Tinca man

I have really got my tench head on now, before the weed takes over. However bream still lurk around in my plans and on Sunday after the rains again I headed off a but further to the oddly hued lagoon, where the weed is being retarded by clever stuff. 

I have been putting in some pigeon conditioner and mini's down in one corner that has a big , shady willow and is a bit outside of a regular cast from the usual positions. The mix that went in loose by hand had a generous helping of corn but I left the crumb just for plugging the open ended feeders. I had thought about flat bed method feeders but wanted a longer tail and some drop of feed in the water column. Plus it was quite silty under that willow.

One down the side with a standard carp set up and the two 12 foot 1.5tc feeder rods  only about 3 rods out with a mini Source on one and  two grains of real corn on the other. Both rods began to show signs of life quite quickly and after  I somehow missed a churner on the corn a confident lift in the Source rod met with some feisty head banging resistance and  a few boils the deepish margin before a paint brush tail hit the surface. My first tench from the water with a lovely pink hue. The water snail was an added extra.

I never remember that tench have tiny, tiny barbules and just look at that line of sensory receptors. And that barbless is not coming out any time soon. Well,  not till I flick it with the forceps. And they don't get caught in  the mesh. You can see why mini's work for tench, just the right size.

Next rod to go was the corn one and I didn't fluff it second time round. A powerful surge under the willow then some really determined resistance made me wonder if it was a carp with no real determination to head out into the open and this thought strengthened when a rayed dorsal broke the surface but in fact it was a powerhouse of a bream with the feeder link caught round that dorsal meaning it was like trying to hold back a train, even with the actual hook in the mouth. Not a very big train but most unusual. As it slid in the net I could see the scales all lifted up and a rash of spawning tubercles. They y do feel really rough and horrible to the touch like this.

At 6.04 not one of the 8-9's that have been coming out but what I came for anyway.

Another staccato take on the corn and  this tiny Slim Jim jack was the culprit.

One poor skimmer got it self lassoed, I slipped it back and Slim Jim's considerably bigger significant other almost snatched it out of my hand. I should take some spare pants next time..

The carp set up, with a heavier lead (all I could find in my bag),a braid hook link and a big sharp #6 was getting some interest and interestingly coming back clean and almost straight after  a cast tight to the bank the interest turned into a straight up and stay up. The rod was a heavier 3lb tc and with heavier line the fish was soon in the margins where it began to have  a bit more of a go but another tench had slipped up for a Source mini, this time with a bright pink pop up for a visual tag. A veritable football. 

Another take, this time a real baitrunner meltdown had me wondering briefly if was actually a mud pig but the rod's power turned the fish and another tench, this time a male was on the mat.

Happy, happy days. And the hawthorn is out. Where are those swifts?