish so things were looking good.

“My first bite came at around 1pm and was a nice chunky fish of 8lb 7oz, which was followed that evening by a 9lb 10oz specimen which looked very good and I was sure was going to be a double when I netted it, plus a 5lb male.

“Early the next morning I added another male of 5lb or so, plus a female of 7lb 15oz and things were looking good for some more action. But then the wind turned really cold – I couldn’t believe I was having to wear a fleece in the middle of the day at the end of May! – and that totally killed the action.

“On the Monday I was due to pack up but decided to give it to around 2pm, as often around lunchtime can be good, and I was just starting to pack up when I finally had another take. As soon as I started playing this fish it felt big, as it was just plodding around and using its weight, and when I got it close in I caught a glimpse of it in the clear water and knew it was a double.

“On the bank I could see it was a fair bit bigger than that and when the scales settled on 12lb 1oz I was really pleased and it was a great way to end the session.”

All of Gary’s fish fell to double hair rigged rubber caster with a size 12 Guru MWGB hook to a 10lb braided hook link and 10lb Touchdown main line.

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