In my last blog I reported that after a quiet start to my Spring tench campaign everything had clicked into place culminating with a 10lb 6oz tench. I would have been happy if that had been my best fish of the year let alone my tench campaign but subsequent trips have proved the old adage “Make hay when the sun shines”.

On my next trip to Linear I fished a completely new area as the wind was forecast to be a strong but warm North-easterly and I was confident a few tench would be attracted to the shallow bay I set up in.

Prior to setting up in mid afternoon, I had a good search about with a marker float and found a couple of nice gravel patches less than 20 yards out and close to some thick weed. Perfect! A spod mix of 2mm S pellets, 4mm Elliptical pellets, Sonubaits Hemp & Maples with a good dose of dead maggots and casters was put on each patch followed by my rigs baited with red maggots. I had caught nothing by dusk but there were plenty of signs of fish rolling in the area and I was confident of a fish or two the next day.

The following day had already produced a couple of good fish, including one of 9lb 6oz taken on rubber maggots, when in the late afternoon I had a screaming run. The fish tore off into a weedbed but gradual pressure started to get it moving and soon a huge mass of weed was heading for the landing net. I knew there was a fish in the middle of the weed from the occasional thump on the rod top. As the weed came over the net I could see the paint brush-like tail of a tench – and it looked like a big one too. As I cleared the weed from the fish a large tench appeared and I knew it was going to be close to another double. I weighed it on two sets of scales, including some of the new Korum ones I’ve been testing, and both showed 10lb exactly.

My latest trip to Linear was for a feature for Improve Your Coarse Fishing magazine. After having been so successful on previous sessions I feared the worst. On arrival it was clear that there were still plenty of fish in the shallow bay with fish rolling well into the morning so I opted to go back in the same swim. It may surprise you to hear that at this point there were only 4 anglers on Hardwick dispelling the myth that it’s always packed out! I baited with the same spod mix as before and put the rods out. I was just chatting to Gary Newman from the Angler’s Mail who’d been bream fishing unsuccessfully for a couple of nights when I had my first bite of the day. Rather spookily it was my first bream from the swim – and at 11lb 10oz an unexpected bonus. Within an hour I had another of 11lb 2oz. I suspect the bream were having a feeding spree after spawning and that would explain why they turned up in a swim less than 20 yards from the bank rather than the swim that Gary had been fishing where they are more often caught.

With a shoal of bream in the swim I decided to put a lot more bait in as I didn’t want to be fishing in a bait-free area and a shoal of bream can certainly eat a lot of bait. The decision was proven to be a good one when the next bite produced a fish that from the fight clearly wasn’t a bream. It was more in keeping with a mid-double carp so I was both surprised and delighted when a large tench turned on the surface a few yards out. The fish was soon netted and I knew the feature would be a success when the scales registered 10lb 11oz! Shortly after I had a carp of 22lb 5oz making a rare catch of an 11lb bream, 10lb tench and 20lb+ carp all within an hour of each other.

When collecting my bait for the session, Ian Boothby at Ian’s Tackle, Penkridge threw me a kilo of worms to try promising they’d be a great tench bait. The following day I tried using them on the hook with a few chopped up in the Quickload feeder. This was a very good decision as between then and the end of the session I had nearly all my bites on worms.  The rig was a straightforward Heli rig using a Korum Ready Heli-kit with a long hook-length of about 15 inches and a Size 12 S3hook.

I stayed in the first swim for another day and caught a couple of tench but at 4am the next day I had a look around the lake and saw a lot more fish in another area so decided on a move. By 6am I was set up in the new swim and soon after a tench rolled nearby signalling it had been the right decision. A couple of tench and a few carp to mid-doubles graced my net during the day and I woke early on my final day full of optimism knowing most of the fish I’ve caught have been during “sociable” hours – after 9am and before 9pm. I was just saying to a friend on the phone that anytime now would be the start of bite-time when the buzzer screamed out. The fish went on a long initial run and I was almost certain it was going to be a good carp. Over the next five minutes it gradually came towards me and then suddenly rolled on the surface. I was amazed it wasn’t a carp but a tench – and a big one at that. Soon after I stretched out as far as I could with the net and she was mine. I was pretty certain it was going to be my fourth double of the season and this was confirmed with a weight of 10lb 4oz. Ian had been right about the effectiveness of worms! My friend Simon Lush came and took some excellent photographs. I nearly packed up shortly after as dark clouds moved in but I decided to wait a bit longer and they passed with barely a drop of rain. I was glad I stayed as in the afternoon I had three more tench including a cracker of 9lb 9oz.