The tench at the 'old res'

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Catfish.017
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Location: Fradley Junction quite often!

The tench at the 'old res'

Post by Catfish.017 »

There is a free water not too far from home which was my 'go to' crack of dawn venue for several years. The tench fishing got better and better year on year culminating in 2014 with a July catch of thirty tench between one and three pounds. Never in a million years did I think I would blank there the following year. I did, several times. The fishing absolutely nosedived? The water, an old reservoir reduced to about two and a half acres from its original nine, is situated at the top of a long steep climb on a heavily forested hillside. The slog up deters a lot of 'casuals' and probably three quarters of the bank Is unfishable ( extensive reed beds and swampy areas) so it's not particularly heavily fished. The few people I have encountered in the last season or two were of the opinion that Eastern European anglers had raided the pool causing the downturn in sport. There could be some credence to this as it has happened at other 'free' waters in South Wales. Of course if you read the old literature on tench they are often quoted as having the ability to mysteriously disappear from a water for long periods. I made the climb up once in 2016 and blanked on a perfect Tench dawn, no bubbling no signs whatsoever. That's important to point out because I have blanked this summer in a swim which looked like a jacussi! (On a different water). However the 'res' this summer seems to have started to recover. In four visits I caught about eighteen tench between one and two pounds. Now here is the reason I am writing this. Every fish was MALE? I've never encountered a situation like this before. I consider it quite unusual as normally males are in the minority on most other waters I fish. I would add that this pool is strange in another way. Although it has some quite deep areas, up to thirteen feet, the water is very clear making it ideal for fish spotting. Of course tench don't normally show up that well but there are a number of carp present, a right mixed bag actually with koi, mirrors, commons and all sorts of crosses between the three including some absolutely stunning koi cross linear mirrors now the point I'm coming to is that some of these carp I have seen once then never again and this over a period of nine years. In 2012 I caught what I'm certain was a wildie around four pounds. The following week my pal had another about two and a half pounds. We've not seen either of these fish since. I used to fish here by feeding four of five spots right in the margins then stalking each in turn 'red indian' style. I observed numerous fish that I saw just the once and never again. Conversely there was (I thought!) one fish that seemed to show up everywhere, a koi around six pounds with distinctive pinkish grey patches on a white background. The mystery of its regular appearances was solved one sunny summer day when I spotted four of them basking together like peas in a pod! Again that was the last time I ever saw any of them again?

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